According to multiple institutions, including the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, there are six components of fitness used in athletics, called the "skill"-related components of fitness: speed, power, muscular coordination, reaction time, balance and agility. Each is integral to an individual's success in many sports, and excelling in these components tends to lead to being a better athlete.
Speed and Agility
Speed and agility can go hand-in-hand. Speed is merely how fast you can move in relation to time -- or moreso the time it takes to cover a set distance. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, speed is typically a more important skill for distances under 200 meters because farther distances demand more from anaerobic and cardiovascular capacity than maximum speed. Speed is a big measure in most athletics as it shows how fast you can perform an objective, such as running down the basketball court to get open for a pass.
Agility is the measure of how fast you can stop your body from moving, then start moving in a controlled manner in a different direction. An example of agility is a wide receiver in football who is running straight down the field for his route, and then suddenly cutting in at 10 yards and running toward the middle of the field for the remainder of the route.
Balance
Balance is how well you can stabilize yourself. There is static and dynamic balance. Static balance is the ability to stabilize yourself while you are not moving, and dynamic balance is the ability to stabilize yourself while moving. An example of static balance is sitting in a squat position and holding it without swaying or rocking. An example of dynamic balance is a running back keeping his feet after being hit while moving during his run.
Reaction Time and Muscular Coordination
Reaction time and muscular coordination are components of skill-related fitness that work together greatly. Your reaction time is the measurement of noticing a stimulus and the time elapsed until the beginning of your reaction to it. A good example is being a batter in baseball and reacting to the different speeds, types of pitches and locations of the pitcher's thrown balls.
Muscular coordination is a large part of reaction time in that it relates to the capabilities of your body to use its senses with its body parts in performing motor tasks efficiently. Coordination is demonstrated in the batter scenario by recruiting the right muscles, after seeing the ball released, to swing at the right location.
Power
The power skill component can summed up as having the ability to perform strength maneuvers at high speed, or high-speed strength. You are recruiting your muscles at a very high force to move your body in a very short amount of time. When you perform a vertical jump or a broad jump, you are demonstrating power in relation to your body weight. Perform exercises such as power cleans or snatches to increase your power skills.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (eight edition)"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2009
- "Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription, 5th ed"; Vivian Heyward; 2006
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas Baechle and Roger Earle; 2008
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