Developmental Sequences for Catching a Small Ball: A Prelongitudinal Screening

Developmental Sequences for the Vertical Cradle in Lacrosse: An Exploratory Study

“…Results of this investigation and the Strohmeyer et al (1991) study demonstrated the importance of constraints in determining the way a task is performed. For example, in this study, equipment size was important to the children.…”

“…Reversing these steps, however, does not indicate why more of the older children were performing at Step 1 than the younger children, and more of the younger children were performing at Step 3 than the older children-it should have been just the reverse. Researchers who have proposed developmental sequences or applied the prelongitudinal screening technique as part of the validation process (Halverson & Williams, 1985;Strohmeyer et al, 1991) use age as the main criterion to identify their groups, particularly where fundamental motor skills were involved. When Messick (1991) applied the prelongitudinal screening technique to hypothesized developmental sequences for the overhead tennis serve, she used a combined set of criteria to include sex, age, experience, and ability to identify her groups (e.g., 57% were ranked at the state level).…”

Neurodevelopmental readiness of children for participation in sports

“…They can orient their bodies in space and in relation to others and objects, and distinguish laterality (14,36). However, they may not have mastered all complex motor planning necessary, for example, controlling velocity and trajectory of the ball in softball or timing base running as these require temporal sequencing, body awareness, eye-hand coordination, and visual-spatial skills (20,21).…”

“…Preschoolers master riding a tricycle, then a bicycle (with and without training wheels), and learn ball skills (catching, throwing) (13,21,28,41). By 4 years of age, children can stand on one foot for up to 5 seconds, broad jump about 1 foot, hop up to 6 times, skip on one foot, climb a jungle gym, catch a ball (direct and bounced), throw overhand, kick a ball forward, and agilely move backward and forward (13,28,40,42).…”

“…Motor milestones are mostly influenced by genetic factors driving maturation of the neurologic system, and environmental factors (such as opportunity, expectations, and social context) play a significant role in social and adaptive skill acquisition (5). Sports participation decisions rely not only on neurodevelopmental maturation and milestone acquisition, but also on qualitative progress of specific skills (ability and fluency) that is enhanced by sports-specific skills training (2,6,7,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Essential factors to consider for sports participation are physical growth, and neurodevelopmental readiness, where a child acquires necessary motor, physical, cognitive, social and adaptive abilities to meet the demands of a given sport (1,10,14,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26).…”