In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a continuous habit of participation in exercise and sports is necessary. However, the continuous participation rate in exercise and sports of adults is low. We consider that to promote a habit of sports participation of adults is important to improve physical fitness. To promote a habit of sports participation, it is considered that voluntary participation in exercise and sports is important. Okazawa et al. (1996) report that promoting physical competence is important for achieving voluntary participation in exercise and sports. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between physical competence from preschool childhood to current and physical fitness. Subjects were 53 male undergraduate students. This study examined the relationships between physical fitness test, the subjects’ current feelings of physical competence (the physical competence test) and the past physical competence (feelings about exercise and sports). The physical fitness test consisted of 11 items (25-m run, standing broad jump, vertical jump, repeated side steps, etc.). We used the current physical competence test created by Okazawa et al. (1996). We researched the subjects’ past feelings of physical competency by using a 5-point “I’m good at /bad at sports” scale. We analyzed the relationship between the results of the physical fitness test and the current physical competence score. In this study, a significant relationship was seen between the current physical competence score and the results of seven physical fitness components. Further, many of the subjects who had relatively low current physical competence score had a relatively low reported physical competence score from preschool childhood. These results indicate that an abundant exercise experience during preschool childhood will have a positive effect on the subjects’ current physical competence and their physical fitness test scores. In conclusion, we consider that the improvement of exercise experiences during preschool childhood will promote a habit of sports participation in adulthood.
