First of all, for James who is a cricket player, I think the main fitness component he would need is speed. Speed is the ability of the body to move quickly, for example, when he is bowling he would need fast arm speed. The movements in speed could involve the whole body or just parts of the body. In this case it may seem like he would just need arm speed and only have to move one part of the body, but in fact he would have to move other parts of the body. For example, he would have to use his legs for a little run up to generate his speed and build up the power in his arm, which takes us to the next component he will need.
When bowling in cricket, it is useless having a fast bowl if it is not followed through by power. Power is often referred to as fast strength. It is also combination of strength and speed. The stronger and faster the bowl is, the harder they make it for the opposition. Power would also be needed when batting, if the batsman has a fast ball coming towards him he will need as much power as possible to hit the ball as far as possible. The last component I think that would be needed is flexibility.
Flexibility is the amount or range of movement that you can have around a joint. The structure of the joint restricts movement, as well as muscles, tendons and ligaments. Flexibility is mainly needed for bowling and not for batting. This is because of the power and speed the bowler will be moving his arm at, without flexibility, the bowler could injure themselves and possibly tear a ligament. For my sport, which is football, the main fitness component which is needed is cardio respiratory. Cardio respiratory is the ability to exercise continuously without tiring.
The more the oxygen can be transported around the body and the more the muscles can use this oxygen, the greater will be the level of aerobic endurance you have. Cardio respiratory is very important in football because it would be pointless being a player with great speed and skill if you can’t play for the whole ninety minutes. 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.