Task-Specific Intervention with Children Reduces Movement Problems

This investigation examined the effects of eight sessions of intensive teaching of motor tasks on children with poor coordination. The 24 children, aged 5 to 9 years, were grouped by age and assigned to 1 of 10 teachers. These teachers were then randomly assigned to either Task Treatment Group 1 (TTG1) to teach both the overarm throw and hopping to their allocated children or Task Treatment Group 2 (TTG2) to teach target kicking and the volleyball bounce and catch. Each group acted as the other group’s control. Repeated measures ANOVA of pretest-posttest scores showed that intensive teaching of the overarm throw, target kicking, and the bounce-and-catch task resulted in significant gains for the respective groups.