185
Health, Sports & Rehabilitation Medicine
Vol. 21, no. 3, July-September 2020, 185–191
Eye-hand relationship of proprioceptive motor control and
coordination in children 10–11 years old
Dan Alexandru Szabo
1
, Nicolae Neagu
1
, Silvia Teodorescu
2
, Ioan Sabin Sopa
3
1
George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures
2
National University of Physical Education and Sport of Bucharest
3
“Lucian Blaga” University Sibiu, Faculty of Science, Department of Environmental Science, Physics,
Physical Education and Sport
Abstract
Background. Eye-hand coordination refers to the capacity to use the vision skill to guide hand movements and is vital not
only in sports activities but also in everyday life and jobs.
Aims. Our investigation tried to identify statistically signifcant variations between 110 children, aged 10–11 years old,
from fve diferent schools in Targu Mures - Romania, who practice or not sports activities, comparing genders, and also
correlating those who practice predominantly arm or leg sports.
Methods. As a research method, we used the hand-eye coordination test and also examined the obtained data with
professional statistical programs.
Results. The results showed that between genders there is a statistically signifcant diference with better results in the eye-
hand coordination test in the male gender. Also, a statistically signifcant diference was found between those who practiced
sport and those who did not, and also between genders. No statistical diference was found between predominantly leg and
arm sports.
Conclusions. The conclusions of our investigation highlighted a statistically signifcant diference between the numbers
of executions in the female gender compared with males and also between the median number of executions in students who
practice sports and those who do not, and between the average number of executions for the female and male gender for those
who practice sports.
Key words: eye-hand coordination; balance; motor activities.
Copyright © 2010 by “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Publishing
Received: 2020, June 20; Accepted for publication: 2020, June 28
Address for correspondence: George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology, Târgu Mureş, Gheorghe
Marinescu Str. No. 38, 540139, Romania
E-mail: dan-alexandru.szabo@umfst.ro
Corresponding author: Dan Alexandru Szabo, e-mail: dan-alexandru.szabo@umfst.ro
https://doi.org/10.26659/pm3.2020.21.3.185
Introduction
Recent studies in visual attention prove that this
cognitive process allows fundamental data, from dissipated
and various visual scenes, and worthless data to be sifted
through (McMains & Kastner, 2009).
The eye-hand coordination quality which is
characterized by the usage of vision cognitive perception
that implies leading hand movements such as apprehending
and reaching is fundamental for upper limb dexterity
(Crawford et al., 2004). This process demands the
implication of many cognition elements such as the visual
apparatus, the lower and upper extremities of the body to
make controlled, fast reactions and accurate movements
(Shandiz et al., 2018).
The eye-hand coordination process takes place in
an organized manner that implies, frst of all, the visual
fnding of the focused object or target, then the process of
focusing attention on that target, followed by the perceptual
recognition of its location, the cognitive process, and the
scheme of reaching the target, and fnally the excitation of
the extremity muscular system for initiating the movement
process (Gao et al., 2010).
In other words, eye movements are interconnected with
lower extremity movements, as the eyes start and fnish
their process of recognition faster than the hands (Carey,
2000). The coordination malfunction is described as any
difculty or restriction at the level of motor coordination
that results in a low level of anticipated performance,
relying on the patient’s chronological age (Coetzee &
Pienaar, 2013).
As presented in some research investigations (Ellison,
2015), the prompt reaction time of the visual system
regarding the eye-hand movement is issued by the