National Year 13 Physical Education

Chapters: 5

1. 3.2.1 Exercise physiology

Diet and nutrition · Training methods · Injury prevention and rehabilitation

Sports Nutrition: Energy, Diet and Hydration – Athletes need the right food and water at the right time. Energy in (food) must match energy out (exercise plus body work) to keep weight steady. Carbohydrates are the main fuel and are stored as glycogen; protein repairs muscle; fat fuels long, slow work; vitamins, minerals and fibre keep the body working. Losing about 2% of body mass as sweat lowers performance, so athletes drink before, during and after exercise. Most supplements are not needed with a good diet, and banned drugs (doping) are unsafe and against the rules.
Sports Training: Principles and Methods – Sports training is planned exercise that makes the body fitter for a sport. Every session has a warm-up (raise heart rate, temperature and flexibility slowly), the main work and a cool-down (bring the heart rate down and remove waste such as lactic acid). Good training follows principles: Specificity (train for your sport), Progression and Overload (do a little more over time so the body adapts), Reversibility (fitness is lost when you stop) and Tedium (vary training to avoid boredom), plus rest and recovery. FITT sets the dose: Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type. Intensity can be measured with heart rate: maximum heart rate ≈ 220 − age; 60–80% trains the aerobic system and 80–90% the anaerobic system. Main methods are continuous, interval, fartlek, circuit, weight (resistance), plyometric and flexibility training. A training year can be split into pre-season, competition and off-season phases (periodisation).
Sports Injuries: How They Happen, How to Prevent and Treat Them – A sports injury is damage to the body from sport or exercise. Acute injuries happen suddenly (a twisted ankle); chronic or overuse injuries build up slowly (shin splints). Soft tissue injuries hit muscles (strain), ligaments (sprain) and skin; hard tissue injuries hit bones (fracture) and joints (dislocation). Risk comes from inside you (fitness, past injury) and outside (weather, equipment, opponents). Warm-up, good technique, the right kit, rules and sensible training load prevent most injuries. Treat a soft tissue injury with RICE, then rehabilitate step by step before returning to play.

2. 3.2.2 Biomechanical movement

Biomechanical principles and levers · Linear, angular and projectile motion · Fluid mechanics

Sports Biomechanics – Biomechanics is the physics of the moving body. Movement happens in three planes (sagittal, frontal, transverse) around three axes. Bones, joints and muscles work as levers: a pivot, an effort and a load. Most body levers are third class: they give little force but fast, wide movement. Newton's three laws explain starting, speeding up and pushing off the ground; friction gives grip. Stability depends on the centre of gravity, the base of support and the line of gravity. Turning movements follow the same ideas: torque starts a spin, and with no outside torque angular momentum stays the same, so pulling the arms in makes you spin faster. A thrown ball, javelin or jumper is a projectile: speed, angle and release height set the distance. Air and water push back with drag; spin and shape can create lift (the Magnus effect).

3. 3.2.3 Sport psychology

Personality, attitudes, arousal and anxiety · Aggression and motivation · Social facilitation and group dynamics · Goal setting, attribution and self-efficacy · Leadership and stress management

Sports Psychology: The Mind Behind the Performance – Sports psychology studies how the mind affects play. Personality shapes how we like to train. Motivation is the fuel: from inside (fun) or outside (prizes). Arousal is how "switched on" you are: too little or too much hurts, the middle is best (inverted U). Anxiety is worry; breathing, imagery and positive self-talk calm it. SMART goals give a clear ladder. Aggression must be controlled, and teams work best when everyone pulls together.

4. 3.2.4 Sport, society and technology

Concepts of physical activity and sport · Development of elite performers · Ethics, violence and drugs in sport · Sport and the law · Commercialisation and media · Technology in sport

Sport and Society – Sport sociology looks at how sport and society shape each other. Physical activity runs from free play, through physical recreation, to sport, which has fixed rules, organisation and serious competition. Modern sport grew from loose local folk games: the industrial age brought written rules, clubs and governing bodies, and since about 1950 television, money and travel have made sport global and professional. Today sport, media and sponsors are tied together in a "golden triangle". Not every group takes part equally: cost, time, facilities, discrimination and stereotypes create barriers, so governments and clubs work for equal access, especially for women, disabled people, older people and low-income families. Sport also has a dark side, deviance such as doping, violence and match-fixing, which rules, testing and the law try to control. Sport can build health, identity and togetherness, but it can also divide.
Sports Science and Technology – Sports science uses measurement, data and new equipment to help athletes improve and to keep sport fair. We observe performance, measure it (time, speed, heart rate), analyse video and data, turn the numbers into a plan, and judge whether new technology is fair. Many jobs come from this: coach, analyst, physiotherapist, sports scientist.

5. NEA

Practical performance/coaching and analysis

Physical Education: Learn, Analyse and Improve a Skill – Physical education (PE) teaches you to move well, stay active for life and understand your own performance. Every sports skill has three phases: preparation, execution and follow-through. To improve, you observe the skill, compare it with a model, find strengths and weaknesses, get feedback and plan practice: plan → do → review → feedback. People are active for health, fitness, fun, friends, competition and well-being. Trying new and alternative sports, joining clubs, staying safe and looking after equipment help you keep moving all your life.