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This study aimed to capture the multidimensionality of adolescents' motivation in the physical education (PE) setting, within self-determination theory, by employing self-organizing maps (SOM) analysis. Particularly, it examined the topological relationships among students' basic psychological needs satisfaction, their perception of more or less self-determined motivation and the affective and behavioural consequences in PE lessons across several sociodemographic variables. A nationally representative sample of 3029 Spanish students (51% girls), aged 12 to 18 years, was surveyed. SOM mapped well-defined students' profiles that embraced interrelatedly a considerable number of students' motivational characteristics. Four target profiles, out of 10, were explored. The first two profiles, highly motivated to be active girls and boys, mainly experienced senses of self-determination, but also controlled reasons for participating in PE lessons, high perceived competence, relatedness and autonomy fulfilment, perceived exerted effort and satisfaction. However, the reluctance to be physically active presented two gendered motivational profiles. Barely motivated to be active girls showed the lowest levels of self-determined motivation, including introjected regulation, low perceptions of competence, autonomy, relatedness, and dissatisfaction in PE. Vaguely motivated to be active boys revealed that despite their perceptions of competence the neglect of the other two psychological needs was more likely to determine a controlled motivation and, consequently, maladaptive outcomes. SOM proved to be a more robust and accurate clustering technique than the k-means algorithm and helped to portray and visualize the complexity behind the decision to become an active person considering the motivational processes in PE. Implications are provided for practitioners.

Objective: To determine which type of feedback (visual, verbal, or both combined) facilitates to a greater extent the learning of a specific skill (passing in volleyball). Methods: Three groups of students between 14 and 15 years of age belonging to the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education in a Spanish public high school (n = 58) were randomly assigned a type of feedback implemented in the part of the syllabus dedicated to volleyball. The students' knowledge, motor performance, accuracy, and self-perception about the action were evaluated before and after the intervention and enjoyment afterwards. Results: All the groups obtained improvements in all the variables studied (p < 0.05); the verbal and visual feedback group was the one that obtained greater improvements, showing also a greater enjoyment than the visual feedback group. Conclusions: It has been found that the use of the combination of verbal and visual feedback is most recommended for learning a specific skill, such as passing in volleyball.

This study analyzed the development of postural control and the cost of the cognitive task on postural control in the bipedal standing position during childhood. Sixty-six normally developed children divided into four groups by age participated in this study. Single (ST) and dual-tasks (DT) were conducted in the bipedal standing position with eyes open. DT included carrying out a cognitive task consisting of a modified Stroop Test. A Wii Balance Board was used to measure postural sway data. The results showed effects of age and condition on postural control (p < 0.01). The interaction of age x condition showed that in DT, 4-year-old children presented higher ellipse area than 5, 6, 7-year-olds (p < 0.01). Moreover, an effect of age on cognitive performance was found (p < 0.001). In conclusion, four-year old children present lower postural control than 5, 6, 7-year-olds. The youngest children gave fewer correct answers than the 6 and 7-year-olds.

This manuscript aims to study the reliability of different variables related to performance and acceleration during the golf putt in players with medium-to-high handicaps and to determine the number of attempts necessary to find reliable values for these variables. Eight males and two females [55.67 (13.64) years, 78.4 (11.4) kg, 1.75 (7.95) m] participated in two experimental sessions separated by one week. In these sessions, they performed three blocks of 10 putts trying to stop the golf ball at the center of a dartboard painted 2 m away. The performance was assessed depending on the area of the dartboard where the ball stopped, and the acceleration signals were acquired using the Xsens Dot. The results showed that to evaluate performance, 18 trials were necessary to reach reliable values using the 0–10 scoring system, and 28 trials were necessary for the 0–3 scoring system. Regarding the reliability of the accelerometer-related variables, 7 attempts were necessary to obtain good-to-excellent reliability values for most of the variables. It could be concluded that putting in medium-to-high handicap golf players can be reliably measured using the abovementioned protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of the use of reduced feedback frequencies on motor learning remain controversial in the scientific literature. At present, there is still controversy about the guidance hypothesis, with some works supporting it and others contradicting it. To shed light on this topic, an experiment was conducted with four groups, each with different feedback frequencies (0%, 33%, 67%, and 100%), which were evaluated three times (pre-test, post-test, and retention) during a postural control task. In addition, we tested whether there was a transfer in performance to another similar task involving postural control. As a result, only the 67% feedback group showed an improvement in their task performance in the post-test and retention evaluations. Nevertheless, neither group showed differences in motor transfer performance compared to another postural control task. In conclusion, the findings of this paper corroborate the hypothesis of guidance and suggest that the use of a reduced frequency of 67% is a better option for improving motor learning than options that offer feedback at a lower frequency, at all trials or not at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To profile the participants using a system of self-organizing maps (SOM) based on their motor and cognitive performance during a dual-task version of the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment (Cognitive CAMSA). Methods: A total of 169 secondary school students (39.3% girls) volunteered to participate. The original CAMSA, cognitive CAMSA, the Corsi and Digit Span tests were used to assess (a) motor competence, (b) motor competence with cognitive load, and (c) cognitive performance, respectively. SOMs and the k-means clustering algorithm were used to establish the adolescents’ dual-task performance profiles. Results: Including decision making based on verbal and visual cues in the original CAMSA significantly increased the participants’ total scores but also the time required to complete the test, while the skill score remained unchanged. However, not all the participants showed changes in their performance in the same direction during the cognitive CAMSA. Person-centered analyses by SOMs and k-means clustering identified six performance profiles with variations in the cognitive, motor skill, and time scores (H5 = 146.15, H5 = 102.68, and H5 = 108.07, respectively; all p < 0.01). Conclusion: The cognitive CAMSA was shown to be a feasible field-motor test for assessing motor competence with a cognitive load in an ecological setting. Some of the profiles identified in the SOM approach represented adolescents with similar motor and cognitive performance in dual-task or single-task contexts, although other participants obtained high motor competence in single and dual-tasking while their cognitive performance declined or rose more in dual-task than in single task situations. The cognitive CAMSA emerges as a tool of great potential, applicable in educational and sports environments, to know subjects’ characteristics and try to individualize the interventions accordingly with their dual-task profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The popularity of 29-inch mountain bike wheels for cross-country races has been increasing since 2010, but scientific studies supporting their benefits are very scarce. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the different bicycle version (i.e. 26 vs 29-inch) in terrain with varying inclinations. Our results indicated that for full laps, the 29" version was slightly faster than 26" version (15.92 vs. 15.74 km/h; p <.001). No differences in the power outputs for these two conditions were reported (p >.05), but a higher mean heart rate (p =.009) was obtained for the riders using the bike with the 29" wheels (167.84 vs. 167.19 bpm; p <.015). Similar results were obtained for the uphill and flat sections, however, there were no differences (p >.05) between the bikes during the downhill sections for any of the studied variables. In conclusion, the 29" version performed better on the flat or uphill terrain but their use also resulted in increased rider heart rates compared to those using the 26"-inch version; no differences were reported for the downhill terrain. This information is relevant to MTB cyclists and could help them to improve their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical literacy is crucial for children's appropriate development and physical, social and mental health. In a school setting, class-based physical activity (PA) interventions are considered to be appropriate programs to foster PA participation and cognitive development. The purpose of this project, named the Active Learning in PHYsical Literacy (ALPHYL) study, was to describe a multicomponent classroom-based physically-active learning randomised control trial (RCT) in primary school children. The main purpose was to promote children's physical literacy, academic achievement and cognitive function. The ALPHYL study is mainly based on physical literacy, active school models and the Supportive, Active, Autonomous, Fair and Enjoyable principles. The ALPHYL is an 8–10-week RCT to be conducted in six primary schools (12 classes) in Valencia (Spain) and its metropolitan area. Schools will be randomly assigned to the intervention or waiting-list control group. After a 30 h in-person training course for teachers and weekly meetings in the three months of resource preparation, the ALPHYL intervention will be conducted in physical education (PE) and non-PE lessons by teachers. The intervention consists of at least three daily sessions of physically active learning in addition to model-based PE teaching. Its feasibility will be evaluated weekly according to the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework. To assess its effectiveness, a pre-test, post-test and retention (8–10 weeks post-intervention) with primary outcomes (i.e., PA level, motor competence, perceived motor competence and PL, motivation, perceived social support, academic achievement and cognitive function), secondary outcomes and covariates will be collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper describes a study on postural stability and cognitive function according to the difficulty increment of a working memory task (WMT) and age group in adolescents. One hundred and twenty-three participants (13-16 years) performed single and dual tasks in a bipedal standing position while barefoot. Four trials were conducted, consisting of single and dual tasks in three progressively difficult WMT conditions (i.e., 3-, 5-, and 7-digit sequences). Friedman's analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to test the effect of the WMT and age group, respectively. Both the WMT and age were found to affect performance (p < .01). As the cognitive requirements increased, the adolescents were not able to maintain their performance in both balance and cognition, while postural control and cognition were found to evolve with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]