Physical Conditioning
Senior 3 · Physical Education
Physical Conditioning
Lesson 3 of 4
25 min
A handball goalkeeper sees a shot leave the wing player's hand, shifts sideways two steps, stretches a leg to the corner and is back on her feet before the rebound lands. Strength and stamina alone cannot do that. She needs flexibility to reach, agility to change direction and balance to stay in control. In this lesson you train all three and measure them with three standard field tests.
Definition
Flexibility: the range of movement possible at a joint, such as how far you can bend forward at the hips. Example: touching your toes with straight legs.
Agility: the ability to change the direction or speed of the whole body quickly while keeping control. Example: a basketball player stopping and cutting past a defender.
Balance: the ability to keep the body's centre of mass over its base of support. Static balance is holding still (a handstand); dynamic balance is staying in control while moving (landing from a jump).
| Type | How | When |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic | Controlled swings through a growing range: leg swings, walking lunges, arm circles | In the warm-up |
| Static | Move slowly to a point of mild tension and hold for 15 to 30 seconds, 2 to 4 times | In the cool-down, or a separate flexibility session when warm |
| Partner (PNF) | Hold a stretch; push gently against your partner's hand for about 5 s; relax; then stretch a little further | Only with a trusted partner and a teacher watching |
Sit-and-reach test (flexibility of the hamstrings and lower back). Warm up first. Sit with legs straight and the soles of your feet flat against a box or a wall. Put one hand on top of the other and reach forward slowly along a ruler, holding the furthest point for 2 seconds. Record the best of three tries in centimetres. Never bounce.
Agility drills use short bursts with sharp turns: zig-zag runs around cones 2 to 3 m apart, 5 m shuttle runs touching the line with a hand, and a mirror drill in which you copy a partner's sideways shuffles. Keep your hips low, take short quick steps into each turn, and look where you are going next.
The Illinois agility test times one run around a standard course: 10 m long and 5 m wide, with a cone at each corner and four cones 3.3 m apart down the middle. You start lying face down with your head at the start line. On "go", get up, sprint to the far cone, come back, weave out and back through the centre cones, sprint to the far cone again and finish. Take the faster of two trials.
Figure: the Illinois agility test seen from above. Follow the numbers: blue for the first half of the run, orange for the second. Knocking over a cone means the trial must be repeated.
Video: "Illinois Agility Test", Hurst Sport. A 34-second run of the full course. Count the six parts of the route as the athlete runs them, and notice how low he stays at each turn.
Build balance from easy to hard: stand on one leg for 30 s; then do it with your eyes closed; then on a folded mat or a cushion; then catch and throw a ball with a partner while on one leg. Walking heel-to-toe along a line or a low bench trains dynamic balance.
Stork stand test (static balance). Stand with your hands on your hips. Lift one foot and place its sole against the inside of the other knee. On "go", raise your heel and balance on the ball of the supporting foot. The time stops when the heel touches the ground, a hand leaves the hip or the lifted foot moves away from the knee. Take the best of three tries on each leg.
Worked example
Worked example 1: an agility result. In week 1 Byiringiro's best Illinois time was 18.4 s. In week 6 his two trials are 17.8 s and 17.2 s.
For a timed test a smaller number is the better score.
Worked example
Worked example 2: comparing both legs. Habimana's stork stand times are 24 s, 31 s and 28 s on the right leg and 12 s, 15 s and 9 s on the left.
Tip
Smaller is better, bigger is better. For the Illinois test, a lower time is better. For the sit-and-reach and the stork stand, a bigger number is better. Read which way a test is scored before you say whether someone has improved.
Warning
Common mistakes and safety. Bouncing in a stretch (ballistic stretching) can tear a cold muscle: hold still instead. A stretch should feel like mild tension, never pain. Run agility drills on dry, level ground cleared of stones and holes, and use flat cones or markers, not bottles or bricks that you could trip over. In the stork stand, practise near a wall in case you lose your balance.
Practice
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
