Tadeusz  Ambroży¹, Henryk Duda¹, Dorota Ambroży¹, Juliusz Piwowarski², Ewa Dybińska¹,
¹ University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland
²  School of Higher Education in Public and Individual Security “Apeiron” Krakow, Poland

Key words: physical culture, safety culture, intellectualization of training, efficacy of training, disposable groups.

Introduction

Physical culture and safety culture have been aspects of human existence since the dawn of time and are some of the fundamental elements of the primal need for security that drives mankind to eradicate threats to individuals and social organizations. Marian Cieślarczyk identifies three pillars of safety culture: (1) mental and spiritual; (2) organizational and legal; (3) material [5]. Physical culture plays a significant part in building safety culture [1, 9]. It occurs, among others, through the teaching of hand-to-hand combat, which is not only a training for the body, but also an exercise for the mind. The Russian judo master Jazarin [7] states: “Those who believe [combat sports] to be solely sports, and might and victory to be their only objective, are mistaken. The true victory is our liberation: total flexibility of spirit that directs an absolutely obedient body.” Budo martial arts have undergone many centuries of changes and today emerge as individual sports. Accepting exclusively such a mode of instruction in the physical training of members of disposable teams (uniformed forces) who are responsible for security would be doomed to fail. The issue at hand is the proper proportion between the individual development of a member of such a group, and his/her involvement in the potential of the team. The effect of individual combat sports is supplemented in an innovative way by including team sports in the training as it increases technical, tactical and social skills, both in individuals and in groups. We chose soccer (association football), and the main facet of the innovation is the intellectualization of the motor training process. In the discussed project we focused on certain specific aspects of security culture: in the area of team sports (used as important supplementary disciplines for uniformed forces practicing close combat). Due to the need for a simultaneous improvement of technical, tactical and social skills in both individuals and groups, a study was conducted pertaining to the intellectualization of motor education among sportsmen training soccer, in view of increasing the efficacy of the training and a greater care of the locomotor system. The efficient shaping of motor habits in sports games occurs on the semantic and motor level [2]. Hence it was assumed that an innovative introduction of the intellectualization of motor training would help shorten the excessive time spent solely on physical training, while maintaining, or even measurably increasing the expected efficacy of the training. It was also assumed that a more aware mode of participation in the training would lead to a new direction that would cause an increase in the level of safety culture among the participants of the experiment.

The objective of the program, questions and hypotheses

The study conducted in this program was utilitarian. Its main objective was emphasizing the role of knowledge of the motor skills being taught. We sought arguments supporting this thesis among subjects training young, talented soccer players. We took into consideration the fact that players in sports schools were prone to much strain to their locomotor systems because of the significant amount and intensity of sports training (20 lessons in a microcycle). We began searching for didactic measures which would lead to a rational influence through supporting physical training by the process of intellectualization of motor (technical) training. We needed to answer the following research questions:

a)  Would the intellectualization of physical training favorably impact the efficiency of motor (technical) function?

b)  Would the intellectualization of the motor training process decrease physical strain?

Materials and methods. In this project, in order to study the efficacy of teaching and learning specific (technical) motor skills, we used the method of pedagogical experiment. We employed the technique of the parallel group study, with experimental (E) and control (C) groups. In the experiment, the independent variable was the way the information was presented and relayed, based on the method rooted in the intellectualization of the motor training process in a player (special technique). The dependent variables included the measurable results in:

a) The specialized knowledge of motor activity of the studied players;

b) Practical command of technical actions among the players;

c) The continuous research was conducted in annual cycles (2008–2012) among the students of Szkoła Mistrzowstwa Sportowego Piłki Nożnej [School of Sports Excellency in Soccer] in Cracow. Students being evaluated were young juniors (16 years of age). We studied 120 players, distributed between experimental (E) and control (C) groups of 60.

Every week during the study, Group E took part in an experimental, 45-minute-long lesson that combined theory and practice. Intellectual training caused a drop in the amount and intensity of physical classes. Group E attended 72 such lessons. This number constituted circa 11,4% of the total volume of training in a year (which amounts to 648 lessons).

Group C was trained using a traditional method. The knowledge of technique and tactics was relayed in the form of instruction during physical exercise.

The study was conducted in two stages:

Stage I. Preliminary research was conducted in order to establish base values and choose two subgroups (the difference was statistically insignificant) with a possibly “identical” level of specialized knowledge and fitness. The groups were formed in an organized selection, with players classified by contingency tables.

Stage II. A repeated study of the level of specialized knowledge and motor skills.

In order to examine the level of knowledge of motor activity in soccer players, we applied a standardized (t=0.95, r=0.87) test of technical knowledge that contained close-ended, open-ended and illustrative questions regarding alternative choices during a particular motor activity [6]. The questions related to the correct way to perform motor (technical) activities, considering the analysis of movement, bio-mechanical principles and the rules of effective tactical action.

In order to assess the motor skills of the trainees, we used a standardized (t=0.88, r=0.87) test of technical (special) skill. We used selected tests of technical skill that included: the feel of the ball (juggling the ball), the speed of dribbling, hitting the ball with one’s head or leg across a distance, the accuracy of passing the ball across a distance, the accuracy of a shot (aiming at particular areas of the goal). The players’ performance during the game was measured using objectified observation sheets (t=0.93, r=0.86) [6]. In 4x4 simulation games the players were selected in an organized way (according to the ranges of their specialized skills) and assessed in four games: Group E players vs. Group C players. We analyzed individual activities in the offensive and the defensive. We considered both efficient and inefficient activities, which offered the basis for calculating the reliability index. The assessment of technical skill in isolated conditions and during the game was converted into standardized 10-point scale (points tables). While evaluating the groups, we analyzed the level of knowledge of a footballer’s motor activity as well as the players’ motor skills. In order to evaluate the health of the players in view of the strain of the training, we used related documents (the players’ health cards). In this aspect, we minutely analyzed the injuries that occurred in the yearly cycle of the training. We considered muscle injuries and injuries to the joints of the lower limbs severe enough to qualify for the exemption from physical activity for a minimum of 3 days. In order to calculate the results of the study, we used elementary statistical operations: arithmetic mean, standard deviation, student’s t-distribution that measured the level of significance of the differences. We examined the relationships between the measured characteristics using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient.

Results and discussion. One of the directions explored in our study were the relationships between the intellectualization of physical training and safety, health and social skills, which in turn affect the social capital of the team and improves the team’s efficiency. The participants’ specialized knowledge may determine the performance in changing situations when, based on his/her experience, the player anticipates, perceives and makes decisions about the best way to perform his/her motor task [10]. By analyzing the progress of acquiring knowledge, we found higher values in Groups E, and the difference from Groups C was statistically significant (p<0.01).

Table 1. Average values of the index of the knowledge of motor activities in studied groups

*** Significantly (p<0.001) different from the control group

We obtained interesting results by analyzing the players’ progress in commanding motor technique (in isolated conditions). Table 2 illustrates that the level of technical advancement in players from Groups E rose after introducing intellectual instruction. We demonstrated the variation of statistical significance p<0.05.

Table 2. The evaluation of motor technique in isolated conditions in studied groups

* Significantly (p<0.05) different from the control group

The best way to verify the progress of a sports training is the game itself. In a situation of direct competition the criteria of effective action are set by the game. Although the analysis of the calculated reliability indices defining the player’s efficiency did not confirm a significant difference between the studied groups in the II study (Table 3), the dynamics of the growth of this value was much higher in the experimental group.

Table 3. The evaluation of motor activities in the studied groups during simulation games

Significantly: * p<0.05, *** p<0.001 different between Studies I and II

In Group E, the difference between Studies I and II reached the level of statistical significance p=0.001, whereas in Group C it was p=0.05. These values indicate that experimental teaching based on the intellectualization favorably influenced the disposition towards efficiency in game conditions. The high level of correlation of the main factor of the intellectual instruction, i.e. the level of specialized knowledge, with a good performance during the game in isolated conditions confirms it (Table 4).

Table 4. The relationship between selected motor activities and the level of specialized knowledge in studied groups

Correlation – the level of statistical significance: * p=0.05; ** p=0.01; *** p=0.001

The results we obtained, which confirmed the didactic advantages of intellectual instruction, offered the basis for further analysis aimed at establishing whether intellectual instruction, which diminished the amount of training, would also favorably impact the health of students. We showed that the number of lessons which included physical interaction distinguishes the groups to a large extent (statistical significance p=0.001) (Table 5).

Table 5. The level of differences in the amount of training between the players in the annual cycle

*** Significantly (p<0.001) different from the control group

While analyzing the vulnerability to injury of the lower limbs, we established that in the experimental groups with dominant intellectual instruction much fewer injuries were reported than in the control group. The difference of study data reached the level of statistical significance: p<0.01 for muscles of the lower limbs, and p<0.05 for the joints of the lower limbs (Table 6).

Table 6. Measurable average value for muscle and joint injury among the studied players

Significantly: * p=0.05; ** p=0.01 different from the control group

The present analysis of the concept of intellectual instruction of young sportsmen, despite being unpopular in the everyday teaching of sports games, shows great pedagogical value. Hence we can state that the intellectualization of the training process increases its efficacy. The results we obtained are also relevant in the context of the students’ health as they indicate smaller impact on the physical and motor areas of the player during the preparation. We confirmed this in our study: Group E spent over 11% less time in physical training than Group C [3]. We also showed the strong impact intellectual instruction had on the efficacy of technical activities in isolated conditions and during games. This means that during an intensive sports training program there are certain methods which, if applied, may decrease the exploitation of the organism. The confirmation of the significance of specialized knowledge for the efficiency of play may also contribute to conducting the training in a safe, health-friendly manner, which has long been the fundamental effect expected both of safety culture and of the concept of “learning through the whole body” that stems from the budo tradition. We should also consider the fact that the issue of exploitation of the organism is particularly relevant to the health of young sportsmen [4,8]. Such a direction in physical training can be classified as an element of advancing safety culture that is also the object of security studies.

Conclusions of the study:

1. The intellectualization of motor training increases the efficacy of young soccer players.

2. The intellectualization of the training process, while decreasing the physical strain of the player and emphasizing conscious activity, favorably impacts the locomotor system of the young footballers. Thus it contributes to the increase of their efficacy and the extension of the period of their usefulness in achieving good results in their prospective sport and professional careers.

3. The aforementioned conclusion may also relate to an extended spectrum of the expected transfer of the processes discussed here. We are referring to the training of members of disposable groups entering their professional activity.

Propositions:

1. In view of the long-term process of shaping specialized skills in team sports, a need exists for relaying the knowledge of motor activity.

2. Methods of high didactic value and strong health-friendly influence should be sought to improve the process of intensive physical training.

3. We postulate, as it is mentioned in the introduction, that elements of team sports be introduced into the hand-to-hand training for disposable groups. Those elements of team sports would supplement the skillset obtained in the training of individual sports (such as combat sports) with more skills, among others, social and tactical skills.

References

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Author’s contacts: Professor Tadeusz Ambroży, Sport Institute – University School of Physical Education, Cracow, al. Jana Pawła II 78, 31-557 Cracow, Poland. Phone: +48 602 297 809, e-mail: tadek@ambrozy.pl.