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The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Turkish children. A total of 255 children aged 5–10 years (131 girls and 124 boys) participated in this study. One week later, a random subsample (n = 40) was implemented the scale again for test–retest reliability. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the Turkish version of the scale and calculated the omega (ω) internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to ascertain reliabilities of the subscales. The confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit index values for the model with 13 items indicating a similar factor structure to the original scale’s two-factor structure (χ ²/df = 1.56; root mean square error of approximation  = .048; Tucker–Lewis index  = .97; comparative-fit index  = .97). The test–retest reliabilities were excellent for the perceived locomotor (ICC = .95) and object control (ICC = .93) skills. An adequate internal consistency coefficient was found for locomotor (ω = 0.69) and object control (ω = 0.82) skills. Subsequent analyses supported the construct, metric, partial scalar and strict invariance of responses to the scale as a function of sex. Overall, the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence has acceptable psychometric properties and can be confidently used in research or practice to assess Turkish children’s perceived movement skill competence.

This study examined the effect of time of day on immediate recall of motor skills (i.e., tactical behaviors in basketball) from different external visualizations. First-year students from a public university in sports science (novice practitioners, 18.96 ± 0.57 years) were quasi-randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: video modeling by experts, a sequential-with-tracing presentation of pictures, or a sequential-without-tracing presentation of pictures. Morning and late afternoon sessions were conducted involving study phases and immediate-recall tests (i.e., comprehension and game performance tests). Oral temperature and mood states were also measured at both times of day. The results revealed that participants exhibited better recall performances in the morning, irrespective of the visualization format used. At both time of day, tactical behaviors were better recalled from video modeling rather than the two sequential presentations of pictures. In addition, providing the learner with a permanent visual trace of the previous states improves the immediate recall of tactical skills from a sequential presentation of pictures, at both time of day. Furthermore, morning sessions resulted in lower oral temperature, lower negative mood, and higher positive mood, compared with afternoon sessions. Implications for using external visualizations aimed at the acquisition of motor skills, particularly tactical behaviors, are discussed.

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 schools in the central district of Isparta Province, Turkey, during the 2020–2021 academic year. Multiple parallel mediation analysis was used to examine the mediation role in the analysis of the data, and regression analysis based on the bootstrapping method was performed. As a result of the research, it was seen that PMC had a full mediating role between actual motor competence and PA (b = 0.003, 95% confidence interval [0.002, 0.094]). On the other hand, it was determined that PA enjoyment did not have a mediating role in this relationship (b = 0.001, 95% confidence interval [−0.002, 0.005]). The total indirect effect was not significant (b = 0.005, 95% confidence interval [−0.000, 0.012]). The multiple mediation analysis showed that PMC accounted for 23.2% of the total effect of actual motor competence on PA. In conclusion, the findings show that PMC is an important variable in participation in PA. Therefore, PMC should be considered a key outcome in physical education.

This study examines the effectiveness of a simultaneous intervention in kindergarten and home to improve ball skills in children. Two kindergartens in Ibaraki, Japan, were divided into intervention (N = 98, mean age = 5.5 [0.6] years) and control groups (N = 88, mean age = 5.6 [0.6] years). The intervention was for 4 weeks. Parents received emails with video URLs for four ball activities once a week, and they undertook the activities introduced in the video at home with their children. Before the intervention, a 60-min workshop was held for kindergarten teachers. Ball skills (distance thrown and percentage of ball catches) were assessed pre- and postintervention. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis were used to compare the groups and explore the factors related to the improvement of ball skills. As a result, although throwing skills did not change significantly in both groups, there was an increase in the frequency of ball activity at home and perceived change of batting skills, both of which were associated with postthrowing skills. Catching skills improved significantly only in the intervention group; however, no significant factors related to the improvement of these skills were found. Our study demonstrates that simultaneous intervention in kindergarten and home may contribute to improve catching skills over a short period of time.

Gender stereotype threat is a sociocultural variable that has received significant attention over the past two decades. We explored whether presenting a task as a practical and challenging activity would reduce the negative impact of implicit activation of gender stereotype threat on motor learning in adolescent girls. Forty-five adolescent girls (M _age ± SD: 13.24 ± 1.06) participated in the study and were asked to throw a tennis ball toward a circular target using their nondominant hand. They were asked to perform five throws as an initial assessment and then were randomly assigned to three groups: IS/CH (i.e., implicit stereotype threat activation and framing the task as a challenge), IS/TH (i.e., implicit stereotype threat activation and framing the task as a threat), and the control (with no instructions). In the IS/CH and IS/TH groups, the participants performed the acquisition phase (five blocks of 10 trials) in the presence of a male evaluator. We used verbal instructions to frame the task as a practical and challenging activity (i.e., learning this task might be a big help in physical education classes in school because it improves throwing skills, and it will help improve control over the nondominant arm which is important in daily activities) and/or threat (i.e., show how good you are on this type of task, and based on your scores, we will be able to measure your natural ability at throwing tasks) before the acquisition phase. One day after the acquisition phase, participants were asked to participate in the retention (10 throws) and transfer tests (10 throws from a distance of 6.5 m). Our findings demonstrated that participants in the control group were able to achieve more effective learning compared with participants in the IS/TH and IS/CH groups. Possible reasons for these results were discussed.

The complexity of interactions in team sports requires players to have excellent technical skills. The purpose of this study was to longitudinally investigate the predictive value of motor competence (MC) on soccer-specific skills development. Participants were n = 79 boys, aged between 5.89 and 14.63 years at baseline followed for 3 consecutive years. MC was assessed with Körperkoordination Test für Kinder, and soccer-specific skills were assessed with soccer wall-volley, soccer dribble, juggling, and shuttle run with a ball. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate developmental trajectories of proficiency in soccer-specific skills. The final model shows that soccer-specific skills proficiency significantly improved, and that MC was a significant predictor of this improvement. For every point increase in MC, the change in soccer-specific skills proficiency improved to 0.03 z scores each year. In conclusion, MC is a predictor of specific soccer skills.