DIFFERENCES IN MOTOR SKILLS IN GIRLS ENGAGED IN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS AND MODERN DANCE

Abstract

Background. The following study attempts to compare the motor skills of younger school-aged female children (7-9 and 9-11) who attended rhythmic gymnastics classes and those who participated in modern dance classes. Material and methods. The study involved 30 girls aged 7-9 and 35 aged 9-11 who attended rhythmic gymnastics, as well as 36 female children aged 7-9 and 40 aged 9-11 doing modern dance. Sixteen tests of motor skills were conducted to assess the coordination of the whole body, lower-limb explosive strength, lower-limb flexibility, repetitive bodily movement and its frequency. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was applied for determining quantitive differences between the two groups of girls. Results. The results of the research showed a significant difference in most motor variables at the level of statistical significance of P=0.05 between the two categories of examinees, especially in the older age group (9-11), showcasing better results in the girls engaged in rhythmic gymnastics. Conclusions. The findings may help to understand the specific requirements concerning girls' competing in rhythmic gymnastics, as well as their everyday training process, which is considerably more demanding than that of modern dance performers, which may however ultimately result in higher-quality motor skills, especially of coordination, static balance and flexibility.