A motor skill is a function that involves specific movements of the body's muscles to perform a certain task. These tasks could include walking, running, or riding a bike. In order to perform this skill, the body's nervous system, muscles, and brain have to all work together. The goal of motor skill is to optimize the ability to perform the skill at the rate of success, precision, and to reduce the energy consumption required for performance. Performance is an act of executing a motor skill or task. Continuous practice of a specific motor skill will result in a greatly improved performance, which leads to motor learning. Motor learning is a relatively permanent change in the ability to perform a skill as a result of continuous practice or experience. A fundamental movement skill is a developed ability to move the body in coordinated ways to achieve consistent performance at demanding physical tasks, such as found in sports, combat or personal locomotion, especially those unique to humans, such as ice skating, skateboarding, kayaking, or horseback riding. Movement skills generally emphasize stability, balance, and a coordinated muscular progression from prime movers (legs, hips, lower back) to secondary movers (shoulders, elbows, wrists) when conducting explosive movements, such as throwing a baseball. In most physical training, development of core musculature is a central focus. In the athletic context, fundamental movement skills draw upon human physiology and sport psychology.
Classification Motor skills are movements and actions of the muscles. There are two major groups of motor skills:
Gross motor skills – require the use of large muscle groups in our legs, torso, and arms to perform tasks such as walking, balancing, and crawling. The skill required is not extensive and therefore is usually associated with continuous tasks. Much of the development of these skills occurs during early childhood. We use our gross motor skills daily without putting much thought or effort into them. The performance level of gross motor skill remains unchanged after periods of non-use. Gross motor skills can be further divided into two subgroups: Locomotor skills, such as running, jumping, sliding, and swimming; and object-control skills such as throwing, catching, dribbling, and kicking. Fine motor skills – require the use of smaller muscle groups to perform smaller movements. These muscles include those found in our wrists, hands, fingers, feet and toes. These tasks are precise in nature like playing the piano, tying shoelaces, brushing your teeth, and flossing. Some fine motor skills may be susceptible to retention loss over a period of time if not in use. The phrase "if you don't use it, you lose it" is a perfect way to describe these skills; they need to be continuously used. Discrete tasks such as switching gears in an automobile, grasping an object, or striking a match usually require more fine motor skill than gross motor skills. Both gross and fine motor skills can become weakened or damaged. Some reasons for these impairments could be caused by an injury, illness, stroke, congenital deformities (an abnormal change in the size or shape of a body part at birth), cerebral palsy, and developmental disabilities. Problems with the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, muscles, or joints can also have an effect on these motor skills and decrease control over them.
Development
Motor skills develop in different parts of the body along three principles:
Cephalocaudal – the principle that development occurs from head to tail. For example, infants first learn to lift their heads on their own, followed by sitting up with assistance, then sitting up by themselves. Followed by scooting, crawling, pulling up, and then walking. Proximodistal – the principle that movement of limbs that are closer to the body develops before the parts that are further away. For example, a baby learns to control their upper arm before their hands and fingers. Fine movements of the fingers are the last to develop in the body. Gross to specific – a pattern in which larger muscle movements develop before finer movements. For example, a child will go from only being able to pick up large objects, to then being able to pick up an object that is small, between the thumb and fingers. The earlier movements involve larger groups of muscles, but as the child grows, finer movements become possible and specific tasks can be achieved. An example of this would be a young child learning to grasp a pencil. In children, a critical period for the development of motor skills is preschool years (ages 3–5), as fundamental neuroanatomic structure shows significant development, elaboration, and myelination over the course of this period. Many factors contribute to the rate at which children develop their motor skills. Unless afflicted with a severe disability, children are expected to develop a wide range of basic movement abilities and motor skills around a certain age. Motor development progresses in seven stages throughout an individual's life: reflexive, rudimentary, fundamental, sports skill, growth and refinement, peak performance, and regression. Development is age-related but is not age-dependent. In regard to age, it is seen that typical developments are expected to attain gross motor skills used for postural control and vertical mobility by 5 years of age. There are six aspects of development:
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