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Year 10
OCR

Planes and axes in physical activity and sport

I can identify and apply the planes of movement and axes of rotation to various sporting examples.

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New
New
Year 10
OCR

Planes and axes in physical activity and sport

I can identify and apply the planes of movement and axes of rotation to various sporting examples.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The body rotates around the transverse axis moving along the sagittal plane
  2. The body rotates around the frontal axis moving along the frontal plane.
  3. The body rotates around the longitudinal axis moving along in the transverse plane.

Keywords

  • Transverse axis - runs horizontally from left to right

  • Longitudinal axis - runs vertically from head to toe

  • Frontal axis - runs horizontally from front to back

  • Plane - an imaginary flat surface running through the body along which movement takes place

Common misconception

Any of the three planes can be paired with the three axes.

Planes and axes are always paired as: sagittal plane with the transverse axis, frontal plane with the frontal axis and transverse plane with the longitdinal axis.


To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Planes and axes in physical activity and sport, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Revisit the Play-Doh or jelly babies activity so the student can have lots of reptition of rotation. Get the students moving or playing 'Simon Says' to align with the sporting example being discussed/shown. This lesson can be skipped if pupils struggle with biomechanics as basics already covered.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Play-Doh, jelly babies, 3D models. sporting images.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which is the correct term for an axis?
direction of travel
Correct answer: line of rotation
flat surface
movement at a joint
Q2.
Which of the following is the correct description of the transverse axis?
runs vertically from head to toe
Correct answer: runs horizontally from left to right
runs horizontally from front to back
Q3.
The longitudinal axis runs through the body from head to ...
Correct Answer: toe, feet, foot
Q4.
Which of the following images moves along the frontal plane and rotates around the frontal axis?
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q5.
Which of the following images is correct for the frontal plane?
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q6.
Match the plane of movement with the correct description.
Correct Answer:sagittal plane ,a flat surface which divides the body into left and right
tick

a flat surface which divides the body into left and right

Correct Answer:frontal plane,a flat surface which divides the body into front and back
tick

a flat surface which divides the body into front and back

Correct Answer:transverse plane,a flat surface which divides the body into top and bottom
tick

a flat surface which divides the body into top and bottom

Q4 image 2 Yojo626/Shutterstock Q4 image 3 Gwoeii/Shutterstock

6 Questions

Q1.
Which plane of movement is paired with the transverse axis?
Correct answer: sagittal plane
frontal plane
transverse plane
Q2.
Which of the following is correct for a plane of movement?
line of rotation
Correct answer: movement takes place
runs from head to toe
runs from side to side
Q3.
Which is the following images demonstrates rotation around the longitudinal axis and movement along the transverse plane?
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q4.
A somersault rotates around which axis and moves along which plane?
An image in a quiz
frontal axis, frontal plane
longitudinal axis, transverse plane
Correct answer: transverse axis, sagittal plane
Q5.
A cartwheel rotates around which axis and moves along which plane?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: frontal axis, frontal plane
longitudinal axis, transverse plane
transverse axis, sagittal plane
Q6.
A figure skater completing a full spin rotates around the longitudinal axis moving along the plane.
Correct Answer: transverse
Q3 image 1 Gwoeii/Shutterstock Q3 image 2 Abdul Razik Latif/Shutterstock Q3 image 3 Asier Gonazalez Barciela/Shutterstock Q4 Abdul Razik Latif/Shutterstock Q5 Gwoeii/Shutterstock