Sports Performance Pathways - Report Example

Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Winning medals in the international sporting stage can be tough. The margins between the entire success and failure become can smaller with every passing year. In order to be sure that Britain's most talented players and all athletes have chances of realizing their potential, UK Sport has created the World Class Performance Program. The Program covers all summer Olympic and Paralympics sports. This is in conjunction with all high-performing Olympic sports. This always operates in three distinct levels. The first one is known as the podium. This involves providing sufficient support to all athletes that have realistic medal winning capabilities during the next Olympic or Paralympics Games. This refers to a maximum of four years away from the podium. The second one is made up of athletes that have performances that have suggested that they contain realistic winning medal capabilities for 2012 as well as all newly funded sports that demonstrate abilities to be highly competitive by 2012. The third one is development. This is aimed at supporting both the identification as well as the confirmation of athletes. These are those athletes that have all the potential to progress through the entire World Class pathway with the help of targeted investment. Sports A sport is any game activity type that human beings take part. It involves physical exertion and skill and its governing is by generally accepted guidelines and rules. Most people go through performance pathways and they help them in ensuring that they perfect their skills in the specific type of game. Judged competitions are a very common aspect of games. There are various types of sports. These include ball sports, races, fighting, boxing, and other various types of demonstrations of strength and skills. Skill and formality are two most important aspects of sports. People take part in sports at various levels. These can be done for professional reasons or entertainment reasons. Section 1 Performance pathways Parent Commitment Parents of young performance players have a number of tasks to perform or manage and the learning curve can be steep. To help with this it is of paramount importance to develop a good relationship with the player’s individual coach. Together they should in effect manage the program of the player. Key tasks to be completed include weekly programs. Ensuring that the right mix of individual, quad and physical activities are in place. It is also important to work on the correct things at the right time. The second one is tournament programs. The aim of this is to help develop the player’s ability to compete and learn strategy. It also aids in developing mental skills to play at a good level. The third one is goal setting. SMART goals need to be set by the coach in conjunction with the player and the parent to ensure realistic plans of work are set and progress can be monitored. English football association The English football association develops their players’ talents in many ways. It help with player development there are a number of places to play that can offer some or all of the ingredients to help develop an aspiring performance player. Basic information regarding these centers is detailed below. There are performances pathways like High Performance Centre. It is located at the County Tennis Ground in Newcastle the HPC can offer full performance support for aspiring players of all ages. This may include full on court program in line with LTA Long Term Player Development Guidelines Full Physical program delivered by Olympic standard physical conditioning team, goal setting, tournament planning including trips to domestic and international tournaments. Match analysis. This involves video analysis with full technical report, nutritional support, psychological support and physiological support and injury rehabilitation. Support to players may include full on court program in line with LTA Long Term Player. These include development guidelines, physical conditioning advice, goal setting and tournament planning including trips to domestic tournament. There are a number of indoor tennis centers within the County. These may be able to offer the following: - On court program including performance squads, - Physical conditioning advice - Goal setting - Individual lessons - Tournament planning including trips to domestic tournaments There are functional roles that organizations and individuals can play in the creation, development and sustenance of performance pathways. Pathways must be designed in order for everyone to move well through sport (Houlihan 2000). Individuals need to know that there are three types of nutrients. It is therefore the duty of every individual or organizations in charge of a group of sport individuals to ensure that there is an appropriate intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Tennis ATP Tennis is already one of the highest participation sports in Britain. According to market research some 3.9 million people aged 7 and above in the UK play tennis regularly or occasionally, including an estimated 1.6 million children and 2.3 million adults. The DCMS Taking Part Survey of 2005 puts the adult figure even higher, with an estimated 2.73 million adults (6.7%) playing tennis in the last 12 months. There has been a much increased focus on school sport. This includes competitive school sport, in recent years. With community legacy at the heart of London’s bid for the 2012 games, comprehensive school sport strategies in place and, arguably, unprecedented levels of investment, it is undeniably an exciting time for school sports There are strategies put forward to improve performance in tennis in schools. These include: Be child centered Make tennis more fun and provide positive first experiences of a sport for life Reflect and compliment the wider ambitions of British Tennis Align with and compliment the agendas and policies of our partners Increase investment in Schools Tennis Be child centered Raise the profile and improve the image and reputation of schools Tennis National governing sport bodies are in all countries in the world. Such organizations can exist in relation to one sport or in relation to many sports combined together. This is the Association of Tennis Professionals formed in the year 1972. Its purpose was to protect the male tennis’ players’ interests. Comparing it with the England professional football association evidences the fact that this tennis association protects tennis players around the world while the football association is restricted only to the Britain players. It organizes tennis worldwide tours for men while the other one organizes tours for both men and women involved in tours. Each top ranked eight players of tennis take part in various tournaments. This organization is also responsible for all the weekly world rankings of tennis. Most of the association members have mastered in sport nutrition. Sport nutrition is the backbone of every player’s successful playing. Sport nutrition can be a complicated topic for all athletes that seek balanced ways of eating healthily and looking for satisfying meals that can help in the achievement of peak performance (Cotugna 2005). Opportunities that can arise include gaining skills that are in line with maturation levels. It also includes moving easily from a simpler stage to more complex stages. Trainers must also ensure that the trainees are well motivated while developing their interests and skills. One of the major roles is involvement in training or practice and finally the final competitions. These are mainly important and must be well tailored towards a specific sport and to aim at good developmental level of the participants. Practice and training can vary for different participations stages. The variance is evident in activities presents, instruction style used, education rules and sport etiquette. Broad experiences also vary a lot (Long 2011). Performance of UK in Olympic Games from 1960 to 2012 The London Olympic Games date back to 1960 and since then so much improvement has become evident. The cost on the other hand has been on the increase and during the past decades the introduction of new sports has also led to the increase in average budget. The 1996 summer Olympics is known as a main international multi-sports event. It took place in Georgia in the USA. UK registered various types of sports. There was a major turn of events since the committee involved separated winter games from the summer games. Over the years until 2012, there have been developments along the way. This includes introduction of various different games. The latest Olympics took place in London, Britain. UK performed better in 2012 as compared to performances in the previous Olympic Games. Carbohydrate is the most important energy source. No matter the sport one takes part in, carbohydrates provide all energy required to contract the muscles. Carbohydrates break down into small sugars once ingested. These are glucose, galactose and fructose. These get absorbed and are in turn used as energy. Any glucose that is not required straight away is stored away in the liver and the muscles in glycogen form. Once all the glycogens stores fill up, all other extras are stored as fat. Glycogen as we evidenced earlier is an important energy source and is mostly required for exercising. It is required for any exercise from weight lifting to sprinting. It is known to supply energy in the first few minutes into any sport (Houtkooper 2002). Dietary fat is always on the blame for health problems. Fat is however more essential for any form of optimal health. Stored fat also known as adipose tissue provides sufficient cushion as well as insulation for the internal organs. Fat covers nerves and moves vitamins A, E, D and K throughout the entire body. There is however a specific optimal body fat level for athletic activity (Davis 2005). Proteins are a body’s building blocks. Proteins contain structures combinations that are known as amino acids. These acids combine in many ways to make the tendons, bones, muscles, skin as well as other important tissues. They also serve the function of transporting nutrients and the production of enzymes. A human being’s body has over 10,000 types of proteins. Adequate as well as regular protein intake is essential since it is not stored easily in the body. Vegetarian athletes for example can have a difficult time in getting very adequate protein if they are not aware of means of combining foods. England professional football association References Cotugna, N. (2005). Journal of School Nursing. Sports Nutrition for Young AthletesFull Text Available , 323-329. Davis, P. A. (2005). Sports. Toward a psychophysiology of performance: Sport psychology principles dealing with anxiety , 363-379. Houlihan, B. (2000). European Physical Education Review. Sporting excellence, schools and sports development: The politics of crowded policy spaces.Detail Only Available , 150-171. Houtkooper, L. (2002). Details of all Performance pathways. Sports Nutrition , 200-264. Long, D. (2011). Journal of Athletic Training. Personal Food Systems of Male Collegiate Football Players: A Grounded Theory Investigation. Full Text Available , 688-698. Mannie, K. (2011). Coach and athletic directoring. Athletic Nutrition Bytes: Fueling the Body for Competition. 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