Fundamental motor skill and coordination - essential elements for performance outcomes of primary school-aged children

Abstract

This research is based on the comparisons of 161 primary school-aged children's coordination level to their performance of a fundamental motor skill. Whole body coordination was measured using the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development, known as the MAND (McCarron, 1997). The MAND includes both fine and gross motor tasks and for each child there is an age-adjusted score which can be likened to a 'motor quotient'. This score is the Neuromuscular Development Index (NDI) with a mean of 100 and is well regarded as an indicator of whole-body coordination. The amalgamated process measures of the tee-ball strike performances for six trials were compared with the NDI scores. The participants ranged from six-to-ten years of age. Significant correlations between NDI and process performance scores allow for consideration of a range of factors that account for the current expectations over children's movement education.