a) Select a sport/event that incorporates at least 4 components of fitness.

Explain 4 of the
major 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 time
from 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 muscles
along my femur were out of line and that it affected my balance in which I would lean forward
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 height
2
. 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. I
ranked 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 stretching
that 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.


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