Influence of the sport practice on motor development

Background and purpose: The researches on children motor development are meeting an increasing interest. Surprisingly only few studies have investigated the influence of both actual and history of sport practice during childhood on motor development. The aim of the present study was to investigate if a regular sport specific and/or multisport practice may have an impact on the motor development.

Methods: Fifty-three prepubescent girls (10±0.5yo) were allocated into five groups according to their main sport practice: dancers, tennis players, basketball players, judokas and control group. All girls achieved a testing battery including eleven items : balance, spatial orientation, rhythm, body image, shoulder flexibility, posterior chain flexibility, rolling, bouncing, and racket handling. Additionally, parents were asked to complete a survey on their children sport practice history and on their own practice.

Results: The results confirm the hypothesis that children motor development is related to their main sport. Sports such as dance and judo promote the development of body control while sports such as basketball and tennis promote the development of objects control. The results of the control group are below the results of the four other groups in most of the tests. The analysis of the survey data revealed that motor development seems to be influence by volume of practice, but not by screen time nor parents history of sports practice. Girls with a multisport experience have shown superior motor development

Conclusions: The results of this study are suggesting that actual sport practice and history of sport is related to children motor development. A multisport practice stimulating both body control and object control competences is recommended for a complete motor development of the child.