Developing motor competency in youths: Perceptions and practices of strength and conditioning coaches

Single and Especially Multisport Participation May Increase Physical Fitness in Younger Americans

BACKGROUND

We sought to examine the associations between sports participation and physical fitness in younger Americans.

METHODS

The analytic sample included 1108 Americans aged 6-15 years. Muscular fitness assessments included handgrip strength, leg extension strength, and plank position. Cardiorespiratory fitness was examined with graded treadmill tests.

RESULTS

Youth participating in any sports had increased physical fitness performance for each marker: 1.63 kg (CI: 0.91-2.35) for handgrip strength, 6.23 kg (CI: 3.15-9.32) for leg extension strength, 9.41 lbs. (CI: 4.51-14.31) for plank position held, and 3.02 mL/kg/min (CI: 1.23-4.80) for estimated maximal oxygen uptake. Participants engaging in a single sport had increased performance for most fitness markers: 1.52 kg (CI: 0.67-2.38) for handgrip strength, 5.16 kg (CI: 1.50-8.82) for leg extension strength, 5.98 s (CI: 0.17-11.78) for plank position held, and 2.67 mL/kg/min (CI: 0.58-4.77) for estimated maximal oxygen uptake. Youth engaging in multiple sports exhibited even steeper trends: 1.77 kg (CI: 0.83-2.70) for handgrip strength, 7.63 kg (CI: 3.62-11.65) for leg extension strength, 13.89 s (CI: 7.52-20.27) for plank position held, and 3.50 mL/kg/min (CI: 1.15-5.85) for estimated maximal oxygen uptake.

CONCLUSIONS

Any sports participation, including single and multiple sports, is linked to increased physical fitness in American youth.

Youth motor competence across stages of maturity: Perceptions of physical education teachers and strength and conditioning coaches

Physical education (PE) teachers and strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches are well placed to develop motor competence within youth populations. However, both groups’ perceptions of important motor competencies are relatively unknown, especially when considering stage of maturity. Therefore, this study aimed to 1) present PE teachers and S&C coaches’ perceptions of motor competence importance according to stage of maturity; 2) compare perceptions of motor competence between stages of maturity, and between PE teachers and S&C coaches; and 3) explore factors that influence PE teachers and S&C coaches’ perceptions of motor competence importance. Via a mixed-method questionnaire, 47 PE teachers (professional experience = 10.3±6.6 years) and 48 S&C coaches (professional experience = 8.6±4.8 years) rated the importance of developing 21 motor competencies across four stages of maturity (childhood, pre-peak height velocity [PHV], circa-PHV, and post-PHV) using a Likert-scale (1 = not important, 5 = very important). Participants also provided open-ended explanations for their perceptions. Frequency analysis indicated that participants rated a broad range of competencies important, with S&C coaches rating more competencies important than PE teachers across all stages of maturity. Mixed-model analysis highlighted several differences in motor competence importance when comparing perceptions between participant groups, and between stages of maturity for PE teachers and S&C coaches. For example, S&C coaches rated strength-based motor competencies less important during childhood (d = -1.83 to -0.43), while PE teachers rated them less important during childhood (d = -2.22 to -0.42) and pre-PHV (d = -1.70 to -0.51) compared to other stages of maturity. Codebook thematic analysis showed several factors that influenced participant’s perceptions of motor competence importance (e.g., participants understanding of themselves). The findings suggest that multiple environments may be required to adequately facilitate motor competence development amongst youth. Coach education should target misunderstandings around the risks of strength-based activity during early stages of maturity and the benefits of developing strength-based motor competencies across youth populations.

Development and trainability of agility in youth: A systematic scoping review

Background

Agility is acknowledged as a crucial factor of performance in various open skill sports in both adult and youth athletes. However, despite its significance for sports performance the development and the trainability of agility are under-researched within the pediatric literature. A systematic scoping review was considered most appropriate to provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of the current body of literature approaching agility in youth.

Objectives

The objectives of this scoping review were to map the extent, range, and nature of existing evidence regarding trainability and "natural" development of agility and to summarize corresponding study results.

Methods

The scoping review protocol was pre-registered at Open Science Framework. Systematic searches were conducted using the databases PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science, SURF, and SPONET to identify sources covering agility in youth. Among other inclusion criteria, only references applying unplanned agility concepts were included.

Results

Ultimately, 41 reports were included comprising 23 observational studies, 14 experimental studies, and 4 references of secondary research. A total of 3,087 subjects were assessed in the included studies. Subject groups were predominantly male, above 10 years of age, and soccer athletes. Outcomes of observational studies indicate an effect of age and maturation on agility performance resulting in a non-linear "natural" development of agility. Furthermore, relationships between contributing perceptual-cognitive factors and agility performance tend to increase with progressing age, whereas relationships between physical factors and agility performance diminish. Evidence of training studies suggests that agility is trainable in youth, albeit with various underlying mechanisms.

Conclusions

This systematic scoping review is the first mapping of the body of literature about agility in youth. It outlines the current evidence base, reveals research gaps, and points out future directions to support researchers and practitioners in this field. Although, increasing research activity in this field is discernible, agility research in youth is still in its infancy. Considering the significance of agility for sports performance, future research is postulated to design evidence-based strategies for long-term agility development in young athletes.

Sufficiency of the BOT-2 short form to screen motor competency in preschool children with strabismus

Background

Strabismus is one of the most common visual disorders in children, with a reported prevalence of 2.48% in preschoolers. Additionally, up to 89.9% of preschool children with strabismus do not have normal stereopsis. Whether this lack of normal stereopsis affects the motor competency of preschool children with strabismus is unknown. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition short form (BOT-2 SF) can be a useful tool for screening; however, its sufficiency as a diagnostic tool for children with various disorders is controversial.

Objective

The aims of this study were thus to examine motor competency in preschool children with strabismus by using the BOT-2 and to evaluate the usefulness of the BOT-2 SF to identify those at risk for motor competency issues.

Methods

Forty preschool children (aged 5–7 years) with strabismus were recruited, all of whom had abnormal stereopsis. The BOT-2 complete form (CF) was administered to all children. The BOT-2 CF was administered to all children. The scores of the BOT-2 SF were extracted from the relevant items of the BOT-2 CF for further analysis.

Results

The prevalence of children with strabismus who had below average performance in the composites of “Fine Manual Control”, “Manual Coordination”,”Body Coordination”, and “Strength and Agility” were 15%, 70%, 32.5%, and 5%, respectively, on the BOT-2 CF. Compared with these results, the sensitivity of the BOT-2 SF was 33.33% (95% CI = 7.49%–70.07%) and the specificity was 100% (95% CI = 88.78%–100%).

Conclusion

Preschool children with strabismus had a high prevalence of impaired motor competency, especially in fine motor competency. The BOT-2 SF was not as sensitive in identifying motor difficulties in preschool children with strabismus. Therefore, the BOT-2 CF is recommended for evaluating motor proficiency in preschool children with strabismus.