The role of growth, physical activity, and sport involvement on fundamental movement skills performance

Abstract

Background: Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) consist of locomotor skills that are used to propel a human body through space and object control skills that include manipulating an object in action situations. It is known that FMS are imbedded by 8 years of age, less is known about their development through adolescence. This is of particularly interest given the suggestion that during adolescence there is a perceived period of physical awkwardness. Both sports participation (SP) and habitual physical activity (PA) have been shown to improve FMS. The purpose for this study was to identify the effect growth had on FMS development, whilst controlling for PA and SP. Methods: Eighty-four individuals (23 male, 61 female) were recruited from sports camps and teams. Age, height, sitting height and weight were measured and a biological age (BA) (years from peak height velocity [PHV]) predicted. Three maturity groups were identified: pre-PHV (n=21), peri-PHV (n=12) and post-PHV (n=51). SP and PA were assessed by questionnaire. The Test of Gross Motor Development 2 (TGMD-2) was used to assess the quality of FMS performance. Mean differences between groups were tested with an ANOVA and ANCOVA. Results: Significant differences were found between BA groups and FMS scores, with post-PHV having significantly greater FMS Scores (82±6) than pre-PHV (74±6) and peri-PHV (74±11) (p<0.05). Physical activity was only significantly different between pre-PHV (3.2±0.7) and post-PHV (2.6±0.4) (p<0.05). Sports participation was not significantly different between groups (p>0.05). A regression analysis found that sex, age, and SP (p<0.05) were significant predictors of FMS scores. Discussion: There was no observable decline in performance during rapid growth, the period of potential physical awkwardness. It was found that the most mature individuals performed the best. This is not unexpected as post-PHV participants were significantly older and therefore would have had more time to be taught, learn and practice their FMS through PA and sports participation. Interestingly, males outperformed females when adjustments were made for age and sports participation. These results do not support the contention that FMS are negatively impacted during the period of rapid adolescent growth.