Core Stabilization Training and Fundamental Motor Skills in Children

The right establishment of specialized and sports movements results from proper motor development in childhood.
The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of a period of core stabilization training on the fundamental motor skills in children aged four to six.
From the kindergartens of Shiraz, Iran, 31 children aged four to six were selected using purposive sampling method, and randomly divided into two groups: 16 children in the control and 15 children in the core stabilization training groups. After implementation of the test of gross motor development-2 (TGMD-2) as pre-test, the experimental group performed core stabilization training for six weeks (four sessions per week) and overall for 24 sessions of 45 minutes; in the same period, the control group did the normal activities of kindergartens. When the experimental group had finished its training, both groups were evaluated again in the post-test stage by TGMD-2. It is a process-oriented test that measures the development of the fundamental motor skills of 3 - 10-year-old children in locomotor skills and object control categories and its results can be interpreted by both norm- and criterion-referenced methods. To describe the biographical characteristics of the participants, and the resultant data of the test, mean and standard deviation statistics were used and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was employed to evaluate the normal distribution of data. At the level of statistical inference, univariate analysis of covariance was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software, version 21. The significance level was P ≤ 0.5.
Regarding pre-test scores as covariate variable, the intervention of core stabilization training in locomotor skills and object control skills indicated a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (P = 0.006 and P = 0.011, respectively).
It was concluded that the core stabilization training can be used as a valuable intervention leading to the development of fundamental motor skills. Furthermore, such training has more effects on object control skills than locomotor skills.