The motor proficiency of 56 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was compared with that of 56 boys with learning disabilities (LD); both groups were divided into two age groups, 7 to 8 years and 9 to 12 years. Boys with ADHD were taking Ritalin and attending public schools. Boys with LD were medication-free and attending private schools for LD. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency–Long Form (BOTMP–LF) was used to measure balance, bilateral coordination, strength, upper limb coordination, response speed, visual-motor coordination, and upper limb speed and dexterity. MANOVA revealed significant main effects for condition and age. Subsequent univariate ANOVAs revealed (a) expected age differences on all but one item and (b) significantly poorer performance for boys with ADHD than boys with LD on all variables except balance, upper limb coordination, and response speed.

While research has begun to explore athletes with physical disabilities, there is a marked void in the research literature surrounding athletes with ‘invisible’ disabilities such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Individuals with ADHD may exhibit restlessness, inattentiveness and excessive motor movement. Within the sport arena, these children may have difficulty following directions, remembering strategies, and staying on task. Coaches will likely respond with some type of corrective behavior, but these behaviors will be guided by their attitudes towards these athletes. Therefore the purpose of this study was to begin exploration into coaches' attitudes towards athletes with ADHD. Results found that coaches with previous experience working with athletes with ADHD reported more positive attitudes and these coaches were most likely to have known a child had ADHD due to parental communication. These findings underscore the need for improved coaching education to meet the needs of all children able to participate in youth sports.

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The prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is between 2%-10% of children (Center for Disease Control, 2003). Participation in organized sports is beneficial to children with ADHD by increasing self-esteem, self-efficacy, peer acceptance, and social skills (Armstrong & Drabman, 2004;Bagwell, Brooke, Pelham, and Hoza, 2001). Little research exists as to preparation for youth sport coaches with regard to coaching athletes with ADHD. The study's purpose was to investigate coaches' efficacy beliefs for coaching athletes with ADHD. Two hundred nineteen volunteer coaches completed a questionnaire designed to measure their beliefs. The results showed that overall coaches reported fairly high feelings of efficacy for working with athletes with ADHD. However, results also indicated that coaches reporting experience with athletes with ADHD reported higher efficacy for coaching athletes with ADHD than their less experienced peers. Implications for coaching education include the incorporation of behavior management techniques into course content and the creation of ADHD resources such as weblinks and pamphlets.

Within sports, youth with hidden disabilities (HD) may have difficulty with understanding/following directions, physical coordination, remembering plays, and sustaining attention. These behaviors are often considered challenging for coaches. While previous research has addressed coaches' self-reports through surveys related to efficacy and coaching athletes with HD, they did not address questions regarding coaches' proposed strategies for addressing such challenging behaviors; such research may provide better understanding of their perceptions as well as information regarding coaches' knowledge about accommodating learning differences among their athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study is to investigate coaches' perceptions of practice situations involving athletes exhibiting various challenging behaviors and coaches' proposed solutions to addressing these situations. Fifty-five youth sport coaches viewed four practice situations and completed questionnaires following the video clips. Results found that while coaches could often point to the need for demonstrations and checking for understanding, they often did not consider that the coach may have given faulty directions and would instead recommend repeating the instructions to make sure the athlete understood. Other times, the coach indicated that the athlete must not know terminology or perhaps had not been taught the skill used in the drill. Interestingly, these coaches all reported very high efficacy in: 1) appropriately redirecting the athlete(s), 2) effectively making accommodations to coach the athlete(s), and 3) preventing the athlete from interfering with coaching the athletes. This research continues to underscore the need for improved coaching education.