Independent walking is an important milestone in a child's development. The maturation of central nervous system, changes in body proportions, spatiotemporal parameters of gait and their variability ...change are dependent on age. The first aim of this study was to compare non-normalized and normalized spatiotemporal parameters and their variability in children. The second aim was to determine which spatiotemporal parameters are most affected by aging. Data from 64 typically developing children (age: 2.0-6.9 years), who walked at a self-selected speed along a 10m walkway, were collected with a motion capture system. Spatiotemporal parameters were normalized based on leg length. The main effect of the non-normalized walking speed revealed a moderate effect size (ES = 0.72) comparing 2- and 3-years-old, a large effect size comparing 2- and 6-years-old (ES = 1.77), and a large ES comparing 3- and 6-years-old (ES = 1.22). The normalized stride width parameter showed a statistically significant difference with large effect size between 2 vs 3 (ES = 1.00), 2 vs 6 (ES = 3.17), and 3 vs 6 (ES = 1.96). A statistically significant decrease in intra-individual gait variability with increasing age was observed in all parameters except for stride width. The variability of stride width may serve as a parameter in 2-year-olds to assess deviations from typically developing children. The assessment of effect size could be a useful indicator for clinical practice.
The development of motor competence is thought to be a crucial precursor to raising the trajectory of PA throughout a person's life. The objectives of this study are to determine motor competence and ...the daily time of moderate and vigorous physical activity of students in 5th and 6th grade elementary in Chile, and to establish whether there are differences in motor competence according to sex and compliance with physical activity recommendations. 368 schoolchildren (
= 11.10 years; 54.3% girls) participated. To assess motor competence, the MOBAK 5-6 test was used. Physical activity was measured using ActiGraph wGT3X-BT® accelerometers. Boys (
= 3.65, SD = 2.14) showed better performance than girls (
= 2.39, SD = 1.80) in Object Control (
≤ 0.001, PS = 0.67). For Self-Movement, the girls (
= 2.72, SD = 2.14) performed better than the boys (
= 2.40, SD = 1.86); however, there were no significant differences between the two sexes (
= 0.257). Boys (
= 48.4, SD = 22.8) presented more daily minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity than girls (
= 35.9, SD = 16.9), with statistically significant differences (
≤ 0.001, PS = 0.67). About MC according to compliance with the physical activity recommendations, only in Object Control there is a statistically significant difference (
≤ 0.001; PS = 0.29) between the students who comply with the recommendations (
= 4.28, SD = 2.12) and those who do not achieve the recommended minutes (
= 2.67, SD = 1.29). By contrast, an analysis of Self-Movement found no significant difference (complies:
= 2.73, SD = 1.97; does not comply:
= 2.54, SD = 2.04;
= 0.408) between the two groups. It is necessary to generate instances that develop motor competence in all its dimensions to promote higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Abstract Taekwondo, originally a Korean martial art, is well known for its kicks. One of the most frequently used kicks in competition is Bandal Chagui or roundhouse kick. Excellence in Taekwondo ...relies on the ability to make contact with the opponent's trunk or face with enough force in as little time as possible, while at the same time avoiding being hit. Thus, the distance between contestants is an important variable to be taken into consideration. Thirty-one Taekwondo athletes in two different groups (expert and novice, according to experience in competition) took part in this study. The purpose of this study was to examine both impact force and execution time in a Bandal Chagui or roundhouse kick, and to explore the effect of execution distance in these two variables. A new model was developed in order to measure the force exerted by the body on a load. A force platform and a contact platform were used to measure these variables. The results showed that there are no significant differences in terms of impact force in relation to execution distance in expert competitors. Significant and positive correlations between body mass and impact force ( p <.01) seem to mean that novice competitors use their body mass to generate high impact forces. Significant differences were found in competitive experience and execution time for the three different distances of kicking considered in the study. Standing at a certain further distance from the opponent should be an advantage for competitors who are used to kick from a further distance in their training.
Although a number of different methods have been proposed to assess the time to stabilization (TTS), none is reliable in every axis and no tests of this type have been carried out on children. The ...purpose of this study was thus to develop a new computational method to obtain TTS using a time-scale (frequency) approach i.e. continuous wavelet transformation (WAV) in children. Thirty normally-developed children (mean age 10.16 years, SD = 1.52) participated in the study. Every participant performed 30 single-leg drop jump landings with the dominant lower limb (barefoot) on a force plate from three different heights (15cm, 20cm and 25cm). Five signals were used to compute the TTS: i) Raw, ii) Root mean squared, iii) Sequential average processing, iv) the fitting curve of the signal using an unbounded third order polynomial fit, and v) WAV. The reliability of the TTS was determined by computing both the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and the Standard Error of the Measurement (SEM).In the antero-posterior and vertical axes, the values obtained with the WAV signal from all heights were similar to those obtained by raw, root mean squared and sequential average processing. The values obtained for the medio-lateral axis were relatively small. This WAV provided substantial-to-good ICC values and low SEM for almost all the axes and heights. The results of the current study thus suggest the WAV method could be used to compute overall TTS when studying children's dynamic postural stability.
Despite recent research showing that early childhood education and daycare settings (ECEC) have an important role in promoting toddlers’ physical activity (PA), crucial information gaps remain ...regarding toddlers' PA and sedentary behavior (SB) in these outdoor settings. We aimed in this study to: (a) analyze PA patterns and SB during unstructured outdoor play time in preschool and daycare environments using accelerometry and systematic observation; (b) provide concurrent accelerometry and observational data to help validate the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children-Preschool Version (OSRAC-P); and (c) examine individual, social and environmental correlates of PA and SB during toddlers’ unstructured outdoor play time. We found that: (a) toddlers displayed high amounts of PA with no sex, BMI, and/or age differences in PA and SB levels,; (b) environmental variables (e.g., fixed equipment and playground density) were not associated with PA levels or SB intensity; (c) the OSRAC-P was a reliable and valid means of observing and analyzing toddlers’ PA patterns during unstructured outdoor play time; and (e) different social patterns between boys and girls did not impact PA levels or patterns. Combining different measurement methods permitted an improved understanding of unstructured outdoor play in preschool and daycare settings.
Existen diversos factores que determinan el desarrollo y la evolución de la coordinación motriz. El presente estudio tiene por objetivo analizar la influencia del sexo, la actividad física practicada ...por los padres, la existencia de hermanos/as mayores o de igual edad y la práctica de actividad física extraescolar sobre el nivel de coordinación motriz global. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 23 niñas y 32 niños de entre 8-9 años (M = 8,51; DT = 0,31), pertenecientes al tercer curso de Educación Primaria. El nivel de coordinación motriz global de los estudiantes se valoró a través del Test Motor GRAMI-2 (Ruiz, Rioja, Graupera, Palomo, y García, 2015). El análisis de regresión lineal múltiple mostró que el sexo (a favor de los varones) y la existencia de hermanos/as de igual o mayor edad permiten explicar en gran medida (49,9% de la varianza) el nivel de coordinación motriz global de los participantes. El nivel de actividad física de los padres y la actividad física extraescolar de los niños/as no fueron predictores significativos. En esta línea, los niños con hermanos mayores o de igual edad presentan mayores niveles de coordinación motriz global frente a aquellos que no los tienen y a las niñas con o sin hermanos/as, siendo las que no tienen hermanos/as las que presentan menores niveles de coordinación. Se recomienda fomentar la práctica de actividad física en compañía de referentes sociales, principalmente hermanos/as, potenciando más si cabe la participación de las niñas. Abstract There are several factors that determine the development and evolution of motor coordination. The current study aims to examine the influence of the gender, the parents’ amount of physical activity, the existence of same-age or older siblings and the children’s extracurricular physical activity in the level of global motor coordination. In the study participated 23 girls and 32 boys between 8-9 years old (M = 8.51; DT = 0.31), who attend to the third grade of Primary School. The overall motor coordination level of the students was assessed through the GRAMI-2 Motor Test (Ruiz, Rioja, Graupera, Palomo, y García, 2015). A multiple linear regression analysis showed that the gender (for boys) and the existence of older or of the same age siblings predict (49.9% of the variance) children’s motor coordination level. The parents’ level of physical activity and the extracurricular physical activity did not predict their motor coordination level. In this line, those boys with older or similar age siblings have higher levels of global motor coordination than boys who do not have siblings and the girls, independently of having or not siblings. Girls who do not have siblings showed the lowest level of motor coordination. It is recommended the promotion of physical activity with significant others, overall brothers and sisters, in order to enhance girls’ participation mainly.
The relationship between athletes’ behaviours is relevant for developing defensive and offensive strategies. Traditionally, sequential analysis has been conducted to assess relationships between two ...behaviours (one considered as focal and the other as conditioned). The aim of the study was to examine Olympic taekwondo athletes’ behavioural patterns by conducting sequential analyses of tactical actions in bouts. Seventy-five male matches of the London Olympic Games in 2012 were studied to analyse tactical actions: attack (direct and indirect), counterattack (anticipatory, simultaneous and posterior), defensive (cuts, blocks and dodges), and opening actions. A sequential analysis of 2 lags (i.e., actions) in both prospective and retrospective perspectives were conducted by using five focal behaviours (i.e., those considered as tactical scoring actions: direct and indirect attack, anticipatory, simultaneous and posterior counterattacks). The results showed different tactical sequences according to the type of action considered as focal in the analysis. Specifically, direct attacks and simultaneous counterattacks were the most frequently action used in competition. Sequential analyses confirmed the interchangeable pattern of attacking and counterattacking actions. Those analyses can provide an insight for athletes’ patterns and tactical strategy training in taekwondo based on empirical data.
To profile the participants using a system of self-organizing maps (SOM) based on their motor and cognitive performance during a dual-task version of the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill ...Assessment (Cognitive CAMSA).
A total of 169 secondary school students (39.3% girls) volunteered to participate. The original CAMSA, cognitive CAMSA, the Corsi and Digit Span tests were used to assess (a) motor competence, (b) motor competence with cognitive load, and (c) cognitive performance, respectively. SOMs and the
-means clustering algorithm were used to establish the adolescents' dual-task performance profiles.
Including decision making based on verbal and visual cues in the original CAMSA significantly increased the participants' total scores but also the time required to complete the test, while the skill score remained unchanged. However, not all the participants showed changes in their performance in the same direction during the cognitive CAMSA. Person-centered analyses by SOMs and
-means clustering identified six performance profiles with variations in the cognitive, motor skill, and time scores (H
= 146.15, H
= 102.68, and H
= 108.07, respectively; all
< 0.01).
The cognitive CAMSA was shown to be a feasible field-motor test for assessing motor competence with a cognitive load in an ecological setting. Some of the profiles identified in the SOM approach represented adolescents with similar motor and cognitive performance in dual-task or single-task contexts, although other participants obtained high motor competence in single and dual-tasking while their cognitive performance declined or rose more in dual-task than in single task situations. The cognitive CAMSA emerges as a tool of great potential, applicable in educational and sports environments, to know subjects' characteristics and try to individualize the interventions accordingly with their dual-task profile.
Longitudinal evidence has demonstrated that engagement in physical activity (PA) and the development of motor competence (MC) have numerous tangible health and developmental benefits ....
Match analysts and sport psychologists can help elite athletes develop planned competition strategies from a technical-tactical perspective by analyzing of previous performances. The aim of this ...study was to analyze the behavioral patterns used to score points in the 2012 London Olympic Games by a mixed observational methodology and polar coordinate analysis. This analysis is a representation of four quadrants of the relationships between focal behavior i.e., scoring, (SC) and conditioned behaviors as key factors in taekwondo before and after focal behavior of two lags (-2, +2). A total of 151 combats, with a total of 24,940 actions were analyzed by the Taekwondo Observational Tool, which consists of 24 categories grouped into seven criteria (tactics, techniques, kicking zone, laterality, kicking leg, guard, and score). Our analysis confirms 49 significant associations (21 in females and 28 in males) between different types of scoring actions (SC1: to the trunk, SC2: to the trunk with a previous spin, SC3: to the head and SC4: to the head with a previous spin) and a variety of technical-tactical aspects. Females SC1 after cut, direct attacks with circular techniques to the chest, with back right leg; SC2 after direct attacks to the head, and SC3 after cuts, posterior counterattacks with the back leg. Males SC1 after spin anticipate counterattack with back leg and dodges, SC2 after simultaneous counterattacks (SCAs) to the head, SC3 after cuts and posterior counterattacks with back leg while SC4 after blocks and SCAs in close guard with the forward right leg. The observed relationships provide objective data regarding successful behavioral patterns, and are important for coaches and psychologists to train and develop psychological strategies to prepare athletes. For instance, they can be used to individualize training sessions, including visualization of specific combat situations. Coaches and psychologists could use these findings for specific tasks related to technical-tactical improvement of scoring effectiveness or defensive strategies against these specific actions.
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