Performance Level of Ball Skills and Its Relation to Behavioral Socio-Emotional Adjustment and Academic Achievement

Background: Proficiency in the performance of fundamental motor skills during childhood is significantly important for the social, physical, psychological state and for wellbeing. The significance of the mastery of ball skills (e.g. throwing, catching) in childhood is specifically emphasized in research studies, since these skills are an integral component of many moderate and vigorous physical activities, playground games and sports.

Aims: 1) to examine the frequency of Israeli elementary school children who exhibit proficiency in the performance of ball skills in relation to those who exhibit borderline or definite impairment in the performance of ball skills; 2) to explore the frequency of children having a definite problem in behavior, socio-emotional adjustment and academic achievement in the group of children having a definite impairment in the performance of ball skills and to examine gender difference.

Method: Participants were 733 children, 359 boys (49%) and 374 girls (51%), aged 6.04 to 13.72 years (M = 8.82; S.D = 1.54), attending general education classes (1^st-5^th grade) from two public schools in Israel.

Statistical Analysis: The children were divided into three groups according to their level in performance of ball skills (without, borderline, definite impairment). They were also divided into two groups for each of the behaviors, socio-emotional adjustment and academic achievement variables, where the lowest 85% were defined as not having a problem and the top 15% were defined as having a definite problem. In order to find if there were significant differences between the frequencies of socio-emotional and academic problems within the three different groups of ball skills, chi-square tests were performed.

Results: The results showed that 23.9% of the children had no ball problems, 61.5% were defined as borderline, and 14.6% were defined as having a definite impairment in ball skills. There was a significant difference between genders. Among girls, the frequency of ball impairment was found to be higher than among boys. Significantly higher frequencies of children with the best achievements in social skills, extroverted behavior, and hyperactive behavior were among children without ball problems compared to the other ball skills groups. Only among boys, in the group of definite ball problems we found significantly (p0.05) higher frequencies of introverted behavior and loneliness.

Discussion and Conclusions: Many children in elementary school, especially girls, show a lack of control of ball skills. Boys in that group were found to be more introverted and lonelier. Among children who are proficient in ball skills, we may expect more energetic children who possess good social skills. Hence, it is significantly important to apply an early detection program for identifying children with difficulties in ball skills and to allocate time for adapted ball skill practice.