The 8 Types Of Coordination (and Their Main Characteristics)
The human locomotor system is made up of the union between the muscular system and the osteoarticular system that is, muscles and bones that not only protect our organs, but also allow movement and locomotion.
We have more than 650 muscles that, when contracted, cause different body movements, thus dragging bone mass and being helped by ligaments, tendons, cartilage and joints. Muscles are the functional organs of the musculoskeletal system and thanks to them we have the function of locomotion.
The ability to contract and relax muscles is mediated by the nervous system and requires precise and harmonious synchronization so that we can make all types of movements. In order for us to move, both to move and to pick up objects, it is necessary to have muscular coordination.
This coordination can occur in different ways, involving different physical abilities, and below we will talk about its main classes. Let’s see, then, what are the types of muscle coordination
In anatomical terms, we can define coordination as the ability of the body’s skeletal muscles to synchronize their trajectory and movement in order to carry out a technical gesture
This ability is a product of the harmonious synchronization between the nervous system and the muscles, where our brain sends orders that travel through the spinal cord, reach the peripheral nerves and, in turn, reach the muscles, setting the brain in motion. skeleton. Thanks to this balance, we can control our muscle tone and perform fine and precise movements.
Related to this idea we can talk about neuromuscular coordination, a capacity that can be altered in approximately 8% of school-age children. Children who suffer from a neuromuscular disorder may have problems in motor education and, due to their motor coordination problems, they may have unstable walking, be prone to tripping, crash very often or not have the ability to hold some objects well.
Motor coordination can be learned and improved, which is why it is so important for boys and girls to play physical sports in which they will practice their motor skills and automate movements. Although it is true that human beings are born with a certain natural capacity for musculoskeletal coordination, it is always advisable to do everything possible to improve it and be more skilled in physical tasks.
By developing from a very young age, this will give us the tools that, on a nervous level, will allow us to carry out movements in an organized, directed, precise and synchronized manner.
Types of muscle coordination
Now that we understand what muscular coordination is in general terms, let’s see what types of motor synchronization there are. Although our muscles are involved in all the movements we carry out, all of them controlled by the nervous system, the same muscles or skills are not involved when, for example, we are playing soccer as when we dance ballet.
1. Dynamic coordination
Dynamic or general coordination is a type of motor synchronization that It allows us to set different parts of the musculoskeletal system in motion without interfering with each other That is, this type of coordination allows us to move the organism efficiently, without the movement of some parts hindering the movement of others.
All parts of the body are involved in this type of coordination and, therefore, we say that global synchronization is necessary, in which each locomotor region fulfills its function in a particular way but within a group, without interfering or hindering motor activity. from the other regions.
Dynamic coordination is what gives us stability when we move dynamically, that is, when we involve many different muscles but each one makes a specific movement to be able to carry out a well-coordinated complex action, such as walking or running.
2. Spatial coordination
Spatial coordination It is what we apply when we organize our muscular movements to adapt our general movement to a foreign trajectory or space
Through this type of motor synchronization we can adjust our muscular activity to the movement of a mobile object in our environment, in order to carry out the necessary technical action.
We have an example of this in baseball hitters and volleyball players, sports in which the body movement has to be coordinated with that of the ball in order to reach and hit it.
3. Intramuscular coordination
Intramuscular coordination is the ability of our muscles to contract when they receive orders from the central nervous system through peripheral nerves
Muscle cells, called myocytes, have actin and myosin filaments inside that are activated when the muscles receive electrical impulses, and that allow the myocytes to contract, which makes the biomechanical action of the muscles possible.
4. Intermuscular coordination
Intermuscular coordination is the overall ability to activate different muscles while performing physical activity
This is not limited to the contraction of a specific muscle, but of several of them that are activated synchronously to perform more or less complex locomotor actions, which is why it is called intermuscular, that is, between muscles.
An example of intermuscular coordination is when we hit a golf ball, involving different muscle groups in this action that must coordinate with each other.
You may be interested: “Parts of the Nervous System: functions and anatomical structures”
5. Segmental coordination
Segmental or segmented coordination is one that implies an increase in fitness in specific regions of the organism Unlike dynamics, which is based on a global increase in the global synchronization of the musculoskeletal system, in segmental coordination reactions specific to the anatomical area are enhanced.
The sense of sight plays a fundamental role in this type of coordination. In fact, segmental synchronization works from the relationship between vision and the different parts of the human locomotor system involved. Being specific to each region, we can distinguish three main forms of segmental coordination: eye-manual, eye-pedic and eye-head.
5.1. Hand-eye coordination
Eye-hand coordination, also known as eye-hand or visual-motor coordination, is the type of segmental coordination in which motor skills They are involved in the use of their hands, therefore there is synchronization between the visual and the manual
This type of coordination is what allows us to manage our hands depending on what we are seeing and we can see it in everyday activities such as typing on a computer, writing with a pen or throwing a stone into the lake.
Oculo-pedic coordination is the segmental coordination modality in which the use of the feet is involved, synchronizing the visual with the pedal
This type of coordination allows us to manage our feet appropriately based on what we perceive through our sense of sight, a classic example being how we use our feet while playing soccer.
5.3. Eye-head coordination
In head-eye coordination motor skills are involved in which the use of the head is required, understood as the anatomical region
This type of coordination is what allows us to move our heads depending on what we are seeing, adapting to the needs that the environment awakens in us. An example also related to soccer would be shooting the ball with your forehead.
6. Static coordination
Static coordination is the type of musculoskeletal synchronization that has the particularity of achieving “non-movement.” This is the motor skill that allows us to be physically still when we are standing having control and stability over our posture.
7. Fine coordination
Fine coordination is the type of motor synchronization that It allows us to make very precise movements, in which fine muscles are involved
This coordination is based on the development of locomotor skills to coordinate light, small, and highly controlled muscle movements. An example of this would be knitting, writing, assembling a model…
Related article: “Types of motor skills (gross and fine) and their characteristics”
8. Coarse coordination
Finally we have gross coordination, antagonistic to what we have seen in the previous point.
This type of motor synchronization does not lead us to be able to perform very precise muscular movements, but rather to carry out locomotor tasks that involve large biomechanical regions of the body
Gross coordination is what we can observe in movements that do not require too much precision, such as jumping.
