PDFE 7

Lab 6.2 Name: Lindsay Cope

Instructions and Worksheet
For this lab, you will work individually. Your instructor might want you to share ideas with other students as you proceed through the lab, but you should answer each part based on your own thoughts and experiences. Based on your own experiences, rank yourself from 1 to 5 for each of the following abilities listed (1 indicates low ability; 5 indicates high ability). For definitions and examples, refer to figures 6.3 and 6.4 in your textbook. Circle the number that corresponds to your ranking for each ability in the list.

Personal ability inventory
Multilimb coordination 4
Control precision 3
Response orientation 2
Reaction time 3
Rate control 3
Manual dexterity 4
Finger dexterity 5
Arm–hand steadiness 3
Wrist–finger speed 1
Aiming 3
Explosive strength 4
Static strength 4
Dynamic strength 3
Trunk strength 3
Extent flexibility 5
Dynamic flexibility 5
Gross body equilibrium 4
Balance with visual cues 4
Speed of limb movement 5
Gross body coordination 3
Stamina 2
Movement rate 3
Motor timing 3
Perceptual timing 5
Force control 5


After you have ranked your own abilities, list up to five skills that you think you can
perform at a fairly high level of proficiency (see chapter 1 for proficiency perspective of
skill). These skills can be related to sports or recreational activities (e.g., a free throw or
juggling), to work-related activities (e.g., data entry or opening a bottle of wine), or even
to everyday activities (e.g., flipping a frying egg without breaking the yolk).
List five skills that you can perform with a relatively high level of proficiency:
1. Pirouettes (turns in dance) maintaining a stable and balanced core while turning and standing on one leg with the other secured at your knee
2. Leaps (in dance) moving from one place to another with both legs extended and in the air at the same time
3. Massaging, manipulating someone’s body with the hands to remove knots and tightness
4. Taping an ankle, requires memory, quick movement, and ability to visualize and mark tape correctly
5. Tap Dancing

For one of these skills, create an ideal ability profile by listing 6 to 10 abilities for which
having a high level would be important (see figures 6.3 and 6.4 on pages 169 to 170 of
your textbook).

Ideal Ability Profile
List the skill you selected from five you listed: Pirouettes
List 6 to 10 abilities for which having a high level would be important for this skill:
1. Trunk strength (3)
2. Multilimb coordination (4)
3. Rate control (3)
4. Explosive strength (4)
5. Dynamic flexibility (5)
6. Balance with visual cues (4)
7. Gross body coordination (3)
8. Movement rate (3)
9. Perceptual Timing (5)
10. Force Control (5)

Discussion
Using the skill for which you created the ideal ability profile as an example, discuss at
least two ways in which people with nonideal ability profiles might become successful in
performing this skill (i.e., how can they use their strong abilities and compensate for their
weaker abilities?). Does your personal ability inventory match the ideal ability profile
you created? If not, you might use your own experiences to illustrate how you became
proficient at the skill despite some limited abilities
When doing a pirouette in dance the number one factor is core strength. The trunk strength required holds your body in a firm and taught form so then you can effectively spin and do not fall over. When a person learns how to control their trunk strength they will progress in their turns and the turn will be more fluid. Another ability that is important is explosive strength. To complete a pirouette a person must be in plie’ (knees bent) and use the momentum from springing upward to transfer that energy into spinning. Before a dancer understands where the momentum for this turn comes from they often use their arms as momentum however that will throw you off balance. You need explosive force to be able to shoot up into a posse (standing on one leg with the other attached at the knee) and then induce trunk strength to turn effectively. I had between a 3 and a 5 on all of the skills required to do a pirouette. However I have 3’s on both of the skills (trunk strength and explosive strength) listed above. I learned how to engage both of these abilities after breaking down the biomechanics of a pirouette. When studying a person who could do a perfect pirouette you can see all of the above abilities transfer into the one skill in a very dynamic order. The key to progressing was learning the order and practicing it so it became second nature.