8/12/2019 PDHPE assignment

1/3

a) Select a sport/event that incorporates at least 4 components of fitness. Explain 4 of themajor health and/or skill related components of fitness relevant to that sport/event.

This last few weeks of PDHPE class we have learnt about the components of fitness which are

divided into two types of components; health related components (cardio respiratory

endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition) and skill

related components (power, speed, agility, coordination, balance and reaction time). I have

chosen cardio respiratory endurance, muscular endurance, speed and agility relevant to the

sport basketball. Basketball is a very physically demanding sport. Cardio respiratory endurance

(the ability of the body system to gather, process and deliver oxygen efficiently) is important in

basketball because in the game there is very little rest, so it is vital that enough oxygen is

pumped through the bodies muscles to maintain optimal performance. Muscle strength (the

ability of the muscles, as a unit or combined, to apply force) is important because while gaining

and strengthening muscle and endurance tendons and ligaments are also being strengthened

which will greatly reduce the chances of injuries such as sprains and tears. Also basketball

depends greatly on the ability of the player to put the ball in the basket. Upper body strength

and leg strength governs how well they can shoot the ball. Developing muscle strength will allow

the player to shoot the ball further away with a greater accuracy and with lesser effort. Also

developing muscle strength can in turn increase the players speed and agility. Strong leg muscles

can turn into explosiveness and will allow the player to stop and change directions quickly and

swiftly. This will make the team play a better defence and get more baskets in. Speed (the ability

to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement) is necessary for basketball because the

pace of play is very fast, players need to be able to run towards the opposite end of the court

and defend while intercepting the ball. Speed is a combination of reaction time and the players

acceleration capabilities. Quick reflexes or agility (the ability to minimize the transition timefrom one movement pattern to another) are required because basketball is not just endless

running but the players need to accelerate and decelerate and change directions quickly. Being

agile for a basketball player allows them to change directions and maintain speed consistently.

Agility is important because direction of running is not straight but zig-zagging.

b) Analyse your own fitness results.Due to my lack of fitness and physical activity most of my results and ratings came out just

average or below with a couple of exceptions. The sit and reach test I had a rating of poor on

the norms table with the result of -1. This result gave me a huge realisation that Im not as

flexible as I thought and that I dont stretch as much as I should. The test that impacted me the

most was the stork stand, which rated on the norms table as poor and a result of 3 seconds.

This means that my balance is not in top condition and that I need to exercise and train my

balancing skills. The results that were not in the averages and below were the sit-up test which

tested muscular endurance & alternate hand wall toss with end results of excellent. I did 49 sit

ups in 1 minute which in my opinion is a very good result. My other excellent result was the

alternate hand wall toss which tests the coordination skill related component of the tests. My

hand-eye coordination skills are better than any other of my skill related components that I had

tested along with the result in the health related component, my muscular endurance. Prior to

these skill related tests I had visited the chiropractor who had told me that my hip and musclesalong my femur were out of line and that it affected my balance in which I would lean forward

8/12/2019 PDHPE assignment

2/3

towards the left side. I think this factor affected my result in the stork stand balance test to be

very poor. I think my current fitness level leans towards poor to average which means that I

dont do much physical activity or fitness at all or at a very low rate. These results really opened

my eyes for me as I thought I was physically healthy, it made me realise that I need to do a bit

more exercise. My grip strength test results were surprising because my left non-dominant hand

results were higher than my right dominant hand but results were poor in the norms table. The

calculation for Body Mass Index (BMI) is weight over height2. I scored an average of 21 BMI

which is an average for the table of norms. The vertical jump that tests the skill-related

component of power was an average result of 36, I think this result was scored average because

of basketball. The speed component was a poor result; this test was difficult for me as I did not

have the proper shoes to run to my potential in my opinion. During the testing the teacher

pointed out that I ran in a way that would slow me down. I took her suggestion and retested

myself and the results came out better than the previous one. The Illinois agility run is done by

running around cones placed on the ground at 5m width apart and 10m far apart with cones in

the middle to weave around. This exercise tested the agility part of the skills components. Iranked at good with a result of 20.12 seconds. The implications of my results show that I am not

in good condition in relation to physical health considering the fact that I scored an average of

poor or average.

c) Indentify your weakest health related and weakest skill related components of fitness.Recommend strategies to improve each of these fitness components.

My weakest health related component was the sit and reach test which tested my flexibility

along with my balancing result which we test by doing the stork stand. The sit and reach test I

had a rating of poor on the norms table with the result of -1. There are a vast number of ways or

strategies to improve these fitness components. To improve flexibility there are two types of

stretching, static stretching and dynamic stretching. Static stretching, a much safer form of

stretching, should always be done before dynamic stretching which mimics and exaggerates

actual exercise and daily motions. Leg swings for the legs. This can be done by standing

perpendicular to a wall for stability and leg further away from the wall and swinging the leg like

a clock pendulum. Inchworms for the back and chest, beginning in a push-up position, slowly

walking until the feet are as close to the hands as possible then using your hands to walk back

into the push-up position. Walking lunges can be done to stretch the legs by essentially walking

while nearly dropping the knee to the ground with each step. Static stretching is the stretchingthat everyone is familiar with and is done mainly in a stationary position. Static stretching should

be done when a work out is complete as static stretching done before can present a large risk of

injury to tight muscles. Hamstring stretches can be done by sitting on the floor and reaching to

the toes. Butterfly groin stretch is done by sitting on the floor with both soles of the feet

touching each other and pressing down on the knees. Shoulder stretching is done by pulling the

elbow across the front of the body towards the opposite shoulder. Another method to increase

flexibility is doing yoga or Pilates often.

8/12/2019 PDHPE assignment

3/3

d) Discuss the purpose and benefits of testing physical fitness in relation to measuring andimproving sporting performances.

The purpose of testing physical fitness in relation to measuring and improving sporting

performances is to figure out what athletes are doing right and wrong and what their strengths

and weaknesses are and how they can pinpoint what the athlete is lacking in terms of the fitness

components. These tests are created to find out what kind equipments and exercises can be

fitted right for each individual and these equipments or exercises could potentially improve the

athletes sporting performance. There are both positive and negative aspects of testing physical

fitness in relation to measuring and improving sporting performances.

Testing fitness in relation to measuring and improving the performance of athletes is important

and highly beneficial as it allows the athlete to know what they need to work on and how they

can improve the skills required for their particular sport. For example a beginner athlete will not

know much about how any of the movements of a specific sport and they may possibly hurt

themselves or someone else if they make a wrong move. So it is important to test physical

fitness to measure their fitness in order to alter their training and exercises, so that they dont

hurt themselves while doing something. Also measuring these levels of fitness in the beginning

of a training phase can be compared afterwards to give the athlete an idea of what has been

improved and what hasnt. This gives the athlete an idea of how effective the training is and how

it can be changed to improve them even more. An improvement in these results can usually give

the athlete that little bit more of encouragement to continue to work hard and to improve their

game.

On the other hand testing physical fitness can sometimes come out to be a negative outcome.

While testing physical fitness can identify the talents of athletes especially young athletes, these

results cannot be reliable in terms of predicting the future of these athletes due to their varying

growth patterns, psychological factors, and their lifestyle and in sports which heavily rely on

technique or tactics. Also not only are there physical barriers in testing physical fitness but the

athlete has to been stable emotionally and mentally. Someone who doesnt have the right

physicality or a strong mental attitude cannot achieve as much as a healthy strong athlete and

the results will come out not as high or excellent as they would have wanted. This kind of

situation can drastically demotivate athletes and can possibly stop them from achieving the goal

or finishing their training program.

In conclusion