Short- and long-term outcomes of swimming and soccer practice on global motor development during childhood

Abstract

Introduction Active children often choose after-school sport experiences, among which swimming and soccer are at the top of the list of most popular sports in several countries. Athletic skills are increased but little is known about the effects on global motor development. The purpose of our study was to analyze changes on global motor development after 5, 10 and 30 months of swimming and soccer practice [1] , [2] , [3] . Methods The study sample consisted of 35 preschool-aged boys (4.9 ± 0.5 years): 13 children had no involvement in organized sports programs; 11 children were swimmers at a beginner level; 11 children were soccer players at a beginner level. The “test of gross motor development 2” [3] was used to assess children's fundamental movement skill competence (locomotion and object control skills) in three distinct phases: after five (T5), 10 (T10) and 30 (T30) months of accumulated sports practice (practising 2 times per week). Results Our results showed that the soccer participants had a higher (P 0.05) were noted between (T5–T10) and (T10–T30) for non-participants. Conclusions These results suggest that sports practice during childhood seems to prompt motor development. Despite the improved motor skill competence of the soccer participants at (T5–T10) and (T10–T30), the swimmers showed an ongoing motor development particularly in object control skills.