V.L. Botyaev, associate professor, Ph.D.
Surgut State Pedagogical University, Surgut

Keywords: sports qualification, coordinating abilities, perspective-prognostic models, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics.

Introduction. Development of modern sport and its prestige growing in the global community dictate the need to find ways to improve the training of athletes from sports reserve. More and more experts, scientists, trainers are inclined to believe that only really talented and gifted athletes can be successful at the present stage of development of sport. So the main goals of the sports qualification system are to search and introduce into sport such children and teenagers. 

Describing the current state of the sports qualification system, the authors [1, 4, 5] note that the qualification system of the present is often primitive and focused mainly on the assessment of the standard abilities of athletes and signs that «are on the surface» - looks, absence of medical contraindications, interest, desire to train, etc. Subjective and environmental factors are often determinative. 

The authors also point out that along with theoretical concepts being developed and empirical data accumulated the organized, science-based qualification of promising athletes, that is most often carried out in an organized way in elite sport when recruiting for national teams to participate in international competitions, is lacking. 

We can say that the need to improve the sports qualification is conditioned by a number of interrelated reasons:

– the impossibility to implement the basic principles and provisions of the theory of sports qualification and perform their functions within the currently existing organizational and methodological forms of qualification;

– the lack of science-based qualification of promising athletes in the early training phases, its implementation only in elite sport when recruiting for national teams to participate in international competitions;

– the lack of a unified point of view and a way of dealing with theoretical and methodological issues of sports qualification;

– the lack of a system approach to studying a set of indicators limiting high performance in a specific sport;

– the lack of science-based approaches to control and assessment of coordinating abilities (CA) as one of the criteria for sports qualification.

In connection with the early specialization in many sports and constantly complicating sports equipment the role of coordinating abilities (CA) gets undeniably important, which is especially significant in comprehensive coordination sports, undoubtedly including artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. The success of specialization in these sports, opportunities for improvement of technical skills are largely ensured by the high level of development of general coordinating skills, and its structural components are determined by a specific combination and dominance of different coordinating abilities depending on the kind of sport, age, skills and sports training phase.

Our proposed concept of enhancement of the sports qualification system is based on the fundamental principles and conceptual positions of comprehensive and systematic study of CA, when human body is considered as a highly organized system with its biological and environmental laws of development.

Materials and methods. Based on our long-term research in a number of comprehensive coordination sports [1, 2], we created "perspective-prognostic" models of coordination skills at initial phases of specialized, advanced specialized training and at the phases of improvement of sports skills.

Our study involved young female athletes engaged in artistic (n-18) and rhythmic gymnastics (n-23) at the initial phase of specialized training (training experience - 3-4 years). 

The diagnostic program of coordinating skills consisted of 23 and 22 tests in artistic and rhythmic gymnastics respectively. The testing program in this training phase was more focused on the assessment of basic CA, so the tests in the set were not so varied as in the subsequent training phases. The diagnostic program included locomotor tests as well as tests with the use of computer technologies that help not only objectively assess the abilities of the neuromuscular system but also to consider the mechanisms of psycho-physiological support of CA, the state of the sensory systems of the body, motor capacity of an individual as well as the features of the interaction of complex dynamic systems that ensure their manifestation. 

The purpose of this study was to identify the correspondence of young female athletes engaged in rhythmic and artistic gymnastics to model characteristics in the initial phase of specialized training.

Results and discussion. The analysis of the correspondence of coordinating skills of the young female athletes of the artistic gymnastics department to model characteristics showed (Table 1) that the majority of the athletes are of the average or above average level. At the same time it should be noted that the correspondence to the models is of a multilevel manner, it is typical of the results of individual tests as well as development indicators of individual CA. If we consider the common integrated coordinating skills in terms of their correspondence to the model values, it can be noted that it is at a considerably high level: 2 gymnasts belong to high level; 6 are above average; 7 - average; 3 - below average. There are no athletes with the low level.  

Table 1. Level of correspondence of women engaged in artistic gymnastics to perspective-prognostic models, n-18

In rhythmic gymnastics the identified correspondence levels are lower, average and below average results dominate (Table 2). However, sufficiently good results in some tests should also be noted. Analysis of the correspondence of general coordinating skills to model values also shows lower results than those of athletes engaged in artistic gymnastics: 1 gymnast is of the high level; 6 - above average; 9 - average; 5 - below average; 2 - low level.     

Table 2. Level of correspondence of rhythmic gymnastics representatives to perspective-prognostic models, n-2

Comparative analysis of the correspondence of young female athletes to model values of coordinating skills showed (Figure 1) that in artistic gymnastics the number of children corresponding to high and above average levels was 39%, while in rhythmic gymnastics only 30.5% of athletes have these levels. 16.8% and 30.5% of young female athletes have low and below average levels in artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, respectively. All this suggests that in artistic gymnastics the sports qualification is carried out more efficiently and systematically, and the training process itself is more focused on the development of special CA.

Figure 1. Comparative analysis of correspondence of rhythmic and artistic gymnastics representatives to perspective-prognostic models, %

Conclusion. The conducted pedagogical research suggests the following conclusions:

• Assessment of coordinating skills should be based on the use of a set of homogeneous tests that allow objective evaluation of the development level of individual CA as well as general coordinating skills.     
•  The proposed technology of diagnostics of CA is based on a new methodological approach that is primarily aimed at a comprehensive study of CA, with a mandatory assessment of psychophysiological functions that provide for the process of interaction of analyzers, central nervous and neuromuscular systems of an athlete. 
• Objective assessment of the coordinating skills of young and skilled athletes is provided in two directions of the study of CA: 

– locomotor tests, which can be made without using expensive equipment and additional training of the testing staff. The direction is available for practical implementation in the training process;

– test tasks using information technologies based on such modern computer programs as Researcher of the spatial and temporal properties of the person, NS Psychotest, Stabilometry, Prognosis.

• The differences in the results of individual tests suggest that a set of high levels of development of various CA contributes to the high level of coordinating skills even at the initial phase of specialized training.
• The individual profile of coordinating skills formed on the basis of perspective-prognostic models helps predict successful specialization in a specific sport and make an individual training plan based on identified spare coordinating skills.

References

1. Bal’sevich, V.K. Methodological principles of research on the problems of qualification and sports orientation / V.K. Bal’sevich // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 1980. – № 1. – P. 31–33. (In Russian)
2. Botyaev, V.L. Individual features of development of coordinating abilities of athletes of different specializations, age and qualifications / V.L. Botyaev // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2012. – № 7. P. 71–76. (In Russian)
3. Botyaev, V.L. Perspective-prognostic models of coordinating abilities in rhythmic gymnastics / V.L. Botyaev // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2013. – № 9. – P. 66–70 (In Russian)
4. Bril', M.S. Principles and methodological basis of active selection to improve sports skills: abstract of doctoral thesis (Hab.) / M.S. Bril'. – Мoscow., 1983. – 46 P. (In Russian)
5. Bulgakova, N.Zh. Sport orientation and qualification as a scientific problem / N.Zh. Bulgakova, V.A. Rumyantsev // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 1995. – № 4. – P. 21–24. (In Russian)

Corresponding author: vl_bot53@mail.ru