Skill Skill is that element of performance which enables the performer to accomplish a large amount of work with a relatively small amount of effort. Skill is acquired mainly through a refinement of the coordination of different muscle groups. The apparent ease of muscular work characterizes a skillful movement. Lack of skill is characterized by awkwardness of movement and the appearance of great effort in accomplishing the work. Examples of Skill The importance of skill in the performance of work and sport can be demonstrated in nearly all activities. A dramatic example is provided when an untrained and a trained gymnast perform the same exercise such as executing a handstand from a cross leaning rest position on the parallel bars. The untrained gymnast strains at every motion, calling on more and more muscle groups for the effort of forcing the legs up and straightening the arms in the handstand position. Even those muscles which are antagonistic to the movement are seen to contract and the arms and shoulders quiver from the interaction of the opposing muscles. The exercise is completed with great difficulty by the untrained man. The trained gymnast presents an entirely different picture. Employing momentum as the body is brought forward, he shifts his weight to the handstand with ease and grace. Only those muscles acting directly in the exercise are employed. The skilled diver executes the approach with forceful steps, depresses the board on the takeoff and rising with the spring of the board projects himself into space where he may twist or somersault with unhurried and graceful movements before knifing into the water without a splash. Contrast this with the performance of the unskilled diver who pounds the board on the takeoff and hurls himself into the air with awkward, purposeless waving of the arms and with the legs bent and spread, hurrying to execute the movements of the dive before striking the water with a painful slap and a large splash. In a skillful body movement the motor impulses from the central nervous system arrive at the muscles in such numbers and with such timing as to bring about the correct sequence of integrated events. The graceful exercises of the skilled gymnast and the skilled diver are composed of highly integrated events. An analysis of swimming action demonstrates the preservation of energy in skillful movements. The muscles of the skilled swimmer are relaxed during that phase of the stroke in which they are neither maintaining body position nor contributing to forward motion. The application of the driving force of the arms and legs against the water is steady and efficiently applied. Each stroke is smooth and apparently effortless, yet the distance traversed with each arm cycle is often more than double that traveled by the unskilled swimmer who fights his way through the water with wild, clumsy strokes. The unskilled swimmer may require 5 times as much energy as the skilled swimmer even though they arc both swimming at the same speed.		Home Components of Physical Fitness Clinical Examination Differences Between Fit and Unfit Men Physiological Elements of Fitness The Step Test The Effects of Training on the Physiological Systems Work Output Physical Condition of Muscle Application of Muscular Force Maintaining Optimum Strength Tests of Muscular Strength Strength and appearance Strength as a measure of physical fitness Strength as affected by organic problems Strength as prophylaxis Role of inactivity in production of disease Lack of Sociability in Work Lactic Acid System Muscular Form Capillary Growth Heart Size Heart Rate Training produces physicochemical changes Muscular Strength Nervous Stimulation and Muscular Strength Quality of Champions Factors Which Limit Skill Blood Supply Kinesthesis Balance Reaction Time Skill Muscular Tension Visual Aim Skill Center in the Brain Endurance for Exhaustive and Moderate Work Distribution of Energy