Improvement of Gross Motor Skills Through Large Ball Games tudents at Elementary School

Abstract

Gross motor development is important in physical education, but learning often still focuses on separate technical exercises. Therefore, large ball games can be a more effective strategy for improving students' motor skills. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of ball games in improving the gross motor skills of sixth-grade students at  Sadeng 03 Elementary School in Gunungpati District, Semarang City. The research method used a quantitative approach with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The research subjects consisted of 29 students selected through purposive sampling. Data on gross motor skills were collected through motor agility tests, including shuttle runs, ball throwing and catching, stork stands, and 30-metre sprints, as well as measurements of basic football and volleyball techniques. Data analysis was performed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Paired t-Test, and N-Gain calculation. The results showed that the data were normally distributed (p = 0.137). The Paired t-Test showed a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores (p = 0.000), indicating a significant improvement in motor skills after the intervention, which was reinforced by the N-Gain results showing that 96.5% of students experienced moderate to high improvement. These findings indicate that learning through ball games effectively improves students' agility, coordination, balance, and speed. Improvements were also seen in motor tests without balls, such as shuttle runs, stork stands, 30-metre sprints, and ball throwing and catching, making them relevant and effective for optimising the gross motor skills of primary school students.