Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Striking With an Implement
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
Striking with an implement is classified as a manipulative skill, which is the “basic motor skill that involve the control of objects to receive, exert force, or maintain control over an object while moving, usually with the hands or the feet” (Bredin, 2020, Module 5, pg. 29). Some examples of manipulative skills are catching, throwing, kicking, striking, dribbling and bouncing (Bredin, 2020, Module 5, pg. 29). Striking an implement is a skill where a child uses their hand or an object to hit another object away from them (Ketcheson, Hauck & Ulrich, 2016). There are several ways that children can strike an object such as overhand, underhand and a sidearm strike (Haywood & Getchel, 2018). Some everyday examples of children striking an implement are striking a large ball with a wide paddle, hitting sticks on a drum, or whacking a piñata at a birthday party. Baseball, volleyball, golf, hockey, and tennis are a few examples of sports that revolve around striking implements. The motor pattern for striking is complex and involves the whole body, which includes a series of movement from legs, trunk, and arms (Havmoeller, Thomsen & Lemcke, 2019). There are certain levels of mastery in human development such as emerging, developing, acquired and accomplished (Bredin, 2020). Mastery of manipulative skills affords children to learn how “to move with greater efficiency and control” (Bredin, 2020, Module 5, pg. 36). Essentially, the more a child practices striking an implement the more proficient that child will be in that specific skill.
During the early years of development, manipulative skills should focus on establishing the basic understanding of human movement and the ability to solve motor problems (Bredin, 2020). This will afford children to develop a strong foundation of fundamental movement, which allows children to experience different forms of movement and participate in a variety of physical activities (Chen, Hammond-Bennett, & Hypnar, 2017). Early child educators and teachers need to understand the importance of the development of manipulative skills since it is linked to cognitive development (Hollett, Sluder, Taunton & Howard-Shaughnessy, 2016). Thus, teachers should encourage integrated physical education programs with manipulative skills, such as striking an implement, because it will increase children’s creativity and memory (Hollett et al., 2016). Several years of practice with manipulative skills, such as striking with an implement, will lead to mastery of this skill. Thus, children are able to learn basic specialized skills that can be transferred to other manipulative skills (Chen et al., 2017). For example, skills that are used to strike a volley-ball may transfer over to the game of tennis since these sports utilize similar manipulative skills.
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Consideratios
Striking with an implement is one of the most difficult motor skills to attain for children since it requires perceptual judgement (Haywood & Getchel, 2018). For this reason, it is necessary for teachers to adapt their lesson plans in order to meet the children’s stage of development. Essentially, “children will learn skills as they are ready, when the interaction of constraints changes in a way that makes the skill possible for them (Gagen, & Getchell, 2006, pg. 232). Thus, teachers and coaches can manipulate constraints, so that the child can facilitate change in one of their developing motors skills (Gagen, & Getchell, 2006).
Healthy development of striking an implement starts off at the emerging level. The early characteristics of development of striking an implement looks unskilled with a chopping motion (Rudd, Barnett, Butson, Farrow, Berry, & Polman, 2015). In regards to early sidearm striking, there is a presence of a vertical swing with elbow extension while the legs and trunk have little movement (Haywood & Getchel, 2018). Proficient sidearm striking is when the child establishes a sideways preparatory stance, differentiated trunk rotation and a horizontal swing with the elbows extended before contact (Haywood & Getchel, 2018). Additionally, the grip of the implement changes from the “power grip” to the “shake hand grip” (Haywood & Getchel, 2018).
Another way of contacting an implement is by using the overarm strike. Early forearm striking is seen to have limited trunk rotation, a collapsed elbow and possessing little lag (Rudd et al., 2015). Proficient overarm striking is characterized to have full trunk rotation with the elbow being up and flexed (Rudd et al., 2015). The movement is seen as being sequential. Possessing a wide stance, differentiated trunk rotation, and swinging through a full range of motion are all part of the chain of movements that occur to produce the greatest force possible when striking an object (Haywood & Getchel, 2018).
Once children can strike an implement, they are able to participate in a varied physical play environment such as badminton, tennis, hockey, etcetera. Play allows the child to develop their physical, social, emotional, intellectual and creative skills (Hewes, 2006). Participating in games that allow the child to strike an object afford the child with opportunities to physically challenges themselves and gain physical strength, coordination, balance and body awareness (Yogman, Garner, Hutchinson, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2018). Physical play forces motor pathways to fire, which explains how neural pathways are created (Bredin, 2020). Physical activity facilitates behavioural regulation capabilities, which integrates cognitive processes such as attention and memory retention (Bredin, 2020). Physical play reaps so many health and motor benefits for young children, which is why it is so important to encourage children to play today!
Striking an implement can develop several levels of socialization such as solitary play, associative play and co-operative play (Bredin, 2020). These types of play allow the child to develop organizational skill and teaches children how to communicate with each other (Bredin, 2020). Striking an object can also relate to how children play with toys. Teachers and coach must keep in mind that children need developmentally appropriate toys otherwise children will not be able to utilize those toys for the indented purpose (Bredin, 2020). Toys play a vital role in the development of children because they help facilitate the emergence of motor milestones and encourage the development of new skills (Healey & Mendelsohn, 2019).
Some important contemporary issues related to manipulative skills are that there has been a spike in the exposure of technology. Research shows that reduction in cognition and physical activity are linked to the use of technology in children, which propose severe negative health outcomes (Healey & Mendelsohn, 2019). Over several decades, obesity in children has exponentially grown due to the increase in screen time (Healey & Mendelsohn, 2019). This will result in an increase risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes and hypertension as children develop (Bredin, 2020).
Practical Applications
Of the three fundamental skills (non-locomotor, locomotor, and manipulative), striking with an implement allows for large developmental affordances at the manipulative level (Bredin, 2020). One of the best ways to facilitate the learning of these skills in children is through gameplay and activities. The following text will provide examples of activities that can be implemented in an educational setting for the emerging and developing developmental progressions of movement.
Activity #1: Bocce Ball
At the emerging level of development for this skill (around 1st grade), children are expected to be able to both project and receive a variety of objects using an implement (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, n.d.). Difficulties at this stage include: body positioning in relation to the object, lack of weight transfer, force production being limited to elbow usage, and limited eye contact with the object preventing a full follow-through (Scoilnet, n.d.) As contact with an object using implement is still highly difficult at this level, it is suggested that implementation of objects be taught using different sized implements in a stationary position (Scoilnet, n.d.). One of the most well-known games around the world is called ‘bocce ball’, and involves playing against an opponent with the goal of rolling your ball(s) the closest to a separate target ball (or object). Typically, there are four balls per team, meaning that either one player gets 4 chances, or 4 players get one chance per team. The versatility of this game also means that it can be played on multiple terrains in multiple locations (i.e. indoor out outdoor). The game can be modified a variety of ways, whether it be placing the target ball or object on top of a hill, nearby, far to the left, around an obstacle, etcetera. For the emerging child, bocce ball provides a great introduction to force production from a stationary position that often requires a follow-through movement.
Activity #2: Tennis Ball- Distance and Accuracy Game
In the developing stage of manipulative motor skills, children typically aged 7-8 begin to display more consistency in terms of force and accuracy when striking a stationary object (Scoilnet, n.d.). At this level, children have adopted a more appropriate stance (i.e. sideways when striking a ball using an object such as a bat or a racket), and are beginning to incorporate concepts such as weight transfer and more full-body rotation (not just elbow movement) into their skills (Scoilnet, n.d.) In the ‘Tennis Ball Distance Competition’ activity, children can initiate their movement by either tossing a tennis ball up to themselves or bouncing it off of the ground and proceeding to hit the ball with a racket as far away as possible. Materials required for this activity include tennis balls and at least one racket of any sort. This activity can be performed in an indoor setting, such as a gymnasium, or any outdoor setting (weather permitting). In another variation of this activity, the instruction can command the children on which direction to hit the ball (to the left, in the middle, or to the right). If the objective of tossing to oneself is too difficult, the teacher may wish to provide an easy toss to each child, or have the children work in partners if enough resources are available. By maximizing distance, children learn to use momentum from their whole body to send the object as far as possible, with a larger emphasis on timing and technique (something that is still lacking at the developing stage)(Scoilnet, n.d.). The directional component of the activity will also evolve each child’s schema in providing accurate and spatially intentional movements. At this age, competition is a possible option for the activity; however, educators suggest that in the learning of these skills, individual differences be celebrated and respected rather than challenged (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, n.d.).
As mentioned earlier, striking with implementation skills are largely transferrable, suggesting that the enhancement of skills using the object mentioned above, bocce balls, tennis balls, rackets...) will flow over into other similar activities. Since perceptual judgment is one of the limiting factors towards the development of striking with manipulative skills, educators will need to be cautious of the level of difficulty of their activities and be flexible when it comes to allowing for the modifications listed.
Summary
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References
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Bredin, S (2020). Module 5: Sensory Perception. Kin 355 Movement Experiences for Young Children, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia
Chen, W., Hammond-Bennett, A., & Hypnar, A. (2017). Examination of motor skill competency in students: Evidence-based physical education curriculum. BCM Public Health, 17(1), 222-8. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4105-2
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Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. (n.d.) Theme: Games - Manipulative Skills: Projecting & Receiving with Implements (1-3). Retrieved November 8, 2020, from https://www.gov.nl.ca/education/files/k12_curriculum_guides_physed_prim_elem_11.pdf
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Ketcheson, L., Hauck, J., & Ulrich, D. (2016;2017). The effects of an early motor skill intervention on motor skills, levels of physical activity, and socialization in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 21(4), 481-492. doi:10.1177/1362361316650611
Rudd, J. R., Barnett, L. M., Butson, M. L., Farrow, D., Berry, J., & Polman, R. C. J. (2015). Fundamental movement skills are more then run, throw and catch: The role of stability skills. PloS One, 10(10), e0140224-e0140224. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140224
Scoilnet. (n.d.) Teaching Points for Striking with an Implement. Retrieved November 8, 2020, from https://www.scoilnet.ie/uploads/resources/21899/21622.pdf
Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M. (2018). The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in younger children. Pediatrics (Evanston), 142(3), e20182058. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2058