A Golden Age for Motor Skill Learning? Learning of an Unfamiliar Motor Task in 10-Year-Olds, Young Adults, and Adults, When Starting From Similar Baselines

Abstract

It is often argued within sports circles that the age span of around 6-12 years is a golden age for motor skill learning, and this period is often described as sensitive, or even critical, for learning such skills. Consequently, skill development programmes target this age span for teaching technical and coordinative skills. In the scientific literature, however, the term golden age is scarcely seen, and few studies have even attempted to test this hypothesis. When comparing motor learning between children and adults, studies have typically found little difference or differences favoring adults. Studies that have reported precocious learning within the golden age seem not to have controlled all relevant variables. Typically, the different age groups have not started from similar baselines and have tested tasks that have not been scaled according to physical differences between individuals belonging to the various groups. The present study tested 10-year-olds, 18-year-olds, and 40-year-olds on dart throwing with their nondominant hands. They each completed 200 throws over 2 days, with 1 day in between. All participants performed at similar levels at the pre-test, and the task was scaled according to each participant's individual size. No difference was found between the groups after practice in terms of change in absolute error, or with respect to the slopes of their learning curves. The 10-year-olds' learning curves were more variable compared with the other groups. Thus, the present study found no evidence that the 10-year-olds belonged to a golden age for motor learning, and we would argue that previous findings of differences might well be artefacts due to lack of control of relevant variables.

Neuromuscular Training and Motor Control in Youth Athletes: A Meta-Analysis

“…Furthermore, a meta-analytic review by Behringer et al (2011) examined the effects of strength training on motor performance skills and found age to be negatively correlated (r ¼ À0.25; p < .05) with training-related improvements in motor skills that included jumping, running, and throwing. Collectively, these studies support the presence of a sensitive or golden period for motor learning in pre-adolescent children (Penhune, 2011;Solum et al, 2020).…”

Influence of an increased number of physical education lessons on the motor performance of adolescents–A non-interventional cohort study

“…To our knowledge there are no dose response studies available which address whether already one additional PE lesson provided in a younger age group could explain this difference in motor performance. It is often argued that the age span between 6 and 12 years are critical for motor skill learning, however well-designed studies are scarce and more recent studies do not provide clear evidence that learning curves differ dramatically between age groups [ 32 ]. However, besides biological factors also socio-economic environment might have had different influences on groups as it has been shown that motor performance is influenced by home environment, nutritional supply and socio-economic factors [ 33 ].…”

The Influence of Speed-Power Abilities on the Speed Endurance of Children Aged 13-14 Years with Different Strength of the Nervous System

“…In previous studies, we have proved the effectiveness of introducing a set of exercises aimed at developing speed and strength abilities in children aged 13-14 years into the educational process of physical education of schoolchildren 5 . Such a complex helps to purposefully influence the speed and strength abilities of schoolchildren and significantly increase them in this age period, which is favorable for their development [6][7][8] . The results obtained in the course of this study confirm the authors' opinion about a favorable period for the development of speed and strength abilities at the age of 13-14 years, since the indicators in CG increased, although not significantly in a short period of time, while they were not emphasized in the lessons.…”

“…In previous studies, we have shown the effect of coordination training on indicators of other physical abilities in primary school children 5 . However, if coordination abilities or motor skills should be purposefully developed in primary school age, then middle and high school age is favorable for the development of speed-strength abilities [6][7][8] .…”