The factor structure of physical and motor fitness of 12-year-old children while playing basketball

Abstract

Background: This article presents the results of an educational experiment in which 148 children of 12 years of age from different regions of Ukraine participated. The aim of the study was to analyse the factor structure of the physical fitness of 12-year-old children while playing basketball. Materials and methods: analysis and systematization of scientific and methodological publications, educational research methods, mathematical statistics method. The parametric Student’s t-test was applied to the samples that followed the law of normal distribution; the nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test was used for the samples that did not follow the law of normal distribution. Results of the study: The principal aspect of the study was to test various coordination abilities of 12-year-old children while playing basketball. We presented research data on the relationship and interdependence of motor qualities in 12- year-old children as an integrated dynamic system. By implementing factorial and correlation analyses, the factors were revealed that reflected the structure of pupils' physical fitness. Among the overall factors in the groups of boys, we studied: “physical and coordination abilities” with a 68.0 % contribution to the total dispersion; “throwing accuracy and endurance”, which explained 10 % the total sample variance; the factor with the least contribution to the total variance “restructuring of the actions under particular conditions, speed and strength abilities” explained 7.5 % of the total sample variance. Conclusions: The distribution of factors confirms the assumption that the development of physical abilities is a multifaceted process, which allows to develop any particular physical quality without influencing others.