Skill Fitness and Fitness Programming
Six Components of Skill-Related Fitness
There are six skill-related fitness components: agility, balance, coordination, speed, power, and reaction time. Skilled athletes typically excel in all six areas.
• Agility is the ability to change and control the direction and position of the body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion. For example, changing directions to hit a tennis ball.
• Balance is the ability to control or stabilize the body when a person is standing still or moving. For example, in-line skating.
• Coordination is the ability to use the senses together with body parts during movement. For example, dribbling a basketball. Using hands and eyes together is called hand-eye coordination.
• Speed is the ability to move your body or parts of your body swiftly. Many sports rely on speed to gain advantage over your opponents. For example, a basketball player making a fast break to perform a lay-up, a tennis player moving forward to get to a drop shot, a football player out running the defense to receive a pass.
• Power is the ability to move the body parts swiftly while applying the maximum force of the muscles. Power is a combination of both speed and muscular strength. For example, fullbacks in football muscling their way through other players and speeding to advance the ball and volleyball players getting up to the net and lifting their bodies high into the air.
• Reaction Time is the ability to reach or respond quickly to what you hear, see, or feel. For example, an athlete quickly coming off the blocks early in a swimming or track relay, or stealing a base in baseball.
There are six skill-related fitness components: agility, balance, coordination, speed, power, and reaction time. Skilled athletes typically excel in all six areas.
• Agility is the ability to change and control the direction and position of the body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion. For example, changing directions to hit a tennis ball.
• Balance is the ability to control or stabilize the body when a person is standing still or moving. For example, in-line skating.
• Coordination is the ability to use the senses together with body parts during movement. For example, dribbling a basketball. Using hands and eyes together is called hand-eye coordination.
• Speed is the ability to move your body or parts of your body swiftly. Many sports rely on speed to gain advantage over your opponents. For example, a basketball player making a fast break to perform a lay-up, a tennis player moving forward to get to a drop shot, a football player out running the defense to receive a pass.
• Power is the ability to move the body parts swiftly while applying the maximum force of the muscles. Power is a combination of both speed and muscular strength. For example, fullbacks in football muscling their way through other players and speeding to advance the ball and volleyball players getting up to the net and lifting their bodies high into the air.
• Reaction Time is the ability to reach or respond quickly to what you hear, see, or feel. For example, an athlete quickly coming off the blocks early in a swimming or track relay, or stealing a base in baseball.