To improve your muscle endurance, try cardio respiratory activities such as walking, jogging, bicycling, or dancing.
Strength
Strength is a general term for applying a force against a resistance. In most team sports the resistance you are working against is your own body weight and, although you are not using your maximum strength, you do need to keep working for long periods of time. In other activities, such as weightlifting, you are applying more force and working to the maximum. In sport we therefore need to state more specifically the type of strength being used.
There are three types of strengths:
- Maximum strength is used in sports such as weight lifting.
- Elastic strength is known as power which is used in badminton this is so your body can work for a longer time when hitting the shuttlecock with the racket and move at the same time.
- And strength endurance which is your everyday lifestyle, such as carrying the shopping home or digging the garden.
To test strength there are many ways, the easiest way to test maximum strength is to find out the maximum weight you can lift. To measure endurance the best test to do it the sit up and see how many you can do in a minute. Elastic strength can be measured by doing the vertical jump this measures how much power your body’s got to lift yourself up off the floor.
Swimming Health Related
Aerobic fitness
Aerobic fitness is needed in swimming because it increases the amount of oxygen in your muscles which help them work for longer periods especially for swimmers who swim long distances instead of sprints. This can also be measured by doing the VO2 max test.
Flexibility
In swimming it lacks flexibility but it is still an essential part of the sport. One of the causes of poor performance in swimming is often due to the limitation of range of movement in the joints, in particular the shoulder and ankle joints. It restricts the extent to which a limb can be placed in the water to give maximum effect for efficient stroke technique, hence the speed and endurance of a swimmer will suffer. Where there is stiffness in a joint the muscles have to work harder to overcome this stiffness and the body is using up valuable energy which could otherwise be used to swim faster. But athletes still have to warm up before they enter the pool to prevent injury like torn muscles and aching shoulder joints.
To test for your upper body flexibility, the "thumb-to-spine" test is the quickest active way to evaluate your range of motion and your internal shoulder rotation. Put your hand behind your back and touch your spine as high as you can with your thumb. The goal is for each arm to reach as far as possible without causing any pain and to achieve an equal distance.
Muscular endurance
Muscular endurance is also needed in swimming for when athletes do 400m swim they need their muscles to work for a long period of time during the 400m without tiring so they can push themselves faster till they finish the race.
Strength
Strength is needed in swimming because when at the starting block you need a lot of power to push yourself into the water when diving as far as possible. It also needs the strength in the arms and legs to move across the pool faster and smoothly. A test you can do to for strength in swimming is push ups as it works the muscles in your arms and legs.
Badminton Skill Related
Agility
Agility is the combination of speed and coordination. In badminton is allows a subject to efficiently change directions and body position at speed across the court this is needed because the court is big and needs to be covered at all times. Agility can be tested by the Illinois test where an athlete lies facing down at the starting line. On the word go they get up and complete the agility course outlined as fast as possible.
Balance
Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium. Most players require good dynamic balance. Balance is needed in badminton because the player needs to be able to remain stable when at a fast pace and also when doing any type of skill where they make be tip toeing or bending really low they will need to be able to balance to avoid falling over. To test balance you can do the stork stand, where you balance on your toes and your other leg is bent and your hands are on your hips.
Coordination
Coordination involves putting the relevant motor programmes in the right order and effectively using the neuromuscular system to produce smooth and efficient movement. In badminton it is important to have hand-eye coordination so a subject can aim right when doing a serve, shots and moving around the court. To test coordination take a tennis ball in the right hand at stand 2m away from a wall. Then toss the ball underarm against the ball and catch the mall with the other hand and then change over. Recorded how many catches you can do in 30 seconds.
Power
In simple terms this is "strength x speed" or doing strength movements quickly. A shot putter uses power when moving a shot from their neck. A high jumper needs power in their legs to lift their body, vertically, over the bar. A weight lifter powers the bar up over his head. This is needed in badminton so the athlete has enough power in their arms and legs to jump up and hit the shuttlecock to the back of the court. This can be tested by doing a bench press which looks at a persons’ 1 rep max.
Speed
Speed is basically how fast you can move part of your body or the whole of your body, and is measured in metres per second. Speed is an important factor in all sports and activities that require sudden changed in pace. This is needed in badminton because along with agility it needs the speed to be able to move across the court if you are too slow you can miss the shot but if the speed is right you can hit it.
Speed can be measured by doing a 60m timed sprint.
Reaction Time
This is the time between a stimulus being detected and the first movement made in response to it this can be improved by practicing. Reaction time is needed in badminton to react to the shots so you can see where it’s coming from and when it’s the right time to move to hit it so it is on target. This can be tested by doing a push the button test where a light comes on and you have to press it quickly as possible the then measures the time it takes to respond to the stimulus.
Swimming Skill Related
Agility
Agility is needed in swimming because the swimmer has to have the pace to move across the pool and back when doing a race or training. This is also because they may start with a forward stroke but when coming back they change to a different skill.
Balance
In swimming it is important to stay balanced especially when swimming at a fast pace to prevent any drowning or colliding with anyone else.
Coordination
Coordination is also needed in swimming as the swimmer needs to make sure they are swimming in a straight line and not swimming into someone else’s lane. Also to keep their legs and arms moving in the same direction.
Power
Swimmers need the power in their upper body and legs to let them push harder in the water to make them go faster. Also when at the starting blocks they need power to dive into the water.
Speed
Speed is needed in swimming to move across the pool fast and normally lasts for a short period of time which is very usual for someone who is a 50m or 100m sprinter in swimming.
Reaction Time
Reaction time is also needed in swimming because the swimmer needs to know when to react to the whistle, when to turn at the end of the lane and to know where other people are and react to it and try and go faster.
Football Skill Related
Agility
Agility is important because football doesn't require players to run in straight lines. They need to be able to change direction without losing speed. Also the goal keeper needs to have a good amount of agility to reach in far corners when they’re in the goal box. A good warm up for agility would be to team up in pairs and while running through a grid of hurdles, pass the ball between each other through the hurdles.
Balance
Footballers need balance, this is because when being tackled they need to be able to remain on their feet while trying to get the ball away from the opponent. If in a unlucky position and being unstable it could result to a nasty injury.
Coordination
Coordination is important in football when making passes or aiming for goal. You need to know where your player is or the goal so you can aim right
Power
Power is needed in football the players need the ability to be able to head the ball so they need power in their legs so they can jump high to head it.
Speed
Football is a game full of speed footballers need to have that speed to be able to run up and down the pitch for two 45minutes game.
Reaction Time
Reaction time is also needed in football when a pass is being made to you, you need to get to the ball before the opponent. Also in free kicks and corners you need to react when you see the ball coming towards you to clear it.
