The FUS Test: A Promising Tool for Evaluating Fundamental Motor Skills in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are essential for enjoyable, confident and skillful participation in physical activity across the lifespan. Due to the alarming low level of FMS proficiency in children and adolescents worldwide, the development of motor competency is an urgent issue for physical education. The promotion and implementation of a systematic process of teaching and learning FMS should be a physical education priority. Accordingly, effective assessment tools for evaluating FMS should be adopted or developed. Because FMS assessment for both children and adolescents need further effective solutions, we proposed the Fundamental Motor Skill in Sport test (FUS) to assess FMS proficiency in students across primary and secondary education. The FUS test involves six sport skill-based tasks: hurdling, jumping rope, forward roll, ball bouncing, throwing and catching a ball, and kicking and stopping a ball. This selection of skills represents high transferability to a wide range of sports and life activities. The results of our study provide evidence that the FUS test is valid, reliable, and feasible to administer in school settings. Therefore, this tool test has the potential to support deliberate practice and improve motor competency by providing a standardized and structured approach to measuring FMS among school-aged students.

Exploring Cross-Cultural Differences in Fundamental Motor Skills Proficiency Between Polish and Latvian Children

“…J. Sport Tourism 2023, 30 (2), [12][13][14][15][16][17] designed to include more educational components that teach parents how to support their children's motor skills development through play and other activities.…”

“…The students were assessed using the FUS (Fundamental Motor Skills in Sport) test [17]. The FUS test is a qualitative, criterion-referenced assessment tool that uses a process-oriented approach to evaluate FMS.…”

“…J. Sport Tourism 2023, 30(3), [12][13][14][15][16][17] a crucial approach in understanding this development [8,9]. Gaining such insights is essential for creating effective PA programs tailored to help children in specific countries acquire and refine the FMS they need for a healthy and active lifestyle.…”