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Skill Related Components of Fitness
To become physically fit you must establish an active lifestyle. Once you've
accomplished that, it is time to focus on achieving your fitness goals. The two types of
physical fitness are skill-related fitness and health related fitness. The skill-related
components relate to the possibility of people becoming good athletes. The health-related
components relate to how well the systems of your body operate. Skill related physical
fitness deals with six factors: Agility, Balance, Power, Reaction Time, Coordination and
Speed. A physically educated person demonstrates competency in motor skills and
movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.
Good ability in skill related fitness areas allows you to enjoy more success in games.
These components are the ones that help you perform motor tasks or things involving
motion. Improving these skills can make activity more fun, help you go out for a sports
team, join friends in recreational activities and help you select lifetime activities.
Following are the six skill related components of physical fitness. Agility is the
ability to start, stop and change the position and direction of your body quickly. Balance is
the ability to keep a specific body position while either standing still or moving. Power is
the ability to do strength performances at a rapid pace. Reaction time is the amount of
time it takes to get moving once you see the need to move. Coordination is the ability to
combine movements of the eye, hand, foot and other body parts. And finally, speed is the
ability to move body parts or your whole body as rapidly as possible.
There are several factors that influence your skill related ability. Heredity is one
factor that influences an individual's skill. Speed and reaction time are often influenced by
inherited characteristics. You might hear the term “natural athlete” referring to people
who seem to be good without working at it. Even though skill may be influenced by
heredity, determination, desire and hard work are much more important to improving. If
you are willing to take the time and effort to practice, you will improve and be more likely
to reach your full potential. The key to effective practice is to practice correctly. Practice
does NOT make perfect. Practice makes permanent, so practice exactly what you want to
reproduce. Specific training is the key. It means to work on specific skills needed for an
activity.
Whether you desire to be a skilled athlete or just enjoy physical activities, it is
always a good idea to try to balance your program. An effective balanced activity program
should include both skill related and health related fitness components.
Sources: “Get Active! Get Fit!” (Stokes & Schultz) & “Personal Fitness” (Williams, Harageones, Johnson & Smith)
Vocabulary – Define the following
Health Related Components of Physical Fitness
Skill Related Components of Physical Fitness
Study Questions
Matching - Place the letter of the correct answer in the space provided.
1. Reaction Time
A. Ability to do strength performance at a rapid pace
2. Coordination
B. Factors related to becoming a better athlete
3. Health-Related
C. The amount of time it takes to get moving
4. Power
D. Ability to keep a body position standing or moving
5. Agility
E. Ability to change the position of your body
and to control the movement of your body
F. Ability to cover a distance in a short time
6. Skill-Related
7. Balance
8. Speed
G. Combining movements of eyes, hands, feet & other
body parts
H. How well your body systems work