In the previous lesson I introduced you to the multidimensional construct of physical work capacity. In the case of sports, physical work capacity is dominated by the five motor performance abilities of an endurance, speed, strength, coordination, and flexibility. You will sometimes see these five motor performance abilities referred to as biomotor abilities. However, this is a concocted term with absolutely no recognized scientific meaning. I encourage you to use a term motor performance abilities rather than biomotor abilities, because this is the accurate motor control terminology. How well an athlete performs a specific sport skill depends on a unique inherited combination of the five dominant motor performance abilities. The physical work capacity for basketball requires a very different unique ratio of these five abilities than running a marathon or high platform diving does. Elite performers of the different sports have inherited the correct combination of motor abilities and developed them through training to permit them optimal performance in their sport. We also discussed a second multidimensional construct called exploitation capability, that is made up of the athlete's learned skills, technique, and tactics. Together the athlete's physical work capacity and their exploitation capabilities determines their sport performance. In this lesson, we're going to delve deeper into the athlete's physical work capacity and the components you must consider when molding it to meet the demands of your specific sport. Before we proceed though, this is a really good time to distinguished between a skill and an ability. So far, I've used both these terms without defining them. Abilities are mostly genetically predetermined characteristics. They affect the athlete's movement performance, and they are really difficult to change. They are the cards with which the athlete has been dealt, so to speak. The better the sport specific physical ability cards the athlete has been dealt, the higher the odds for developing into an elite performer. However, while there is a genetic component to the athlete's abilities, an athlete's current sport performance is the product of genetic factors in addition to training and learning. Now when you're watching a hurdler clear ten hurdles at high speed over 100 meters, there would be no question in your mind that this hurdler had quite a high level of very specific movement proficiency to rapidly maneuver over these barriers. An expert hurdler has not only inherited the ability to produce high speed, but has also put in thousands of hours of practice applying that speed to the very specific skill of hurdling. Skills, therefore, reflect learned proficiency for performing a certain motor task. Abilities are part of the the athlete's capacity to become skillful when learning a novel sports movement. A hurdler uses inherited speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility to perform the learned skill of hurtling as fast as possible over 100 or 400 meters. Every athlete can learn to perform a sports skill. Some will do so more quickly and more effectively than others, depending on the level of their inherited motor performance abilities. So in this regard, the upper limit to the athlete's physical capacity is inherited, or the upper limit to their exploitation capabilities largely depends on the amount of time they practice the movement units comprising the skill. An athlete can overcome a lower inherited physical work capacity by performing the relevant sport skills with absolute perfection, in order to take full advantage of their genetics. So when examining the athlete's overall progress, motor performance abilities and exploitation capabilities need to be examined separately. In this lesson, you will learn how to mix the five foundational motor performance abilities together to design a very specific physical work capacity that permits a successful performance in the sport you coach. We will begin by examining the issues involved in designing the athlete's physical work capacity, and why an elite sprinter cannot concurrently become an elite marathon runner. And the reason for this is explained by the principle of allocation theory. Then, we will spend quite a bit of time identifying the critical derivatives of the five foundational motor performance abilities, so the athlete's physical work capacity can be customized for a specific sport performance. So let's get started.