Lesson video

Hi there, welcome to your lesson.

Today's lesson is on agility, balance, and coordination.

It's part of the components of fitness that you need to know for your GCSE PE.

My name's Ms. Hacking, and I'm really looking forward to being your teacher today.

So by the end of today's lesson, I'm hoping that we can all define agility, balance, and coordination, and consider the appropriate fitness test for each of the components of fitness.

So our keywords today, not surprisingly, are agility, balance, and coordination.

So agility is the ability to change direction at speed, nimbleness.

Balance is the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement.

And this doesn't just have to be when you're still, it can be when you're moving as well.

Coordination is the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently.

Today's lesson is split into three parts.

In the first part, we're going to look at agility and how we test it.

In the second part, we're going to look at what is balance and how we can test balance.

And in the final part, we're going to look at what is coordination and how we can test coordination.

Let's get started.

So agility is the ability to change direction at speed, or nimbleness.

And Alex has mentioned, which sports do you need to constantly change direction in? So which sports do you need to be nimble, be able to change direction really quickly? What kinds of things might make you need to change direction? Lucas has said that dodging an opponent would be a good example of agility because you need to change direction at speed and keep control of your body.

And he's right.

So in a sport like netball, for example, you would need to dodge an opponent to get free, to be able to catch the ball without your opponent or defender getting it.

So dodging is a really good example of agility.

Thanks, Lucas.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

Can you identify the correct definition of agility? Is it A, the ability to change direction at speed? Is it B, the ability to stay upright or stay in control of the body movement? Or is it C, the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently? That's right, it's A, the ability to change direction at speed.

Because we know that B, the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement is balance, and the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently is coordination.

So well done if you've got the right definition.

So there's many sports that require good agility for success.

And examples of sports that require good agility include tennis.

You would need to change direction quickly in order to react to where your opponent has hit the ball.

So by being able to change direction at speed, you're giving yourself more chance to be able to return the shot that your opponent has hit.

Basketball would require good agility in order to change direction, to drop, dodge, or dribble around an opponent quickly, so the opponent does not get the ball.

And Alex has said, "But why would these athletes constantly need to change direction?" Well, usually, they're reacting to their opponent or where their opponent has hit the ball or place the ball.

So the Illinois agility test is a fitness test that measures agility, and a protocol for this, a protocol means how something is done.

So how would we complete the Illinois agility test? You would always warm up thoroughly before any fitness test to make sure that you get the best result, but also to make sure that you don't get injured.

You would start by lying face down at the start cone.

When your partner says, "on your marks, get set, go," they will start the stopwatch, as you get up and run through the cones.

You jump up and complete a set course by running in and outta the cones as fast as possible in the quickest time.

And when you complete it and run through the end cones, that would be when your partner would stop the stopwatch.

This test could be made more reliable, if instead of a partner using a stopwatch, you use timing gates at the start and at the end, so that they could measure exactly how long it took you to complete the course and when exactly you started and finished through the cones.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

True or false? A 400-meter runner would require good agility.

Yeah, that's false.

Can you tell me why? A 400-meter runner would not need to have good agility as they don't change direction or stop until the rate is over, as they just run in the same direction.

So a 400-meter wouldn't require that much agility.

Okay, now it's your term for a practise task.

For the first part of the task, I'd like you to define agility.

And in the second part of the task, I'd like you to describe the protocol of a fitness test that measures agility.

It would be helpful to include a diagram of the fitness test to help you.

You may wish to pause a video now in order to give yourself time to complete the task.

Okay.

For the first part of the task, you were asked to define agility.

So I'm hoping that you remembered as it was one of our key words that agility is the ability to change direction at speed, nimbleness.

And for the second part of the task, you are asked to describe the protocol of a fitness test that measures agility, and you are asked to include a diagram of the fitness test to help you.

So you should have described the Illinois agility test, and the protocol for this test is that you warm up thoroughly, you lie face down at the start cone, your partner calls, "on your marks, get set, go," and starts a stopwatch.

You jump up and complete a set course by running in and outta the cones in the fastest time possible, and your partner would stop the stopwatch as you ran through the finishing cones.

And the diagram is here on the video.

So I'm hoping that you have done something along those lines.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of today's lesson.

We're going to look at balance and how we test balance.

So balance is the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement.

And examples of when balance is needed in sport include in gymnastics, when performing a routine on a beam, they would need good balance in order to perform those skills correctly.

And in sports such as ice hockey, they would need good balance because if they didn't have good balance, they might fall over and they wouldn't be able to play properly.

And Lucas has mentioned, "Think what would happen if these athletes had poor balance." So the gymnast who was performing her routine on the beam, she might fall off here and if she didn't have good balance and she could potentially get injured, but she also wouldn't score very highly in the competition if she fell off.

So she would need good balance for that.

That ice hockey player, if they didn't have good balance, they wouldn't be able to perform all the skills on the ice because they might fall over and potentially get injured.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

Why does a gymnast need good balance when performing a routine on the beam? So a gymnast would need good balance to avoid falling off and injuring themselves.

So well done if you mentioned something along those lines.

Okay, the stork stand test is a fitness test that measures balance.

So what is the protocol? You would always warm up thoroughly.

You stand with hands on hip and place a heel of your right leg against your left knee, just like the girl has done in the diagram.

You raise onto your toes of your left foot and you start the stopwatch.

You stop the stopwatch when the right foot moves away from the left knee or the left heel touches the floor.

So you're trying to balance for as long as possible.

You can rest for three minutes, and then repeat with the opposite leg.

You may wish to repeat three times on each leg and pick your best score.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

Can you identify the fitness test for balance? Is it A, the balance beam test? Is it B, the sit and reach test? Is it C, the stork stand test? Or is it D, the vertical jump test? That's right, it's C.

The stork stand test.

The sit and reach test measures flexibility and the vertical jump test measures power.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, now it's your term for a task.

I would like you, for the first part of the task, to define balance.

And in the second part of the task, I'd like you to justify why balance is important to a hockey player.

And Jacob's reminded us that justify is asking you to give reasons for your answer.

You may wish to pause the video now to give yourself time to complete the task.

Okay, for the first part of the task, you were asked to define balance, and I'm hoping that you remembered that balance was the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement.

Well done if you remembered that.

So for the second part of the task, you are asked to justify why balance is important to a hockey player.

And you may have said any of the following points that when marking, good balance will prevent an opposition dribbling around you.

Good balance when passing or shooting would allow a player to generate more power and more accuracy.

When being challenged with a ball, good balance will help maintain control and avoid falling over.

And good balance can help you react quickly to any movements made by the opposition or the ball.

So well done if you talked about any of those things.

Okay, let's move on to the final part of today's lesson.

We're going to look at coordination and how to test it.

So coordination is the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently.

And an example of coordination is hand-eye coordination because they're two body parts, your hand and your eyes working together in order to be able to catch a ball, for example.

So examples of when coordination is needed in sports include badminton.

So again, good hand-eye coordination is needed, so that you can watch the shuttlecock and hit the shuttlecock effectively.

If you maybe see as a beginner play badminton who maybe doesn't have very good coordination, you'll notice that they miss the shuttlecock a lot.

Especially because a shuttlecock moves really fast, then you need really good coordination in badminton to be able to hit it effectively.

Netball, you need good coordination to catch, throw, shoot a ball.

A dancer would need good coordination because they would need to move their arms at the same time as their legs, for example, or they might be able to move their feet in time with their hands.

So they would need coordination to be able to move their body parts, but also their body parts in time with another dancer perhaps or with a music.

A footballer would need more foot-eye coordination, so they would need to be able to make contact with the ball effectively, use their eyes and their feet together effectively.

But again, a goalkeeper might need hand-eye coordination to be able to save the ball effectively.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

Identify which athlete would need coordination the most.

Would it be A, a 200-meter runner? Would it be B, a table tennis player? Or would it be C, a weightlifter? So they would all need some degree of coordination.

However, it would be arguable that a table tennis player would need the most coordination there in order for them to be successful in hitting the ball.

They would need really good hand-eye coordination.

Well done if you mentioned that.

Okay, the alternate hand wall throw test is a fitness test that measures coordination.

And the protocol for this includes that, of course, we warm up thoroughly before doing the test.

We stand two metres away from a wall, and you throw a tennis ball with your right hand and catch it with your left hand, and then you throw it back with your left hand and catch it with your right hand, and you do that as many times as possible.

in 30 seconds.

You would count your successful catches.

So if you drop it, don't worry, but you wouldn't include that one in your score.

Okay, let's have a go to check.

Can you identify the correct definition of coordination? Is it A, the wall throw test? Is it B, the ability to change direction at speed, nimbleness? Is it C, the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently? Or is it D, the ability to respond quickly to a stimulus? That's right, it's C.

Coordination is the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently.

We know the wall throw test is an example of a test that measures coordination, but not the definition.

The ability to change direction at speed or nimbleness is agility, and the ability to respond quickly to a stimulus is reaction time.

So well done if you put C.

Okay, now it's your turn to complete this task.

What I would like you to do is complete the table for agility, coordination, and balance.

You need to identify the component of fitness, the definition, a sporting example, and the fitness test.

You may wish to pause the video now to give yourself time to complete the task.

Okay, so I'm hoping that you notice for the first row, it was agility.

The definition for agility is the ability to change direction at speed or nimbleness.

The sporting example was given for you, a netball player dodging to get free.

And the fitness test is the Illinois agility test.

The second row was coordination because the definition was given to you as the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently.

A sporting example would be kicking a ball, that would be foot-eye coordination, and a fitness test would be alternate hand wall throw test.

So well done if you remembered that.

The final component of fitness that we've talked about in today's lesson is balance, and that is the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement.

And a sporting example could be a skier maintaining a body position going down a tough slope.

The fitness test for balance is a stork stand test.

Well done if you remembered all that information.

Okay, to summarise today's lesson, agility is the ability to change direction at speed, the nimbleness.

It is required by badminton player to change direction quickly to move to where the opponent has hit the shuttlecock.

A fitness test to measure it is the Illinois agility test.

Balance is the ability to stay upright or stay in control of your body movement.

It is especially important for a gymnast to hold positions on the beam.

The stork stand test measures balance.

Coordination is the ability to move two or more body parts under control smoothly and efficiently.

And it's important for a netball player to catch a ball.

The wall throw test measures this.

Well done today.

You've worked really hard, and learned three more components of fitness.

I'm hoping that you can remember all the definitions, sporting examples, and fitness tests for agility, balance, and coordination.

I'll look forward to seeing you again soon.