The skill related components of fitness are:
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Agility: the ability to change the position of the body quickly, yet to control this movement. This is important in rounders for when suddenly changing direction either to catch the ball or run around bases.
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Balance: the ability to keep an upright posture whilst standing still or moving. Important in rounders to prevent unnecessary falls and tumbles e.g. when catching the ball.
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Co-ordination: the ability to uses the senses together with the body parts (e.g. arms and eyes together) or to use two or more body parts together. This is important in rounders to improve consistency when catching and hitting the ball.
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Power: the ability to complete strength performances quickly. It involves strength and speed together. This is important in rounders as more power enables a player to hit and throw the ball further.
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Reaction time: the amount of time it takes to get moving once you see the need to do so. Important in rounders to improve consistency when batting and reacting to the speed of the ball, or reacting to bad fielding.
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Speed: the ability to perform a movement or cover a distance quickly. Important in rounders to enable a player to run around the bases or for the ball faster.
All of these components of fitness are important; however I feel that the two most important for improving my performance are cardiovascular fitness and power.
The definition of skill is: an ability to perform certain activities or movements with control or consistency to bring about a desired result.
There is a relationship between fitness and skill. As personal fitness levels improve, it is often the case that the skill level of the athlete also increases.
I feel that I need to improve my cardiovascular fitness, as when running from base to base, especially if only a few of my team mates are left in the game, I find myself becoming out of breath fairly easily. I feel that if I improve my cardiovascular fitness, I will be able to continue in a game for longer and my game-play will improve.
I also wish to improve power to enable me to hit and throw the ball further, as I feel I am not playing to my full potential. This, again, will improve my effectiveness in a game.
Currently I do not have any major injuries or health problems which would prevent me from achieving my maximum.
Target:
At the end of the five weeks I am hoping to have moved up a level on the multi stage fitness test; however my main concern is that my effectiveness in a game improves due to an increase in cardiovascular fitness and power.
Safety
In order to ensure that I am safe in my activities, I am going to follow these safety procedures:
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I will wear the correct clothing and footwear required for each activity
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I will ensure I am not wearing any jewellery when exercising
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I will check any of the equipment which is needed for a particular activity and ensure I use it safely
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I will ensure I am supervised in any activities which require supervision
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If the activity is a team sport, I will ensure I abide by the rules to prevent injury to myself and my team-mates or opposition.
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If the activity requires it, I will wear any protective equipment that is necessary
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I will check the environment in which I am to perform an activity
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When I planned my circuit, I had it checked by a personal trainer to ensure it was a safe and effective circuit for improving power and cardiovascular fitness
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I will ensure I perform a warm up before an activity and a cool down after an activity to prevent any unnecessary injuries
Principles of Training
There are five main principles of training:
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Specificity: Each exercise has a specific effect on specific muscles. Suitable exercises should be chosen to improve certain muscles in the body. In sport, the muscles used in the sport should be exercised in order to improve their strength, power and endurance.
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Overload: In order to make a body part fitter, it must be overloaded (worked harder than normal). Over a period of time it will adapt to this increase in demand by getting fitter. The body should be overloaded by increasing F.I.T:
- The Frequency of the exercise
- The Intensity of the exercise
- The Time spent exercising
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Progression: Increased demand on the body cannot change the body immediately. The body can only adapt progressively. You have to be careful building up the exercise level in order to reduce risk of injury, as over worked muscles can tear easily. If exercise is carried out at a steady level then fitness will remain at that level.
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Reversibility: The effects of exercise on the body are reversible – if you exercise hard then the body gets fitter, but if you suddenly stop exercising, the fitness is lost. Sticking to the training programme is essential if achieving greater fitness is a target. Also, if a break is taken due to injury or illness, you cannot restart training at the level you left off at – you must lower this level, again to reduce risk of injury.
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Tedium: This is the principal of training that states that training methods must be varied to prevent boredom and over-use injuries.
Pre-testing
Cardiovascular Fitness
To test my cardiovascular fitness, I completed the Multi Stage Fitness Test.
On I found the following definition:
“The test involves running continuously between two points that are 20 m apart. These runs are synchronized with a pre-recorded audio tape or CD, which plays beeps at set intervals. As the test proceeds, the interval between each successive beep reduces, forcing the athlete to increase velocity over the course of the test, until it is impossible to keep in sync with the recording.”
When I was tested, I managed to reach Level 6.2.
Power
To test my power, I completed the Standing Broad Jump and the Sergeant Jump.
The standing broad jump involves standing behind a line, and, from a static position, jumping forwards as far as possible. A measurement is taken from the back of the landing foot to the start line.
I repeated this five times and this table shows my measurements:
I found the following website on the internet, which shows the analysis of results for 15 and 16 year olds:
I have highlighted where my results would fit into this, and it shows that my results are excellent compared to the national averages.
The sergeant jump involves standing beside a wall with a tape measure held up against the wall, and from a static position, jumping and reaching up as high as possible. A measurement of the highest point reached by the hand is taken.
Again, I repeated this five times and this table shows my measurements:
The following table shows the analysis of results for 16 – 19 year olds, (however I will take into account that I am not 16 for another 9 months):
Again, I have highlighted where my results would fit, and found that I fell into the below average range.