Age and Sex Differences in Object Control Skills for Indonesian and American Children
Syafruddin(a*), Syahrial Bakhtiar (a), Risky Syahputra (a), Ruri Famelia (a)(b)

a) Faculty of Sport Sciences, State University of Padang, Indonesia
b) Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, USA

Abstract

Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) are considered as the building block to more advanced movement patterns like sport-skills and later can be combined or modified for playing in games or sport-related activities. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD 2-object control subscale) used Indonesia and America. The development of object control skills competence along with stability during movement is a key development milestone important to the early childhood years. This study aimed to identify the differences between American and Indonesian children. The participants of this study consisted of 669 children (221 boys, 215 girls from Indonesia and 109 boys, 133 girls from America) and Two ANOVA analyses showed that on average, there was a main effect of gender on object control skills (F(1,62) = 6.82, p =.011, η2=.10), in which boys (M = 18.93) performed better than girls (M = 16.39). Yet, there was difference on object control between Indonesia (M = 38,73 %) and America (M = 40,8 %). Besides, our result showed that the effect of gender on Indonesian children^s object control skills is similar to the trends American children from previous studies, in which boys performed better on object control skills than girls, while boys and girls performed similar competence on locomotor skills. In the end, we conclude the findings would form educators, coaches, stakeholders, and policymakers to design appropriate curriculum and coaching program for Indonesian children.

Keywords: object control, test of gross motor development, fundamental motor skills

Topic: Physical Education