Ch. 13 blog: Fundamental motor skills

Walking: or upright bipedal locomotion, is a critical fundamental locomotion skill as the hands become free to explore, and consists of two phases. These two phases are the swing phase and the support phase, and makes up the gait cycle. Balance consists of two types, static and dynamic, that are essential to the development of walking. Static balance is the ability to maintain posture in a stationary position.  Dynamic balance is balance obtained when the body is in motion. At the beginning of walking, the infant is said to have a dynamic base, which is where the child's feet are widened to increase balance.  Children also have a high guard arm position which helps protect them if they fall and increases their balance.  In terms of the infants feet, they tend to have a flat footed step where the toes are pointed laterally or away from the body’s center line. As the child gains neuromuscular control and the muscles become more developed, they walk with improved balance, arms lower to side and work in opposition to the legs, and the toes point in a more forward direction. 

Figure 1. Toes pointed outward from body

Running: is sometimes referred to as the extension of walking, and consists of an alternate support phase and an airborne phase. The support phase consists of the absorption of impact by the leg, body support, and maintaining forward motion. The flight phase is where the body is projected through space by the thrust leg. Lastly, a recovery phase is achieved where the leg that thrust the body into the air (support leg) enters a period of recovery. As with walking and jumping, balance and muscular strength are needed for the development of running.

Figure 2. Body is projected through space by the thrust leg

Jumping: is different from running, in that the body is airborne from force generated by one or both legs, and the body can also land on one or both feet. Jumping can be accomplished in several ways, including hopping and leaping. To differentiate between the two, the landing of a hop will be on the same leg it propelled with while a leap would result in landing on the non-propelling leg.  Two other types of jumping are the vertical and horizontal jump. A vertical jump is when the body is going upward while horizontal is upward, as well as outward.  Jumping usually occurs in 4 different phases which include the preparatory phase, takeoff, flight, and landing. Two constraints in jumping include the strength of the individual and their ability to get their body in the air, as well as the muscular power.

Figure 3.Child displaying a vertical jump

The gallop, slide, and skip: These more complex motor patterns do not appear until after the development of the single motor skills. Gallop is the first to develop after running, and involves a forward step followed by the trailing foot. The lead foot is initially with the dominant leg, but leading with the non-preferred leg appear several years later.

            The slide is very similar to the gallop, except instead of moving forward, one moves horizontally in sliding. This skill is hard to grasp for children because the child must face a different direction from the intended movement. Finally, skipping is the most difficult, because it involves an uneven rhythmical pattern. Both step and hop must be accomplished on the same foot before alternating.

Figure 4. Child skipping

Applied Section: The fundamental locomotion skills described have some application to our future in the medical field. As healthcare providers, it is critical to understand the normal from the abnormal in order for proper diagnosis to be accomplished. Furthermore, girls typically develop the fundamental locomotion skills earlier than boys, so if a concerned mother came in with her boy not skipping at six to seven years of age, we could inform her that it is a normal occurrence. We could also prescribe her with the proper exercise module to increase her child’s locomotion skills.

It is also essential to understand the process of how each fundamental motor skill is obtained.  Working as a future physical therapist, it would be essential to understand the sequence of motor movement in a fundamental skill to teach a patient who may have a disability how to walk again.  Another example would be trying to help an athlete who has had knee surgery to rehabilitate his/her knee in the most efficient manner, so he/she could return to play as quickly as possible.  

Figure 5. Learning how to walk