Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 11 Physical education Guides

Year 11 - Physical education

Skill and ability

Sport psychology: skill and ability

Unit Summary

This unit develops understanding of what skillful movement looks like and how it can be classified on different continua. It builds on the basic understanding that psychological factors can affect sporting performance in the same way physiological factors influence it.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to define and explain the differences between skill and ability.

Key Notes

  • Skill refers to the learned ability to bring about predetermined results with maximum certainty.
  • Ability refers to the inherited, stable traits that determine an individual's potential to learn or acquire skills.
  • Unlike skills, abilities are not learned but can influence the ease and speed of skill acquisition.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • ability: inherited, stable traits that determine an individual's potential to learn or acquire a skill
  • skill: a learned action/behaviour
  • predetermined: an outcome that is decided in advance or predictable
  • innate: existing in a person from birth

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Skill and ability are interchangeable.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Skill refers to the learned ability to bring about predetermined results with maximum certainty. Ability refers to the inherited, stable traits that determine an individual's potential to learn or acquire skills.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'ability'

inherited, stable traits that determine an individual's potential to learn or acquire a skill.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Skill and ability are interchangeable. Correction: They are not interchangeable. Skill is learnt and developed through practice, while ability is a natural and inherited trait often considered innate. An ability provides an opportunity or the potential to develop a skill.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 11 Physical education guide library.