title: Quantitative assessment of developmental levels in overarm throwing using wearable inertial sensing technology.
abstract: Motor proficiency in childhood has been recently recognised as a public health determinant, having a potential impact on the physical activity level and possible sedentary behaviour of the child later in life. Among fundamental motor skills, ballistic skills assessment based on in-field quantitative observations is progressively needed in the motor development community. The aim of this study was to propose an in-field quantitative approach to identify different developmental levels in overarm throwing. Fifty-eight children aged 5-10 years performed an overarm throwing task while wearing three inertial sensors located at the wrist, trunk and pelvis level and were then categorised using a developmental sequence of overarm throwing. A set of biomechanical parameters were defined and analysed using multivariate statistics to evaluate whether they can be used as developmental indicators. Trunk and pelvis angular velocities and time durations before the ball release showed increasing/decreasing trends with increasing developmental level. Significant differences between developmental level pairs were observed for selected biomechanical parameters. The results support the suitability and feasibility of objective developmental measures in ecological learning contexts, suggesting their potential supportiveness to motor learning experiences in educational and youth sports training settings.
authors.affiliation: a Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences , University of Rome "Foro Italico" , Rome , Italy.|b Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System , Aix-Marseille Université , Marseille , France.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grimpampi
authors.affiliation: a Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences , University of Rome "Foro Italico" , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Masci
authors.affiliation: a Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences , University of Rome "Foro Italico" , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.affiliation: a Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences , University of Rome "Foro Italico" , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vannozzi
mesh_terms: D001132:Arm; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D009068:Movement; D010388:Pelvis; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014953:Wrist
keywords: Motor development; ballistic skills; biomechanics; children; gyroscope