What separates movement from skill?

Javier Miller-Estrada explains the difference between movement and skill, highlighting the importance of adaptability in changing environments.

What separates movement from skill? On our latest Team Speed Live Call, Javier Miller-Estrada used an unlikely example to make the distinction: a robot accidentally front-kicking a child. 🤖 The robot could execute the movement it had been programmed to perform. But when the environment changed — an unseen object, an unexpected disruption — it couldn't adapt. Javier calls this the generalization problem: the inability to successfully execute a task when faced with a new environment. And it gives us a useful way to think about skill in sport. “Skill is the ability to adapt your movement solutions to the problems the environment presents.” A defender moves. A gap opens. Space disappears. Timing changes. The skillful athlete perceives those changes, reorganizes, and finds a solution in real time. For coaches developing speed in team sports, that's an important distinction. Producing a movement solution in a predictable drill is one thing. Being able to adapt that solution to the complexity and chaos of competition is another. These are the kinds of conversations we get into during our twice-monthly Team Speed Live Calls. Les Spellman, Stu McMillan, Danny Foley and Team Speed facilitator Meg Young are regularly joined by special guests like Javier, bringing different perspectives and expertise into the discussion as the cohort works through the six-month program. 🎯 This is the level of detail built into The Team Speed Program developed by Stu McMillan, Les Spellman and Danny Foley, which features: 🧠 Six-month structure 📈 Bi-monthly live sessions led by Megan Young, facilitating calls with Les, Danny, and Stu 🤝 Coaches working through the same problems together Cohort 2 starts October 19, and enrolment is now OPEN. If you want to build a more complete approach to speed development for team sports — bringing together coaching frameworks, performance therapy and speed profiling — Team Speed is built around exactly that. 🔗 Learn more ➡️ loom.ly/u1Uvkgg