Chapter I
Introduction
Introduction is replete with illustration, of people through the world who considered physical process and strong, healthy bodies the vitalizing ingredients for survival and power. Aristotle said, “The body is the temple of the soul and to reach harmony of body, mind and spirit the body must be physically fit.”
Change is law of nature, with the passage of time everything gets change, for instance, in ancient time men use to live in caves and do physical labour to get food and shelter, but in modern time with the advent of science and technology everything become mechanical and easy. Hence, the activities and skills which early men use for survival evolved into recreation and competitive sports. “Sports have been a part of civilized societies throughout history. In some cases, as in the Greece in the fifth century B.C., sport was of central importance to the culture. At the other times, during the repressive asceticism of Middle Ages, sport was officially frowned on but still enjoyed by common people in villages and towns. At the height of the Roman Empire, athletes formed a strong labour union, bargaining for higher appearance fee and prices and keeping out athletes who would not support the union”.
“Though the origin of sports is lost in antiquity, it is quite certain that physical activity has been a part of life of even primitive man. For him it might have been a basic necessity of life, more than fun and diversion, for his survival depends on it. Hunting fishing, hurling missiles were activities on which his survival depends. Gradually along with the process of evolution, such activities become more of play and became part of culture of the tribes. People used sports and games as mode of transmitting the cultural heritages of their tribes. Games sports and physical activities persisted despite the rise and fall of ancient civilizations and became strongly embedded in the history of civilization as cultural heritage, which was passed on from one generation to another. Today games and sports have emerged as universal cultural phenomena” .
“The proliferation of physical education, exercise sciences, and sport programs during the last four decades has been remarkable. Programs have expanded from the traditional school setting to community, home worksite, commercial, and medical settings. School-community partnership brings sport instruction and fitness program to adult in the community and offer increase opportunities for youth involvement. Community recreation programs offer a great variety of instruction and sports activities for people of all ages and abilities”.
“Sports have become integral part of school life for many students around the world. In many countries sport is taught and played in physical education classes. School in a few countries have varsity team, and some of these teams attract more attention among students and community residents then academic programs do, especially in the united states. At the time, many of these schools have eliminated or are in the process of eliminating physical education for their student’s bodies as whole”.
“Some historians – most notably Bernard Lewis – claim that team sports as we know them today are primarily an invention of Western culture. The traditional team sports are seen as springing from Europe, primarily England through its British Empire. This can be seen as discounting some of the ancient games of cooperation from Asia (e.g. polo, numerous martial arts forms, and various, now assimilated football varieties) and even from the Americas (e.g. lacrosse). European colonialism certainly helped spread particular games around the world, especially cricket (not related to baseball), football of various sorts, bowling in a number of forms, cue sports (like snooker, carom billiards and pool), hockey and its derivatives, equestrian (originally of Middle Eastern origin), and tennis (and related games deriving from jeu de paume), and many winter sports, while the originally Europe-dominated modern Olympic Games generally also ensured standardization in particularly European directions when rules for similar games around the world were merged. Regardless of game origins, the Industrial Revolution and mass production brought increased leisure which allowed more time to engage in playing or observing (and gambling upon) spectator sports, as well as less elitism in and greater accessibility of sports of many kinds. With the advent of mass media and global communication, professionalism became prevalent in sports, and this furthered sports popularity in general” .
Organism variable such as body and limb size (height, weight and limb length etc), sex, age impose several important constraints upon the overall organization of movement requiring high degree of accuracy and precision is sports like hockey, where performance to the great extent depends upon the total control of mind and body.
Fitness is the pre-requisite for exhibiting better performance in all games and sports. Fit player can delay onset of fatigue during a match or competition. The more tried a player the more prone he is making an error. Fitness aids in the proper execution of various skills and techniques.
It is well known fact that fitness plays a vital role in the performance of all sports and games. Physical education teachers and coaches in numerous ways in relation to performance in sports and games and organic health have discussed the word “fitness”. A physiologist considers aerobic capacity to be an indicator of fitness. A physiologist considers aerobic capacity to be an indicator of fitness. A physiotherapist thinks in terms of restoring normal movement around an injured joint. A physical educator in interested in all round development. A coach is interested in getting optimum performance from trainees. If their opinion about fitness is summed up, it is clear that they all talk about human body, its optimum development and efficiency.
Bucher opines, “Physical fitness includes more than muscular strength”. He further enunciates that “physical fitness implies soundness of the body organs such as heart and lungs, a human mechanism that perform efficiently under exercise or work conditions, and reasonable measure of performance in selected physical activities” in describing individual physical fitness. It is not merely the strength factor, but something more has to be accounted for.
Mathews in board sense elaborates on physical fitness as the capacity of an individual to perform given physical tasks involving muscular effort” TroesterJr states that “physical fitness includes those qualities which will permit an individual to perform life activities involving speed, strength, agility, power and endurance and to engage in various kind of physical activities required of modern-day living including sports and athletics. And to be able to maintain optimum amount of fitness for the individual involved”.
Experts in Physical Education and Sports conducted numerous research studies and they have emphasized the importance of investigating the specific structures correlated with various sports activities for the selection and development of talents in sports for better performance at different level of competition.
Due to research findings the player’s basic requirements to achieve top-level performance are predicted in many sports. Therefore, scientific approach is required to evolve better methods and improve performance. It has proved to be an essential and powerful tool for the progress of man. Evaluation can be used predict the player’s future success in a specific area or skill. Player can be advised into a particular sport in which they have better chance of success. The prediction usually based on anthropometric measurements, physical fitness, physiological function and games skill variables.
Research in the field of Physical Education and Sports is highly demand of the day. Researches in this field brought so many technologies in and equipment’s manufacturing. We can say that the progress of the field directly linked with research. It is fact that at present situation research in Physical Education and Sports is an important area of study to improve the sports performance.
The past decades have seen the rise of an area of study called futurism or futuristic, which attempts to scientifically examine the future. The sports scientists have tried to predict the success of sports performance during competition. (Jackson, Andrew S., and Ted A. Baumgartner, 1987). The main theme of a sports competition is to find out human ability at an early stage of life and guided in the right direction to take up the sports to achieve top-level performance. Now the nation is on the threshold of tremendous change in the technological growth in sports. The player’s and the parents too, who struggle hard to improve sports performance and thereby gets familiar in the society. Now every player knew that the best performance is the self -effort to develop the vital components such as physical fitness, physique, physiological efficiency of various organs and skill perfection.
Sports is one of the avenues of mankind’s never ceasing strive for excellence. Its uniqueness lies in the intimacy between the physical happenings of our bodies and their repercussions on our minds as well as in the general re-cognoscibility of the social and aesthetic values. Sports evokes experience that is exclusively human and independent of the changing forms, patterns, customs of a civilization which involves profoundly modifying concepts of our environment.
From its very simple form, sports have emerged into highly organized activity of human society. Sports are highly organized form of play and play is a general innate tendency. Play is very important for preservation, growth and development of organism .
Sports is as old as the human society and it holds a prominent place in the modern life. Millions of people participate in sports activities, watch and read about them and spend billions of dollars annually on sports activities and equipment. It now enjoys a popularity which outstrips any other form of social activity. It has become an integral part of the educational process as physical education and sports have been included in the regular curriculum. The students are taught various games and sports in a systematic manner. Besides teaching, the students are evaluated in their performance. Many people participate in games and sports for deriving physical, mental, social and emotional benefits .
Competitive element is inherent in sports, as now sportsmen participate to win and achieve laurels for them as well as for their country contrary to earlier philosophy of participation in sports competition for sake of participation, in other words, competitive sports has come to be valued in society. Towards the attainment of top performance, the physical educationists and coaches are trying to bring the new innovations as they are deeply involved in the preparation of sportsmen for present and future. The modern trend in preparation of sportsmen is to proceed in a scientific manner and take its help of allied sciences to achieve a top level performance .
An increasing awareness is evident in games and sports in our society. Scientists from all areas are pooling their knowledge and expertise to the common cause of improving upon sports performance to an optimum level. In the quest for exhibiting top class performance, knowledge generated by science is being used to study a variety of factors that are linked either directly or indirectly. Many different aspects of the athletes are studied and emphasized during training like physical, psychological and physiological, perhaps the basis of a successful athletic performance in sports is motor ability quality of the athletes which is determined by heredity but at the same time leave a great scope for improvement, as a result of systematic supervised training. The requirements of different sports and games vary with regard to motor ability quality. Actually General Motor Ability is complex multi-dimensional construct due to which many factors enter into efficient performance: physical, mental, emotional, and social .
By nature, human beings are competitive and aspire for excellence in every given field. Sport is not an exception. Not only individuals but nations also want to show their supremacy in the field of sports. This friendly rivalry has inspired and motivated all to sweat and strive, to run faster, jump higher, throw longer and exhibit greater strength, endurance and skills in the competition arena .
In every item of sports, human achievement has been improving and old world records which once were regarded as the ultimate in that particular sport and humanly impossible to be broken have toppled one by one in the succeeding competition. The cause of this seemly the super human performance is the introduction of scientific approach to human psychology and physiology and the application of intensive and extensive research in these fields of physical training.
The modern scientific age in every field of human endeavor employs systematic, objective and scientific procedures in accordance with principles based on experience, understanding and application of knowledge of science. The field of games and sports is no exception to this. In advanced countries like U.S.A, Australia, Britain and others, the rapid progress in the field of games and sports like Badminton, soccer, hockey etc. has taken place and their international achievement have been possible only due to research, experimentation and application of scientific knowledge .
General motor ability has been considered as one’s level of ability in wide range of activities. It has been thought of as an integrated composite of such individual traits as strength, endurance, power, speed, agility, balance, reaction time, and coordination traits underlying performance in many motor complexes. In successful motor performance, these traits function in a coordinated manner and in effective sequence to achieve an accurate and efficient movement whether it may be a single effort as in the golf drive or in a series of complexes and rapidly changing movements as in basketball .
Think for a moment of the numerous and varied factors such as balance, flexibility, power, timing, and co-ordination, each contributing interdependently to the perfection of the total movement. The immediate capacity of an individual to perform in many varied stunts or athletic events is referred to as general motor ability; the term is used synonymously with general athletic ability. We know there are many factors that contribute to successful performance in athletic skills. Whenever a specific movement pattern is needed, the stimulus causes the storage center or memory drum to “play back” the particular learned skill. Hence, the movement is performed automatically. Such learned skills as playing the piano, running, walking, throwing and eating are all performed without conscious thought; the memory drum simply plays them back on demand .
Fundamental to success in all the types of games and sports is the higher level of motor ability. Under any hypothesis, a sound and fit body is a pre-requisite for a top level performer in any of the games or sports. It is considered a matter of common sense that even when all the contributory factors are controlled, an increase in the level of motor ability shall definitely lead to improvement in performance level of the sportsman participating in any activity .
Badminton is a very fitness demanding sport. There is a great deal of attributes a person needs in order to become successful. The main fitness components are agility, speed, muscular endurance, muscular power and cardio-respiratory endurance. Good hand eye co-ordination is a must in this sport, in order to become successful. Agility is the ability to change the position of the body and the direction of the body quickly and accurately.
This is probably the most vital component in badminton because you need to be able to move around the court so you can return the shuttle. This component can be improved by doing skill drills. Speed is the rate of movement of the body, limb or external object. This links together with agility as you require moving quickly and precisely to the shuttle at all times. The badminton court isn’t very big; you will eventually get faster. Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements against a load for an extended period of time. This is required in badminton mainly by the racket hand, using the biceps, triceps and the forearm muscles, as they are used repeatedly throughout the match. To improve this component for badminton, weights of low size should be done with a high level of repetitions. Muscular power is an explosive muscular force that can be used quickly. This component is important to badminton as you use your muscles in your legs and arms throughout the match. You use your legs running to the shuttle and jumping and your arms when you play each shot. Your arms need very good muscular power when playing the overhead smash, as the shuttle needs to be hit with a great deal of force. To improve this aspect of badminton, you could start a weights program where you lift maximum weights. Cardio-respiratory endurance is the efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system to be able to take in and deliver oxygen throughout the body. This is important to badminton, as it is needed in long games where you need to restore energy quickly. You could improve this component by going for 30-45 min runs at a sub-maximal effort. Badminton is a very physically demanding sport. It uses many fitness components, and players need to have reasonably ability in these components. Good hand eye co-ordination is also needed to be sure to hit each shot off the middle of the racket.
Squash is an indoor racket sport, played by two or four players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. Squash is a fast-moving and high-impact sport that provides an excellent cardiovascular workout but can place strain on the joints, especially the knees. Although you need a partner to play squash, many squash centres and clubs offer friendly tournaments and games where you can meet and compete with other squash players.
Squash is a game that can be played at any age. It is easy to learn and there are modified games and equipment to suit every size and skill level. Squash can be played for leisure or as a competitive sport. Squash is a strenuous sport, in which a player can use a lot more energy than most other sports. Squash helps to Improve cardiovascular health; a game of squash will see you running, leaping and diving for the ball, increase strength and fitness, maintain a healthy weight, increase flexibility and strength in the back, promote good coordination, agility and flexibility and Build hand–eye coordination
Tennis, original name lawn tennis, game in which two opposing players (singles) or pairs of players (doubles) use tautly strung rackets to hit a ball of specified size, weight, and bounce over a net on a rectangular court. Points are awarded to a player or team whenever the opponent fails to correctly return the ball within the prescribed dimensions of the court. Organized tennis is played according to rules sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the world governing body of the sport.
An advanced tennis player must possess tennis skills to be a successful in the game of tennis. At the professional level, players at the top of the rankings possess physical, mental and emotional tennis skills.
The upside is that even recreational and club players can learn the recipes and tennis skills needed to succeed in tennis.
physical tennis skills. Firstly, flexibility, balance, aerobic health, and strength are all required in order to garner the best results from your tennis skills; that is, you need to work on all four areas to be physically fit for successful tennis.
How to achieve fitness in each area? Remember, it’s best to get fit to play tennis, not play tennis to get fit, so most of your workouts will occur off the court.
For flexibility, try practicing yoga. Yoga poses stretch not only the muscles, but the joints as well — and, a sequence of yoga poses will stretch the entire body, necessary for enhanced physical tennis skills. A body which is rigid at the beginning of learning yoga may become quite flexible, even those parts which have not been consciously worked upon.
For balance (essential for agility), consider the ancient art of T’ai Chi; studies have proven the association of T’ai Chi practice with significant improvement in balance which is a requisite for improved physical tennis skills. Your local fitness or recreation centre may offer a class. (T’ai Chi’s gentle flowing movements also reduce stress.)
aerobic fitness, consider the following. The benefits of aerobic exercise are many: strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, thus, facilitating the flow of air in and out of the lungs; strengthening the heart muscle, thus, improving its pumping efficiency; and, strengthening muscles throughout the entire body. Solid aerobic endurance sustains a player’s tennis skills for the duration of a game, which may last several hours.
For aerobic health, no one exercise is best for everyone. But it is always necessary to use large muscle groups repetitively for a sustained amount of time; and it is best to perform the exercise for 60 minutes, preferably five days a week.
The intensity of your aerobic workout can be determined by your heart rate. Use the following formula to ensure your exercise is helping you achieve aerobic fitness: subtract your age from 220, and multiply the resulting number by 60%, or .6, and by 90%, or .9. The resultant numbers represent the optimal low end and high-end heart rates you should maintain while exercising.
For instance, if you are thirty years old, your optimal low-end heart rate would be 114 and your optimal high-end heart rate would be 171. Choose an exercise you enjoy; swimming, running, and cycling are excellent forms of aerobic exercise. At the gym, ski machines, stair climbers, steppers, and elliptical can all offer an aerobic workout.
And, finally, strength training augments your tennis skills; whether you want a stronger serve, groundstroke, volley, or overhead smash, building a stronger body is key. Tennis specific weight training will not only improve your tennis skills; it will help ward off injuries. But, strength training to enhance tennis skills must be very sport specific; you must find the appropriate amount of muscle mass for power — too much bulkiness slows down court speed. Working with greater repetitions and lower weights maintains agility and speed while appropriately increasing strength.
The techniques of cognitive-behavioural therapy, a type of psychotherapy developed by American psychiatrist, Aaron Beck, may be used to develop mental tennis skills. Cognitive-behavioural therapy challenges negative self-talk and provides more balanced reality-tested alternatives.
For instance, a technique in cognitive therapy termed cognitive rehearsal can be applied to great effect. Imagine a situation during a recent game in which you did not succeed. Consider what difference(s) in your game would have helped you succeed.
STATMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The purpose of the study is to compare Motor Fitness component among Badminton, Tennis and Squash
Delimitations
The study was delimited to the following:
1. National Level Player of Badminton, Tennis and Squash.
2. Age is delimited to 18-25 years
3. The study was also delimited to male subjects only.
The study was further delimited to the following variables:
1. Strength 4. Flexibility
2. Speed 5. Agility
3. Endurance
Limitations
1. Although every effort was made for standard testing procedure yet there will be possibility of variation in taking performance due to individual difference were considered as a limitation to this study.
2. As the subjects were different sports background, so lack of control over the environmental factors were again considered as limitation to this study.
Hypothesis
On the basis on the available literature and the scholar’s own understanding of the problem the following hypotheses were stated:
1. There will be significant difference of motor fitness components among Badminton, Tennis and Squash players.
2. There may be significant difference in strength among Badminton, Tennis and Squash Players.
3. There may be significant difference in speed among Badminton, Tennis and SquashPlayers.
4. There may be significant difference in endurance among Badminton, Tennis and SquashPlayers.
5. There may be significant difference in flexibility among Badminton, Tennis and SquashPlayers.
6. There may be significant difference in agility among Badminton, Tennis and SquashPlayers.
Significance of the Study
1. It would help coaches and teachers to identify the dominating factor of Motor Fitness Component in Badminton, Tennis and Squash.
2. It would help coaches and teachers to prepare Schedule according to the need of the players
3. It would help the player for self-assessment.
4. It would help to plan different tactics and strategies.
5. It would help in assessment of the performance of the team as well as of the players.
DEFINITION AND EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS
MOTOR FITNESS
The term motor fitness came into being during world war-II as test that could be given quickly to manage with a minimum of equipment work structure for use by various branches of equipment work structure for use by various branches of the armed force and by schools and colleges. Actually, Motor Fitness is the physical aspect of vigorous physical activity but does not include the neuro-muscular co-ordination involves in motor skills. Thus, organic soundness and proper nutrition underline the entire physical and motor structure.
(M. Harrison Clarke, David H. Clarke, 1976)
The motor fitness may be defined as a limited phase of motor ability emphasizing capacity for vigorous work. The aspect selected for emphasize is endurance, power, strength, agility, flexibility and balance. More specifically motor fitness might be referred to as efficient performance such basis requirements as running, jumping, dodging, falling, climbing, swimming, lifting weight and enduring sustained efforts in a variety of situations. (Donald K. Mathews, 1973)
Physical Fitness
The most appropriate definition of physical fitness is given by Reilly, “as the ability to reach high level of the performance and the ability to withstand the stresses imposed on the sportsman by his participation. The fitness status at which the training is given may be anywhere along the continuum of fitness.” (Thomas Reilly, 1981)
Strength
The capability of overcoming a certain resistance or at acting against it by muscular tension. He further pointed out that strength is the force that a muscle can exert against a resistance in one maximum effort. (Edwin A. Fleshman. 1966)
Speed
Speed may be defined “as the capacity of the individual to perform successive movements of the same pattern at a fast rate.” (Harold M. Barrow and Rosemary McGee, 1979)
Speed “as a physical quality with which man can execute his movements”
(G.L. Kukushkin, 1983)
Endurance
The term endurance denotes “an individual ability to withstand fatigue in conditions of specific loads specially with the maximum mobilization of the functional ability of his organism of achieving high results in the selected sports.”
(L. Matveyev, 1981)
Flexibility
Flexibility may be defined “as the range of motion around a joint as determined by the elasticity of the muscles, tendons and ligaments associated with the joint under consideration.” (Devender K. Kansal, 1996)
Agility
Agility being once ability “to change direction or position of the body or parts of the body rapidly and precisely is closely associated with co-ordination which is defined as harmonious interplay of muscles group during a motor performance that indicates some degree of skill.” (Devender K. Kansal, 1996)