Futsal is a form of association football, played indoors with five players on each side. This sport shares similar physical qualities to soccer. Futsal is a high demanding sport, as it is quick paced. As a small sided game, players are constantly placed in situations where they must receive or play whilst under pressure or in a confined space. This game places considerable demand on technique, movement, tactical awareness and fitness on the player. Futsal is a great skill developer, demanding quick reflexes, fast thinking and pinpoint passing. The speed of play forces the player to make quick technical and tactical decisions. As every beginner learns a new skill they must go through the process of skill acquisition “The stages of skill acquisition go from a novice recognizing relevant facts and rules to an expert performing without deliberation.”
Futsal consists of many skill acquisitions; the skill that has been chosen is rolling the ball. This skill helps you to manoeuvre around the defender. Rolling the ball can be classified as a locomotor, discrete, fine motor & open skill. Rolling the ball is a locomoter skill as you are rolling the ball from one point to another; it is also a discrete skill as it is a skill with a distinct beginning and end. Rolling the ball is classified as a fine motor skill as it involves movement of small muscle groups such as calf muscles; another skill that is used when rolling the ball is open skills, as it is performed in an unpredictable environment.
There are three stages of skill learning: * The cognitive stage [understanding] * The associative stage [practising] * The autonomous stage [automatic performance]
The cognitive stage is the stage you are learning what is needed to perform the skill [rolling the ball]. As the cognitive stage is exploratory, the beginner will invariably make a large number of errors when trying to perform the skill. The best way to learn the skill is to be shown a