Motor Competence and Physical Fitness in Adolescents

In Brief Purpose: In this study we examined the relationship between physical fitness and motor competence in adolescents aged 15 to 16 years. Methods: A sample of 94 adolescents participated in the study. To test motor competence, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 was used. Physical fitness was assessed using the following test items: standing broad jump, 20-m dash, reduced Cooper test, and sit-and-reach test. Results: The results revealed a significant but weak relationship (0.248) between motor competence and physical fitness for the whole sample. More specifically, the correlation between the 2 variables was significant for girls (0.353) but not for boys (0.248). Conclusions: The relatively weak relationship between motor competence and physical fitness suggests that motor competence might not be critical in adolescents to maintain their physical fitness. A weak relationship between motor competence and physical fitness caused the authors to suggest that motor competence might not be critical in adolescence to maintain physical fitness.