Semester Startup: Different Sports Activities
Nature of Different Sports Activities
Sports is a part of human civilization. In the past, people or whole armies would do battle with
each other, causing hundreds of deaths. Later, it evolved into a fight between or among
representatives. People would send the champion, or the strongest one, of the army to
represent and compete with the champions of the other groups. Eventually, sports became a
form of entertainment as well as an avenue to practice and show physical prowess and skill.
Benefits in Sports
There are several benefits of engaging in sports. One is learning how to set goals, as well as
collaborating with others in order to attain such goals. Another advantage of sports is learning
to follow and respect rules. The value of persistence and perseverance is also developed in
practices, motivated with the desire to improve technique and the self. While the desire to win
is encouraged, dealing with loss and failure is also learned. The values learned in sports or
games are also lessons anyone can apply in life. Sports and games are laboratories of life.
The Nature of Sports
Sports, by nature, is made up of rules. These rules are put in place for several reasons.
First, rules are put in place in sports to secure safety. Skill, strength, speed, power, strength,
agility, competitive acumen, and swiftness of reaction time are characteristics that develop as
competitors try to best each other given a set of parameters that will totally eliminate, if not
minimize, harm to each other and to everyone.
Second, rules are set up for a sport or game to be playable. For example, boundary lines are
usually put in place to prevent players from running away. This bright sound too simplistic
unless we think of a specific situation. Imagine playing basketball without an outside line. Once
a team scores, the next time they have ball possession, they can just dribble the ball away and
wait it out. The same logic goes for time. If there are no time constraints, then a basketball team
will not have the need to drive the ball to the other side of the court and shoot the ball. In
boxing or most martial arts, a player needs to attack within an allowed amount of time. In
weight lifting, the participant needs to lift the weight within a given time after his or her name is
called by the officials. Time and boundary lines are examples of rules that make a sport
playable.
Third, rules exist so that the sport is marketable. A sport that is not understood by the audience
alienates that audience. If a spectator is watching and knows the rules, then the spectator is
drawn into the game. The reasons that a player acts in a certain way may be due to the
excitement induced as the game is played, the thrill of winning, or the agony of losing shared by
the spectator. When the audience knows the rules, the demonstrations of skill, technique,
prowess, strength, and all the other traits are a lot more appreciated. The audience will then
become a part of a fan base for the sport that will want to watch more or engage in it, and the
sport will gain popularity.
Athletics
Athletics is composed of sports involving walking, running, jumping, and throwing. It is actually
a group of sports, or events, divided mainly into what is known as "track and field." Running,
jumping, and throwing are all military and hunting skills. As these skills became identified as
games, related and varied skills such as the long jump, javelin throw, hammer throw, hurdles,
and triple jumps were invented. Eventually, the rules were refined from the original Olympic
Games through the Dark Ages and then during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With
the increase in competition came the improvement of technique and training. Improvement of
equipment and facilities also played a hand in the evolution of the sport, such as the
development of synthetic tracks, rubber shoes, poles for the pole vault, and so on.
Track events are different kinds of races, from the 50-meter sprint to the distance races that
require endurance. Events that are variations of running races include jumping over barriers
such as hurdles and steeplechases. There is an event involving group running called the relay,
while there are also walking races, where the racer must not elevate off the ground, and the leg
touching the ground in front must not be bent for a moment.
Field events are comprised of jumping and throwing events. These are usually held inside or
beside the track oval, or in areas specially designed for them.
The jumps consist of the long jump, the triple jump, the high jump, and the pole vault. The long
jump is performed with a single jump, landing on a pit of sand that is designed for that purpose.
The distance is measured at the nearest mark where the athlete landed. The triple jump also
makes use of the pit of sand for landing. The combination for the triple jump is the hop-step-
jump. The athlete lands on both feet. For the high jump and the pole vault, the landing surface
is a pad cushioned with rubber foam. For both events, a crossbar held up on either side by posts
(uprights) must be cleared. The jumpers must not knock of the crossbar, and knocking off the
crossbar eliminates the jumper. The contest Involves jumping at higher heights than the
crossbar.
The throws consist of throwing the hammer, discus, javelin, and shot put. The object of the
game is to throw as far as the athletes can. The discus and hammer throw involve a spinning
move that might be dangerous to spectators; thus, they are performed in a cage to protect
spectators. All three throws (hammer, shot put, and discus) are thrown from inside a circle. The
javelin is thrown from a run prior to the foul line. The discus is usually made of a wooden disc
with a metal rim. The hammer is a steel wire with a metal ball and a handle.
