3.1 Factors affecting participation in physical activity and sport

Applied anatomy and physiology

Students should develop knowledge and understanding of the changes within the body systems prior to exercise, during exercise of differing intensities and during recovery.

Students should be able to interpret data and graphs relating to changes within the musculo-skeletal, cardio-respiratory and neuro-muscular systems and the use of energy systems during different types of physical activity and sport, and the recovery process.

Cardio-respiratory system

Students should understand the relationship between the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and how changes within these systems prior to exercise, during exercise of differing intensities and during recovery allow the body to meet the demands of exercise. They should also understand how taking part in physical activity and sport, as part of a healthy lifestyle, can have a positive effect on these systems.

Cardiovascular system

Content	Additional information
Understanding of the impact of physical activity and sport on the health and fitness of the individual.	Health (heart disease, high blood pressure, effects of cholesterol, stroke). Fitness (cardiac output – trained and untrained individuals, maximal and sub-maximal exercise).
The hormonal, neural and chemical regulation of responses during physical activity and sport.	Anticipatory rise. Redistribution of blood (vascular shunting vasoconstriction, vasodilation). Cardiac conduction system. Sympathetic and parasympathetic. Carbon dioxide.
Receptors involved in regulation of responses during physical activity.	Chemoreceptor, proprioceptor, baroreceptor.
Transportation of oxygen.	Haemoglobin. Myoglobin. Oxyhaemoglobin disassociation curve. Bohr shift.
Venous return.	Mechanisms. Relationship with blood pressure (systolic, diastolic).
Starling’s law of the heart.
Cardiovascular drift.
Arterio-venous oxygen difference (A-VO₂ diff).	Variations in response to an exercise session. Variations between trained and untrained individuals. Adaptations to body systems resulting in training effect.

Respiratory system

Content	Additional information
Understanding of lung volumes and the impact of and on physical activity and sport.	Residual volume. Expiratory reserve volume. Inspiratory reserve volume. Tidal volume. Minute Ventilation.
Gas exchange systems at alveoli and muscles.	Oxygen and carbon dioxide. Principles of diffusion and partial pressures.
The neural and chemical regulation of pulmonary ventilation during physical activity and sport.	Sympathetic and parasympathetic. Carbon dioxide.
Receptors involved in regulation of pulmonary ventilation during physical activity.	Chemoreceptor, proprioceptor, baroreceptor.
Impact of poor lifestyle choices on the respiratory system.	Smoking. Oxygen transport.

Neuromuscular system

Students should understand the relationship between the nervous and muscular systems and how changes within these systems prior to exercise, during exercise of differing intensities and during recovery allow the body to meet the demands of exercise.

Content	Additional information
Characteristics and functions of different muscle fibre types for a variety of sporting activities.	Slow twitch (type I). Fast glycolytic (type IIx). Fast oxidative glycolytic (type IIa).
Nervous system.	Sympathetic and parasympathetic.
Role of proprioceptors in PNF.	Muscle spindles. Golgi tendon organ.
The recruitment of muscle fibres.	Motor units. Spatial summation. Wave summation. All or none law. Tetanic.

The musculo-skeletal system and analysis of movement in physical activities

Students should understand the relationship between the muscular and skeletal systems to meet the demands of exercise. Students should be able to apply their knowledge and understanding to specific sporting actions and movement in a range of physical activities.

Content	Additional information
Joint actions in the sagittal plane/transverse axis.	Shoulder and hip (flexion, extension and hyperextension). Elbow and knee (flexion and extension). Ankle (plantar flexion and dorsi flexion).
Joint actions in the frontal plane/sagittal axis.	Shoulder and hip (adduction and abduction).
Joint actions in the transverse plane/longitudinal axis.	Shoulder and hip (horizontal abduction and adduction).
Types of joint, articulating bones, main agonists and antagonists, types of muscle contraction.	Isotonic (concentric and eccentric) and Isometric.

Energy systems

Students should develop knowledge and understanding of energy systems prior to exercise, during exercise of differing intensities and during recovery.

Content	Additional information
Energy transfer in the body.	Aerobic energy system (glycolosis, kreb/citric acid cycle, beta oxidation, electron transport chain). Anaerobic energy systems (ATP-PC system, anaerobic glycolytic system).
Energy continuum of physical activity.	Consideration for physical activity and sport of different intensities and durations. Differences in ATP generation between fast and slow twitch muscle fibre.
Energy transfer during short duration/high intensity exercise.	Anaerobic energy system. ATP-PC system. Anaerobic glycolytic system (lactate accumulation, lactate threshold, OBLA, lactate producing capacity and sprint/power performance).
Energy transfer during long duration/lower intensity exercise.	Aerobic energy system. Oxygen consumption during exercise (maximal and submaximal oxygen deficit). Oxygen consumption during recovery (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption EPOC).
Factors affecting VO₂ max/aerobic power.
Measurements of energy expenditure.	Indirect calorimetry. Lactate sampling. VO₂ max test. Respiratory exchange ratio (RER).
Impact of specialist training methods on energy systems.	Altitude training. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Plyometrics. Speed Agility Quickness.

Skill acquisition

This section focuses on how skill is acquired and the impact of psychological factors on performance. Students should develop knowledge and understanding of the principles required to optimise learning of new, and the development of existing, skills in a range of physical activities.

Students should be able to understand and interpret graphical representations associated with skill acquisition theories.

Skill, skill continuums and transfer of skills

Content	Additional information
Characteristics of skill.
Use of skill continua.	Open – closed. Discrete – serial – continuous. Gross – fine. Self-paced – externally paced. High – low. Simple – complex.
Justification of skill placement on each of the continua.
Transfer of learning.	Positive. Negative. Zero. Bilateral.
Understanding of how transfer of learning impacts on skill development.

Impact of skill classification on structure of practice for learning

Content	Additional information
Methods of presenting practice.	Whole. Progressive part. Whole–part–whole.
Types of practice.	Massed. Distributed. Variable. Mental practice.
Understanding how knowledge of skill classification informs practice structure (presentation and type) to allow learning/development of skills.

Content

Additional information

Methods of presenting practice.

Whole.

Progressive part.

Whole–part–whole.

Types of practice.

Massed.

Distributed.

Variable.

Mental practice.

Understanding how knowledge of skill classification informs practice structure (presentation and type) to allow learning/development of skills.

Principles and theories of learning and performance

Content	Additional information
Stages of learning and how feedback differs between the different stages of learning.	Cognitive, associative, autonomous.
Learning plateau.	Causes and solutions.
Cognitive theories.	Insight learning (Gestalt).
Behaviourism.	Operant conditioning (Skinner).
Social learning.	Observational learning (Bandura).
Constructivism.	Social development theory (Vygotsky).
Understanding of how theories of learning impact on skill development.

Use of guidance and feedback

Content	Additional information
Methods of guidance.	Verbal. Visual. Manual. Mechanical.
Understand the different purposes and types of feedback.	Knowledge of performance. Knowledge of results. Positive and negative. Intrinsic. Extrinsic.
Understanding of how feedback and guidance impacts on skill development.

Content

Additional information

Methods of guidance.

Verbal.

Visual.

Manual.

Mechanical.

Understand the different purposes and types of feedback.

Knowledge of performance.

Knowledge of results.

Positive and negative.

Intrinsic.

Extrinsic.

Understanding of how feedback and guidance impacts on skill development.

Memory models

General information processing model, to include:

Content	Additional information
Input.	Senses. Receptors. Proprioception. Perception. DCR process Selective attention.
Decision making.	Short and long term memory
Baddeley and Hitch, working memory model memory system.	Functions and characteristics of components of working memory model.
Output.
Feedback.

Efficiency of information processing to include:

Content	Additional information
Application of Whiting’s information processing model to a range of sporting contexts.
Applied understanding of information processing terms within a sporting context.	Environment. Display. Sensory organs. Perceptual mechanism. Translatory mechanism. Effector mechanism. Muscular system output data. Feedback data.
Definitions of and the relationship between reaction time, response time, movement time.	Simple reaction time. Choice reaction time.
Factors affecting response time.	Hick’s law. Psychological refractory period. Single channel hypothesis.
Definitions of anticipation.	Temporal. Spatial.
Strategies to improve response time.
Schmidt’s schema theory.	Recall. Recognition. Initial conditions. Response specifications. Sensory consequences. Response outcomes.
Application of schema theory in sporting situations.
Strategies to improve information processing.	Input – selective attention Decision making process – chunking, chaining, response time, schema.

Sport and society

Students should develop knowledge and understanding of the interaction between, and the evolution of, sport and society.

Students should be able to understand, interpret and analyse data and graphs relating to participation in physical activity and sport.

Emergence of globalisation of sport in the 21st century

In this section, students develop an understanding of popular and rational recreation leading to the emergence of modern sport through to the globalisation of sport in the 21^st century.

Specifically students should understand the impact of the following social factors on the development of football, tennis and athletics.

Pre-industrial (pre-1780)

Content	Additional information
Characteristics of society and impact on sporting recreation.	Two-tier class system. Rural Limited communication/technology/transport Widespread illiteracy Harsh lifestyle
Characteristics of sporting recreation (limited to mob football and real tennis.

Content

Additional information

Characteristics of society and impact on sporting recreation.

Two-tier class system.

Rural

Limited communication/technology/transport

Widespread illiteracy

Harsh lifestyle

Characteristics of sporting recreation (limited to mob football and real tennis.

Industrial and post-industrial (1780–1900)

Content	Additional information
Characteristics and impact on sport (limited to development of association football, lawn tennis, rationalisation of track and field events and the role of the Wenlock Olympian Games).	Industrial Revolution. Urbanisation. Transport and communication. The British Empire. Provision through factories. Churches and local authorities. Public schools/universities Three-tier class system (emphasis on middle class and working class). Development of national governing bodies. Consideration of the changing role of women in sport. The status of amateur and professional performers.

Content

Additional information

Characteristics and impact on sport (limited to development of association football, lawn tennis, rationalisation of track and field events and the role of the Wenlock Olympian Games).

Industrial Revolution.

Urbanisation.

Transport and communication.

The British Empire.

Provision through factories.

Churches and local authorities.

Public schools/universities

Three-tier class system (emphasis on middle class and working class).

Development of national governing bodies.

Consideration of the changing role of women in sport.

The status of amateur and professional performers.

Post World War II (1950 to present)

Content	Additional information
Characteristics and impact of the Golden Triangle (limited to development of association football, tennis and athletics).	The interrelationship between commercialisation (including sponsorship), media (radio, TV, satellite, internet and social media) and sports and governing bodies.
The changing status of amateur and professional performers (limited to development of association football, tennis and athletics).
Factors affecting the emergence of elite female performers in football (players and officials), tennis and athletics in late 20^th and early 21^st century.	Characteristics of football, athletics and tennis.

The impact of sport on society and of society on sport

This section introduces some of the key terms, key concepts and benefits of physical activity to both the individual and society.

Sociological theory applied to equal opportunities

Content	Additional information
Understanding of the key terms relating to the study of sport and their impact on equal opportunities in sport and society.	Society. Socialisation (primary and secondary). Social processes (social control and social change). Social issues (causes and consequences of inequality). Social structures/stratification (eg schools/sports clubs).
Understanding social action theory in relation to social issues in physical activity and sport.	Impact of sport on society and of society on sport.
Underrepresented groups in sport.	Disability. Ethnic group. Gender. Disadvantaged.
Understanding the key terms relating to equal opportunities.	Discrimination Stereotyping Prejudice
The barriers to participation in sport and physical activity and possible solutions to overcome them for under represented groups in sport.
Benefits of raising participation.	Health benefits. Fitness benefits. Social benefits.
The interrelationship between Sport England, local and national partners to increase participation at grass roots level and under represented groups in sport.

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3.2 Factors affecting optimal performance in physical activity and sport