Sports skills can be classified according to how much they are affected by the sporting environment.

Examples of environmental stimuli are:

• other people – for example, a netballer reacting to their own and the other team's players

• terrain/surface – for example, a cross-country runner running on muddy and dry ground

• weather – for example, a golfer playing on a windy day

• situation – for example, the venue and crowd

Performers need to have a good perception of these stimuli to adapt their skills to best suit the environment.

The two different characteristics of the environmental continuum are 'closed' and 'open'.

Closed skills are skills that are not affected by the environment. They are usually self-paced and occur in fixed or predictable situations. The performer uses exactly the same technique every time and is in control of what happens next. An example would be a gymnast performing a floor routine.

Open skills are skills affected by the environment. They are mainly perceptual and usually externally paced. They occur when performers have to make decisions and adapt their skills to a changing or unpredictable environment. The performer is not in control of what will happen next. An example would be making a pass in Ultimate Frisbee.

Most skills are not totally closed or open but range between the two. They are somewhere on the environmental continuum between open and closed.

Skills can be classified according to how complex or difficult the movement is.

The two different characteristics of the difficulty continuum are 'basic' and 'complex'.

Basic skills (simple skills) form the foundation of more complex skills. They do not include complicated movements. Basic skills are often generic to many sports. Sportspeople need to master basic skills before they attempt more complex skills. Examples of basic skills are running, jumping, throwing, catching and striking.

Complex skills are more difficult. They include complicated movements that require high levels of co-ordination and control. They are usually sport-specific. Examples of complex skills are serving in tennis, throwing the discus in athletics and performing a vault in gymnastics. All of these complex skills are based upon the basic skills described above.

Sportspeople also use mental skills when they perform. These include skills such as interpretation, making judgements and decision-making. Skills become more complex when they involve more interpretation, judgement and decision-making. For example, in cricket a bowler has to judge when and how often to use a reverse swing bowling action as well as be able to execute it.

Most skills are not totally basic or complex but range between the two. They are somewhere on the complexity continuum between basic and complex.

Skills can be classified according to whether they can be broken down into smaller parts to make the skill easier to practice.

Low organisation - some skills are made up of numerous different parts or sub-routines. A long jump different phases, the run up, the take off, flight through the air and landing. Each component is a move in its own right but when linked together forms the routine. Therefore the components can be separated and practised on their own. When a performance can be separated into its sub-routines it is referred to as being low organisation.

High organisation - the action of cycling is sequential. The cyclist performs each part of the cycling action in ne go and it is very difficult to separate the different parts of this motion. Therefore a cycling is typically practised as a whole because it has high organisational skills.