The second component which would be needed a lot is speed. When playing football you will always need a short burst of speed, even a goalkeeper would have to use speed at some point in the game. For example, if the opposing striker was about to get into a one on one situation with the goal keeper, the goal keeper would have to do a short sprint out towards the striker to cut of his options of scoring. Other examples of speed in football are when there is a loose ball in the middle of the pitch, you would have to react with a short burst of speed to win the ball for your team. Even though you could only be sprinting a distance of five yards, it still requires speed. Also, a striker would need a great amount of speed as they are the main attackers. If a through ball was to be played through by a midfielder, the striker would need a short burst of speed to get to the ball before the defender and giving themselves a chance of scoring.
Another fitness component which is used in football is strength. Strength is the ability of a muscle to exert force for a short period of time. The amount of force that someone can exert depends on the size of the muscles and the number of muscles involved, as well as the type of muscle fibre used and the co-ordination of the muscles involved. Also, there are 3 types of strength which are maximum strength, elastic strength and strength endurance. Maximum strength is needed to produce a single movement against a resistance, for example, power lifting. A test which can be use to see your maximum strength is the one rep max, this involves one repetition of the maximum strength you can push. Elastic strength is needed to produce movements that are very close to each other in time, for example, the triple jump where you have to use your strength to push yourself off at three different times. Strength endurance is needed to produce repetitive movements of a muscle, or muscle group, and not to get tired whilst doing so. The type of strength which would be used in football is maximum strength. The most common example of when maximum strength is used in football is when a player is shoulder barged. For example, if a midfield player on the opposition is running down the wing with the ball the defender would require strength to barge the opposing player off the ball to win possession for his team. Without strength it would make a player’s job harder to make a tackle on another player because it is not always easy to win the ball with a slide tackle.
Task 3
James’ lifestyle factors are he has a job, but occasionally drinks alcohol. My lifestyle factors are bad diet and weight and I have asthma.
First of all, even though James does not have a full time job, at times it could maybe cause problems for him. For example, if he needed some extra money and asked to work extra hours, this could put more pressure on him and cause him to have too much things to do. The extra work could even cause a little stress and cause him to become lazy and not exercise. Because he is a cricket player, he would have to be alert at all times, for example, when batting, the ball will coming towards him at great speed. If James had an important cricket match coming up but had been working too much before the match, this could affect him physically and mentally. It could affect him physically because he could be doing to much physical work than he could actually manage which could cause his muscles to ache and then possibly lead to injury which would mean he couldn’t play. It could affect him mentally because when training or warming up to play a match he could have work on his mind throughout the day thinking about something he done wrong or forgot to do at work. This could affect his concentration on the pitch.
The second lifestyle factor is alcohol, he doesn’t drink all the time but it could still have some effects on his sports performance. Alcohol has both short term and long term effects. The short term effects can be dizziness, loss of motor control, reduced ability to make decisions and reduced perception of movement. The more alcohol that is consumed by a person, the symptoms can increase. These symptoms could eventually lead to unsafe and possibly life threatening behaviour. The long term effects of alcohol can involve symptoms such as, breathlessness, swelling of the legs, muscular fatigue, an increase in body weight, joint problems, liver damage and heart failure (in extreme cases). The long term effects of regular drinking beyond the recommended amount can also increase blood pressure and reduce the efficiency of the heart. James only occasionally drinks so the effects wont be that serious, there will only be short term effects, for example, dizziness and reduced ability to make decisions. If he was to have a cricket match but had been drinking the night before, this could cause reduced ability to make decisions and decision making is very essential in cricket. For example, he could have to make a crucial decision on whether he is going hit the ball for a six or play defensively, which could be the decisive moment of the game. But depending on if he had been drinking alcohol the night before, he could make a bad decision and cost him and his team mates the match. Also, because alcohol can cause dizziness, there is a possibility that he could be so dizzy that when it is his turn to bowl, the dizziness can affect him by not allowing him to bowl properly or straight.
The life style that affects me the most is diet and weight. A healthy diet will ensure a balance between the nutrient value that you consume and the energy that you use for muscular activity. Two results are possible is there is an imbalance between these two factors. The less food you consume and more exercise you do will result in weight loss or the more food you consume and less exercise you do will result in weight gain. Because I play a lot of football, eating well will mean I am able to train and compete better, and for longer which is very important as football is a competitive sport. Also, eating well will help your mind to stay sharp and help you to be alert. My diet and weight can affect me in football because if I have bad diet this means I am not getting the right nutrients which can lead to poor sports performance on the pitch due to lack of nutrients. For example, in football you need energy (cardio respiratory) and to gain energy through your diet you should eat foods which are high in carbohydrates. These can be foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes and breakfast cereals. If I was to go and play a very competitive game of football, for example, a cup final, I would have to be ready for it physically and mentally. But imagine if two hours before the match I had a meal containing junk foods like, burgers, chips and pizza, this would not help me at all. First of all it could slow my body down and cause lack of energy which will cause me to feel tired a lot quicker because when you consume junk food it reduces the level of essential nutrients consequently causing weakness in the body. The second thing is it will give me poor concentration because junk food contains high amount of oil and fat and as a result of this the human body finds this food difficult to digest and needs to spend high amount of blood and enzymes. When a person consumes junk food in excess, a major portion of blood in the body is diverted to the intestine. This can make the person feel drowsy and suffer with reduced concentration.
My second lifestyle pattern is sleep patterns. These may vary due to the pattern of training or other external demands on life, such as family and work. Younger people commonly need at least eight hours sleep per night. As you get older, the amount of sleep that you need usually decreases. However, as training intensity increases, the need for sleep will increase accordingly, for example, if I start training an hour extra everyday my body will need more time to recover from the exercise which means I will need a longer period of time to sleep. If sleep is not balanced with work or other demands, then the positive effects of training will not be seen. I play football at a competitive level four times a week, but my sleep patterns are not good so this has a bad effect on my sports performance. Sleep can affect me in sports because without the proper amount of sleep it can give me lack of endurance, you could play well at the start of the game but as you get towards the end you will become tired more easily and quickly and performance will drop because of me being tired. Even though I am training for football twice a week and keeping fit, if I am not getting the right amounts of sleep it will not benefit me. If I was getting below eight hours of sleep which is the minimum amount recommended for teenagers, my sports performance on the pitch will be poor because I will not be alert, I will have lack of concentration and I will be tired throughout the whole game.
