Skill-Related Fitness

Skill-related fitness helps you perform skills needed for sports and dance activities. They can help you have fun in active play. It enhances performance in sports and motor skills. The components are commonly defined as agility, balance, coordination, power and reactions.

AGILITY
It is the ability to change direction of movements quickly while staying in control of your body. People with good agility are most likely to be good at activities such as: diving, soccer. Ice skating wrestling, etc....

Examples:
• stepping aside quickly in the hallway to avoid running into someone else
• Stopping, starting and changing directions quickly to avoid a defender
• stepping quickly on the court to return a serve or an opponents shot
• changing directions quickly to avoid stepping out of bounds

BALANCE
It is the ability to maintain body equilibrium in different movements or to fall. It is generally considered to be of two types: static and dynamic. Also an ability to keep an upright posture while standing still or moving. People with good posture balance are most likely to be good in activities such as gymnastics, ice skating, rhythmic gymnastic, ski-jumping, surfing etc.

• Static Balance
The ability to keep the body in a desired position while not moving
Example: Standing on one foot. Not moving on the balance beam. Making a pyramid with three people.

• Dynamic Balance
The ability to keep the body in a desired position while moving.
Example: Walking on the balance beam, surfing, skate boarding, or skiing.


COORDINATION
It is the ability to combine at the same time, movements of various body parts. It is also the ability to perform complex movements due to the working together of the nervous system and the muscles of the body. Also the ability to use the senses and body parts in order to perform motor tasks smoothly and accurately.
Examples:
• performing a v-sit on the beam or on the floor
• landing after a rebound in basketball
• re-gaining balance after 'stepping in opposition' when serving a ball

POWER
It is the ability to combine strength and speed. It is also the amount of force a muscle can exert and relates to the ability to the rate at which one can perform work.
Examples:
• high jumping, sprinting, figure skating
• Pushing or pulling an object,
• lifting, kicking, swinging, or jumping.

REACTION TIME
It is the time between your sense recognizing a stimulus and your body moving in response. Total response time includes stimulus to beginning of movement (reaction time) to end of movement (movement time). There are many different types of reaction time and total assessment of reaction time would require many different tests. Sophisticated timing devices are used to measure total response time in the lab. People with good reaction time are able to make fast start in track or swimming, or to dodge a fast attack in fencing or karate.
Example:
• starting a race
• hitting a ball during baseball

SPEED
It is the time it takes you to move a certain distance. It also refers to a person's ability to move fast and to move in a short period of time. There are many different types of speed such as running speed, swimming speed, speed hand or foot movement to name a few.
Examples:
• Relay race, running bases,
• speed dribbling in soccer,
• fast break in basketball.

STRENGTH
It is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. – the maximal one- effort force that can be exerted against a resistance.
Examples
• tug of war
• trunk sit and stand
• push up