Open and Closed Skills: The Widdop ‘Y’ Analysis

In 1957 Poulton was the first to coin the terms ‘open’ and ‘closed’ skills His analysis, based upon the predictability of environmental influences, suggests a vertical approach from failure to success. Knapp later, realizing that, even in unpredictable situations, an athlete could achieve success, placed skills on a horizontal continuum with success possible at any point. All authors since that time have continued to use the horizontal continuum for ‘closed-open’ skill analysis. The horizontal continuum suggests that skills may be entirely closed (spatial restrictions), entirely open (spatial and temporal restrictions), or partly closed and partly open. The ‘grey area’ of the closed-open continuum is, however, futile for skill analysis. If a skill is performed in a stationary environment, at the athlete's own pace, it is closed. If a skill is performed in a moving environment, in which external factors, no matter how small, may adversely affect the outcome of the movement, the skill is open. The “Widdop ‘Y’” suggests that skills be introduced in a closed environment. Those skills which are then to be applied in a closed environment follow the closed stem of the ‘Y,’ concentrate upon repetition, and emphasize technique, poise, and efficiency. Skills which are to be applied in a moving environment follow the open stem of the ‘Y’ and concentrate upon insight into the display, selection, and performance at the right time. Theoretically the ‘Y’ may become diamond-shaped showing that, when a skill is performed successfully 100 percent of the time, external factors no longer adversely affect performance in any situation.