TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations among selected motor skills and health-related fitness
T2 - Indirect evidence for Seefeldt's proficiency barrier in young adults?
AU - Stodden, David F.
AU - True, Larissa K.
AU - Langendorfer, Stephen J.
AU - Gao, Zan
PY - 2013/11/25
Y1 - 2013/11/25
N2 - Purpose: This exploratory study examined the notion of Seefeldt's (1980) hypothesized motor skill "proficiency barrier" related to composite levels of health-related physical fitness (HRF) in young adults. Method: A motor skill competence (MSC) index composed of maximum throwing and kicking speed and jumping distance in 187 young adults aged 18 to 25 years old was evaluated against a composite index of 5 health-related fitness (HRF) test scores. MSC (high, moderate, and low) and HRF indexes (good, fair, and poor) were categorized according to normative fitness percentile ranges. 2 separate 3-way chi-square analyses were conducted to determine the probabilities of skill predicting fitness and fitness predicting skill. Results: Most correlations among HRF and MSC variables by gender demonstrated low-to-moderate positive correlations in both men (12/15; r = .23-.58) and women (14/15; r = .21-.53). Chi-square analyses for the total sample, using composite indexes, demonstrated statistically significant predictive models, χ2(1, N = 187) = 66.99, p < .001, Cramer's V =.42. Only 3.1% of low-skilled (2 of 65) individuals were classified as having a "good" HRF. Only 1 participant (out of 65) who demonstrated high MSC was classified as having "poor" HRF (1.5%). Conclusion: Although individual correlations among individual MSC and HRF measures were low to moderate, these data provide indirect evidence for the possibility of a motor skill "proficiency barrier" as indicated by low composite HRF levels. This study may generate future research to address the proficiency barrier hypothesis in youth as well as adults.
AB - Purpose: This exploratory study examined the notion of Seefeldt's (1980) hypothesized motor skill "proficiency barrier" related to composite levels of health-related physical fitness (HRF) in young adults. Method: A motor skill competence (MSC) index composed of maximum throwing and kicking speed and jumping distance in 187 young adults aged 18 to 25 years old was evaluated against a composite index of 5 health-related fitness (HRF) test scores. MSC (high, moderate, and low) and HRF indexes (good, fair, and poor) were categorized according to normative fitness percentile ranges. 2 separate 3-way chi-square analyses were conducted to determine the probabilities of skill predicting fitness and fitness predicting skill. Results: Most correlations among HRF and MSC variables by gender demonstrated low-to-moderate positive correlations in both men (12/15; r = .23-.58) and women (14/15; r = .21-.53). Chi-square analyses for the total sample, using composite indexes, demonstrated statistically significant predictive models, χ2(1, N = 187) = 66.99, p < .001, Cramer's V =.42. Only 3.1% of low-skilled (2 of 65) individuals were classified as having a "good" HRF. Only 1 participant (out of 65) who demonstrated high MSC was classified as having "poor" HRF (1.5%). Conclusion: Although individual correlations among individual MSC and HRF measures were low to moderate, these data provide indirect evidence for the possibility of a motor skill "proficiency barrier" as indicated by low composite HRF levels. This study may generate future research to address the proficiency barrier hypothesis in youth as well as adults.
KW - Cardiorespiratory fitness
KW - Fitness levels
KW - Gross motor skills
KW - Skill development
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U2 - 10.1080/02701367.2013.814910
DO - 10.1080/02701367.2013.814910
M3 - Article
C2 - 24261019
AN - SCOPUS:84884553640
SN - 0270-1367
VL - 84
SP - 397
EP - 403
JO - Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
JF - Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
IS - 3
ER -