Sports training increases body endurance, strength, speed and efficiency. Players who have not trained to their full capacity are liable to sustain sport injuries during play, because fatigue or imperfect co-ordination lead to faulty movements.
Sports training may be divided into (1) Endurance training, (2) Strength or power training and (3) Skill training. These are interrelated, and it is often possible to carry them out simultaneously.
Endurance training
Endurance training aims at developing the efficiency of the heart and lungs, so that the blood and oxygen supply to the working muscles is increased. This facilitates the functioning of the muscles and reduces body fatigue and incidence of sports injury. The training consists of (1) General rhythmical exercises, (2) Running and skipping, (3) Minor team games, (4) Circuit training and (5) High repetition lifts with low weights. It should also include the types, of movements which are related to specific forms of sport, e.g. starting, stopping and direction-changing movements would feature in the endurance training program of a rugby, hockey or soccer player.
Strength or power training
Strength or power training is necessary to prepare the player for the “expulsive effort”, e.g. moving quickly into the open space or racing for a loose ball.
Power training includes (1) Strengthening exercises, (2) Sprinting and (3) Low repetition lifts with heavy weights. All parts of the body should be exercised, and it is most important that the upper extremity should not be neglected. Press-ups, pull-ups, hand-stand press-ups, weight-and-pulley exercises, and activities such as Wrist wrestle are particularly useful. Proof of the importance of developing the muscles of the upper extremity can be seen when one looks at the international sprinter; the arms and shoulder-girdle are developed in a similar degree to the lower limbs.
Skill training
Skill is a vital factor in reducing the incidence of sports injury, and the player must spend many hours in practicing the individual skills of his game. For example, the tennis player should practice the service, smash, forehand and backhand strokes, and be able to recover quickly; the soccer player should practice trapping, dribbling, swerving, turning, kicking the moving ball, timing the tackle, quick direction changing and heading; he must be able to use each foot with equal skill, and swerve or turn to left or right with ease.
