Sports & Fitness
Physical Education: AQA GCSE, topic 3.2.2
Examples of Fitness in Sports
Different sports will require different parts of fitness, and in most cases, a combination of fitness components.
Agility
- Agility is a combination of coordination, speed and reaction time. It can be applied to most sporting scenarios (situations), except for events where a performer does not change direction (e.g. 100m sprint).
- An example of when agility is used in sport would be in football when a player needs to change direction quickly to dribble around an opponent.
Balance
- There are two types of balance seen in sport: static and dynamic.
- Static balance can be seen in gymnastics when a gymnast does a handstand and holds the position.
- Dynamic balance can be seen when a performer skis or snowboards downhill. The performers try to stay upright as they move through the course.
Cardiovascular endurance
- Cardiovascular endurance is important for long-distance runners, team sports and other endurance events.
Co-ordination
- This includes hitting a cricket ball with a bat (hand-eye coordination), kicking a football (foot-eye coordination) and coordinating your arms and legs to dribble a basketball (arms-legs coordination).
Flexibility
- Flexibility is needed in different amounts depending on the demands of the sport.
- E.g. a gymnast needs a very good range of flexibility to perform routines involving the splits.
Examples of Fitness in Sports - Part two
Different sports will require different parts of fitness, and in most cases, a combination of fitness components.
Muscular endurance / dynamic strength
- Middle distance runners, rowers or swimmers need this. This is because they need muscular actions that are repeated over and over again.
Power / explosive strength
- This can be used in explosive (quick burst) actions such as shooting or passing in football, smashing or spiking a volleyball, throwing a discus with power or punching in boxing. In all of these examples, explosive (quick burst) action is needed to create power.
Reaction time
- The best example of reaction time is the time taken from the sound of the gun that starts the 100m sprint to a performer starting to move.
Speed
- An example of speed is shown in the 100m race. This is the time it takes to cover the 100m.
Strength
- Maximal strength: an example of this in sport would be one single punch in boxing.
- Static strength: this is shown during a scrum in rugby when both teams are pushing against each other and applying the same force (not moving).
Test yourself on Sports & Fitness
A gymnast doing a headstand and holding this position is an example of what type of balance?
In which of the following is cardiovascular endurance NOT important?
In which of the following sports are explosive strength particularly important?
Which one of the following is an example of reaction time?
Which of these sports requires a particularly high degree of muscular endurance?