Free throw shooting percentage has averaged around 75% for nearly five decades. However, free throw percentages significantly increased to 79% during the 2020 spectator-less National Basketball Association season. The current study investigated if the elevated free throw shooting percentage observed during the spectator-less season has returned to…

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare acceleration outputs of the parkour-style "tic tac" action with those of the drop jump and the lay-up shot in youth basketball players. A total of 25 participants (17 boys, 13.80 ± 1.30 years of age; and eight girls, 15.00 ± 0.80 years of age) completed three trials of each action…

The purpose of this position paper is to raise awareness of intriguing interdisciplinary intersections among physical activity, motor learning/development, creativity, and cognition. A major intersection is the potential of physical activity that involves the effortful learning of novel and/or complex movement actions to elicit cognitive…

Understanding the mechanisms associated with engaging in physical activity (PA) is crucial for its promotion. The aim was to analyze the relationship between motor competence (MC) and PA and the role of physical fitness (PF). Participants were N = 1,064 children of both sexes (n = 530 girls) and 7.87 ± 1.17 years of age. MC was assessed with…

Background: Several studies have reported low adherence to World Health Organization sedentary behavior (SB) guidelines in the early years. The purpose of this review is to examine the associations between time spent in different types of SB (screen time and habitual SB) and motor competence (MC; fundamental motor skills, fine and gross motor…

Environmental characteristics of kindergartens are important for the development of kindergarten-aged children. However, knowledge of the role of kindergarten play environments in developing children's fundamental movement skills is limited. A pilot study was carried out to compare the fundamental movement skills of 3.5- to 5-year-old children in…

This study's objective was to examine whether the relationship between actual motor competence and physical activity (PA) in children is mediated by perceived motor competence (PMC) and physical activity enjoyment. The participants consisted of a total of 167 students (male = 92, female = 75) in 10 different schools in the fourth grade of primary…

Indoor and outdoor home space may support physical activity (PA) and enhance motor skills (MS). However, there is limited knowledge about how indoor and outdoor home space affect PA and MS parent-child dyads. This cross-sectional study examined whether indoor and outdoor home spaces affect PA and MS in children and their parents. MS was measured…

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of outdoor playtime, screen time, and sleep duration with ball bouncing skills in a sample of 3- to 5-year-old children. Participants were young children (N = 11,121; 48.8% female) whose parent/guardian completed the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health. The dependent variable was one…

Social functioning plays a crucial role in motor performance for children with autism spectrum disorders. In this study, we investigated whether the social abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders influence their acquisition of trained fundamental motor skills and their capacity to transfer learning to untrained fundamental motor…

Previous studies have identified patterns of coordinated control when adults combine gait and grasping. What remains unclear is whether the coordination of these two tasks differs between adolescent and adult groups. Groups of adults and adolescents were asked to walk across an instrumented gait mat in three conditions: walk forward, walk and…

The Affordances for Motor Behavior of Schoolchildren (AMBS) is a standardized self-reporting tool comprising 73 questions, organized into seven sections aiming to assess affordances in children's regular contexts. This investigation aims to establish the reliability and validity of the results obtained from the AMBS in South Indian children. The…

The theory of reinvestment in experimental psychology suggested that automated performance could be degraded if attention was internally diverted to the process of skill execution. This study examined the role of attentional focus instructions on real-time conscious motor processing (i.e., reinvestment) during tandem walking. Thirty-six young…

The purpose of this study was to determine the associations of device-based assessments of physical activity (PA) and health-related fitness (HRF) with gross motor skills (GMS) in preschool-aged children. Participants were 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 316; 49.6% female) who participated in the 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey. GMS was assessed…

Children's motor competence (MC) levels tend to be low, and the investigation of variables that facilitate skillfulness is an important concern. The socioecological model is a useful framework to explore factors that influence MC and to inform the development of targeted interventions. This cross-sectional study aimed to perform an exploratory…