Toe Grip Functionality as a Prerequisite of Vertical Jumping Skills in Children: A Longitudinal Study of Preschool Motor Development.

Abstract

The capacity to execute vertical jumps is an important motor skill that constitutes a basic requirement not only for many athletic activities but also for coping with everyday demands. As a relatively complex motor pattern, jumping develops considerably during the preschool years. Interestingly, the available literature on prerequisites for the vertical jump to develop is scarce, with only a few studies investigating the role of foot development in children's changing jumping skills. The present study aims to shed light on the role of foot development in vertical jumping skills of preschoolers. The assessment of relevant aspects of motor development in a group of 463 children at four annual measurement points (mean age at first measurement, t1: 3.49 ± 0.26 years) provided the basis for the present longitudinal study of toe grip functionality in relation to the capacity to execute vertical jumps. A series of multilevel models were fitted to the data to predict children's jumping skills as measured by means of a standardized motor development test at each time point. Independent of the influences of age and body mass index, toe grip functionality as a proxy for the strength and fine motor capacities of the toes was demonstrated to be a significant predictor, both longitudinally and concurrently, of children's jumping skills at each of four measurement points. Establishing toe grip functionality at an early age in childhood as a predictor of children's later jumping skills paves the way for the design and development of intervention approaches targeting these domains of motor development.