Motor

Ability
Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Terms Ability and Motor Ability

Ability

A general trait or capacity of a person

Rela:vely enduring characteris:c
Serves as a determinant of a persons
achievement poten:al for the performance of
specic skills

Motor Ability

An ability that is specically related to the

performance of a motor skill
Each person has a variety of motor abili:es
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Abili:es as Individual Dierence

Variables
Motor abili:es establish achievement
poten:als for specic motor skills
Each motor skill requires specic motor
abili:es to successfully perform it
If 2 people have the same
Amount of prac2ce
Level and amount of instruc2on
Mo2va2on to perform the skill
Then - Motor abili:es will inuence the level of performance
success each person can/will achieve

Chapter 3

Abili:es as Individual Dierence

Variables, contd
Two hypotheses:

General Motor Ability Hypothesis: many

dierent motor abili:es that exist are highly
related within a person and can be grouped
as a singular, global motor ability (Brace,
1927; McCloy, 1934)
Specicity of Motor Ability Hypothesis:
many motor abili:es are rela:vely
independent in an individual (Henry, 1961)
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Controversy About Rela:onship Among Motor

Abili:es

General Motor
Ability Hypothesis

All motor abili:es are

highly related to each
other
A person can be
described as having
an overall amount of
general motor ability

Specicity of Motor
Abili9es Hypothesis
All motor abili:es are

rela:vely independent
Each person varies in the
amount of each ability
A persons motor ability
can be described only by
a prole of amounts of
each of several specic
motor abili:es

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Inclass Discussion
The babe: Can a general motor ability be
dened and measured?
With another member of the class summarize
what are the important points of this case!

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Ques:ons
What is the general motor ability assump:on?
What is the specicity of individual dierence
view?
What does the all around athlete term mean?

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Discussion Topic
In a recent movie staring Brad Pi` called
Moneyball, the movie highlights the eort
about Billie Beam and how he was able to run
Oakland As on limited budget win the
divisional championship.

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Applica:on: Major league baseball

scouts
Prior to 2000 many players were draged on:
how fast they can run the 50 yard dash
velocity in throwing
Hiing
Draging players out of HS was common place
Since 2000 many players are draged based on:
On base percentage
Ability to hit with players on base
Slugging %
Number of run scored
Hiing deep in the count versus rst ball hi`ers
If they played college ball
Number hits not homeruns
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Billy Ball
Is Billy Ball a general motor ability or
specicity approach?
What aect has Billy Ball approach had on
major league baseball?

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 Pick a sport of your choice. How would you

determine what athletes would be starter or
nonstarters using the general motor ability &
specicity of individual dierence views? In
your opinion which method would be the
best! Why?

Chapter 3

Research Evidence Supports Specicity

Hypothesis
Research technique to test the ques:on of
which hypothesis valid:
Correlate any two motor abili:es

Each hypothesis predicts dierent correla:on

result What are these dierent results?

Ini:al research compared RT and MT

Henry and colleagues (1960s) showed low

correla:ons
See example in A Closer Look p. 40

Chapter 3

Generality of Specic Abili:es

Chapter 3

Sta:c vs. Dynamic Balance

Conclusions - Sta:c and dynamic balance are dis:nct, independent abili:es. As

a motor ability, balance must be viewed as a mul9-dimensional ability.

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2. Timing as a Motor Ability

External vs. Internal Timing

External - Movement :ming based on external

source (externally-paced :ming)
Internal - Timing of movement based on persons
internal representa:on of :me (self-paced :ming)

Conclusion: Research evidence indicates

dis:nct :ming abili:es are skill specic rather
than related to a general :ming ability
See experiments described in textbook

Chapter 3

Iden:fying Motor Abili:es

One example of an a`empt to iden:fy motor
abili:es
Fleishmans Taxonomy of Motor Abili:es
Described 11 perceptual-motor abili:es
See Table 3.2 for complete list and deni9ons
People dier in amount of each ability

Chapter 3

Summary
Ability
General motor ability versus specicity
approach

Chapter 3