Effect Of Traditional And Non-traditional Pre-sporting Activities On Perceived And Actual Motor Competence

Abstract

Previous research has analyzed the effect of motor interventions (MI) on perceived motor competence (PMC) and actual motor competence (AMC) on children and adolescents. No research had focused on pre-sporting activities (PSA) as part of MI. PURPOSE: To analyze the effect of traditional and non-traditional PSA on PMC skills (perceived locomotion [PL], perceived object control [POC], perceived gross motor [PGM], and global PMC [GPMC]) and AMC skills (locomotion [L], object control [OC], gross motor [GM]) on elementary boys and girls. METHODS: 72 children from fourth grade of elementary school (mean age 9.6 ± 0.6 yrs. old) had their parents’ authorization and volunteered to participate in the study. Four treatments were randomly assigned to four intact classes: traditional PSA (T), non-traditional PSA (NT), combined PSA (C), and control group (CG). The intervention consisted of 7 sessions of 80 minutes each, once per week. T group (n=18) received track and field and gymnastics PSA; NT group (n=21) received goalball and field hockey PSA; C group (n=15) received PSA of the four sports, and CG (n=18) had no physical education. PMC was assessed with the Pictorial Scale for Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children; while AMC was assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2. RESULTS: A two-way ANOVA (groups by measurements) showed no significant results for POC (M±SD values for pretest [T: 3.3±0.4, NT: 3.3±0.5, C: 2.99±0.6, CG: 3.1±0.4] and posttest [T: 3.3±0.5, NT: 3.2±0.5, C: 3.2±0.4, CG:3.2±0.4]) nor PGM (M±SD values for pretest [T: 3.1±0.4, NT: 3.1±0.4, C: 3.0±0.5, CG: 3.0±0.3] and posttest [T: 3.2±0.5, NT: 3.2±0.3, C: 2.99±0.4, CG: 3.1±0.3]. PL, GPMC, L, OC, and GM did not show normal distribution, therefore a one-way ANCOVA (4 groups; pretest as co-variable) was used. The ANCOVA revealed that the three experimental groups (T: 3.9±1.8, NT: 3.5±2.0, C: 4.3±2.1) had significantly higher scores at posttest than the CG (1.1±0.4) in OC. No significant differences were found between groups at posttest for L (T: 4.9±1.7, NT:4.9±1.7, C:4.4±1.9, CG:2.3±1.3), GM (T: 8.6±1.9, NT: 7.8±3.3, C: 9.0±3.3, CG: 3.5±1.4), PL (T: 3.2±0.6, NT: 3.1±0.5, C: 3.0±0.5, CG:3.2±0.4), and GPMC (T: 3.0±0.5, NT: 3.0±0.3, C:3.0±0.4, CG:3.0±0.3). CONCLUSION: Traditional and non-traditional PSA can be used to enhance OC in fourth graders.