Strength, running speed, agility and balance profiles of 9- to 10-year-old learners: NW-child study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the strength, running speed and agility, and balance profiles of 9- to 10-year old learners and the relation between these skills of the learners. Using a stratified random selection from 20 schools with different socio-economic backgrounds, 862 9- to 10-year-old learners (457 boys; 405 girls) were tested in four educational districts. The Bruininks-Oseretsky test of Motor-Proficiency, second edition, was used to evaluate the learners. The results showed statistical (p≤0.05) and practical (d≥0.5) significant gender differences with regard to strength, running speed and agility and balance skills. The boys preformed significantly better than the girls did in the standing long jump, push-ups, sit-ups, V-sit, shuttle run, walking heel-to-toe forward on a line, while the girls outperformed the boys in the stepping sideways over a balance beam and walking heel-to-toe forward on a line. The majority of the total group were categorised as average for strength (76.59%), agility (63.38%) and balance skills (55.85%), while 34.88% of the group showed below-average balance skills. Significant correlations (r≈0.1) were found among the different skills