PhD, Associate Professor L.M. Bezhentseva
National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk

 Keywords: aesthetic gymnastics, motor skills, underage athletes, education and training process, active games.

 Background. Preschool age is commonly known to be a life period when an individual’s health foundation is laid. It is in this age that the musculoskeletal system and movement culture are being intensively built up along with the harmonised body growth process and active development of functional capacities [1]. Therefore, a high priority needs to be given to the physical education models and tools that not only facilitate the underage body improvement process but are also highly productive in the educational and cultural domains. Aesthetic gymnastics presently considered among the most promising tools that have been increasingly popular for the last few years. It is a new and virtually unexplored sport discipline that combines rhythmic gymnastics, couple/ group aerobics, dancing and specific technical tools with musical illustrations to facilitate the movement sequences being streamlined, harmonised and flavoured with elegance, harmony, freedom and multicoloured emotions [2].

Objective of the study was to rate benefits of the newly designed aesthetic gymnastic toolkit for the junior female athletes’ motor skills building process.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was performed at Olympia Aesthetic Gymnastics Club of Tomsk city in the 2016-17 year. Subject to the study were 30 underage (5-6 years old) female beginner gymnasts equally split up into Study Group (n=15) and Reference Group (n=15). The SG and RG were composed based on the prior tests to equalise both of the groups by the physical fitness rates, motor skills and physical qualities.

The RG was trained as required by the valid standard program and practical guidelines; and the SG was trained under the new aesthetic gymnastics based model (of our design) with a high priority given to special active games to facilitate the motor skills and physical abilities building process.

Study results and discussion. The study data generated in the fact-finding stage of the educational process experiment showed that most of the junior gymnasts (67%) failed in the speed-strength, strength and coordination test exercises. Based on the prior test data, we developed and implemented in the education process the aesthetic gymnastics based education and training model with a special emphasis on the active games to facilitate the learning process and physical progress of the subjects.

The junior athletes’ technical training toolkit included the following practices: stylized body conditioning practices; a variety of special walking and running practices; spring- and wave-like plasticity-developing exercises critical for the individual performance style formation with a high priority given to the modern aesthetic gymnastics tools.

Furthermore, the new model prioritises the musicality and fantasy development components and cultivates rhythmic sensations, culture and ability to harmonise bodily movements with musical illustrations, with the progress in this domain facilitated by special creative tools including musical and rhythmic practices, musical games etc.

The training sessions were dominated by the special group practices to cultivate perceptions of the reference points and lines of the artistic space, timing and pacing skills, arrangement and rearrangement patterns, feel of a partner and spatial orientation instincts.

The above group training practices were designed to give the highest priority to active games, stylized conditioning practices performed in couples, small groups and teams in synchronous and asynchronous formats, on the spot and on the move, and with the pace and line variations and controls.

In the core techniques mastering process, we applied a variety of special practices to develop plasticity and muscular tonus control skills i.e. the ability to deliberately and rhythmically strain and relax muscle groups. The practices included sets of spring- and wave-like swinging exercises, choreographic exercises, scripted role games and creative tasks, plus the sets of special aesthetic gymnastic elements ranked by the difficulty levels with Groups A and B.

The core combinations were designed to build up the short etude performance skills in the trainees with a special emphasis on the musical illustrations being harmonised with different dancing styles to develop widely variable complex coordination patterns.

In addition, the main part of each training session was preceded by special active games geared to master and develop certain motor skills, abilities and coordination qualities including balancing skills, spatial coordination skills, timing and pacing abilities etc.

Having analysed the physical progress test data of the SG versus RG (see Table 1 hereunder), we found SG training model being beneficial as verified by the significant intergroup differences, particularly in flexibility rates of the hip joints and backbone and static balancing skills.

 Table 1. Junior gymnasts’ physical progress test data: SG versus RG

 References

1. Lemesheva L.S. Formirovanie osanki i kompleksnoe razvitie sposobnostey detey 5-6 let sredstvami khudozhestvennoy gimnastiki. Avtoref. dis. kand. ped. nauk [Posture building and complex development of abilities of 5-6 year-olds using rhythmic gymnastics. PhD diss. abstract]. Khabarovsk, 2000, 24 p.

2. E.S. Inozemtseva, E.G. Khatskaleva. Elite female gymnasts special motor qualities required for group exercise performance success in rhythmic gymnastics. Teoriya i praktika fiz. Kultury, 2016, no. 10, pp. 88-90.

 Corresponding author: delja3@yandex.ru

 Abstract

Objective of the study was to rate benefits of a new aesthetic gymnastics toolkit applied to develop motor skills in underage female athletes. Experimental work under the study was performed at Olympia Aesthetic Gymnastics Club in Tomsk in the 2016-17 year. Subject to the study were 30 underage (5-6 years old) female beginner gymnasts split up into Study Group (n=15) and Reference Group (n=15). The RG was trained as required by the valid standard program and practical guidelines; and the SG was trained under a new aesthetic gymnastics based model (of our design) with a high priority given to special active games to facilitate the motor skills and physical abilities building process.

The experimental aesthetic gymnastics based model was found beneficial for the underage athletes’ motor skills development process.