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Parkour as a Donor Sport for Athletic Development in Youth Team Sports: Insights Through an Ecological Dynamics Lens
Abstract and Figures
Analyses of talent development in sport have identified that skill can be enhanced through early and continued involvement in donor sports which share affordances (opportunities for action) with a performer's main target sport. Aligning key ideas of the Athletic Skills Model and ecological dynamics theory, we propose how the sport of parkour could provide a representative and adaptive platform for developing athletic skill (e.g. coordination, timing, balance, agility, spatial awareness and muscular strength). We discuss how youth sport development programmes could be (re) designed to include parkour-style activities, in order to develop general athletic skills in affordance-rich environments. It is proposed that team sports development programmes could particularly benefit from parkour-style training since it is exploratory and adaptive nature shapes utilisation of affordances for innovative and autonomous performance by athletes. Early introduction to varied, relevant activities for development of athleticism and skill, in a diversified training programme, would provide impetus for a fundamental shift away from the early specialisation approach favoured by traditional theories of skill acquisition and expertise in sport. Traditional approaches to learning design that advocate early sport specialisation can hinder athletic development due to an overemphasis on the repetitive, drill-based nature of practice. Integrating parkour-style activities into practice could develop/maintain athleticism and promote skill transfer in an enjoyable environment in team sport athletes due to utilisation of performance-enhancing affordances and adaptive, functional, goal-directed movements. An ecological dynamic framework, in line with concepts from the Athletic Skills Model, has the potential to advance learning designs in sport based on commonality of affordances in parkour (as a donor sport) and team sports.
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... It has already been hypothesized that team sports and Parkour require similar fundamental cognitive (e.g., finding creative solutions for problem situations and decision making as well as) and motor (e.g., rapid change of direction and speed, jumping and landing) skills (13). Although team sports athletes' (TSA) (for all abbreviations see Table 1) jumping movement patterns are complex and sport-specific, there are overlaps in movement profiles and physiological key parameters with Parkour. ...
... No study has analyzed its benefits on physical fitness and motor skills compared to other popular sports. By comparing Parkour to team sports, potential gaps or overlaps in benefits could be identified, allowing athletes to cross-train effectively by selecting complementary activities (13). Due to the described similarities in motor skills between the sports, this study aims to compare motor performance between TSA and Parkour athletes. ...
... Based on PU assessments, our study supports this finding. It could be speculated that Parkour, when incorporated into cross-sport training (13) or implemented in school PE fitness programs focusing on upper body strength, could promote even greater strength gains than the team sports analyzed. Given its engaging nature, Parkour may serve as an appealing alternative to traditional team sports, particularly for children who do not enjoy competitive sports (27, 52). ...
Background: Parkour is a modern sport known for daring jumps and moves in urban environments that require exceptional motor skills and various sports- specific techniques. Although it is increasingly popular among children and adolescents, training routines in youth Parkour are still rather driven by personal beliefs and experience of coaches than by evidence.
Purpose: This study aims to analyze basic motor skills and physical fitness of youth Parkour athletes compared to team sports athletes.
Study design: Cross-sectional study with matched-pair analysis.
Methods: Seventeen youth Parkour (12.50±1.80 years) and seventeen team sports athletes (11.90 ± 1.70 years), matched for height and weight, participated in this study. Tests included static (single-leg postural sway = PS) and dynamic balance (Y-Balance test=YBT), jumping (countermovement jump=CMJ, drop jump = DJ, side-hop = SH), muscle strength ( planks, pull-ups = PU) and basic gymnastics skills (bridging = BG, handstand = HS, cartwheel = CW).
Results: The Parkour group performed significantly better in the CMJ ( p = 0.014), the anterior direction of the YBT ( p < 0.001), cartwheel performance (p = 0.019), and pull-ups (p = 0.029) when compared to the team-sports group. Moderate but non-significant differences were observed in PS for the dominant ( p = 0.12) and non-dominant leg ( p = 0.14) as well as in SH ( p = 0.06). No further significant differences were observed.
Conclusion: Children practicing Parkour demonstrated superior performances in certain parameters of motor skills and physical fitness compared to team sports athletes. The findings suggest that Parkour may contribute positively to children’s overall physical development. However, more intervention studies with a prospective study design are needed for further recommendations.
... Aligned with proposals outlined in the Athletic Skills Model and Nonlinear Pedagogy, Strafford et al. (2018) originally raised the idea that Parkour-style training as a donor sport to target physical and psychological development in team sport athletes. Originating in France, the popularity of Parkour has undergone considerable growth since the 1990sand is now practised as a competitive sport via different event formats: speed, skill and freestyle (Padulo et al., 2019). ...
... To exemplify, fluidity of movement, dynamic changes of direction, agility, acceleration and deceleration, safe landing strategies and creativity in negotiating obstacles and surfaces are abilities considered critical to athlete development and could be 'donated' by Parkour through a shared network of affordances (opportunities for action). Ideas regarding the transfer potential of overlapping fields in an affordance landscape (capturing relations between team sports and Parkour) are depicted in Overlap of performance-enhancing affordance fields between team sports and Parkour as a donor sport (Strafford et al., 2018). ...
... To examine the initial theoretical ideas outlined in initial suggestions that Parkour could act as a donor sports (Strafford et al., 2018), a mixed-methods programme of research, summarised in the section below, has been undertaken. This section provides a panoramic overview of Parkour as a donor sport via the purposeful integration of data from a series of qualitative and quantitative studies. ...
... Thus, emphasis is placed primarily on changes in state over time rather than on entirely stable states [35]. Based on these assumptions, parkour-an activity requiring performers to travel between two points as quickly and as efficiently as possible while traversing obstacles and navigating varied surfaces [36,37]been proposed as an alternative method for developing movement capabilities and agility in team sport athletes, including young basketball players [36,38]. ...
... Thus, emphasis is placed primarily on changes in state over time rather than on entirely stable states [35]. Based on these assumptions, parkour-an activity requiring performers to travel between two points as quickly and as efficiently as possible while traversing obstacles and navigating varied surfaces [36,37]been proposed as an alternative method for developing movement capabilities and agility in team sport athletes, including young basketball players [36,38]. ...
... Strafford et al. [36] propose using parkour to develop diverse movement capabilities based upon ideas from the Athletic Skills Model (ASM) [39,40], a contemporary model for athletic development that incorporates principles from the ecological dynamics framework for motor learning and behaviour. The ASM introduces the notion of donor sports, suggesting that movement skills and action capabilities developed in one sport can be transferred to another, or target sport [36,39]. ...
This study aimed to examine the effects of two different complex training protocols on physical performance in highly-trained youth basketball players. Fourteen adolescent players participated in twice-weekly sessions over eight weeks, following either the Drop Jump protocol (n = 7) or the Tic-tac protocol (n = 7), performing 1–3 sets of 8–9 exercises. Physical performance was assessed before and after the intervention using jumping tests (CMJ, squat, 10–5 hop jumps), change-of-direction speed (5-10-5), sprinting (0–20 meters), and muscular strength (isometric midthigh pull) tests. The intraclass correlation coefficient of within subjects measures was 0.95. Results showed no significant fixed effects for group or time on performance variables (p > 0.05), with greater variance attributed to measurements rather than group differences. The interindividual response to training was highly variable, contingent on the performance outcome. These findings suggest that the parkour-based Tic-tac protocol can be included in strength and conditioning programs for youth basketball players to enhance sport-specific actions. However, to improve physical performance in young team-sport athletes, it is crucial to address the individual needs of each athlete. This includes acknowledging the highly individualised responses to training stimuli.
... 85 One of the tenets of the Athletic skills model is the notion of so-called "donor sports" 86 (Wormhoudt et al., 2018). Donor sports are theorised to donate action capabilities to a target 87 sport through the utilisation of transferable physical skills and perception-action capabilities 88 (Rudd et al., 2015;Strafford et al., 2018). Through the ecological dynamics lens, the 89 performer perceives their surrounding environment in terms of their ability to act within it, 90 accounting for both the different environmental properties (e.g., surface, dimensions, objects) 91 as well as the performer's current action capabilities (e.g., skills, physical capabilities) (Witt 92 & Riley, 2014). ...
... Accordingly, the donor sport concept offers an attractive strategy to develop 93 broad both fundamental movement skills and physical characteristics in a way that the 94 performer can utilise within their chosen sport. 95 Based upon the donor sports concept, the use of parkour-style training activities has 96 been proposed as a method of developing movement skills and physical capabilities (e.g., 97 agility) that may be transferable to team sports (Strafford et al., 2018;Wormhoudt et al., 98 2018). Most pertinently, based upon traditional motor skill definitions, parkour-based actions 99 may be considered to be relatively open and outcome-oriented, with an emphasis on 100 efficiency of movement over fixed technical models (Dvorak et al., 2017;Jabnoun et al., 101 2018). ...
... Similarly, in the female cohort, a large size was found between the tic tac and the drop jump, The purpose of our study was to evaluate maximum acceleration in the parkour-style relation to agility-related qualities (Strafford et al., 2018. In particular, through the 376 ecological dynamics lens, the human body is regarded as a complex dynamical system, and 377 motor skills are considered to emerge out of the interaction between the constraints of the 378 performer's capabilities, the specific motor task, and the surrounding environment (Davids et 379 al., 2013;Witt & Riley, 2014). ...
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 while wearing a single inertial motion capture unit with a sampling frequency of 200 Hz, positioned at the lumbar spine. All data were captured in a single session, using the same test order for all participants. Maximum resultant acceleration was calculated from the raw data for each action. Using sex and maturation status as covariates, data were analyzed using a Bayesian one-way repeated-measures analysis of covariance. Results revealed the jump + sex model to be the best fitting (BF 10 = 9.22 × 10 ⁵ ). Post hoc comparisons revealed that the tic tac produced greater maximal acceleration than the drop jump and the lay-up. These findings provide a biomechanical basis for the potential use of the parkour tic tac as an activity that could be used within the athletic development of youth basketball players.
... In addition, according to Williams et al. (2021), PA is a training that can be done indoors or outdoors, such as in a sports gymnasium or a city park. Based on previous studies, PA was not less effective than other types of training because PA can improve several essential aspects in athletes, such as physical fitness (Dvorak et al., 2017;Grosprêtre & El Khattabi, 2022) and fundamental movement skills (Strafford et al., 2018). A recent study reported that using PA improved the quality of physical fitness and enjoyment among basketball athletes during training sessions (Williams et al., 2023). ...
This study aims to investigate the effects parkour activity (PA) on physical fitness and grit for youth soccer athletes. True experimental research with a random control trial design for 12 weeks was adopted in this study. There were 78 male youth soccer athletes involved in the experimental (PA, n = 39) and control group (CG, n = 39) groups. The PA intervention program was carried out 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Pre and post intervention, tests were carried out to assess physical fitness and grit. The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed that there were significant effects of time, group and time*group interaction on physical fitness (all, p < 0.05), and grit (all, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, Student's paired t-test results shows that the PA group experienced significant differences scores between pre- and post-test in physical fitness (all, p < 0.05) and grit (all, p < 0.05), but in CG the differences were significant only occurred in sprint test 30m (p < 0.05), illinois agility test (p < 0.05), hand grip test (p < 0.05) and there was no other difference, including grit (p > 0.05). In conclusion, we highlight that PA is the valid method to promote physical fitness and grit in youth soccer athletes.
Keywords: Parkour Activity, Physical Fitness, Grit, Youth
... Hablamos de valores que los docentes quieren transmitir durante las clases en las que introducen este contenido, fomentando así la cooperación entre el alumnado (Montoro & Baena, 2015). La práctica de este deporte puede favorecer el desarrollo de las capacidades y habilidades físicas de los individuos, entre las que destacan la coordinación, el equilibrio, la agilidad, la conciencia espacial o la fuerza muscular (Strafford et al., 2018). Nos permite trabajar los desplazamientos, los saltos, los giros, las volteretas o los equilibrios, que se integran dentro de las habilidades motrices básicas que autores como Sánchez Bañuelos (1986) ya incluían en sus clasificaciones. ...
El Parkour es una disciplina deportiva que, introducida dentro del currículo educativo, ofrece una herramienta atractiva y motivante desde la que potenciar el desarrollo de la coordinación motriz del alumnado. El presente estudio planteó dos objetivos: 1. diseñar y validar un Test Indoor de Parkour para ser usado en el aula de Educación Física y 2. implementar un programa de intervención de este deporte y comprobar su impacto en un grupo amplio de estudiantes, siguiendo un diseño pre-experimental. Accedieron a participar un total de 146 estudiantes de 1º de la ESO (12 y 14 años). Los resultados muestran: en primer lugar, una estabilidad en el Test Indoor de Parkour, lo que indica que es válido y fiable y, en segundo lugar, una mejora significativa en los tiempos invertidos entre el pre-test y el post-test (p ≤ 0,05) tras el programa de intervención, lo que muestra que fue exitoso. Haciendo un análisis de los resultados obtenidos en relación al género, y según los datos de la ANOVA, descubrimos una evolución similar entre chicas y chicos, aunque son estos últimos los que marcan tiempos significativamente mejores en ambas pruebas. Los datos recogidos confirmarían la validez y fiabilidad del instrumento, pudiendo ser aplicado en otros centros educativos que opten por introducir este tipo de habilidades en su programación educativa, facilitando una herramienta con la que poder evaluar los progresos del alumnado. Además, el programa de intervención basado en el contenido del Parkour logró mejorar la respuesta motriz de los estudiantes, tanto de chicos como de chicas, lo que muestra la bondad de este contenido. Palabras clave: Test, Parkour, Género, Educación física, habilidades motrices. Abstract. Parkour is a sporting discipline that, when introduced into the educational curriculum, offers an attractive and motivating tool to promote the development of motor coordination in students. This study proposed two objectives: 1. to design and validate an Indoor Parkour Test to be used in the Physical Education classroom and 2. to implement an intervention program of this sport and check its impact on a large group of students, following a pre-experimental design. A total of 146 students in the 1st year of ESO, aged between 12 and 14, agreed to participate. The results show: firstly, a stability in the Indoor Parkour Test, which shows that it is valid and reliable and, secondly, a significant improvement in the times invested between the pre-test and the post-test (p ≤ 0.05) after the intervention program, which shows that it was successful. By analysing the results obtained in relation to gender, and according to the ANOVA data, we discovered a similar evolution between girls and boys, although it is the latter who mark significantly better times in both tests. The data collected would confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument, which could be implemented in other educational centres that choose to introduce this type of skills in their educational programming, providing a tool to evaluate students’ progress. In addition, the intervention program based on the content of Parkour managed to improve the motor response of the students, both boys and girls, which shows the goodness of this content. Keywords: Test, Parkour, Gender, Physical education, Motor skills.
... Additionally, the training conducted using this strategy focused on promoting self-organization and the capacity to find solutions to emergent situations within the system, concepts supported by the ecological dynamics approach (Raiola et al., 2022). This approach has been mentioned in several studies as an interesting perspective for motor learning (Guignard et al., 2020;Araujo et al., 2020;Strafford et al., 2018;Seifert et al., 2017). ...
In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on developing motor skills through an ecological dynamics approach. This approach integrates insights from various disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and physiology to understand the relationship between individuals and their environment. However, traditional sports training methods often adopt a reductionist viewpoint, focusing solely on technical aspects. Recognizing this discrepancy, there is a need to translate the ecological dynamics approach into practical strategies for enhancing tactical behaviors. To address this, we have developed a targeted approach called the "complex method" for collaborative-opposition sports, drawing inspiration from ecological dynamics principles. Two groups of 8 Under-11 years old basketball players underwent 40 minutes of practice in 2 sessions per week over 5 weeks. One group practiced offensive skills using the complex method, while the other utilized the traditional method. Both groups were assessed before and after the intervention using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument. The results demonstrated that in the interaction between groups, the group trained with the complex method showed significant improvements (p<.05) in decision-making and support variables as compared to the group that practiced with the traditional method. Similarly, in the interaction between period of time (pre-test and post-test), the evaluation revealed that the complex method-trained group exhibited significant improvements (p<.05) across all measured variables. In contrast, the group trained with the traditional method only made progress in decision-making, skill execution, and base. In conclusion, the variability and dynamic environment provided by the complex method can offer valuable strategies for learning an offensive system in basketball.
Building a special fatigue index for advanced parkour gymnasts
College of Physical Education & Sports Sciences /
University of Mosul
omar.20ssp@student.uomoaul.edu.iq
Omar Haitham Hazem Al-
Shammari
College of Physical Education & Sports Sciences /
University of Mosul
dr.tobelali9@uomosul.edu.iq
Ali Hussein Mohammed
Received Date (25/09/2022) Accepted Date (03/11/2022)
DOI: (10.33899/rjss.2022.175896)
ABSTRACT
The aim of the search is to:
- Building a special fatigue index test for advanced parkour gymnasts.
-Establishing standards and standards for testing the fatigue index of advanced parkour gymnasts.
The descriptive approach was used by the survey method, and the research community
consisted of advanced parkour gymnastics players in the city of Mosul, who numbered
(65) players, and the research sample was (50) players, representing (77%) of the total
research community. The researcher built the fatigue index test for parkour gymnastics by
following the scientific procedures, and the statistical bag (Spss) was used, and the
following conclusions were reached:
The fatigue index test for advanced parkour gymnasts was built and proved its
effectiveness.
-Standards and standards have been set for the test that has been built.
The researcher recommended:
-Using the Special Fatigue Index test in evaluating the anaerobic ability, and the fatigue
index for advanced parkour gymnasts.
-Emphasis on researchers and trainers when measuring the specific fatigue index in
parkour gymnastics on measuring the heart rate and the level of lactate in the blood.
Keywords : fatigue index, parkour gymnastics, advanced students.
El Parkour es una disciplina que se unió con su experiencia de deporte extremo para proporcionar una filosofía de vida que fomente un enfoque integral en la vida, superar los obstáculos urbanos de forma eficaz y fluida, sorprender con el uso del cuerpo y fomentar la creatividad y la capacidad de resolución de problemas. Se originó en las calles de Francia y desde entonces se ha extendido por todo el mundo entre los jóvenes. Utilizando el cuerpo de forma inesperada y fomentando la creatividad y la resolución de problemas, el parkour implica superar obstáculos en las ciudades de forma eficiente y fluida. La mejora de la resistencia cardiovascular, el fortalecimiento de la fuerza muscular funcional, la forja de relaciones sociales significativas y un sentido de pertenencias, la expresión de emociones fuertes y desafíos constantes, la mejora de la autoexpresión y la individualidad son algunos de los beneficios del Parkour. Ayudando a Los jóvenes a superar obstáculos tanto en la calle como en su vida personal, el parkour es una disciplina que puede ofrecer una perspectiva única sobre la vida en el siglo XXI.
Available behaviors are determined by the fit between features of the individual and reciprocal features of the environment. Beyond some critical boundary certain behaviors become impossible causing sudden transitions from one movement pattern to another. Parkour athletes have developed multiple movement patterns to deal with their momentum during landing. We were interested in whether drop distance would cause a sudden transition between a two-footed (precision) landing and a load-distributing roll and whether the transition height could be predicted by dynamic and geometric characteristics of individual subjects. Kinematics and ground reaction forces were measured as Parkour athletes stepped off a box from heights that were incrementally increased or decreased from 0.6 to 2.3 m. Individuals were more likely to roll from higher drops; those with greater body mass and less explosive leg power, were more likely to transition to a roll landing at a lower height. At some height a two-footed landing is no longer feasible but for some athletes this height was well within the maximum drop height used in this study. During low drops the primary task constraint of managing momentum could be achieved with either a precision landing or a roll. This meant that participants were free to select their preferred landing strategy, which was only partially influenced by the physical demands of the task. However, athletes with greater leg power appeared capable of managing impulse absorption through a leg mediated strategy up to a greater drop height.
Background
Many children become less active as they age which increases their risk of developing of chronic conditions. Traditional forms of physical activity may not be optimal for them. There is a need for more attractive form of training to try and increase physical activity levels and improve the fitness of children. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of performing parkour training on measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, strength and body composition in adolescents.
Methods
Using a single-group design, 12 males (age 16 ± 2 yr, weight = 69 ± 12 kg, height = 177 ± 7 cm) took part in a controlled indoor parkour intervention 2 days/week for 10 weeks. Participants underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), strength testing and body composition assessment before and after the exercise intervention.
Results
Peak oxygen uptake (O 2 peak) significantly increased from 50.0 ± 4.9 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ to 52.5 ± 4.3 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ . Oxygen uptake at a standardized submaximal (10 km·h ⁻¹ ) running speed (O 210km/h ) significantly decreased from 37.7 ± 1.6 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ to 36.7 ± 1.9 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ . Oxygen uptake at anaerobic treshold (O 2 @AT) significantly increased from 38.4 ± 4.3 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ to 40.5 ± 3.9 ml·min ⁻¹ ·kg ⁻¹ , heart rate at anaerobic treshold (HR@AT) and running speed at anaerobic threshold. We also found a significant increase in standing broad jump from 234 ± 29 cm to 251 ± 23 cm and bent arm hang from 34 ± 24 s to 37 ± 24 s.
Conclusion
Parkour training is an effective intervention to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and strength in adolescent males. Parkour is a viable form of physical activity to improve the health and fitness of children and adolescents.
Background
Late-stage rehabilitation programs often incorporate ‘sport-specific’ demands, but may not optimally simulate the in-game volume or intensity of such activities as sprinting, cutting, jumping, and lateral movement. Objective
The aim of this review was to characterize, quantify, and compare straight-line running and multi-directional demands during sport competition. Data SourcesA systematic review of PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases was conducted. Study Eligibility CriteriaStudies that reported time-motion analysis data on straight-line running, accelerations/decelerations, activity changes, jumping, cutting, or lateral movement over the course of an entire competition in a multi-directional sport (soccer, basketball, lacrosse, handball, field hockey, futsal, volleyball) were included. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods
Data was organized based on sport, age level, and sex and descriptive statistics of the frequency, intensity, time, and volume of the characteristics of running and multi-directional demands were extracted from each study. ResultsEighty-one studies were included in the review (n = 47 soccer, n = 11 basketball, n = 9 handball, n = 7 field hockey, n = 3 futsal, n = 4 volleyball). Variability of sport demand data was found across sports, sexes, and age levels. Specifically, soccer and field hockey demanded the most volume of running, while basketball required the highest ratio of high-intensity running to sprinting. Athletes change activity between 500 and 3000 times over the course of a competition, or once every 2–4 s. Studies of soccer reported the most frequent cutting (up to 800 per game), while studies of basketball reported the highest frequency of lateral movement (up to 450 per game). Basketball (42–56 per game), handball (up to 90 per game), and volleyball (up to 35 per game) were found to require the most jumping. LimitationsThese data may provide an incomplete view of an athlete’s straight-line running load, considering that only competition and not practice data was provided. Conclusions
Considerable variability exists in the demands of straight-line running and multi-directional demands across sports, competition levels, and sexes, indicating the need for sports medicine clinicians to design future rehabilitation programs with improved specificity (including the type of activity and dosage) to these demands.
An evolutionary psycho-biological perspective on competitiveness dynamics is presented, focusing on continuous behavioral co-adaptations to constraints that arise in performance environments. We suggest that an athlete’s behavioral dynamics are constrained by circumstances of competing for the availability of resources, which once obtained offer possibilities for performance success. This defines the influence of the athlete-environment relationship on competitiveness. Constraining factors in performance include proximity to target areas in team sports and the number of other competitors in a location. By pushing the athlete beyond existing limits, competitiveness enhances opportunities for co-adaptation, innovation and creativity, which can lead individuals toward different performance solutions to achieve the same performance goal. Underpinned by an ecological dynamics framework we examine whether competitiveness is a crucial feature to succeed in team sports. Our focus is on intra-team competitiveness, concerning the capacity of individuals within a team to become perceptually attuned to affordances in a given performance context which can increase their likelihood of success. This conceptualization implies a re-consideration of the concept of competitiveness, not as an inherited trait or entity to be acquired, but rather theorizing it as a functional performer-environment relationship that needs to be explored, developed, enhanced and maintained in team games training programs.
Parkour landing techniques differ from performances of other sports as they are practiced in urban spaces with uncontrolled surfaces and drop heights. Due to the relatively young age of the sport, few studies have tried to understand how practitioners – called traceurs – succeed at performing these dynamic performances. In this paper, we focus on the precision landing technique, which has a fundamental role in most of the Parkour motions. We analyzed the lower limbs motion of traceurs executing the precision landings from two different heights and compared their performance with untrained participants. We found that traceurs perform a soft landing extending its duration twice than untrained participants do , increasing the range of motion and generating more mechanical energy to dissipate the impact. In the Parkour technique, the knee accounted for half of the energy dissipated. The peak joint torques and power were reduced in the Parkour technique. The increase of the landing height did not modify the proportion of individual joint mechanical energy contribution for dissipation. Our results could be used to enhance Parkour performance, and to understand new ways in which sport practitioners can land in order to prevent injuries.
Introduction: In team sports like football, athlete development emerges through the continuous experience and practice of varied activities under variations in task and environmental constraints. Such variations in environmental and task constraints provide variable practice opportunities and experiences that promote an enrichment of the learning process through enhanced transfer, and the discovery of individual capabilities through diverse, functional play activities. Objectives: In this commentary, we discuss theoretical insights that suggest how the sport of futsal can provide a useful basis for supporting the transfer of skills to performance in association football. Conclusions: The complementary nature of the two sports can be exploited for skill acquisition in early diversification through emphasising selected performance–based affordances, behavioral correspondence between sports, and self-evident advances towards task goals. By taking up futsal at an early stage, future football players will have the opportunity to explore futsal tactical behaviors that will enrich their developing perceptual-motor landscape. Practial Implications: To ensure a complementary transfer of capabilities between the sports, coaching interventions should highlight informational constraints to improve the coupling of perception and action in players in futsal and association football and promote the utilization of relevant affordances available in practice task designs.
The study examined developmental participation patterns of international top athletes. Pairs of 83 international medallists (including 38 Olympic/World Champions) and 83 non-medallists were matched by sport, age and gender. A questionnaire recorded their volume of organised (coach-led) practice/training in their respective main sport and in other sports through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and also involvement in non-organised (peer-led) sport activity. Analyses revealed that the medallists started practice/training in their main sport at an older age than non-medallists and accumulated slightly, but significantly less main-sport practice/training through childhood/adolescence. But they participated in more practice/training in other sports, particularly before entering their main sport. The medallists also maintained engagement in other sports over more years and specialised later than the non-medallists. Other sports engaged in were mostly unrelated to an athlete’s main sport. The results were robust across different types of sports. The observations are reflected against tenets of the “deliberate practice” and “Developmental Model of Sport Participation” frameworks. Early diversified practice and learning experiences are discussed relative to the expansion of youngsters’ potential for future long-term learning. In elite athletes, interaction of sport-specific practice/training with early other-sports participation mostly facilitates long-term attainment of international senior medals.