Net and Wall Sports in Child Development

From UBC Wiki

Defining the concept

Net and Wall sports are varied in their nature (Hopper, 2003). Many net and wall sports are formalized and played in competitive contexts, while at the same time being played in less formal manners all around the world. For example, Tennis is a hugely popular sport worldwide and creates millions of dollars in revenue every year based on elite level tournaments (Dorish, 2019) On the other hand, games like "Wall ball" or a game of pick-up Volleyball using a make-shift net, are played all the time on playgrounds and in parks across the world. Many games can also be adapted to suit the demands of different walls and nets, or even the lack of availability of a net/wall (Hopper, 2003). In both informal and formal contexts we see benefits from participation in these types of sports.

  • Benefits include cognitive improvements as well as physical skill development, including skills considered to be functionally necessary; the benefits have been shown to include children that are differently abled and who are in clinical populations, such as those with Type 1 Diabetes or children that are overweight/obese (Slutzky, Carly B. & Sandra D. Simpkins, 2009; Krombholz, H., 2013; S. Donaldson, J. Ronan, & R. Kevin., 2006; Valerio, G., Spagnuolo, M. I., Lombardi, F., Spadaro, R., Siano, M., & Franzese, A., 2007).
    Full Tennis court, featuring woman mid swing with a racket
    A full tennis court, you can see here some of the movements involved in the sport. Tennis is a net sport and is usually played individually or in pairs.

Net and Wall sports include:

  • Sport using external tools such as tennis, badminton, pickleball and table tennis, squash, racketball.
    • As well as body oriented games like volleyball, footvolley, headis, roundnet or sepak takraw, where players hit the ball with the body, head or feet. (Wikipedia contributors, 2020).
    • Beach Volleyball court at dusk.

      Beach Volleyball court at dusk.

    • A friendly game of doubles ping pong

      A friendly game of doubles ping pong

    • An athlete mid swing with a badminton racket!

      An athlete mid swing with a badminton racket!

    These sports are obviously varied in their play styles and strategies, however they all involve tactical components, motor skill development, and speed/agility challenges that can be improved upon over time. Moreover to “realize play” the children should understand the game itself enough to “modify the complexity of the game” as they see fit in various situations (Hopper, 2003). This aspect of play is an inherent benefit of well facilitated play in that it teaches accountability as well as creativity and leadership.

    Children play because it is fun; it is simply an enjoyable activity. The motivation to play and learn is intrinsic in children (Bredin, 2020). Thus the facilitation of specific games is beneficial but in a sense supplementary to other unstructured play. The purpose of facilitating Net and Wall sports is to increase practice time with fundamental motor skills (listed in the section below) and cognitive skills (eg. tactical awareness, strategy, etc.) (Hopper, 2003). There are many benefits to play; these benefits and more generally those associated with physical activity, are shown to hold true for various clinical populations as well as healthy children. (Slutzky et al. 2009; Krombholz, 2013; Donaldson et al., 2006; Valerio et al., 2007). Healthy play is an important part of childhood development and is associated with many developmental milestone markers throughout infancy and childhood. (Bredin, 2020)

    Considering all of this; net and wall sports can play an important role in early childhood development as well as create short and long term cognitive and physical benefits for the participants.

    Role in childhood development

    Early sport participation in formal and informal contexts have a wide range of motor and cognitive benefits (Slutzky et al. 2009; Krombholz, 2013; Donaldson et al., 2006; Bredin, 2020). This has been shown to hold true in clinical populations as well, and the benefits of exercise and play don't end with childhood, physical exercise is now being prescribed as a preventative tool to keep people healthy for longer and avoid many kinds of diseases and ailments (Warburton, 2020).

    “These [functional motor] skills  are the foundation for being physically active  and developing more complex motor skills” (Wick et al., 2017).

    The benefits of physical activity are touted throughout life, not just during childhood, however it is especially important and effective to create good habits in younger humans (when someone starts early and continues to play sport in a team context they are more likely to have higher self esteem and a more rigid concept of self Additionally some evidence shows that sport participation depends on factors such as initial onset of activity as well as socioeconomic status (Slutzky et al. 2009; Cohen KE, Morgan PJ, Plotnikoff RC, Callister R, Lubans DR., 2014). Wall and Net sports include many skills that facilitate the acquisition of proficiency in fundamental movement skills (FMS) (Wick, K., Leeger-Aschmann, C. S., Monn, N. D., Radtke, T., Ott, L. V., Rebholz, C. E., Cruz, S., Gerber, N., Schmutz, E. A., Puder, J. J., Munsch, S., Kakebeeke, T. H., Jenni, O. G., Granacher, U., & Kriemler, S., 2017).

    Developing Skills

    In light of this it is important to encourage sport participation in youth to facilitate child development; and there is evidence to suggest that playing games can be beneficial in developing certain functional motor skills that may be of high value (Bredin, 2020).

    Small girl swinging a tennis racket
    A child swinging a tennis racket. This type of play could be important in learning cognitive and physical skills during rotation as well as object manipulation and coordination.
    Activities involved in Wall and Net sport
    • Jumping
    • Hopping
    • Arm swings
    • Agility
    • Hand- Eye Coordination
    • Object manipulation
    • Anticipation
    • Strategy
      • Example: The 4 R's of Hopper's "Tactical Awareness"
    • Team Communication
    • Spacial awareness
    • Movement in multiple planes

    These games are also associated strongly with various forms of Strategic thinking, especially in the team sport context. For example Tim Hopper from the University of Victoria lays out an easy to understand conceptual framework to see the importance of strategy and what he calls “Tactical Awareness”. He identifies “the 4 R’s of tactical awareness”, see his article here for a more in depth look (Hooper, 2003)[1].  In this sense Net and Wall games provide a space to think creatively within the parameters of the game; to respond with an action and to then recover from the experience and learn from it. In terms of childhood development this is important because the skills of critical thinking, motor coordination and effective decision making are all practiced.

    • The 4 R's of Tactical Awareness
      • READ
      • RESPOND
      • REACT
      • RECOVER

    Along with the potential cognitive benefits of this play there are physical benefits associated with this specific type of play. Wall and Net sports are uniquely positioned to include personal (varied styles of game play and movement types) and environmental constraints (different styles of court or ball), and in many cases even task constraints (external equipment like a racket) as well. This indicates that these type of games and play carry the potential to be beneficial in that they facilitate practice dealing with all three Constraint types in Newell's model of constraints (adapted into infographic for by Dr. Bredin of the University of British Columbia in 2017) (Bredin, 2017). This could be important because the skills acquired within each constraint type could be carried over into future sport participation in those more specific constraint contexts.

    Contemporary issues

    Contemporary issues surrounding this topic mainly fall under sport participation; decline in willingness to play group sport, as well as to play in public at all have decreased due to the current state of the COVID-19 virus. Alternatively, certain net sports like (outdoor) tennis could be considered “COVID Safe” in that by the nature of the game you are distanced and rarely touch the same equipment. These considerations are very individual in nature and must continue to be informed by the latest scientific data.

    Practical Applications

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    Summary

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    References

    1. Baker, J., Horton, S., Robertson-Wilson, J., & Wall, M. (2003). Nurturing sport expertise: factors influencing the development of elite athlete. Journal of sports science & medicine, 2(1), 1–9.
    2. Bradley, J., Keane, F. and Crawford, S. (2013), School Sport and Academic Achievement. Journal of School Health, 83: 8-13. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00741.x
    3. Bredin, S. (2020). Module 1-4: Play. KIN355 Movement Experiences for Young Children , School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia.
    4. Burgess, D. J., & Naughton, G. A. (2010). Talent Development in Adolescent Team Sports: A Review, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 5(1), 103-116. Retrieved Oct 21, 2020, from https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsp/5/1/article-p103.xml
    5. Cohen KE, Morgan PJ, Plotnikoff RC, Callister R, Lubans DR., (2014) Fundamental movement skills and physical activity among children living in low-income communities: a cross-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2014 Apr 8;11(1):49. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-11-49. PMID: 24708604; PMCID: PMC4234279.
    6. Donaldson, Sarah J., Ronan, Kevin R. (2006). THE EFFECTS OF SPORTS PARTICIPATION ON YOUNG ADOLESCENTS' EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. Adolescence . Summer2006, Vol. 41 Issue 162, p369-389. 21p.
    7. Hopper, T. (2003). Four Rs for tactical awareness: Applying game performance assessment in net/wall games. Teaching Elementary Physical Education, 14(2), 16-21.
    8. Dorish, Joe. (2019). “How Much Money Will the US Open Tennis Tournament Generate in 2019?” Unbalanced, Vocal Media, vocal.media/unbalanced/how-much-money-will-the-us-open-tennis-tournament-generate-in-2019.
    9. Krombholz, H. (2013). Motor and Cognitive Performance of Overweight Preschool Children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 116(1), 40–57. https://doi.org/10.2466/22.25.PMS.116.1.40-57
    10. Slutzky, Carly B., and Sandra D. Simpkins. (2009). “The Link between Children's Sport Participation and Self-Esteem: Exploring the Mediating Role of Sport Self-Concept.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 381–389., doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.09.006.
    11. Valerio, G., Spagnuolo, M. I., Lombardi, F., Spadaro, R., Siano, M., & Franzese, A. (2007). Physical activity and sports participation in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Nutrition, metabolism and cardiovascular diseases, 17(5), 376-382
    12. P. Werner, R. Thorpe & D. Bunker (1996). Teaching Games for Understanding: Evolution of a Model, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 67:1, 28-33, DOI: 10.1080/07303084.1996.10607176
    13. Warburton, D. (2020). Modules 3-5: Exercise Physiology. KIN 483A: Advanced Seminar in Systems Biology, Exercise and Health,School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia.
    14. Wick, K., Leeger-Aschmann, C. S., Monn, N. D., Radtke, T., Ott, L. V., Rebholz, C. E., Cruz, S., Gerber, N., Schmutz, E. A., Puder, J. J., Munsch, S., Kakebeeke, T. H., Jenni, O. G., Granacher, U., & Kriemler, S. (2017). Interventions to promote fundamental movement skills in childcare and kindergarten: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 47(10), 2045–2068.
    15. Wikipedia contributors. (2020). Net sport. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:44, October 21, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Net_sport&oldid=972047787
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