Power
Power is also a skill-related component of fitness. It is the ability to generate and use muscular strength quickly. Athletes who are stronger tend to produce a greater amount of power during an action. Generally, an athlete interested in health-related fitness does not train for power as it is needed more by the athletes in specific sports and can only be developed by using advanced training methods. Power is important for sprinters when pushing away from the blocks; footballer’s striking a long range drive and boxers delivering a punch, as well as other sports.
Three Different Fitness Training Methods
To develop each of these components of fitness to meet the needs of different sports, athletes, couches and personal trainers can’t just use one type of training – they need to use a range of appropriate training methods. Such as:
Core Satiability training
This exercises the deep muscles of the torso all at the same time. It is vital to most sports because the core muscles stabilise the spine and provide a solid foundation for movement in the arms and legs. The core is the centre point for all sporting actions – it reduces postural imbalance and plays an important role in injury prevention.
Circuit training
In a circuit training session, a number of different exercises (or stations) are organised in rotations. Individuals are set a time period to perform these exercises, such as one minute per station. Between the stations there should be a rest period dependent on the individual or groups completing the circuit.
Consecutive exercises use different muscle groups, for example, repeated sprints (legs) may be followed by press-ups to increase progression.
Interval Training
Improves anaerobic endurance components and aerobic endurance by varying the intensity and length of the work periods, followed by a rest or recovery period, before completing another work period. You need to consider the training program.
Lifestyle Factors
Being a successful athlete involves a huge commitment and many personal sacrifices. Lifestyle can play both a positive and negative role in achieving this success.
Alcohol
Alcohol is often used as a social tool and in sport it is sometimes used to celebrate a victory. Alcohol manufactures often use sport as a marketing tool through sponsorship.
Unfortunately, drinking to excess presents both short- and long-term problems. It can lead to unruly and inappropriate behaviour, with crimes sometimes committed when drunk. In the long term, excessive alcohol use results in liver damage and can be fatal.
Smoking
The dangers of smoking are widely publicised. In recent years the government has spent almost £23 million on campaigns aimed at preventing smoking among young people. Many young people are attracted to smoking as they see it as ‘cool’. People often start smoking because of peer pressure. Smoking significantly decreases your sporting ability mainly through your lungs. As it decreases your lung capacity which means you cannot get enough oxygen to your muscles. One of the main impacts of smoking on athletic performance is a decrease in lung function, leading to a decrease in stamina and performance as muscles that get inadequate oxygen become fatigued more quickly.
Unruly Behaviour
An athlete who is regularly in the media spotlight needs to consider their role as a sporting ambassador whom many young people will aspire to emulate. If media pictures show them smoking or behaving in an unacceptable or antisocial way, there is possibility that children will copy them. Even amateur athletes should consider their behaviour during sporting competition and training, as well as away from the sports ground. Unruly behaviour will have negative effect on their own image and that of their sport.
Drugs
Drugs can be divided into two main categories:
- Recreational drugs
- Performance-enhancing drugs
Common recreational drugs such as cannabis, cocaine or heroine are extremely dangerous and can have serious consequences for an athlete. Not only will performance be affected in the short term, with success unlikely, the risk of long-term damage to health is considerable. All athletes should avoid such drugs as there is no benefit to their use. It is common for athletes to be tested for both performance-enhancing and recreational drug use. If they test positive, athletes are likely to be banned from their sport for a long time or possibly life, as well as facing the risk of police prosecution. For example, the sprinter Dwain Chambers was found to have taken a banned substance and as a consequence was banned from competing for two years as well as receiving a lifetime ban from competing at the Olympic Games.
Doping refers to using performance-enhancing drugs. Their abuse has been well publicised, with many high-profile cases of athletes found using them. Some athletes take these to gain an unfair advantage over opponents. However, the consequences can have both long- and short-term health implications, as well as resulting in a ban from the sport.
Results
This results show that my fitness level is well below average, the sit and reach test in flexibility shows that my results are poor, the hand grip dynamometer test in strength shows that my results are poor and the stork balance test in balance shows that my results for my balance is poor. Overall my results are very weak and need to be improved considering that excellence in these aspects are a lot higher than the results I have received.
Psychological factors
Psychological factors are the mental factors that help or prevent sportspeople from being in the right 'frame of mind' to perform well. In sport you have to want to perform and to improve your performance. Your determination to do this is called motivation. The intensity of it is called arousal. If training leads to boredom you will lose motivation. If you are 'wound up' you are suffering from anxiety: you will feel tension in your body and this can prevent you from performing well. Feedback is information about the outcome of a performance and it can greatly affect future performances. Your personality can affect your choice of sports and performance:
- Extroverts are socially outgoing. They need high arousal levels to perform. Coaches and team mates need to keep them 'excited' about performing. They prefer team games with open skills and lots of unpredictability. Open skills are used in sports where you cannot predict what will happen next, eg in an invasion game such as hockey.
- Introverts are usually shy. They perform better at lower arousal levels. Coaches and team mates need to allow them to stay calm and focused. Too much stimulation will cause them to be over-aroused and they will not perform well. They prefer sports with fine movements, closed skills and regular routines. Closed skills are used in sports where you can control the environment, e.g. putting in golf.
Basketball
The following are the component of fitness that is needed to achieve excellence in basketball.
Psychological factors on sports training and performance
When people take part in sport for fun and the result does not matter then psychological factors are no use. But, when the results become the objective and mind set then psychological approach becomes vital. For example, playing football with your friends is not as important as playing for a team in front of thousands.
The hardship and stress of competitive sports puts a huge psychological burden on us. In order to be successful and ahead of competition you will need to have ‘Mental Toughness’.
We can improve our body and physical presence by training and gaining experience. In the same way we may improve our mental presence and the power of our psyche by regular mental training.
Motivation
Motivation can be defined as the willingness to act or the internal mechanism that stimulates goal-oriented behaviour. For humans, there typically are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic:
Intrinsic Motivation - Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades.
The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task. In sport it is vital to love the sport you are participating in.
There is a paradox of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is far stronger a motivator than extrinsic motivation, yet extrinsic motivation can easily act to displace intrinsic motivation.
Using it
If you can get someone to believe in an idea or align their values with what you want, then you have set very powerful motivation in place. Seek to make them feel good about what you want.
Extrinsic Motivation - Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual.
Some examples of sources of extrinsic motivation are grading systems, trophies, popularity or money. Extrinsic motivation might also be negative, as is the case with punishments or coercion. In any case, this type of motivation is rooted in external sources; it comes from the individual’s environment, rather than from within the individual.
Extrinsic motivation is present throughout a person’s life. As a child, an individual experiences it in the form of grades on tests and assignments or in the form of increased popularity that is the result of certain behaviour. In adulthood, an individual experiences it in the form of his or her pay check, status or recognition. In sport this type of motivation can be received from a trainer, couch or even winning a trophy.
Anxiety Control
When a sportsman is under omens pressure, stress and is very anxious their performance gets weaker than they would at first. Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the personal history and memory, and the situation the certain person is in for example: Taking a penalty kick is a very anxious situation. Stress is the base for anxiety. Although anxiety is related to fear, it is not the same thing. Fear is a direct, focused response to a specific event or object, and the person is consciously aware of it. Most people will feel fear if someone points a loaded gun at them or if they see a tornado forming on the horizon. They also will recognize that they are afraid. Anxiety, on the other hand, is often unfocused, vague, and hard to pin down to a specific cause.
Sports and performance anxiety often go hand-in-hand. Have you ever "choked" during an important sporting event or felt your nerves get in the way of your athletic performance? While many athletes become "pumped up" during competition, when the rush of adrenaline is interpreted as anxiety, and negative thoughts begin to swirl, it can have devastating effects on your ability to perform. Before you learn how to manage the symptoms of anxiety during competitions, it is important to understand the relationship between anxiety and athletic performance.
Stress
Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope. People have different ways of reacting to stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may in fact be motivating to another. Stress can be good or bad for a person engaged in a sporting event. Good stress can improve a performance whereas bad stress can cause them to, in sporting parlance, not be at the races. This article will examine these two types of stress, what causes them, how they affect sports and how they can be combated.
Effects of stress on sport performance/training
- At first stress, places demand on the athlete in a particular situation.
- Then the athlete takes this demand either in a positive or a negative way. At this point a negative perspective of this demand can affect your mental state. It can create a lack of concentration and a lack confidence in yourself. If the pressure of the demand is too much for the athlete to handle. This will make the athlete feel like they cannot accomplish their goal.
Eustress
Eustress is a term that is sometimes used to refer to what many call good stress. Rather than being the root cause for discomfort or emotional distress, eustress motivates people to continue moving forward and enjoy actions and events that require some effort but ultimately provide a great deal of satisfaction.
Distress
This is the opposite of Eustress; it is the bad kind of stress and can be really bad for you. It can disrupt the quality of the sports players’ performance; it can shorten your life and in worst cases it can cause a heart attack and even death. This is a very dangerous type of being nervous and anxious.
Arousal
The effect on sport is that your arousal levels different depending on what outcome you are willing to achieve. If your arousal level is high, then you will be more motivated to win and if you win it will increase the meaning of that win. If your arousal levels are low then it means that you are more likely to not perform as you normally can.
Arousal is mental and physical. It is psychic energy-the activation of certain parts of the central nervous system that leads to physiological and behavioural changes. You can partially control arousal and thereby improve your functioning as an individual as well as an athlete.
Arousal can also have negative effects. This is because arousal has multiple effects on athletic performance during sports. Arousal enhances blood flow and oxygen in the brain, neural and musculoskeletal systems. Arousal stimulates adrenaline and other stimulant hormone production. Arousal that is excessively high or low hurts athletic performance. Some effects of arousal on sports performance include muscular tension, decision-making speed, concentration and focus, rhythm and coordination.
