Movement coordination, as a nervous parameter of muscular activity, is a foundation for developing efficiency in movements and finalising technique. It is an expression of the ability to confine processes of excitation to the proper motor centres and to stop a spilling over of excitation to other centres, which would result in one movement pattern meddling with another movement pattern. A lack of coordination is apparent, for instance, if the movement task is for the individual to move his or her arms in a sagittal plane while jumping up and down and moving the legs in a frontal plane (as in jumping jacks), and instead he or she ends up moving arms and legs both in the same plane.
Tudor Bompa believes that thinking or intelligence, functioning of the sensory organs, motor familiarity (movement erudition), and the level of progress of other movement abilities such as speed, strength, and flexibility govern an individual’s coordination. Good coordination improves an individual’s strength by engaging the muscles involved in a given task in the most proficient order, and by the timing and scale of force production. Coordination affects the speed of movement by governing the flexibility of nervous processes. Coordination can be separated into general, directed, and specific. General coordination allows a person to rapidly learn various, often complex movements and movement patterns. In sports, most (but not all) exercises increasing general coordination entail movements executed for their own sake.
The goal is to absorb the spatial and temporal form of movements. Sport-specific coordination lets the individual perform techniques in a number of circumstances slickly, precisely, and with ease. General coordination significantly influences the speed and precision of learning techniques, which is why examinations of coordination are used in selection for methodical sports.
Bibliography
- Kurz, Thomas. Science of sports training: how to plan and control training for peak performance. Island Pond, VT, U.S.A.: Stadion, 1991.
- Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. Science and practice of strength training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1995.
