Everything you need to know about Coordination Training [Ultimate Fitness Series Part 5]

Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the ultimate fitness series.

After delving into the realms of strength, endurance, speed, and agility over the past few months, today we explore the fifth and often overlooked component: coordination.

Coordination tends to take a back seat in discussions, perhaps because it’s not as visibly apparent as other fitness aspects.

Yet, it plays a crucial role in athletic performance, particularly in fine motor sports.

The execution of a movement—the technique employed—not only dictates its effectiveness but also influences the energy expended and the longevity of performing that movement without injury.

With this brief introduction, let’s begin by gaining a deeper understanding of this vital fitness component.

Definition

Coordinative skills fall within the category of motor skills primarily governed by neurophysiological mechanisms.

They represent a specialized performance demand necessitating a prolonged learning and training process to execute specific techniques, closely intertwined with the development of regulatory semi-automatic processes.

A distinction exists between coordinative skills and motor skills in terms of their generalization and training methodologies.

Both are positioned along a continuum ranging from general to specific skills.

Yet, they share similarities regarding the demands placed on movement control, regulation, and trainability.

However, conceptualizing these coordinative abilities presents challenges due to the ambiguity surrounding their breadth or specificity.

There are various derivatives of coordinative abilities, encompassing a diverse array of skills.

Coordinative demands are categorized into empirically inductive and theoretically deductive requirements.

Empirically inductive aspects encompass what is commonly understood as coordinative skills, relating to sport-specific demands ascertainable through motor tests.

Theoretically deductive aspects pertain to an information-theoretical approach involving the reception, processing, perception, and anticipation of stimuli within the sporting context.

A common categorization of coordinative abilities includes: coupling, differentiation, balance, orientation, rhythmization, reaction, and conversion abilities.

Different sports prioritize varying combinations of these skills, depending on their specific demands.

Moreover, within each skill category, there are further subdivisions based on the requirements of the task at hand.

These requirements encompass visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, vestibular, and balance aspects.

Particularly in high-pressure situations, such as precision, time constraints, complexity, situational factors, force, and load, coordinative demands intensify.

Diagnosing coordinative abilities often involves employing comprehensive tests.

These tests typically necessitate complex reactions or decisions based on visual or auditory stimuli.

Additionally, they may require proficiency in executing intricate motor skills.

Training

Now, let’s delve into the intriguing realm of coordination skill training.

The fundamental principle underlying coordination training is to engage in exercises that challenge the trainee’s coordination abilities.

This includes executing new or unfamiliar movements, as well as complex and intricate ones.

These exercises may involve a series of movement variations and combinations, pushing the boundaries of information processing to optimize training outcomes.

Additionally, simple skills can be integrated with diverse sensory stimuli and pressure conditions to create coordinative tasks of varying complexity.

Drawing from our earlier definition of coordinative skills, let’s explore an example of training that targets the five fundamental coordinative skills.

For kinaesthetic differentiation, tasks like target throwing are invaluable.

Also completing complex bouncing and dribbling skills and catching a ball, as well as proficiency in throwing and catching in general can help a log.

To enhance spatial orientation skills, one can incorporate moving targets in sports activities or running specific patterns in a designated area.

Alternatively, activities involving color recognition on the floor can provide effective spatial orientation training.

Understanding the concept of balance is relatively straightforward—it involves maintaining stability while navigating unstable surfaces to prevent falling.

To develop reaction skills, one can engage in activities like sprinting or executing simple motor movements upon receiving an auditory, visual, or tactile cue.

Rhythmization ability can be honed using tools such as running ladders or floor patterns designed to be traversed in specific sequences.

Interestingly, moderate complexity skills tend to offer the highest trainability.

Skills of very low or very high complexity pose challenges in terms of effective training.

Both chronological age and discipline orientation serve as significant factors in coordination training.

In competitive sports, coordination training is integrated functionally through technique enhancement.

This entails refining and adapting skills, which can be supplemented with additional coordination-focused training.

Moreover, there’s a strong rationale for incorporating preventive and recreational sports activities into coordination training regimens.

Hope I could help. If you enjoyed the article or if you have any questions or comments please let me know down below.

Nick