Technical and Tactical

Skills in playing Sports

What is the FITT Principle?

In the article of Brad Walker in Stretch Coach, he defines the

FITT Principle (or formula) as a great way of monitoring your
exercise program. The acronym FITT outlines the key
components, or training guidelines, for an effective exercise
program. The initials F, I, T, T, stand for: Frequency, Intensity,
Time, and Type. Let’s get know what this FITT principle
acronym means.
What is the FITT Principle?
• Frequency - refers to the frequency of exercise undertaken or
how often you exercise.
• Intensity - refers to the intensity of exercise undertaken or
how hard you exercise.
• Time - refers to the time you spend exercising or how long
you exercise for.
• Type - refers to the type of exercise undertaken or what kind
of exercise you do.
Frequency
The first letter of the acronym is F which stands for frequency.
It is a key component of the FITT Principle. Remember that it is
important to know why you are exercising and what you want
to achieve before rushing into any exercise program (Walker,
2003).
Adjust the number of times you exercise per day/week/month
to reflect: your current fitness level; the time you realistically
have available; your other commitments like family and work;
and the goals you have set for yourself.
Intensity
The second letter I refers to intensity. This is an extremely
important aspect of the FITT Principle and is probably the
hardest factor to monitor. If you don’t want to spend the
money on a heart rate monitor, simply count your heart rate
over a 15 second period. All you need is a wristwatch that has a
“second’s” display. Feel for your heartbeat by either placing
your hand over your heart or by feeling for your pulse in your
neck or on your wrist. Count the beats over a 15 second period
and then multiply by 4. This will give you your exercise heart
rate in beats per minute (Walker, 2003).
Time
The time you spend exercising is also an important part of the
FITT Principle. The time dedicated to exercise usually depends
on the type of exercise undertaken. For example, it’s
recommended that to improve cardio-vascular fitness you’ll
need at least 30 minutes of nonstop exercise. For weight loss,
more time is required; at least 40 minutes of moderate weight
bearing exercise. However, when talking about the time
required for muscular strength improvements, time is often
measured as several “sets” and “reps.” A typical
recommendation would be 3 sets of 8 reps (Walker, 2003).
Type
The type of exercise you choose will have a big effect on the
results you achieve. That is why it is important to know what
you want to gain from your efforts. For example, if you’re
looking to improve your cardio-vascular fitness, then exercises
like walking, jogging, swimming, bike riding, stair climbing,
aerobics and rowing are very effective. For weight loss, any
exercise that uses most of your large muscle groups will be
effective. These exercises include squatting and mountain
climbing. To improve muscular strength, the best exercises,
include the use of free weights, machine weights and body
weight exercises like push-ups, chin-ups, and dips (Walker,
2003).
Tactical and Technical Skills of Sports
In playing any sport, learning, and developing skills help
athletes improve in the game. These skills involve physical
training and game strategies. Technical skills are the basics of
playing the game (e.g., basketball-dribble, shoot, pass) while
tactical skills are the strategies to take advantage during the
game.
Volleyball is one of the most played sports all over the country.
Some may just play it for fun but it is better for each to know
the technical and tactical skills in playing volleyball.
Volleyball
Technical Skills
There are different types of shots and
skills in volleyball. The following shots
involved in volleyball are the serve,
passing and attacking (dig, set and
spike.)
Serve
Firstly, the serve is the first shot to start the
game and score a point. A good serve will
score you a point or put the opposition (the
other team) at a disadvantage position. A poor
serve is when the serve does not go over the
net or is not controlled and goes out of
bounds. A serve should score points and not
just to get the ball over the net.
There are 2 types of serving shots,
the floater and topspin.
a. Floater - is a shot by tossing and
hitting the ball
with your palm through the center of
the ball.
b. Topspin - is a shot when you toss
and hit the ball
with your palm with contact just below
the center of the ball making it spin.
Passing
Passing involves a sequence
of 3 shots in between you
team without someone in the
team doing 2 consecutive
shots. It is a tactic to set up
for a strike attack. Therefore,
it is passing the ball by hitting
it to set up to score points.
Dig
Usually, the passing sequences begins
with a dig (receive). A dig is the most
common shot in volleyball. It is an
accurate shot that is controlled. The dig
is usually performed to keep the ball up
and is the first shot when the attacking
team hits it over. It involves having your
hands together and arms straight and
hitting the ball. The ball is struck on the
forearms. The dig shot is the first shot of
the 3 passing shots.
Setting
The following shot after the dig is called
the setting shot or the set shot. It is an
overhand or overhead shot. The shot is
controlling the ball hitting it straight-up
above and relatively close to the net. It
involves using your thumb, index, and
middle finger of both hands to toss the
ball up. The set shot is setting up for the
last shot out of the 3 shots. This shot is
usually the 2nd shot and is a tactic for
setting up the 3rd shot.
Spike
Lastly the final shot of the 3 is to attack the
opposition. Once the setting shot is in the air a
player from the team would perform the spike shot.
A spike shot is fast direct shot to the opposition’s
side of the net. It involves a player to jump up for
the ball once the ball is in the air from the controlled
set shot. Due to the set shot being above the net
and close. The player who jumped for the spike can
angle the spike shot in a downward angle in the
opponent’s side of the court.
 A spike is a lethal
attacking move that
usually scores the
points. A spike involves
using your palm and
angling your wrist
downwards on the ball
to create topspin.
Defensive Tactics
It’s no surprise that the success of a volleyball
team depends a lot on its defense. Obviously, a
volleyball team should have defensive players,
who must be able to resist attacks of the
opposite team successfully. You need to know
that the defensive tactic in volleyball is all about
blocking as well as diving, rolling, and sliding.
Blocking
A well timed and effective block will diffuse an
attack. Players near the net when defending
will jump up with their arms out and attempt
to block the shot coming over the net. This is a
defensive tactic that blocks a spike. Blockers
would jump up and just before the net
because they cannot touch the net or cross it.
Hands when blocking should be
positions downwards and open
this is because it could be a
great attacking tactic to. When
the ball is blocked it may return
in the opponent’s side of the
court and they might not be
able to react quickly enough
and score you a point.
Therefore, a block is a great
tactic for both defense and
attack.
Diving, rolling and
sliding
Clearly instead of just letting the ball
hit the ground (your side of the court)
and let the other team score the point
be brave and dive, slide or roll instead
while reaching for the ball (dig or
recieve). It’s a great tactic to defend a
spike because the spike is coming fast
and is hard to defend. When you dive,
slide or roll you are getting low and are
covering more area of defense around
the court better than just standing
there.
Tactical Skills
Mastery of the technical skills of volleyball is important,
but you must also learn the tactics of the game.
Tactical skills are defined as “the decisions and actions
of players in the contest to gain an advantage over the
opposing team or players” (Martens, Successful
Coaching, p. 170). Basic volleyball resources might
focus on the technical skills of the game and may
overlook the tactical aspects.
Serve
Serve is an important shot because it is the first
shot that begins the point. Therefore, if you do a
good serve it puts the other team under
pressure, so your team have an advantage.
Whereas if you do a poor serve which is easier
for the other team the pressure will be on your
team. Don’t just serve the ball to just get it over
the net. Serve the ball to score the point or
dominate the start of the point.
Spike
The spike is a great
attacking tactic. A spike is a
lethal fast shot in a
downwards motion that
would score you most of
your points and if it doesn’t
score you a point it still
scrambles your opponent
and puts pressure on them.
Setting shot
The set shot is great for
controlling the ball and setting
up for an attack. It’s a great
tactic for your team to set up
and score points.
Communication
Communication is a huge tactic in all codes of
sport. Communication plays an important role in
volleyball. In volleyball communication is a great
tactic for attacking and defending. This is
because your team is communicating to each
other who are taking the shot and whose ball it
is. Therefore, it makes the game much easier.
 How does FITT apply in sports?
Let us correlate what we have just learned. Remember our goal is
to become healthier and physically fit lessening the risk of being
obese due to the routine use of computers, cellular phones, tablets,
and other gadgets.
Frequency – We begin with playing volleyball once a week with
friends and family then progress to 2 times a week until it becomes
a daily routine. During the progression you will observe that you are
able to cope with the demands of the sport with improvement to
your cardiovascular endurance at the same time losing some
weight and body fat. As you progress further, you will not only
develop your tactical and technical skills but also improve the
shape and tone of your body.
 How does FITT apply in sports?
Intensity – Your skill level improves as you progress in
playing the sport from beginner to advanced. So does the
intensity of your game. Progressing from moderate to
vigorous intensity of the game include more and more
combination of offensive and defensive tactics from both
teams. Scoring a point will now take more time and effort. As
the intensity of the game goes up so does your
cardiovascular endurance. Your heart rate will be slower
compared to the first time you played the sport as your
cardiovascular system is now well adapted to the physical
demands of the sport.
Time – Getting hooked up to the sport allow you to crave
for more and not just be contented of your fitness level. You
will want to practice more to improve your skills both
offensively and defensively. Even the duration of the game
becomes longer. With your skills getting better and better,
you will have opponents that is equally or far better than
your team. The game sets will now take longer to finish as
both teams will have more combination of offensive and
defensive tactics before one can score a point. And equally,
as the game progresses from beginners to advanced so
does the game sets. Initially it will be just a single set and it
will progress to best of three to best of five game sets.
Type – To maintain a well-balanced fitness level as
well as skill level to the sport, one must perform a
variety of exercises including cardio, strengthening,
and flexibility training. For volleyball, progressing
from beginner to advanced encompasses
improvements in cardio-vascular fitness, weight loss
and muscular strength. As you become more
competitive to the sport, you will learn new offensive
and defensive tactics that you have not learned
before. Most of the time these new tactics is more
difficult to perform and demand more endurance,
flexibility, strength, and agility.
 Direction: Choose one sport and cut out
pictures showing the Technical and Tactical
Skills in the sport. Label the pictures
according to skill and paste in your activity
notebook