Broer, M. R., & Houtz, S. J. (1967). Patterns of muscular activity in selected sports skills: An electromyographic study. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

The book showed that there are general patterns of activity between activities (how the legs support the body in a tennis and volleyball serve) but also showed that the neuromuscular patterns of the arms (the control functioning limbs) are totally different. The common features exist in moving parts that do not have much potential for fine motor control, such as the support muscles (e.g., abdominals, gluteus maximus, etc.). Between skills discriminations occur in the muscle activities of those muscles that are served by many motor units, each unit with a relatively few muscle fibers to control (e.g., hands, fingers, toes).

Implication Sports skills are differentiated at the fine motor skill end of the continuum of potential muscular control.

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