1
Chapter – I
1.1 INTRODUCTION
"What our country wants are men of muscles of iron and
nerves of steel, gigantic will which nothing can resist, which can
penetrate into the miseries and secrets of the universe and will to
accomplish the purpose in any fashion, even if it is meant going to
the bottom of the ocean meeting death face to face”
- SWAMI VIVEKANANDA.
Physical education in schools concerns the involvement of children
in fitness activities, sports, health and drug education, gymnastics
and some aspects of dance. All are designed to encourage a healthier,
more enjoyable lifestyle. Such involvement is particularly important at
present with the extent of obesity and other illnesses, many of which
reflect a lack of exercise and healthy living.
Physical Education in schools - both quality and quantity are
important. Daily quality physical education in the nation’s schools is
an important part of a student’s comprehensive, well-rounded
education program and a means of positively affecting life-long health
and well-being. The optimal physical education program will foster a
lifetime commitment to physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Ultimately, improved coordinated school health programs, of which
physical education is a central component, will augment other
2
prevention efforts and help to reverse the growing epidemic of
childhood obesity which threatens to undo decades of progress in the
fight against cardiovascular and other diseases (Kahn et al., 2002).
Regular physical activity is associated with a healthier, longer life and
with a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes,
obesity, and some cancers.
Physical
education
should
be
an
important
part
of
that
requirement and does more than provide some minutes of moderatevigorous activity. It also teaches students how to integrate exercise
into their lives in order to establish a lifetime of healthy living. A
growing body of evidence demonstrates the benefits of physical
education
beyond
fitness.
Several
large-scale
studies
found
improvements in students’ academic performance and cognitive ability
with increased time spent in physical education (Datar, 2004) .
Children who spent time in physical education in place of a classroom
activity performed no worse academically than students not enrolled
in physical education. Physical activity also has a positive impact on
tobacco use, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. The quality of the
physical education program, not just the time spent on the class, is
the foremost concern (Coe et al., 2006).
As public health officials wring their hands about the obesity
epidemic, there's a solution that is relatively low-cost, ready to
implement and obvious to anyone involved in school health and
physical education. Implement quality daily physical education in
every school. The effectiveness of physical education depends on not
3
only participation in physical education and extracurricular sports,
and measuring their height and weight. It depends on more days of
physical education participation per week, the greater the chance that
students would maintain a healthy body weight into adulthood
(Castelli et al., 2007) .
Physical education has been substantially reduced and in some
cases completely eliminated in response to budget concerns and
pressures to improve academic test scores (Lee et al., 2007) . Yet the
available evidence shows that children who are physically active and
fit tend to perform better in the classroom, and that daily physical
education does not adversely affect academic performance. Schools
can provide outstanding learning environments while improving
children’s health through physical education.
Schools serve as an excellent venue to provide students with the
opportunity for daily physical activity, to teach the importance of
regular physical activity for health, and to build skills that support
active lifestyles. Budgetary constraints and increasing pressure to
improve standardized test scores have caused school officials to
question the value of physical education and other physical activity
programs. This has led to a substantial reduction in the time available
for physical education, and in some cases, school-based physical
activity
programs
have
been
completely
eliminated.
Studies
consistently show that more time in physical education and other
school-based physical activity programs does not adversely affect
academic performance. In some cases, more time in physical
4
education leads to improved academic achievement. Physically active
and fit children tend to have better academic achievement. There are
several possible mechanisms by which physical education and regular
physical activity could improve academic achievement, including
enhanced concentration skills and classroom behavior (Sallis, 1999).
Today, education programs at all levels face intense criticism,
and physical education programs are no exception. In fact, as school
budgets shrink and administrators cut "frills," physical education may
be one of the first programs to go. If we are to secure a place for
physical education in the school curriculum,
"The necessity of physical activity for a growing child is welldocumented in terms of growth and fitness needs. Physical activity
increases muscle tone, improves respiration and circulation, benefits
digestion, aids in controlling obesity, promotes rehabilitation after
illness and surgery, and stimulates proper growth and development.
Physical activity enhances a person's life both socially and
psychologically. Studies have shown that physical activity may modify
anxiety and depression (Sallis, 1999).
Regular physical education, included in children's school
curricula, produces physical, psychological, and intellectual benefits
(Lee et al., 2007). Physical education may help prevent degenerative
disease, improve overall physical condition, maintain emotional
balance, promote a sense of social effectiveness, contribute to
academic performance, and establish positive recreation habits.
Therefore, physical education must not be considered a curricular
5
frill; rather, it must be supported as an integral part of comprehensive
education.
Physical education classes provide a natural opportunity for
children to learn concepts like around, over and under, front and
behind, and above and below. They also learn about such things as
speed, distance, height, shape, color, direction, and position concepts which lend themselves to a physical learning experience.
Even children whose cognitive or language abilities were
impaired showed improvements when language skills were taught
during physical education classes without sacrificing the physical
skills
they're
teaching
or
requiring
additional
time
(Connor-Kuntz, 1996) .
Fortunately for teachers, the study also found that language
skills can easily be implemented into physical education classes
without sacrificing the physical skills they're teaching or requiring
additional time.
Sport is from an inspirable part of the system of physical
education. Physical education offers opportunity in competitive
situation for physical, social, emotional and moral development.
Sports and games are the best ways to earn social recognition and
acquire a status in the modern society. The term motor ability is used
synonymously with general athletic ability. There are many factors
that contribute to successful performance in athletic skill. In most of
the advanced and developed countries, the awareness for motor
learning and skill developed among children is very much scientific
6
and prolonged which perhaps helped them to level of general fitness
with motor abilities like power, speed, agility, balance, reaction time
etc. are essential qualities required to be develops in the players
(Suresh, 2010) .
Fitness is the ability of the individual needed to live a full and
balanced life. The totally fit person has a healthy and happy outlook
on life. All living individuals have some degree of physical fitness. This
degree may be interpreted in terms of their capacity for performance
and their endurance in physical activity. Fitness is the young man's
absolute necessary. It breads self-reliance and keeps man mentally
alert. This is also essential at all times to make a success in any
activity.
Physical fitness is an important phenomenon for any human
being to lead a life of easy and comfort. Physical fitness develops the
organic fitness. It means the efficient of organic system of the human
body circulatory, respiratory systems etc.
The physical fitness is necessary to do any task, but at the
very time, the mind also should have to be co-operative by means of
psychosomatic adjustments to fulfill the particular task in an easy
and efficient ways.
Physical fitness is fundamental importance to all human
beings. A man cannot move even an inch without proper amount of
physical fitness. Need for exercise to maintain an organically sound
body from birth to old age is repeatedly emphasized. Functioning of
the body requires energy, which depends on the ability of the heart,
7
lungs and blood vessels to process oxygen and deliver it to the
muscles, where it becomes the fuel for energy.
Physical fitness is one of the aspects of total fitness. Physical
fitness is not only one of the important keys to a healthy body but also
the basis of dynamic and creative activity.
Fitness is active not
passive, because from birth to death. Cradle to graveyard, an
individual is an active organism.
One point of consensus is that
physical fitness is desirable quality which one cannot afford to
neglect.
Just small amounts of physical activity, approximately 75
minutes
a
week,
can
help
improve
the
fitness
levels
for
postmenopausal women who are sedentary and overweight or obese.
The women in the study also reduced waist circumference, although
there was no significant weight loss (www.seniorjournal.com).
Physical fitness is a state of well-being that comprises skill and
health-related components. Fitness is a condition in which an
individual has sufficient energy to avoid fatigue and enjoy life. It is
necessary for elderly people to maintain and improve their physical
fitness in order to satisfy healthy, high quality of daily life
(Tanaka et al., 2004). Skill-related physical fitness refers to an
individual’s athletic ability in sports such as tennis and encompasses
skill-related attributes like dynamic balance, power, speed and agility;
the health-related aspect is a measure of cardiovascular endurance,
muscle strength, endurance and flexibility and body composition
8
(Hopkins, 1988). Physical fitness is measured by functional tests that
are specific and usually normative-based, rather than criterion-based,
thereby leaving unanswered as to how much of a specific fitness factor
(e.g. muscular endurance) is required for a good quality of life
(Chia et al., 2007). There are numerous factors which are responsible
for the performance of sportsmen.
1.2 Types of Fitness
There are different aspects of fitness and each of these aspects
of fitness is developed in different ways and each can have a different
effect on your activities. The different types of fitness are outlined
below.
Aerobic fitness.
This is to do with the improving the body’s oxygen consumption
and efficiency, that is how long you can exercise before you run out of
breath. An example of aerobic exercise is running, swimming and
rowing (Chia et al., 2007).
Anaerobic Fitness
Anaerobic Fitness is the fitness that intense enough to trigger
anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports
to build power and by body builders to build muscle mass. Examples
are weightlifting and sprinting (Chia et al., 2007).
9
1.3 Components of fitness
Fitness is a condition in which an individual has sufficient
energy to avoid fatigue and enjoy life. Physical fitness is divided into
four health and six skill-related components. Health-related fitness
involves skills that enable one to become and stay physically healthy.
Skill- or performance-related fitness involves skills that will enhance
one’s performance in athletic or sports events (Suresh, 2010).
1.4 Health related fitness components
Cardiovascular endurance: This is the ability of the body to
deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and to remove wastes over
sustained periods of time (Suresh, 2010).
Muscular strength & endurance: Strength deals with the
ability of the muscle to exert force for a brief time period, while
endurance is the ability of a muscle, or group of muscles, to sustain
repeated contractions or to continue to apply force against an inert
object (Suresh, 2010).
Flexibility: This denotes the ability to move joints and use
muscles through their full range of motion (Suresh, 2010).
Body composition: Considered as one of the components of
fitness, composition refers to the body in terms of lean mass (muscle,
bone, vital tissue, and organs) and fat mass. Actually, the optimal
ratio of fat to lean mass is an indication of fitness. Performing the
right set of exercises can help people get rid of body fat and increase
or maintain muscle mass.(Suresh, 2010)
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1.5 Skill-related fitness
There are six skill-related fitness components: agility, balance,
coordination, speed, power, and reaction time.
Agility - Agility is the ability to change and control the direction
and position of the body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion
(Suresh, 2010).
Balance - Balance is the ability to control or stabilize the body
when a person is standing still or moving (Suresh, 2010).
Coordination - Coordination is the ability to use the senses
together with body parts during movement (Suresh, 2010).
Speed - 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 (Suresh, 2010).
Power - 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 (Suresh, 2010).
Reaction Time - Reaction Time is the ability to reach or respond
quickly to what you hear, see, or feel (Suresh, 2010).
1.6 Motor skill related components
Biomotor Skill - A skill associated with muscle activity. Skills
performed in sport form a continuum from fine to gross motor skills.
Some sports scientists object to the prefix ‘motor’ being used on its
own because it implies the skill is largely a motor reflex. They prefer to
use terms, such as perceptual motor skill, psychomotor skill, or
11
sensorimotor
skill because
such terms emphasize the
mental
components of movement skills. A skilled movement can be defined as
a product of four different elements: force, velocity, accuracy, and
purposefulness. In a skilful performance, all four elements must be
performed at the same time in exactly the right combination and
amount (Singh, 1993).
Gross motor skills - Gross motor skills include lifting one's
head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking. Gross
motor development usually follows a pattern. Generally large muscles
develop before smaller ones, thus, gross motor development is the
foundation for developing skills in other areas (such as fine motor
skills). Development also generally moves from top to bottom. The first
thing a baby usually learns to control is its eyes (Singh, 1993).
Fine motor skills - Fine motor skills include the ability to
manipulate small objects, transfer objects from hand to hand, and
various eye–hand coordination tasks. Fine motor skills may involve
the use of very precise motor movement in order to achieve an
especially delicate task. Some examples of fine motor skills are using
the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects,
cutting,
colouring,
writing,
or
threading
beads.
Fine
motor
development refers to the development of skills involving the smaller
muscle groups (Singh, 1993).
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Ambidexterity - Ambidexterity is a specialized skill in which there
is no dominance between body symmetries, so tasks requiring fine
motor skills can be performed with the left or right extremities. The
most common example of ambidexterity is the ability to write with the
left or right hand, rather than one dominant side (Singh, 1993).
1.7 Need for fitness
Physical fitness is very much needed to improve the capacity of
the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles to function at optimal
efficiency. It gives a basis for living a full and satisfying life style. The
essential health components of physical fitness are cardio-respiratory
endurance, strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body
composition. To be physically fit requires effort, but exercise does not
have to be punishing to help you develop and maintain physical
fitness. Regular and vigorous exercise of the total body is an essential
ingredient of muscular and circulatory fitness - the key to good health
and well being. Lack of exercise is starts to show its consequence. An
increase of body fatness, a loss of muscle tone, and a poor breathing
capacity are some of the evident signs of physiological deterioration
(Singh, 1993).
Physical fitness is a general state of good physical health.
Obtaining and maintaining physical fitness is a result of physical
activity, proper diet and nutrition and of course proper rest for
physical recovery. In its simplest terms, physical fitness is to the
human body what fine-tuning is to an engine. It enables people to
13
perform up to their potential. Regardless of age, fitness can be
described as a condition that helps individuals look, feel and do their
best. Thus, physical fitness trainers, describe it as the ability to
perform daily tasks vigorously and alertly, with left over energy to
enjoy
leisure-time
activities
and
meet
emergency
demands.
Specifically true for senior citizens, physical fitness is the ability to
endure, bear up, withstand stress and carry on in circumstances
where an unfit person could not continue.
Be considered physically fit, the heart, lungs, and muscles have
to perform at a certain level for the individual to continue feeling
capable of performing an activity. At the same time, since what
humans do with their bodies directly affects the state of mind, fitness
influences to some degree qualities such as mental alertness and
emotional expression.
1.8 Importance of fitness
Physical fitness is one of the most important things in life and
one of the most valuable assets one can ever have. Health is one of the
pre-requisites for a happy, well-balanced life. There are several
advantages of being physically fit. In general terms, fitness is the use
of your body through movements beyond that of normal bodily
functions that simply keep alive. Physical fitness can be anything from
walking up and down stairs, going for a walk on local back woods
trail, swimming in pool, going for a run, weight lifting, competing in
sports, and more.
14
To start with the simple things, because some people get
deterred when it comes to actually pushing to do high levels of fitness
like weight lifting and running. What they need to understand is that
even going for a simple 20 minute walk several times a week is the
first step to adding physical fitness into life. Let's take a closer look
into the importance of physical fitness and break down the different
kinds of fitness, how to achieve them, and what some benefits are.
Good health only meant the absence of any disease. Today,
however, the whole concept has changed and the importance of total
fitness is considered a key component of good health. It is good that
people have become health conscious and are trying to incorporate a
fitness regimen into their lives. This is especially important when you
consider the fact that modern lifestyle
Advances seem to have ensured that physical exertion for any
job, even that of unskilled labour, has become quite minimal thanks
to the technological advances that have served to contain actual
physical activities to a bare minimum. The heart, lungs and muscles
therefore do not get adequately stimulated in order to produce
physiological benefits.
1.9 Physiological system
For the physiological systems of the body to be fit, they must
function well enough to support the specific activity that the
individual is performing. Moreover, different activities make different
15
demands upon the organism with respect to circulatory, respiratory,
metabolic and neurological processes which are specific to the activity.
Physiological systems are highly adoptable of exercise. Each
task has major physiological components and fitness for the task
requires effective functioning of appropriate systems. Strukic (1981),
Singh, (1993), Suresh (2010) and others have been conducted in this
area and specific principles of training have been established of the
basis of scientific findings for developing these aspects of physical
process.
Involvement in systematic and scientific programmes of
conducting the graining will bring about desirable changes in physical
and physiological variables, contributing to the development of
strength, speed and endurance, besides marked changes in resting
pulse rate, blood pressure, hemoglobin and such other physiological
variables. Through training stroke volume and cardiac output are
increased, maximal oxygen and ventilatory efficiency is improved, lung
volume becomes larger and diffusion capacities increase (Strukic
1981).
Normal body temperature does not change significantly with
aging. Temperature regulation, however, is more difficult. Because of
changes in the heart, the resting heart rate may become slightly
slower. The maximum heart rate reached with exercise is lowered.
Blood vessels become less elastic. The average blood pressure
increases from 120/70 mm Hg to about 150/90 mm Hg and may
remain slightly high even if treated. The blood vessels also respond
16
more slowly to a change in body position.
Although lung function
decreases slightly, changes are usually only in the reserve function.
The rate of breathing usually does not change (www.pennhealth.com).
Physical and physiological developments determine ones
abilities, capacities and potentialities that an individual does exhibit.
There are various physiological factors such as vital capacity, resting
pulse
rate, VO2 max etc., which determine
the
physiological
development as a whole (Strukic, 1981).
Normal changes in the heart include deposits of the “aging
pigment”,
lipofuscin
(www.nbc10.com).
The
heart
muscle
cells
degenerate slightly. The valves inside the heart, which control the
direction of blood flow, thicken and become stiffer. A heart murmur
caused by valve stiffness is fairly common in the elderly. The heart
has a natural pacemaker system that controls heartbeat. Some of the
pathways of this system may develop fibrous tissue and fat deposits.
The natural pacemaker (the SA node) loses some of its cells. These
changes may result in a slightly slower heart rate. Heart changes
cause the ECG of a normal, healthy aged person to be slightly
different than the ECG of a healthy younger adult (www.nbc10.com).
Abnormal rhythms (arrhythmias) such as arterial fibrillation are
common in older people, which may be caused by heart disease. A
slight increase in the size of the heart, especially the left ventricle, is
not uncommon (www.nbc10.com). The heart wall thickens, so the
amount of blood that the chamber can hold may actually decrease
17
despite the increased overall heart size. The heart may fill more slowly
(www.nbc10.com).
1.10 Need of health fitness on sports
Physical fitness refers to the organic capacity of the individual
to perform the tasks of the daily living without undue tiredness and
fatigue and still have a reserve of strength and energy available to
meet satisfactorily sudden emergency placed upon him. Physical
fitness provides capacity for activity. Modern competitive performance
demands severe training every day throughout the year to maintain
fitness for performance at peak level. The techniques and skills in
sports and games have advanced dramatically which demands the
competitive sport participant to possess a high degree of physical
fitness. Handball and softball require physical fitness to enhance the
performance (Prabhakar Rao, 2002) .
All living individual have some degree of physical fitness and
this degree may be interpreted in terms of their capacity for
performance and their endurance in physical activities. Physical
fitness is general state of good physical health. Physical fitness is the
ability
to
endure,
beat
with
stand
stress
and
carry
on
in
circumstances where an unfit person could not continue. In order for
one to be considered physically fit, heart, lungs and muscles have to
perform at a normal level for the Individual to continue feeling capable
of performing an activity. Competitive sports participant to possess a
high degree of physical fitness. Lawn tennis and table tennis players
18
are also require Physical fitness to perform well in the competition and
also in training.
Sports and games in the modern era occupy a very prominent
and important place in the life of people and also in every sphere of
life. Sport consists of physical activity carried out with a purpose for
competition,
for
self-enjoyment,
to
attain
excellence,
for
the
development of a skill, or more often, some combination of these. A
Sport is typically characterized by physical activity, competition, selfmotivation and a scoring system. Sports differ in their dependence
upon a set of individuals or team skills, as well as in the ways in
which they have their participants compete. As fitness and sports go
hand in glove there is a need to develop the ability in an individual to
play the game with good skill and perform consistently well. There are
many sports which a person can choose from. One such sport is
handball which is a very popular modern indoor game with fast and
quick action. Handball is an Olympic sport with 166 countries
affiliated to world body, and approximately 795,000 teams and 19
million players (Kumar et al., 2000). The concept of the game and
rules make high physical and technical demands on the players.
Successful performance in handball requires the ability to generate
power combined with other physical parameters and precise skills to
achieve desired results. It is identified that the present handball
players perform mainly the movements such as quick starting, sudden
change in direction, sudden stopping, sudden acceleration, quick
jumping and shuttling with and without the ball. The fundamental
19
techniques which are highly skillful in handball are passing, receiving,
dribbling, shooting, faking, and feinting. Mere skills can never assure
victory, as a player has to posses requisite fitness components. The
fitness variables helps to elevate the ‘‘skills’’ to higher levels of
performance in the game. Physical fitness and technical skills are
interrelated and based on the line of this statement the investigator
was keen and became interested to study the relationship between
physical fitness and skill performance, which will highlight the
importance of physical fitness on skills like dribbling, passing, and
defensive movements considered as vital and widely needed by a
handball player (Kumar et al., 2000) .
The performance of a sportsman in any game or event also
depends on physical fitness. The physical fitness or condition is the
sum total of five motor abilities namely muscular strength, agility,
power, speed and cardiovascular endurance. Therefore, the sports
performance in all sports depends to great extent on these abilities.
Improvement and maintenance of physical fitness is the most
important aim of sports training (Uppal, 1980). Muscular power, often
referred to as explosive power, is a combination of speed and strength
which is important in vigorous performance since it determines how
hard a person can hit, jump and push etc. Agility is the ability to
change the direction of body or its parts rapidly which is dependent
on strength, reaction time, speed of movement and muscular
coordination. Quick start and stops and quick changes in direction
are fundamental for good performance in athletics.
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1.11 Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, Olympic handball or
European handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven
players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball to
throw it into the goal of the other team. The team with the most goals
after two periods of 30 minutes wins.
Modern handball is usually played indoors, but outdoor
variants exist in the forms of field handball and Czech handball
(which were more common in the past) and beach handball (also
called
sandball).
American
handball
and
Gaelic
handball
are
completely different sports to team handball.
The game is quite fast and includes body contact as the
defenders try to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. Contact
is only allowed when the defensive player is completely in front of the
offensive player, i.e. between the offensive player and the goal. This is
referred to as a player sandwich. Any contact from the side or
especially from behind is considered dangerous and is usually met
with penalties. When a defender successfully stops an attacking
player, the play is stopped and restarted by the attacking team from
the spot of the infraction or on the nine meter line. Unlike in
basketball where players are allowed to commit only 5 fouls in a game
(6 in the NBA), handball players are allowed an unlimited number of
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"faults", which are considered good defence and disruptive to the
attacking team's rhythm.
There are records of handball-like games in medieval France,
and among the Inuit in Greenland, in the Middle Ages. By the 19th
century, there existed similar games of håndbold from Denmark,
házená in the Czech Republic, hádzaná in Slovakia, gandbol in
Ukraine, torball in Germany, as well as versions in Uruguay. (Lohar
(1998)
The team handball game of today was formed by the end of the
19th century in northern Europe, primarily Denmark, Germany,
Norway and Sweden. Holger Nielsen, a Danish gym teacher, drew up
the rules for modern handball (håndbold) in 1898 and published them
in 1906, and Rasmus Nicolai Ernst, another Danish teacher, did
something similar in 1897. Modern Handball is therefore widely
considered a game of Danish origins (Lohar (1998).
The International Handball Federation organized the men's
world championship in 1938 and every 4 (sometimes 3) years from
World War II to 1995. Since the 1995 world championship in Iceland,
the competition has been every two years. The women's world
championship has been played since 1957. The IHF also organizes
women's and men's junior world championships. By July 2009, the
IHF listed 166 member federations - approximately 795,000 teams
and 19 million players (Lohar, 1998).
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1.12 Need of handball drill
Handball is an Olympic sport played professionally in many
European
countries.
However,
not
with
standing
the
professionalization, which is advancing in this sport, a lack of
scientific information on its performance can be noticed. This can be
due to many reasons, one of them is that most of the research which
has been conducted in this field has been published in Eastern
European countries and is not readily accessible to the sport science
community. Another reason can be attributed to the conservative
approach most coaches have towards physical conditioning for
handball players. In this work it was analysed that the performance
model of handball is proposed some coaching hints for practical
application of sport science findings.
Modern handball is a fast game, characterised by incredible
athletic performances by athletes. In fact, modern handball players
are able to perform many different moves, jumps, running, change of
directions and technical movements in very short time and with an
order determined by the tactical situation. Running with and without
the ball in line and with different paths, jumping, throwing, passing
and receiving in motion or during flight represent the technical
characteristics of a modern top handball player. Then, to excel at the
highest levels, it is important that training methodologies are
developed on a simple basis: specificity. The closer to the demands of
23
the performance, the better the training is. Of course, to obey to the
law of specificity we have to know exactly what are the physiological
demands of handball performance. Unfortunately, in sport science
literature, a deep analysis of handball performance has not been
conducted. The aim of this work was to find out the effect of physical
education programme and handball drills on handball players.
Physical conditioning in handball is extremely important for top
performance, so the correct approach to training should be based on
the knowledge of the specific requirements of the performance and on
the development of specific training means. In the first part of this
work some physiological considerations have been conducted, in the
second part a practical approach to modern handball training has
been discussed (Balsom, 1992) .
Handball requires intermittent activities in which high-intensity
type of movements (sprinting, jumping, diving on the ball) are followed
by low intensity activities. Training plans should then be based on
this concept whatever they are general drills or game-like activities. In
the past, but also nowadays, training devoted to improve endurance
capabilities of handball players, was based upon the application of
long steady state running of various distances. The pre-competition
phase was then based upon an increase in the volume of running and
by aerobic type drills aimed to increase aerobic capacity. This kind of
training is of course effective in enhancing cardiovascular capabilities
and represents a form of general training well accepted, however it
24
should be pointed that, when referred to handball players, it is not the
most appropriate way of training for enhancing endurance, and, most
of all, the "abuse" of such forms of training could be detrimental for
the performance itself and for the effects of concurrent type of training
usually implemented in the pre-competitive period (Cuesta, 1991) .
During aerobic type activities such as cyclic running, low
intensity movements are performed repeatedly over time. These kind
of muscular activities rely mostly on the recruitment of slow twitch
fibers (Morris, 1999) . In this way, if we use for many days this
approach, we will of course train the neuromuscular system to a
preferential recruitment of slow fibers. Not only that, in fact, in this
way, we will train only the oxidative pathways and not the anaerobic
neither the ATP-CP system. During handball performance, game
situations are never steady-state type and involve a combination of
different
motions
(running
backwards,
forwards,
sideward,
sidestepping, jumping and so far and so forth). Handball players also
can be provided with intermittent exercise.
At this point it is important to define what must be the proper
direction to an effective handball-training plan. Endurance in
handball players must be trained with general and game-like drills of
intermittent pattern. On this principle, some exercises have been
developed in which handball players perform drills in which they
alternate quick high-intensity actions (sprinting, jumping, side
stepping movements) with low intensity activities (running, side-
25
stepping). Well-known drills used in handball have been also analysed
in order to assess their metabolic characteristics and their possible
effectiveness in improving endurance in top handball players. The aim
of a conditioning coach in modern ball games should be to develop an
effective training plan through the optimisation of game-like activities.
This is the main concept of specificity of training, which should be
kept in mind in any sport. Handball players do not like to run for
hours outside, under the rain or in the woods, they like just to play
handball, run with the ball, move to catch the ball, and jump and shot
to score. Everything else is of course not well accepted and sometimes
it is not very effective in producing the right adaptations (Wallace,
1997) .
A modern approach to handball training is needed for being able
to improve handball players' performances. This modern approach in
metabolic training must be based on the assumption that steady state
running with high volume is not specific for enhancing handball
players' endurance
capabilities and performances. An effective
training plan must be based upon intermittent drills in which
handball players have to perform different motions with different
paths/movements at the highest intensity possible, followed by lower
intensity periods. General drills can be easily developed using cones,
circles, small obstacles and small circuits, but, what is most
important, game-like drills need to be used in training. These gamelike drills can be performed by a reduced number of players in
reduced part of the field. Attacking and defensive tasks can be used
26
also as training drills with time limits to perform the tasks and with
specific rest periods. Of course, when developing game-like or
technical drills, the results cannot be easily generalized, it is possible
to monitor effectiveness of every specific drill and, from there, develop
a conditioning approach more specific of modern handball demands.
Many coaches still prefer to train players on track and field courts,
making them running different distances (100 meters to 2000 meters),
without considering that the handball court is long 40 meters, and the
actual space covered by players is never more than 6000 meters.
These distances are all covered with different speed, with different
paths and very often changing directions. Handball players have to be
trained for quickness on the court, and the ability to maintain high
levels of speed endurance moving with and without the ball. Thus,
purposing unspecific training loads is a defeat, and there is a need for
developing a specific handball training methodology. A good coach
need to question him/herself about the effectiveness of every
conditioning drill and if it is really matching the performance model,
only in this way one can have athletes trained to play attractive
handball rather than competing in track and field (Lohar, 1998).
1.13 Importance of physical education programme and
handball drill on physical and physiological variables
As with any sport or physical activity, before beginning any
strenuous, fast-paced drills, handball players should always warm up
with some light stretching and cardiovascular exercises. These warm-
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up activities will help in preventing injuries such as muscle pulls and
strains.
Physical fitness is one of the most important elements of leading
a healthy lifestyle. Physical education promotes the importance of
inclusion of a regular fitness activity in the routine. This helps the
students to maintain their fitness, develop their muscular strength,
increase their stamina and thus stretch their physical abilities to an
optimum level. Physical fitness helps to inculcate the importance of
maintaining a healthy body, which in turn keeps them happy and
energized. Sound physical fitness promotes, increased absorption of
nutrients, better functioning of digestion and all other physiological
processes and hence results in all round fitness (Lohar, 1998).
Physical education classes are an excellent opportunity for all
the budding sportsmen and sportswomen who wish to make their
mark in the world of sports. Physical education classes allow the
budding sportsmen and sportswomen to explore and experiment with
several areas until they find what interests them. After this, physical
education classes also allow the students to indulge the sport of their
choice and then go ahead to participate in several tournaments and
competitions, which help to give the students an exposure to the
competitive world of sports.
Participation in team sports or even dual sports helps to imbibe
a sense of team spirit amongst the students. While participating in
team sports, the children have to function as an entire team, and
28
hence they learn how to organize themselves and function together.
This
process
of
team
building
hones
a
person’s
overall
communications skills and the ability to get along with different kind
of people. Thus participating in team sports instills a sense of team
spirit, which is a great value addition to anyone’s personality and
helps a lot in all the future endeavors (www.bodyfitnesshealth.com).
Physical education is unique to the school curriculum as the
only program that provides students with opportunities to learn motor
skills, develop fitness and gain understanding about physical activity.
Physical benefits gained from physical activity include: disease
prevention, safety and injury avoidance, decreased morbidity and
premature mortality, and increased mental health (Barton, et.al.
1999) . The physical education program is the place where students
learn about all of the benefits gained from being physically active as
well as the skills and knowledge to incorporate safe, satisfying
physical activity into their lives. Quality middle school physical
education
programs
provide
students unique
opportunities for
demonstrating leadership, socialization, and goal setting skills.
Involvement in physical activity has shown a consistent relationship
with mood, self-esteem, and other indices of psychological well-being
in early adolescence. Student preferences become more specialized at
this age and the preference influences students’ motivation to
continue in physical activities (Calfas, 1994) . A youngster’s feeling of
perceived competence also affects future participation and self-esteem.
Despite the physiological changes that occur at this age, students are
29
generally willing to work cooperatively toward common goals because
the desire for peer group acceptance is strong. Risk taking is attractive
and students accept the challenge of setting and achieving personal
goals. Physical education programs have a unique opportunity to
provide learning experiences that enhance middle school students’
self-esteem (Eggen, 1999) .
1.14 Statement of the problem
The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of physical
education programme and handball drills on selected health related
fitness (strength, endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility
and body composition) and physiological variables (breathe holding
time, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, resting
pulse rate, vital capacity among high school handball players.
30
1.15 Delimitation
The study was delimited in the following factor
1. For the study sixty boys from government high school, Dindigul,
Tamilnadu, India, aged from 12 to 15 years were selected at
random as subjects from total 255 students who have given
their willingness for the study.
2. The subjects were divided into three groups of twenty subjects
each namely physical education group, handball drill group and
control group. The control group was kept strictly under control
not involving in the physical education programme during the
experimental period.
3. The duration of the experimental period for physical education
group and handball drill group were restricted to twelve weeks,
three days per week, 45 to 60 minutes per day respectively.
4. The muscular strength (pull ups), muscular endurance (bend
knee sit-ups), cardio respiratory endurance (1.5 mile run and
walk), flexibility (sit and reach) and body composition (skin fold
caliber) were selected as health related fitness variable and
tested.
5. The breathe holding time (hold the breath), systolic blood
pressure
(sphygmomanometer),
diastolic
blood
pressure
(sphygmomanometer, resting pulse rate (radial pulse rate for a
minute),
vital
capacity
(spirometer)
physiological variables and tested.
were
selected
as
31
6. The data were collected on selected criterion variables at prior to
and immediately after the experimental period as pre and post
tests respectively.
1.16 Limitations
The following limitations were considered when interpreting the
results of the study.
1. The previous experience of the subjects in the field of sports and
games, which might be influencing during the training and the
data collection were not considered.
2. Though the subjects were motivated verbally no attempt was
made to differentiate the motivation level during the training
period and testing period.
3. The food habits and life style, of the subjects during testing and
training period were not considered.
4. The climatic condition was considered as limitation.
1.18 Hypothesies
It was hypothesized in the following manner.
1. There would be a significant deference among experimental
groups and control group on selected criterion variables due to
physical education programme and hand ball drill.
2. There would be a significant difference between experimental
groups on selected criterion variables
32
3. There would be a significant improvement on selected criterion
variables due to physical education programme and hand ball
drill.
1.17 DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATION OF TERMS
1.17.1 Training
Training is a pedagogical process, based on scientific principles,
aiming at preparing sportsman for higher performances in sports
competitions, (Singh , 1993).
Training to improve the cardiovascular (oxygen transport)
system: Exercise sustained for three minutes or longer. It is the
fundamental basis for most forms of physical conditioning; examples
are running, hiking and bicycling (Bouchard, 1999).
1.17.2 Physical Education
Physical education is an integral part of the total educational
process, and is a field of endeavor which has as its aim, the
development of physically, mentally, emotionally and socially fit
citizens through the medium of physical activities which have been
selected with a view to realizing these out comes. (Bucher, 1999).
1.17.3 Handball drill
Handball (also known as team handball, Olympic handball or
European handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven
players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball to
throw it into the goal of the other team. The team with the most goals
33
after two periods of 30 minutes wins. The game is quite fast and
includes body contact as the defenders try to stop the attackers from
approaching the goal. Contact is only allowed when the defensive
player is completely in front of the offensive player, i.e. between the
offensive player and the goal. This is referred to as a player sandwich.
1.17.4 Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to move muscles and joints through
their full range of motion.
A person's flexibility refers to the ability of your joints to move
through a full range of motion. Having flexibility in your muscles
allows for more movement around the joints (Singh , 1993).
1.17.5 Strength endurance
Strength endurance is defined as the capacity of the whole
organism to withstand under the long lasting experience of strength.
Consequently, it is characterized by a relatively high ability to express
strength together with a faculty to preserve, (Frank 1988).
1.17.6 Cardio respiratory endurance
Cardio respiratory endurance refers to the ability of the body to
perform prolonged, large-muscle, dynamic exercise at moderate-tohigh levels of intensity. Cardio respiratory endurance is an important
part of overall physical fitness, (Singh , 1993).
34
1.17.7 Resting Pulse Rate
The number of beats felt in exactly one minute is the Resting
pulse rate, (Strukic, 1981).
1.17.8 Vital Capacity
Vital capacity (VC) is the the maximum amount of air that can
be inhaled or exhaled from the lung, (Ronald et al., 2005).
1.18 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1. The result of the study might help to gain more knowledge of
aerobic and anaerobic training.
2. The result of the study would help the coaches; physical
education teachers to use the handball skill drills to improve
the physical, biomotor and psychomotor abilities.
3. The result of this study would help the athletes to know about
the importance of physical education programme and handball
skill drills training and how much they influence the physical
and physiological performance.