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CHOOSING A FITNESS PROGRAMME 4: MOTOR SKILLS


Motor skills include the coordination, speed, power or agility required to complete an activity. There are six components of motor skills related to fitness. These are agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time and speed. A motor skill is associated with muscle activity. You carry out motor skills when your brain, nervous system and muscles work in harmony to move parts of your body in large or small movements. Motor skills improve with practice. These six components of motor skills define your athletic abilities. A well-rounded athlete seeks to constantly improve all six components equally.

Agility: is the ability to perform movements, quickly and in varied directions. Agility exercises are designed to enhance your speed and power. For example, changing directions to hit a tennis ball.

Balance: is your ability to stabilize your body while standing still or maintaining motion. Ice-skating, ballet, gymnastics skiing and bicycle riding are types of activities which require good balance. There are two types of balance – static and dynamic. Static balance refers to remaining upright while staying still, like standing on one leg, while dynamic balance deals with retaining balance while in motion.

Coordination: is the ability to move two or more body parts under control, smoothly and efficiently. Good coordination is vital for sports like tennis, baseball and squash. Professional dancing also requires good coordination.

Reaction Time: Reaction time measures how swiftly you interpret and then react to expected and unexpected events happening around you. An example of reaction time to an expected event is the amount of time between hearing the starter’s pistol and starting to run.

Speed: Speed is the ability to move your body swiftly. It is possible to improve on the components of reaction time and speed with one exercise, for example, sprinting.

Power: Power is essentially muscle strength. Weight lifting and strength training will help improve your power.


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