Southern New Englanders are gaining some bravado regarding the weather.  Snow falling, ice storms following, but schools stayed open anyway.   Perhaps the drivers have acquired the necessary motor plans to manage cars on slick roads.   The end result was that I worked Tuesday and did not spend the day “blogging” about motor sequencing.  Thanks to the snow, however, I did a lot of motor sequencing over the weekend.

I went skiing.  But first I got dressed.  I began by pulling on my underwear, followed by the first layer of long johns.  The black silk top got carefully tucked into the black pants.  The lycra filled stretchy pants came next.  I selected a “high performance” T to stuff into the insulated pants.  A turtleneck, fleece along with corresponding pants and waterproof ski pants were assiduously woven together.   This worked very well in the bedroom, with ample space and time.  Then came the bathroom excursions.  With the careful layering, I was unable to grab the waist band and yank down.  Oh no, I needed to unweave each layer. Depending on the urgency of my impending task, efficiency was of the essence.  After relieving myself, the process began again.    This process was repeated more times than I care to share.  One might ask why this all mattered, but as a skiing companion observed, she had not taken the same care in reassembling her attire and as a result, layers bunched and the frigid winter air blasted through her ski jacket, freezing her midriff.

This is an example of a complicated sequence of motor tasks requiring fine motor skills, bilateral motor coordination, visual attention and some tactile discrimination as I made sure each layer was smooth and no offending bumps would distract me from my athletic bliss.  It is not, however, an example of a motor sequencing activity.

Skiing is.  It requires the careful coordination of movements.  Cross country skiing, which I tried for the first time over the weekend,  is a simple bilateral reciprocal motion: alternating legs and arms move back and forth as you glide over the snow.  This is how it works in theory. Of course, balancing as the body lurches forward is another element underlying this task and makes it a “tad” more challenging.  In terms of sequencing, however, it is fairly simple.

             Man cross country skiing on Pennsylvania Ave. Washington DC in last year’s blizzard.

Downhill skiing requires a slightly more complicated motor sequence: weight shifts right and left as weight is borne in the foot opposite the direction you want to go. Hands hold poles, which reach out and plant about the time you decide to turn or a little before as the weight shifts.  There is an up and down motion of the body that needs to occur as the weight shifts.  Great skiers have a lovely motor sequence with a bobbing rhythmical motion as they gracefully descend the hill. 

Riding a bike is akin to cross country skiing.  It takes balancing skills but the actual motion is repetitive and predictable.   The legs alternate a pushing down and pulling up motion on the pedals.   The arms are not involved in a reciprocal way though.  Their job is to hold on in a stationary position.  Swimming does not require the balancing that cycling does, but the arms and legs have a similar motor sequence of cross country skiing in that both arms and legs continue the same motion over and over and to execute correctly, the movements need to be linked in a specific way.  When they get mixed up, the efficiency of movement decreases or even stops.

Dancing, yoga patterns and Karate are more like downhill skiing, but even more complicated.  Movements are linked to create a pattern but the pattern may not be repetitive.  It may require many different movements, but they must be timed accurately and in the correct sequence. 

I love swimming and cycling.  The repetitive motion is calming and organizing for me.  I love the thrill of skiing and seek the vestibular rush of speeding down a hill.  I do not bob and flow gracefully down the hill though.  When the motor sequence gets more complex,  I struggle.

I run away from line dances and my tennis serve, a very complex motor sequence requiring very precise movements and timing, is pretty pathetic. When you see children trying to figure out how to learn a new motor task, check out how well they combine the movements.  They  might be able to execute each component perfectly but when required to put it all together it gets all confused or looks uncoordinated.

Here are some early motor skills that require motor sequencing:

Climbing stairs

Hopping on two feet forward

Hopping on one foot forward

Galloping

Skipping

Pumping on a swing

Pedaling a tricycle and bike

Jumping rope

Clapping in sequences

Simple dance games (e.g. Hokey Pokey)

More about motor planning and sequencing can be found in:

Facilitating Trunk Rotation and bilateral Motor Coordination in an Automatic Way

Why Did Johnny Fall out of His Chair

Working Toward Integration

Next I’ll explore why playing in the snow is so helpful for motor planning and link these concepts to specific activities  I’ll try to think of some substitutes for the poor folks in regions that sadly cannot boast of having several feet of snow in their back yards.                

 

                                                

                                                                   

     

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