The Influence of Physical Activity in Sports Clubs on Motor Development from Childhood to Adolescence

Background: A substantial proportion of children’s physical activity takes place in organized sports clubs in Germany. However, it is unknown how physical activity in sports clubs (PASC) in childhood influences the longitudinal development of motor performance (MP). The purpose of these analyses is to investigate whether changes in motor performance (MP) over time depend on PASC.

Methods: We tested MP during a 6-year interval at two measurement points in a nationwide sample of German children/adolescents (age: 4-23 y.; n=2,167) (MoMo-study). MP was assessed by MoMo-test-profile (11 test items) (Wagner et al., 2013). Four MP items were selected (gross motor coordination: jumping sideways (sw), balancing backwards (bw); condition: standing (st) long jump; bicycle ergometer test (PWC170)). PASC was captured with the MoMo Activity Questionnaire (Jekauc et al., 2013) at t₀ and t₁. Using rmANOVAs, we examined the influence of PASC on MP development.

Results & Conclusion: The rmANOVA (time*group) revealed significant differences in MP development from t₀ to t₁ according to PASC for PWC 170 (F_{3, 1105}=3,11, p .01, η =.01), st. long jump (F_3,2060 =7,80, p .01, η =.01), jumping sw (F_{3, 2046}=12,06, p .05, η =.02) but not for balancing bw (F_3,2082=1,94, p .05, η =.003). Children who were regularly active in a sport club over a six-year interval show a higher increase in MP. PASC is consistently an important determinant for a healthy development of MP.