Wall Drop Punt Kick and Catch (Tripela) Test: More Than Just a Measure of Gross Manipulative Coordination

Previous work has shown that the Wall Drop Punt Kick and Catch (Tripela) test has a strong correlation with the manipulative component (the two tests) of the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) battery, especially for boys. In the present study, our aim was to broadly examine the association between the Tripela test and the six MCA battery’ tests. We recruited 68 children and early adolescents (36 boys; 32 girls; M age = 11.48, SD = 0.73 years) for assessment. Within the entire sample and in boys, the Tripela test significantly correlated with all the six MCA tests (“r” from 0.285 to 0.785 with the entire sample, and from 0.424 to 0.760 with boys). In girls, the Tripela test only correlated with two out of the six MCA tests (0.388 and 0.517). Results suggest that, for boys, the Tripela test may be an appropriate field-based test to assess motor competence. Compared to several MC assessment batteries, Tripela is much less time-consuming and does not require expensive resources. For girls, results are to be taken with care, as only two significant correlations occurred.

Keywords

Motor competence assessment motor development field-based test validity

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/14191

Citation

Matos, R., Amaro, N., Lopes, N., Jacinto, M., Antunes, R., Coelho, L., … Monteiro, D. (2025). Wall Drop Punt Kick and Catch (Tripela) Test: More Than Just a Measure of Gross Manipulative Coordination. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2025.2564777