Effects of Task Demands on Throwing Performance of Children

Abstract

This study examined the effects of cast demands on the throwing performance of 6 boys and 6 girls in each of three age groups: 5–6, 7–8, and 9–10 yr. Each child was asked to throw a small yarnball five times in three conditions of no target, small target (30 cm diameter), and large target (46 cm diameter) from 8-ft. distance. Throwing accuracy was measured as vertical and horizontal deviations from the center of the throwing surface, or target, and expressed as radial error. A 3 (age group) × 2 (sex) × 3 (target size) analysis of variance with repeated measures on target size gave significant effects for age and sex. As expected, older children were more accurate than younger ones, and boys were more accurate than girls. Target size was nonsignificant. Radial error was decomposed into the horizontal and vertical deviations from center. The youngest children had greater horizontal deviation to the right than the older children. The older children showed least vertical deviation. Boys tended to underthrow the target consistently while younger girls' throwing undershot target but the older ones overshot. Throwing accuracy did not vary with target size and so the size of the target was not an important feature of the task.