a Department of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Education , Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan.
Eur J Sport Sci. 2018 Jun;18(5):741-752. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1444792. Epub 2018 Mar 13.
The present study aimed to assess the effects of 12 months of frequent tennis play on executive functions and the relationships of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), physical competence, and enjoyment of playing tennis to executive functions in children. Thirty-two children (6-11 years old) who had regularly played tennis (once a week; mean = 3 years, range = 0-6 years) before the study were enrolled in a 12-month intervention. Participants were allocated into two groups: low-dose (maintain current frequency of tennis play, N = 19) or high-dose (increased frequency of tennis play to four times per week, N = 13). Participants' MVPA, physical competence, enjoyment of playing tennis, and executive functions (i.e. inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) were evaluated before and after this intervention. The high-dose group demonstrated a greater improvement in working memory than the low-dose group, while there was no group difference in MVPA, physical competence, and enjoyment of playing tennis. Changes in MVPA were associated with improvements in cognitive flexibility. Changes in physical competence were associated with improvements in working memory and cognitive flexibility. Changes in the enjoyment of playing tennis were associated with improvements in inhibitory control. The current findings suggest that replacement of MVPA with sports activity, such as tennis enhances executive functions development, and suggest that sports programmes that seek to build competence and enjoyment might help support the development of executive functions in children.
本研究旨在评估 12 个月频繁打网球对儿童执行功能的影响，以及日常中等到剧烈身体活动（MVPA）、身体能力和打网球的乐趣与执行功能之间的关系。在研究之前，32 名经常打网球的儿童（6-11 岁；平均 3 岁，范围 0-6 岁）参加了为期 12 个月的干预。参与者被分配到两个组：低剂量组（保持当前的网球运动频率，N=19）或高剂量组（增加到每周 4 次，N=13）。在干预前后评估了参与者的 MVPA、身体能力、打网球的乐趣和执行功能（即抑制控制、工作记忆和认知灵活性）。与低剂量组相比，高剂量组在工作记忆方面的改善更大，而在 MVPA、身体能力和打网球的乐趣方面，两组之间没有差异。MVPA 的变化与认知灵活性的提高有关。身体能力的变化与工作记忆和认知灵活性的提高有关。打网球乐趣的变化与抑制控制的提高有关。目前的研究结果表明，用网球等运动活动代替 MVPA 可以增强执行功能的发展，并表明寻求建立能力和乐趣的体育项目可能有助于支持儿童执行功能的发展。
