Developing Fundamental
Object-Control Skills
When the child is able to
ambulate freely, the hands are
free to use in a new
fundamental skill ~ objectcontrol
Overarm Throwing
One of the most complex fundamental movements
Can be divided into 3 phases
– Preparatory phase
• All movements directed away from the intended
line of projection
– Execution phase
• All movements performed in the direction of the
throw
– Follow-through
• All movements following the release of the
projectile
Developmental Stages of Throwing
Monica Wild (1938)
– Four developmental stages of throwing
– Set standards for developmental throwing
stages
– Studied age and gender characteristics of
throwing in 32 boys and girls
• Ages 2-12 years old
Developmental Stages of Throwing
Trends
• Movement progresses from an anteriorposterior plane to a horizontal plane
• The base of support changes from a
stationary to a shifting position
Developmental Stages of Throwing
• Roberton (1978) presents longitudinal
evidence for developmental stages within
the humerus, forearm, and trunk
components for the overarm throw
• “Development within component parts
may proceed at different rates in the
same individual or at different rates in
different individuals.” Roberton, 1977, p.55
Developmental Stages of Throwing
•
•
•
•
Throwing motion is posterior-anterior in direction
Feet do not move
Little trunk rotation
Force for projecting the ball comes from hip flexion,
shoulder protraction, and elbow extension
Stage 1
Developmental Stages of Throwing
• More rotation of the body
• Performer may step forward (ipsilateral or contralateral
pattern)
• Arm brought forward in transverse plane
• Form resembles a sling
Stage 2
Developmental Stages of Throwing
•
•
•
•
Note the ipsilateral arm-leg action
Ball is placed into throwing position above the shoulder by a
vertical and posterior motion of the arm at the time that the
ipsilateral leg is moving forward
Little or no rotation of the spine and hips
Follow-through includes flexion at the hips and some trunk
rotation
Stage 3
Developmental Stages of Throwing
• Movement is contralateral
• Little or no rotation of the hips and spine during wind-up
– Motion of trunk and arms resembles stages 1 and 3
• Stride forward with contralateral leg provides a wide base
of support and stability
Stage 4
Developmental Stages of Throwing
• Mature movement pattern
Stage 5
Age at which 60% of boys and girls are able to perform at a specific level
Developmental Performance Trends for
Overarm Throwing
• Study techniques for performance
– Throw for distance
– Throw for accuracy
– Measurement of throwing velocity
• Annual improvement regardless of study
technique
• Boys and men outperform girls and
women at all ages
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
•
•
•
•
•
Instruction
Knowledge
Instructional cues
Ball size
Angle of ball release
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Instruction
• Does instruction facilitate development or
is improvement due to the year-to-year
improvement of the fundamental skill?
– Instruction significantly affects changes in
throwing technique, but not greater horizontal
ball velocities
• Velocity should not be used as the sole
index in the evaluation of the over-arm
throw
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Instruction
– An “increased range of motion instruction”
program can increase the stride length
component of the overarm throw
• Stride length
• Arm retraction
• Side facing
• Trunk rotation
• Preparatory leg recoil
• Arm patterns
• Stride opposition
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
• A training program designed to improve
throwing pattern can be effective in
improving girls’ foot action and pelvicspine rotation, but not arm action,
throwing distance, or ball velocity
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Knowledge
– Awkward throwers possess significantly less
declarative knowledge than more talented throwers
– Awkward throwers lack knowledge in
• Ball size
• Stepping forward with the opposite foot
• Throwing low
• Ability to recognize correct form from a side view
• Knowledge of throwing influences performance
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Instructional cues
– Identification of critical cues facilitates
throwing performance
• Critical cues
– “Take a long step toward the target with the
opposite foot of your throwing arm”
– “Take your arm straight down, then stretch it
way back to make an ‘L’ with the arm”
– “Watch the target and release the ball when
you see your fingers”
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Ball size
– When ball diameter is scaled up, a
transitional point is reached where the
performer resorts to a less mature throwing
pattern in the backswing and forearm
components
– As diameter increases, there is a transition
from one-handed grasping to two-handed
grasping
– Ball size and hand width are important in
throwing performance
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Angle of ball release
– In those using an “arm-dominated” throwing
pattern, the ball is released too early resulting
in an upward trajectory (49o)
• May be linked to poor grasp, ball weight,
and ball size
– A more mature throwing pattern observed at
a 15o angle of release
– Older children release the ball at an angle
between 25-28o
Factors that Influence Overarm
Throwing Performance
Working with small children
– Control for ball weight and size
– With help child with more mature ball release
Does improvement in technique affect
performance?
Accounting for Gender Differences in
Overarm Throwing
The greatest gender differences for all
fundamental skills is found with throwing
• Success in distance throwing of boys is
associated with
– Heredity
• Arm muscle mass
– Sociocultural factors
• Male adult in the home
Accounting for Gender Differences in
Overarm Throwing
• Success in distance throwing for girls is
associated with….
– Greater body weight
– More body fat
– Large joint diameter
– Greater arm and leg mass
…..compared to smaller and weaker female
counterparts
Accounting for Gender Differences in
Overarm Throwing
• By age 9, girls throw only 49% as far as
boys due to differences in
– Grip strength
– Height
– Upper-body strength
Accounting for Gender Differences in
Overarm Throwing
• The best predictors of throwing development in
girls are
– Participation in sport
– Presence of an older brother in the household
• TV watching is negatively correlated with
throwing performance
• The best predictors of throwing development in
boys are
– Father’s sport involvement
– Father-son skill play
Accounting for Gender Differences in
Overarm Throwing
• Can gender differences in throwing be
accounted for by factors involving human
evolution?
• Perhaps
• Throwing behaviors were more prevalent
among men in our early history
– Defense
– Hunting
Catching
• The action of bringing an
airborne object under control by
using the hands and arms
Developmental Aspects:
Two-handed Catching
• First attempt to stop a rolling object is to
sit on floor with legs spread apart
– Legs trap ball
– Hands trap ball
• First attempt at an airborne object is
passive
– Tosser throws ball so the child can use the
outstretched arms and body to catch
Developmental Aspects:
Two-handed Catching
2-year-old
•Focuses on the
tosser, not the ball
•Maintains a static
position
•Reacts too late
5-year-old
15-year-old
•Can anticipate some of
the ball’s changing flight
pattern
•Can focus on thrower,
ball, and own hands
• Movements are correct,
but are carried out in
slow motion
•Can predict the ball’s
flight
•Carries out preparatory
sequences to catch the
ball
•Movements are
smooth
(Kay, 1970)
Developmental Aspects:
Two-handed Catching
• This 6-year old child
is showing fear in
reaction to a thrown
ball
• Seefeldt speculates
that fear of a
projectile is learned
from earlier failures
Developmental Sequences for
Two-Handed Catching
• Arms are directly in front with elbows extended;
palms facing upward and inward
• Arms and hands attempt to secure the ball by
holding it against the chest
Stage 1
Developmental Sequences for
Two-Handed Catching
• Elbows are slightly flexed
• Arms encircle the ball against the chest
• Arm action initiated before ball contact
Stage 2
Developmental Sequences for
Two-Handed Catching
• Child prepares to receive ball with arms flexed and
extended
• Substage 1: child uses chest as first contact point
• Substage 2: child attempts to catch ball with hands
Stage 3
Developmental Sequences for
Two-Handed Catching
• Child prepares to receive the ball by flexing the
elbows and presenting the arms ahead of the
frontal plane
• Ball is caught with the hands alone
Stage 4
Developmental Sequences for
Two-Handed Catching
• Many children encounter difficulty when they are required
to move toward the object
• Mature catcher “gives” with the catch
Stage 5
Age at which 60% of boys and girls are able to perform at a specific level
Developmental Aspects:
One-handed Catching
• Little scientific evidence exists regarding
a child’s ability to catch with one hand
– Boys typically outperform girls
– Ball location is a factor
• Young children can orient hands in all
directions for a catch, but lack experience
in finger closure
– One-handed catching is less successful than
two-handed
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ball size
Ball and background color
Ball velocity
Trajectory angel
Vision and viewing time
Instruction
Knowledge and experience
Catching on the run
Catching with a glove
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Ball size
– Product oriented evaluation: Larger balls
improve young children’s catching
performance
• Not concerned with level of maturation in
catching technique
– Process oriented evaluation: Smaller balls
are more conducive to successful catching
(Isaacs, 1980)
• More mature catch
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Ball and background color
– Blue and yellow balls are caught successfully
more often then white balls
– Blue balls against white background elicit the
highest success
– For both boys and girls, using preferred color
of ball results in greater catching success
• Child can obtain more information
concerning ball’s flight
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Ball velocity
– Important in predicting direction of
projectile
– Catching performance decreases as
ball velocity increases (25 ft/s to 33
ft/s)
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Trajectory angle
– Angle of projection does not significantly
affect a child's catching ability
– On average, 44o projection angle elicits
success in catching
– Unskilled children are more successful when
ball is projected at 34o angle
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Vision and viewing time
– A slowly moving ball through space is
preferred when working with inexperienced
catchers
• Beach ball
• Whiffle ball
• Sponge ball
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Instruction
– Only one study has examined catching
instruction on one-handed catching
– 8-year-old child trained over 7 days
• Catching ability improved to the level of a
child 2 years older
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Knowledge and experience
– Knowledge of catching can influence
performance
– Procedural knowledge is higher in
nondisabled children; higher in ambulatory
disabled vs. nonambulatory disabled peers
– Declarative knowledge does not differ
significantly among the various groups
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Knowledge and experience
• “…declarative and procedural knowledge
do not develop at the same rate ……
catching experience may foster the
acquisition of procedural knowledge,
even though a deficit in declarative
knowledge may be evident.”
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Catching on the run
– It is easier to catch a ball when directed
toward the child
– Teachers/coaches should use caution when
paring up inexperienced and experienced
catchers
Factors That Influence
Catching Performance
Catching with a glove
– A glove can alter the nature of errors typically
observed in bare-handed catching
– Reduces the precision of limb-hand positioning
– Alters the temporal grasping component of the
hand closure
– Glove catching is easier as ball moves toward a
larger target and is caught over a larger surface
area
– Hand strength is important
• To squeeze glove
Striking
• A fundamental movement in which a
designated body part or some implement
is used to project an object
– Bare hand against volleyball
– Baseball ball
– Tennis racquet
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• The initial patterns in striking are similar
to those observed in throwing
– Child faces the object to be struck
– May or may not take a forward step with
homolateral leg
• Striking movements occur in anteriorposterior plane
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• Inexperienced striker • Experienced striker
– No steps taken or step
taken with homolateral
leg
– Up-down striking motion
– Little backswing
– No rotation of trunk or
hip
– Rigid arm; little wrist
snap
– Forward step with
opposite foot taken
– Full backswing
– Swings implement
horizontally
– Trunk and hip rotation
– Coordinated wrist
snap
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• Motion is posterior-anterior in direction
• Elbows are fully flexed
• Feet remain stationary
Stage 1
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• Feet are stationary or right or left foot may
receive the weight
• Unitary rotation of hip and trunk
• Bat moves in transverse plane
Stage 2
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• Shift of weight to the front-supporting foot in an
ipsilateral pattern
• Trunk rotation-derotation is decreased
• Bat is swung in an oblique-vertical plane
Stage 3
Developmental Aspects of
One-and Two-handed Striking
• Mature striking pattern
Stage 4
Age at which 60% of boys and girls are able to perform at a specific level
Kicking
• Another form of striking
• The foot is used to give impetus to the
ball
• Place kicking involves kicking a ball
from the ground or a tee
• Preparatory phase
• Force production
• Follow-through phase
Kicking
• Performer is usually near the ball
• Thigh of kicking leg moves forward
• Knee extension occurs after contact
Stage 1
Kicking
•
•
•
•
Hyperextension at hip and flexion at knee
Kicking leg moves forward with knee flexed
Arm-leg opposition occurs during kick
Force of kick usually not sufficient to move the body
forward
Stage 2
Kicking
• One or more steps taken on approach
• Kicking foot stays nears surface as it
approaches ball
• Knee begins to extend prior to contact
• Arm-leg opposition
Stage 3
Kicking
• Mature kicking pattern
• Running start
• Last step taken involves a leap step onto the support foot
Stage 4
Age at which 60% of boys and girls are able to perform at a specific level
Punting
• Punting involves striking an airborne ball
with the foot
• A difficult kicking skill
Punting
• Ball may be held in both hands as the punting foot lifts
forward and upward to push the ball
• Ball may be tossed up; ball may be bounced
• Flexion at the hip and knee from stationary start
Stage 1
Punting
•
•
•
•
Stationary start
Ball held in both hands and dropped or tossed forward
Nonsupport leg is flexed
Kicking force is more upward
Stage 2
Punting
•
•
•
•
Forward motion
Ball released forward and downward direction
Knee flexed at 90 0
Follow-through will carry punter forward
Stage 3
Punting
• Rapid approach with culminating leap
• Ball contacted at or below knee height
• Momentum of swinging leg carries the punter off the
ground
Stage 4