ACROSS SPORTS
DEVISING A FITNESS TEST BATTERY
CURRICUL UM LINK S
VCE
Physical Education
Unit 3
The physiology of fitness
Area of Study 1
INTRODUCTION
Fitness testing will help determine the capacity of the athlete to
perform certain tasks and will identify strengths and
weaknesses, so that an appropriate training program can be
designed.
Understanding fitness
In this activity, students will begin the process of designing a
sport-specific training program by devising an appropriate
fitness test battery for an athlete.
OBJECTI VES
PRIOR LEARNING
On completion of this activity
students will be able to
 Fitness components

demonstrate an understanding
of the fitness requirements of a
specific sport
 Games analysis

demonstrate an understanding
of assessment of fitness

analyse data and draw
appropriate conclusions

devise a sport specific fitness
test battery for an athlete.
DURATION
50 minutes
 Identifying the fitness requirements of a game
ACTIVITY
 Ask students to imagine that they are the coach of a Netball
team and need to devise individualised training programs for
their players.
 Explain the games analysis of a game of Netball. (See Table
1, Student Worksheet.)
 Ask students to devise an appropriate fitness test battery,
using the games analysis results to see where the players
strengths and weaknesses are. To do this, students need to
complete the following.
 Select and justify the important fitness components in
Netball.
 Devise an appropriate fitness test battery that will assess
each of the components. Include: justification for each
test selected, details of the specificity of each test, test
procedures, and performance criteria such as norms and
criteria.
 Outline how you would identify appropriate training
methods using the fitness test battery results.
TEACHING NOTES
 Before beginning this activity, it would be beneficial for the
students to view a Netball game by watching a game, playing
the game or viewing a video of a Netball game. (See the
‘Resources’ section on the next page.)
 Visit athlete’s corner and listen to Bianca Chatfield, an
Australian netball representative, talk about being a semiprofessional athlete.
 This activity could be done using any sport. Games analysis
results could be provided or students, as part of the VCE
course, could do their own games analysis and use their
results to devise the test battery.
STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004
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ACROSS SPORTS
DEVISING A FITNESS TEST BATTERY
RESOU RCES
ASSESSMENT

Student Sheet

www.netballvic.com.au
Students write a report that demonstrates knowledge of

VCE Physical Education
Textbooks Units 1–4
 the relationship between games analysis and relevant fitness
components
 criteria for selecting fitness tests
REFERENCE S
 fitness test protocols and procedures
Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority VCE Studies
Physical Education Study Guide
 analysis of fitness test results.
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/p
hysicaledu/PhysicalEdSD.pdf
SUGGESTIONS FOR DEEPER LEARNING
 Students take it in turns to put each other through their test
battery and they evaluate the results.
 Students devise an entire training program for their own
sport, using their own games analysis and fitness test results.
STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004
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ACROSS SPORTS
DEVISING A FITNESS TEST BATTERY
STUDENT WORKSHEET
DEVISING A FITNESS TEST BATTERY
You are the coach of a Netball team and wish to devise individualised training programs
for your players. You have already performed a games analysis on a game of Netball. A
summary of the results can be seen in Table 1 below.
Table 1 Summary of games analysis results
Netball (position: Centre)
Work–rest ratio: 1:3
Skill frequencies
Activity
Sprint <10m
Sprint > 10m
Jog
Walk
Jump
Defend
Centre pass
Pass
Dodge
Direction change
Average
number
repetitions in
match
132
5
373
189
55
40
43
115
24
232
Using these results, the next step is to devise an appropriate fitness test battery to see
where the players’ strengths and weaknesses are. To do this, you need to complete these
tasks.
 Select and justify the important fitness components in Netball.
 Devise an appropriate fitness test battery that will assess each of the components.
Include
- justification for each test selected
- details of the specificity of each test
- test procedures
- performance criteria such as norms.
 Outline how you would identify appropriate training methods using the fitness test
battery results.
STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004
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