Specialized sports skills categories

The current mainstream classification framework for specialized sports skills in the domestic sports academic and competitive sports fields is based on the controllability of the environment when skills are performed, and is divided into three categories: closed special skills, open special skills, and mixed special skills. At the same time, there are also youth training systems that use schools divided according to the core elements of competition, which are divided into three categories: physical fitness-led, skill-led, and skill-based and mental ability-led. Each of the two classification logics has applicable scenarios, and there is no absolute right or wrong.

To be honest, this classification is really not something that the academic community came up with. In practice, the difference is huge. Let’s first talk about closed special skills that are relatively unknown to everyone. This classification originally came from the skill classification system of sports psychology. The core feature is that the environment in which skills are performed is completely controllable and the action patterns are highly fixed. If you have been to a shooting team’s training hall, you will have an intuitive feeling: I used to talk to During the team's winter training, I saw 10-meter air rifle players wearing sneakers with sole thicknesses that had not been changed in three years. The lighting brightness of the venue, the height of the target paper, and even the floor texture of the standing position were all completely fixed, in order to eliminate all variables and allow the movements to form muscle memory. Of course, there is also controversy here. For example, some scholars believe that the static action parts of events such as field archery and mountain downhill are also closed skills. However, the mainstream view is that as long as there are uncontrollable external variables, they cannot be classified into this category.

Completely opposite to closed skills, are open special skills. The core is that the execution environment changes at any time, there is no fixed optimal action, and all judgments must be dynamically adjusted. When I was watching the CBA playoffs last week, I was still chatting with my friends. Liaoning team guard Zhao Jiwei used the same pick-and-roll tactic. If the defender on the other side changed, he could immediately change his line: either go to the middle to break through and shoot the ball, or step back and shoot a three-pointer. There is no fixed routine at all. This is a sign of well-trained openness skills. There is more controversy in this area. The traditional classification once classified net confrontation sports such as table tennis and badminton into the mixed category. The reason is that the net isolates physical confrontation and has fewer variables than direct confrontation. However, I chatted with the provincial team table tennis coach a while ago. He said that the team has already classified table tennis into the open category - the opponent's rotation, placement, and rhythm of the return ball are all uncontrollable. Where are the fixed actions? After all, classification is to serve training, and hard-coded standards are useless.

There are still many projects that fall in the middle ground between the two categories, and are generally classified as mixed special skills in the industry. Take the marathon that everyone is familiar with as an example. Many people think that this is not a closed skill of running at your own pace? In fact, this is not the case. The urban marathon track has slopes and curves, and there are thousands of runners squeezing each other. When encountering a supply station, you have to judge whether to stop or whether you will be hit by others. These are all uncontrollable variables. Therefore, when professional teams train for marathons, in addition to honing the running form at a fixed pace, they also need to train in scenes that simulate crowd congestion, just to cover the open part. Even the classifications of different subdivisions of the same event are different. For the same bicycle, the individual time trial is a purely closed category, and the group competition is a mixed category. It is a bit outrageous to insist on giving a unified classification to the entire cycling event.

In addition to the mainstream framework of classification based on environmental controllability just mentioned, the youth training systems of many domestic sports colleges are still using another classification logic: divided according to the core elements of competition, divided into three categories: physical-dominated (such as sprinting, weightlifting), skill-oriented (such as ball games, gymnastics), and technical and mental ability-oriented (such as shooting, archery). I usually use this classification when I provide parents with youth sports enlightenment consultations. Children who are patient and have strong focus should first choose sports that are dominated by skills and mental abilities. Children with good explosive power and love to toss should choose sports that are dominated by physical fitness or skills. The adaptability is much higher.

In fact, until now, there is no 100% unified classification standard in the industry. After all, sports themselves are ever-changing, and it is unnecessary to force every project into a fixed frame. No matter what kind of classification, it can solve practical problems - whether it is to guide training or help ordinary people choose suitable sports, it is a useful classification. This is also the core original intention of all sports skill classification.