1. SKILL RELATED COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS
STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT:
STUDENTS LEARN TO:
Power
Measure and analyse a range of both health related and skill related components of physical fitness
Speed
Agility
Think critically about the purpose and benefits of testing physical fitness
Coordination
Balance
Reaction time

2. SKILL RELATED COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS - OVERVIEW
The skill-related components of physical fitness include:
Power
Speed
Agility
Coordination
Balance
Reaction time.
The skill-related components of physical fitness relate specifically to skills that are used in sports, and often (not always) combine other components of fitness.
For example, power is strength at speed
Agility is a combination of power and balance.
In relation to performance and movement efficiency, usually, the skill-related components of physical fitness are required in order to perform the skill well.
For example, when a half-back in rugby or a centre in netball runs one direction and passes in another it requires excellent: balance, agility, coordination and power.
SKILL RELATED COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS - OVERVIEW

3. Power = Work (force x distance) Time
Power is defined as an amount of work done in a particular time.
Work is the product of a force on an object, and remember, muscular strength is the maximal amount of force muscles can exert on an object.
This means that muscular power is directly affected by muscular strength. In this context, power can essentially be thought of a strength at speed. To measure someone’s maximal power is to measure how much strength they have at the fastest speed they can exert it.
Power = Work (force x distance)           Time
In order to develop power many athletes will seek to develop their strength at speed.
POWER

4. Power relates to movement efficiency and sports performance because for many sports power is required more than strength or speed on its own.
This is because acceleration relates to power.
For example, when a full-back wants to take on the defensive line, they often move along at a “cruise” pace, and then quickly accelerate around the defender. This acceleration requires power in order to get around the defence as they have to react before they then exert their power in order to catch them. If the full-back has greater power, he is more likely to get around the defender.
Greater power will also mean the athlete can complete set amounts of work at a faster rate.
This means they are less efficient in terms of energy expenditure per minute, but more efficient if it is a time related sport.
For example, they will use more energy faster throughout a 60 minute Netball game. This may mean they fatigue faster and require more rests. This is why in rugby league the forwards are substituted so frequently, they have a greater power and require greater rests because they fatigue faster.
POWER – cont…

5. Sports such as the 100m sprint, or a 50m swim greater power is an advantage as it will allow the body to move faster and complete the set amount of work in a faster time.
Also advantageous in sports where short fast movements are helpful such as martial arts or combat sports. Boxing in-particular benefits from the athlete having excellent power in their punches, and tennis from power in the serve.
If an athlete has good power, this does not directly result in good performance - good technique and often many of the other components are required.
A rugby player with great power is still fairly useless without good muscular endurance, or coordination.
POWER – cont…

6. SPEED Speed is the rate at which something moves.
Relates to power and to the force and the mass of the object the force has acted upon.
Speed is the distance an object travels in a set period of time and is usually measured in m/s or km/h.
Speed = Distance                time
Speed relates to movement efficiency and performance because there are many sports in which the speed at which someone is moving is advantageous.
Includes:
Sprinting
Swimming
Triathlons
Marathons and much more.
The faster the athlete can move, the better they will perform. In relation to efficiency, high speed will frequently require high energy consumption and result in fatigue.
SPEED

7. The speed of a particular movement can also influence specific aspects of a sport.
For example, if an athlete has fast moving feet in football (soccer) then they are more able to beat a defender by dummying, or moving the ball side-to-side too fast for the defender.
A javelin thrower having a fast arm speed for their throw, which would help them to achieve a further distance.
Speed can be tested in a variety of ways, including:
using a speed gun
10m, 20m or 50m sprints
but generally you want your speed to be tested specifically to your sport, so you would usually do distance divided by time in a shorter period of time (10 sec or less) to calculate the athlete’s maximal speed for their sport.
SPEED – cont…

8. Agility is a combination of speed, power, balance, and reaction time.
The full definition is provided by Sheppard:
‘a rapid whole body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus
In order to test agility the athlete must not know what is about to happen.
There needs to be a stimulus that occurs, which results in the change in velocity. Such as stimulus is normally a defender or object in sports performance.
Such that an athlete who is agile will be able to respond to the defender by either speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.
Agility will influence movement efficiency, as the ability to change direction is built into agility and the faster and more technical your skill in changing direction, the better your agility can be.
Elite athletes have a better ability to read and respond to stimulus.
Cristiano Ronaldo
AGILITY

9. Coordination is the body’s ability to perform smooth and efficient movements.
Requires the athlete to combine multiple movements into a single movement that is fluid and achieves the intended goal.
Coordination is about our motor skills and can be broken up into fine or gross motor skills.
Fine motor skills are about our coordination in relation to small movements and the ease they are performed.
Eg - snooker shot.
Gross Motor Skills - walking, kicking, jumping and much more.
The coordinated person is able to save energy with their movements and therefore can last longer at higher workloads than less coordinated people.
Coordination also includes hand-eye coordination and foot-eye coordination.
Someone with good hand-eye coordination is going to be more successful at throwing, catching, and hitting.
Good foot-eye coordination will mean better success in kicking, controlling, and stopping objects with your feet.
Tests of coordination will only predict performance so far as the test relates to the performance.
For example, the common ball toss test for hand-eye coordination will help identify people who have good hand-eye coordination, but this does not mean they will be a good cricket player and may have no relation to their ability on a football field.
COORDINATION

10. BALANCE Athlete’s ability to stay in control of their body’s position.
An athlete can be well balanced on the floor performing a V-sit or while break-dancing the helicopter.
With this in mind, there are two types of balance:
Static
Dynamic.
Static balance is the balance of a person while they are stationary.
Easily tested using tests such as the stalk balance test.
Dynamic balance, on the other hand, occurs while the athlete is moving.
Eg - walking or running, but can also be very complex, such as a gymnastics performance on a balance beam.
Balance relates to movement efficiency because it is an underlining requirement for general movement and non-movement to occur.
An athlete with good balance is likely to have good agility (though not guaranteed). Good balance will also help to minimise energy waste during a performance, increasing movement efficiency and enabling the athlete to improve their performance.
BALANCE

11. Refers to the speed at which an athlete responds to an external stimulus.
Reaction time relates to performance because it is used frequently in various sporting scenarios.
From the tennis player who has to react to their opponents serve, to the sprinter responding to the gun. Reaction time affects performance, and the better your reaction time, the better you will perform in certain situations.
Reaction time can only help to predict certain aspects of a performance, such as a volleyballer reacting to a spike, or a goalkeeper saving a shot.
Testing reaction time may be beneficial for some sports, it will not always predict performance very well, unless it is specific to the sport/position and that is the only aspect of the performance you are trying to predict. E.g. predicting the time out of the block in a sprint, rather than the overall performance.
When thinking about movement efficiency, reaction time does not save energy or even help perfect technique. The only relation is that a faster reaction time in a 100m sprint, for example, will mean the athlete is not playing catch up with his opponents.
REACTION TIME