Currently, up to eighteen types of human endurance, about two dozen special coordination abilities, manifested in specific motor actions (cyclic, acyclic, ballistic, etc.), and about a dozen of the so-called specifically manifested coordination abilities: balance, reaction, rhythm, orientation in space, the ability to differentiate spatial, power and time parameters of movements, etc., plus a "pile" of all kinds of flexibility, power, speed and other sp Here the theorist has something to puzzle over, and the teacher of physical culture the more so.
What are the motor skills to develop, when and all of them? How much do they depend on hereditary and environmental factors, how do they give in to training? What is the right way to say: "motor", "physical", "motor", "psychomotor" or "psychophysical" abilities? Are the concepts of "quality" and "ability" synonymous?
What are their classification and structure? What criteria and methods (mainly motor tests) can be used to evaluate (measure) them? How does the development of different motor abilities proceed to depend on age, gender, individual features, purposeful influences, and other factors? What are the main provisions, means, and methods of improving motor skills? How to properly plan the material for their development during the year, quarter, the lesson? Here is not a complete list of questions that arise in the study of this problem.
As mentioned earlier, the interest in this problem has not faded for more than a hundred years. The main person who is most interested in this problem is the teacher. When considering it, he finds the answer to the main question: why do we need to systematically and purposefully influence the development of the physical abilities of students?
Good physical preparedness, determined by the level of development of basic physical qualities, is the basis for high performance in all types of educational, labor and sports activities. At younger schoolchildren the basic kind of activity becomes the mental work demanding constant concentration of attention, keeping a body in a long sitting position at a table, necessary in connection with this willful effort. This requires a sufficiently high development of strength and endurance of the corresponding muscle groups.
The high level of development of coordination abilities is the main basis for mastering new types of motor activities, successful adaptation to labor and household operations. In the conditions of scientific and technical revolution the importance of various coordination abilities is constantly growing. The process of mastering any motor actions (labor, sports, expressive, etc.) is much more successful if the student has strong, enduring and fast muscles, flexible body, highly developed abilities to control himself, his body, his movements. Finally, a high level of development of physical abilities is an important component of the state of health. It is far from being a complete list of things to see how important it is to take care of the constant improvement of the level of physical fitness.
The notion of motor skills.
Different notions are used to describe the abilities related to motor activity. It should be noted that these terms reflect the specifics of the scientific disciplines from which they emerged. For example, in the theory and methodology of physical education the terms "physical" or "motor" abilities are used to a greater extent, in psychology - "psychomotor" and "psychophysical" abilities, in physiology - "physical qualities", in biomechanics - "physical" or "motor qualities". We will be most interested in the designation of abilities related to motor activity from the point of view of the theory and methodology of physical education.
Therefore, in modern literature the term "physical qualities" is used, but "physical (motor) abilities": strength, speed, coordination, endurance and flexibility. The concept of "physical abilities" more accurately conveys the meaning of the complex composition of the components included in one or another group of abilities, as well as the fact that each individual has differently developed. However, it is quite acceptable to use both concepts: "Physical qualities" and "motor skills" as equivalent. It is necessary to understand that when talking about the development of muscle strength or speed, this should be understood as the process of development of corresponding power and speed abilities.
Thus, in general, motor skills can be defined as individual characteristics that determine the level of motor skills of a person. But not any individual features, but only those that are associated with the success of any motor activity. For example, the color of the eyes or the desire to sleep in the morning are individual features, but they do not affect the efficiency of activities. At the same time, individual characteristics such as maximum oxygen consumption, high mobility of nervous processes, speed of thinking or body length are reflected in the procedural and resulting side of the activity.