WHAT IS COORDINATION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION? - ARTE - 2025

The coordination in physical education has to do with the ability of the athlete or performer to perform movements that allow the correct technical execution of a particular exercise or routine.

Expanding the concept, coordination is the physical ability of the human body to mobilize or move synchronously, through ordered movements of the muscles and the skeleton.

Coordination implies the intentionality of the performer to perform the movement, in addition to synchrony and synergy. This means that the movement is carried out by the person at will, planning it in advance and with the active participation of several muscles that intervene to carry it out.

Importance of coordination in physical education

In physical education, coordination is exercised partially or in stages that can then be connected until a correct motor execution is achieved.

Coordination is thus a successive chain of ordered and structured movements that allow the technical execution of a sport or activity.

To achieve this, in addition to a good physical condition, a good cognitive development of the subject is very important, since it should not be forgotten that all conscious and intentional movement of the body obeys a signal that has previously been sent by the brain.

Knowing this, it can then be said that coordination is a brain-motor mechanism. But the cerebellum is also involved, which is the organ that regulates sensory information and coordinates and organizes it with the stimuli emitted by the brain. This joint work results in the fine motor skills necessary for good coordination.

A movement is coordinated when it meets the criteria of harmony, economy, precision and efficiency.

Types of coordination

There are several types of coordination depending on the organs or parts of the body involved:

Segmental eye coordination

It has to do with the movements of certain specific areas of the body, such as arms or legs, related to objects such as balls, discs, javelins or other implements.

All these movements occur after the sense of sight has captured a previous stimulus that provokes the relevant signal in the brain for the muscle to move in a particular way.

We then speak of motor eye coordination, which is subdivided into:

- General dynamic coordination

In this case, the synchronized movements involve the muscles of all (or almost all) of the body, being important to achieve the correct sequence between muscle contraction and relaxation to achieve the goal.

For them the proper functioning of the central nervous system is essential. Examples of this type of coordination are found in swimming, synchronized swimming, track racing, gymnastics, and so on.

When a specific group of muscles is involved. This type of coordination is subdivided into:

1. Pedal eye coordination: also called pedic eye coordination, it is one in which the legs intervene and their relationship with what the eye sees. The best example of this type of coordination is soccer.
2. Manual ocular coordination: in which the fine motor skills of the hands and fingers and their relationship with what the eye sees intervenes. Sports such as basketball, tennis, volleyball, among others, are located in this segment. It can be subdivided in turn in: eye-foot / hand coordination and eye-head coordination.

- Intermuscular coordination

It refers to the correct intervention of all the muscles involved in the movement.

- Intramuscular coordination

It has to do with the ability of each muscle to contract and relax effectively for proper movement.

Necessary aspects for correct muscular coordination

• Correct cognitive development: the degree of development of the central nervous system will depend on the quality of motor coordination.

• Strong and well-conditioned muscles: the amount of physical activity and training will influence better coordination.

• Genetic potential: coordination, although it is an aspect that must be trained and that can be improved with practice, it also has a strong genetic component that allows some people to have better coordination of movements than others, or more easily to acquire it.

• Skeleton and muscles healthy, strong and fit to perform movements

• Learning through practice and repetition.

• Automation of movements.

• Good vision.

Factors involved in coordination

It has already been explained that coordination is a neuromuscular capacity that is determined by genetic factors and that is perfected through learning.

In physical education, correct coordination will depend on the degree of training, heredity, age, balance, level of physical condition and learning, the elasticity of the muscles and the mental condition of the individual, among others.

The difficulty in coordination will depend on the speed of execution, changes of direction, the duration of the exercise, the axes of movement, the height of the center of gravity and, of course, the external and non-calculable environmental conditions.

Advantages of good coordination

• Harmonious, showy and precise movements are made.
• The final results have a high degree of efficiency.
• The task is accomplished with the least possible expenditure of energy and time.
• Unnecessary muscle contractions are avoided.
• The overall effectiveness of the exercise is improved, be it for strength, flexibility, endurance or speed.

Recommended activities to exercise coordination

In physical education, and especially in the early stages of development, it is highly recommended to perform tasks and activities that stimulate and promote the development of good motor coordination. Some of these activities can be:

• Jumps of all kinds: with one foot, with both feet, rhythmically, alternating feet and hands, etc.
• Everyday movements: pushing, lifting, carrying, pulling; routine tasks that should try to be done with harmony and precision.
• Opposition exercises, in pairs or groups. A typical case is the game of "tug of war" where the coordination of forces is needed to achieve the objective.

• Rhythmic activities such as dancing, dancing, and body movements to music.
• Activities with implements: balls, balls, hoops, rubber bands, clubs, trampolines, trampolines, ropes, etc.
• Movement: crawling, climbing, climbing, crawling, etc.
• Throwing objects, with one or both hands, with one or both feet and aiming at increasingly precise targets.
• Receiving objects, with one or both hands, with one or both feet and from increasingly long distances.
• Jumps with obstacles.
• Juggling: playing with two or more balls at the same time, either by throwing them in the air and trying to catch them without any falling, bouncing two balls at the same time or similar exercises.

References

1. Daniel Muñoz Rivera. Coordination and balance in the area of ​​Physical Education. Activities for its development. Recovered from efdeportes.com.
2. Antonio García López and others (2000). Games in Physical Education from 6 to 12 years old. Inde Publications. P. 98.
3. Coordination and balance: concept and activities for its development. Recovered from opposinet.cvexpres.com.
4. Coordination. Glossary of Physical Education. Recovered from glosarios.servidor-alicante.com.
5. Coordination: concept and classification. Recovered from tododxts.com.
6. Muscle coordination. Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.
7. Manual eye coordination. Recovered from Gobiernodecanarias.org.