A Different Look

In order to effectively train athletes for a sport or to rehab them from an injury demands a thorough undersatnding of the demands of the sport. Each sport demands a certain amount of athleticism and a certain degree of skill. Athleticism is defined as the ability to perform athletic movements with precision style and grace at optimum speed. Skill is the ability to execute the movements of the sport with a high degree of proficiency. As we look at sports and the various positions and events in the sports require different degrees of athleticism and skill.

In order to further classify this I have come up with a rating on a continuum. The continuum is a 1 – 10 scale for both athleticism and skill. 1 indicates a low level of either athleticism or skill and 10 the highest level. To use American football as an example, the game overall requires around a 6 –7 on a scale of 1 – 10 for athleticism and about the same for skill. But when you break it down by position you get a clearer picture of what the sport is about. For example a quarterback would require a 10 in skill, but only requires around a 7 in athleticism (S₁₀-A₇). An offensive lineman on the other hand would require a 5 –6 on skill and possibly a 6-7 on athleticism (S₅–A₆).Eventually it would be valuable to have a rating for each position or event in each sport. The athleticism rating should correlate to the physical testing battery that is used. The Skill rating should be determined by whatever are the commonly accepted parameters of good skill for the respective position or event.

This is not just an exercise in mental gymnastic, because this will help to determine the direction and emphasis in training. It has implications for test selection and skill evaluation. This should be part of the overall athletic development process.