GROSS MOTOR COORDINATION IN ADOLESCENTS: AN INTERSPORT ANALYSIS USING THE KÖRPERKOORDINATIONS TEST FÜR KINDER

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the gross motor skills of adolescent athletes engaged in football, rowing, and wrestling.
Methods: A total of 51 adolescent athletes aged 8–14 years (age: 11.82 years, height: 151.86 cm,
weight: 48.90 kg, and body mass index (BMI): 20.65 kg/m²) voluntarily participated in the study. The
Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder (KTK) was used to assess the participants’ gross motor skills.
Results: The findings showed that rowing athletes scored significantly higher than wrestlers in total
KTK scores (KTK total), as well as in the Walking Backwards (WB) and Jumping Sideways (JS) subtests
(p<0.05). Football players were found to have higher JS and WB test scores compared to wrestlers
(p<0.05). Additionally, based on the Hopping for Height (HH) test scores, football players scored
significantly higher than rowers, while rowers scored significantly higher than football players in the
WB test (p<0.05). On the other hand, among the gross motor tests administered, no significant
differences were found between the sports branches only in the Moving Sideways (MS) test scores
(p>0.05).
Conclusions: These results indicate that different sports branches develop balance and coordination
components at varying levels, underscoring the importance for coaches to design supportive training programs that target weaker motor skills while preserving branch-specific strengths. Accordingly, educators and coaches should enrich training programs — particularly with complementary exercises involving balance, jumping, and coordination — by taking inter-branch differences into account to better support athletes’ motor development.