Components of skill-related fitness. Fitness is when an individual has enough energy to avoid exhaustion and enjoy life.
Physical fitness is broken down into four health and six skill-related components. Skill- or performance-related fitness entails developing abilities to improve one’s performance in athletic or sporting events. Health-related fitness entails skills that allow you to become and stay physically healthy.
Six Characteristics of Skill-Related Fitness
The six skill-related fitness components are flexibility, coordination, balance, quickness, strength, and reaction time. Skilled athletes typically excel in all six categories.
- Agility is the capacity to modify and manage the direction and position of the body while remaining in constant, quick motion. For example, altering direction to hit a tennis ball.
- Balance refers to a person’s capacity to manage or stabilize their body when standing or moving. For example, in-line skating.
- Coordination is the capacity to use the senses and bodily components simultaneously during movement. For example, dribbling a basketball.
- Hand-eye coordination refers to the ability to use both hands and eyes simultaneously.
- Speed refers to the capacity to move your body or portions of your body quickly.
- Many sports use speed to gain a benefit over their opponents.
For example, a basketball player making a fast break to perform a lay-up, a tennis player rushing forward to get a drop shot or a football player outrunning the defence to catch a pass.
Power is the ability to move bodily parts quickly while using the maximal force of the muscles. Power is a mix of speed and muscle strength. For example, fullbacks in football muscle their way through other players and rush forward to move the ball, and volleyball players reach the net and raise their bodies high into the air.
A response. Time is the ability to reach or react quickly to what you hear, see, or experience. For example, an athlete sprinting off the blocks early in a swimming or track relay or stealing a base in baseball.
Six Aspects of Skill-Related Fitness Activities
This activity aims to help you understand what happens to your heart rate when you engage in activities that promote the six components of skill-related fitness. Perform each task quickly and as many times as possible for 30 seconds. Use a heart rate monitor for recording your heart rate before and after the activity. Also, note if you get winded at the end of an exercise. Stroll between exercises, aiming to keep your heart rate around 125.
If your heart rate exceeds 125 at the end of an exercise, track how long it takes to drop below it.
Skill-related fitness refers to abilities that assist you in learning athletic skills.
The six skill-related fitness components are agility, speed, balance, coordination, power, and reaction time. You’ll learn new athletic skills more quickly if you have highly developed physiological abilities. Typically, you would focus on increasing these skills when training for a specific athletic event or sport rather than when you wish to improve your overall physical fitness.
Skill-related fitness has only an indirect impact on a person’s overall health.
Conversely, people use health-related fitness components (cardiorespiratory endurance, endurance of muscles, flexibility, and body composition) to assess someone’s overall health and fitness level.
Agility
Agility refers to your ability to move your body fast and effortlessly. This also includes your ability to change directions and retain your balance, such as when you’re sprinting. Some sports that often need you to have high levels of agility include football, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
Examples of Agility:
- I am stepping back swiftly to prevent running into someone.
- She was swiftly manipulating a snowboard or surfboard to avoid an obstruction.
- I am stopping and shifting directions to avoid stealing the ball from you.
Exercises for improving agility:
Zigzag cones:
- Arrange ten or more cones in a zigzag pattern about three feet (0.9 meters) apart.
- Quickly weave between the cones, going from side to side.
- Perform three repetitions.
High knees ladder drill: Run through an agility ladder with high knees, touching each ladder space. Repeat for three sets.
Box jumps:
- Stand in front of a box approximately 18 inches (45.7 cm) tall and leap on it, landing on both feet.
- Jump back down, then jump back up.
- Do three sets of ten repetitions.
Speed
Speed is your capacity to move quickly and complete a specific movement quickly. Depending on the sport or activity you participate in, you may focus on various speeds, including running, swimming, and hand or foot speeds.
Examples of Speed:
- I was dashing to catch a baseball.
- She was swinging a tennis racket rapidly to hit the ball.
- I am jumping up swiftly to hit the basketball at tipoff.
Exercises to Improve Speed:
- Strength training: To be fast, you must strengthen the muscles in your arms, calves, ankles, and hips. To maintain these muscle groups, perform burpees, squat jumps, and weightlifting exercises.
- Sprinting: Run as rapidly as possible for a brief period, then rest until your heart rate returns to normal before repeating. Intervals can vary from 40 to 400 m (131 to 1,312 feet), depending on your aim.
Balance
Having good balance maintains your center of gravity when moving or standing stationary. This also refers to your capacity to manage the various parts of your body and how they move. Balance is essential not only in sports but also in everyday activities such as walking or sitting. It is also necessary for older persons to keep to avoid falls.
Examples of Balance:
- She was walking straight without swerving to the side.
- I stood up from a chair without using my hands for support.
- They were landing on both feet after jumping.
Exercises to Improve Balance:
Yoga improves your balance by pushing you to maintain precise poses for lengthy periods of time. Yoga also increases flexibility, which is necessary for balance.
Lunges: To avoid falling forward or to the side, keep your center of gravity stable while performing lunges. Lunges increase balance by strengthening the hip flexors and abdominal muscles.
Single leg balance:
- Stand on one leg and extend your opposing arm above your head.
- Hold this position for as long as possible, then rest and repeat.
- Tighten your core muscles to improve your balance.
