Skill-Related Fitness in PE: The 6 Components Every PE Teacher Should Know
Updated: 3 days ago
The skill-related components of fitness are the abilities that help us perform skills in sports, games, and other physical activities. There are six of them: agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed. All six can be improved with good teaching and practice in PE. They're different from the health-related components of fitness, which focus on overall health, like heart and lung fitness, strength, flexibility, and body composition. Skill-related fitness is all about how well we move and perform.
Quick Answer: The six skill-related components of fitness are agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed. They help students perform skills in sports and games, and they connect to SHAPE America Standard 2. PE teachers can build them with fitness circuits, skill stations, large group games, and skill-based task cards.
In this post, I'll explain each of the six skill-related components with a definition, real-life examples, and ways to improve it. I'll use my PE Super Friends visuals to help illustrate each one. I'll also share four practical ways to build skill-related fitness into your PE lessons.
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What Is Skill-Related Fitness?
Skill-related fitness is the set of physical abilities that help people succeed in sports and other physical activities. It's important to build these components in PE, because kids who develop strong motor skills early are more likely to stay active for life.
Need information on the health-related components? Check out my post:
National Standards
The skill-related components of fitness line up directly with SHAPE America's Standard 2: Applies knowledge related to movement and fitness concepts.* When students practice them in skills and games, they're also working on Standard 1: Develops a variety of motor skills.*
*National Physical Education Standards are used under license from SHAPE America. © 2024, SHAPE America, https://www.shapeamerica.org/. All rights reserved.
What Are the Six Skill-Related Components of Fitness?
1. Agility, 2. Balance, 3. Coordination, 4. Power, 5. Reaction Time, and 6. Speed.
All six components help students take part in a wide variety of games, sports, and activities. They're also key to manipulative skills like throwing, catching, kicking, and striking. The PE Super Friends visuals below help students understand each component. My Components of Fitness poster is another great visual for your gym wall.
Agility
Agility is the ability to quickly and accurately change the direction of the whole body while keeping your balance. A soccer player cutting to stay with the ball and a tennis player racing to reach a shot both need good agility.
To improve agility, try activities where you move quickly in different directions, like basketball, volleyball, pickleball, or flag football. Shuttle runs and ladder drills help, too. My Activities that Can Improve Agility poster and Agility Movements Unit are great teaching tools.
Balance
Balance is the ability to keep control of your body while standing still or moving. Static balance is holding steady while still, like a gymnast holding a handstand. Dynamic balance is keeping control while you move, like a skier heading down a hill.
To improve balance, try yoga, gymnastics, or dance. Sports like football, hockey, basketball, and skiing also take great balance and body control. My Balance Movements Unit has 10 ready-to-use K-5 lessons.
Coordination
Coordination is the ability to use your senses and body parts together to move smoothly and accurately. Dribbling a soccer ball and then kicking it toward the goal is a great example.
To improve coordination, try activities that use several body parts at once, like biking, swimming, or golf. Activities where you catch, toss, throw, strike, or kick an object, like juggling, tennis, and base games, help too. Check out my Coordination Skills Unit for more ideas.
Power
Power is the ability to move quickly and with force. Think of it as strength plus speed. A weightlifter exploding a bar overhead and a sprinter bursting off the starting line both show power.
To improve power, try explosive activities like jumping, plyometrics (box jumps, jump squats, and medicine ball throws), and track and field events. Sports like football, gymnastics, and tennis build power, too. My Power Movements Unit is ready to go.
Reaction Time
Reaction time is the ability to respond quickly to what you see, hear, or feel. A soccer goalkeeper diving for a shot and a batter hitting a fastball both depend on quick reactions.
To improve reaction time, try activities where you have to respond fast, like sprint starts, table tennis, badminton, or cup stacking. My Activities to Improve Reaction Time poster and Reaction Time Skills Unit are great resources.
Speed
Speed is the ability to move quickly from one point to another. A sprinter running the 100 meters and a defender racing across the field to stop a play both show speed.
To improve speed, try activities where you move quickly from point A to point B, like sprinting, biking, or rowing. Interval training and leg strength exercises like squats help build speed, too. My Speed Movements Unit has 10 lessons ready to use.
You can find the PE Super Friends fitness component visuals on TPT. For a full set of lessons covering all six components, check out my Skill-Related Fitness PE Bundle.
How to Build Skill-Related Fitness into PE
Keep these tips in mind when you add skill-related fitness to your lessons. First, choose activities that give students lots of practice with the component you're targeting. For example, jumping rope is a great way to build coordination. Second, make sure activities fit your students' age and ability, since what works in kindergarten is very different from what works in 5th grade. Third, give clear, simple directions so students can be successful. And fourth, keep the environment safe so students can practice and learn. My Components of Fitness signs help keep the focus clear.
When you build these components into your lessons, students become more skilled and confident movers.
Skill-Related Fitness Activities for PE
Now that you know the six components, here are four practical ways to build them into your PE classes.
1. Skill-Related Fitness Circuits
Overview
Fitness circuits are short sets of exercises done one after another with short breaks in between. Circuits that focus on one component work best, like a balance circuit with 12 different balances. Use a timer to set 30 seconds to 1 minute per exercise.
Setup
Make skill-related exercise signs, with or without pictures. Print and laminate them so you can use them again.
Spread the signs out around your learning area. A fun extra is Tic-Tac-Toe Fitness.
Put students in small groups and start each group at a different sign.
My Balance and Kinesthetic Awareness Circuit Task Cards are a great example.
Play
When the music starts or you give the signal, students read their sign and start moving.
Students do the exercise at each sign for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
When the music changes or you give the signal, students move to the next sign.
Students keep rotating for a set time, like 5 to 10 minutes.
For a large set of fitness circuit task cards, check out my Fitness Circuit 7 Resource Mega Bundle on TPT.
2. Skill-Related Fitness Stations
Overview
Skill-related stations are focused activities, with or without equipment, that students rotate through during class. Stations last longer than circuits (usually 5 to 15 minutes), and each one can target a different component. For example, you might have an agility obstacle course at one station and a reaction time cup stacking station at another.
Setup
Make skill-related station signs, with or without pictures. Print and laminate them so you can use them again.
Place the station signs in different spots around your learning area.
Put students in small groups and start each group at a different station.
Check out my 20 Set PE Equipment Challenge Card Super Bundle on TPT for lots of station ideas.
Play
When the music starts or you give the signal, students read their station sign and work on the tasks, taking turns or on their own.
Students work at each station for 5 to 10 minutes.
When you give the signal, students move to the next station.
Students keep rotating for a set time, like 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Large Group PE Games
Overview
Large group games are activities the whole class can play at once. They usually combine several skills and several skill-related components, and they also build cardiovascular endurance. They're often semi-competitive, give students lots of practice, and let students play different roles. They work well for students of all skill levels.
Setup
Most games use the whole learning space or a big part of it.
Set out all the equipment before students arrive.
Teach or review the rules, have students demonstrate, and talk about the skills the game helps them practice.
Check out my PE Games for Large Groups Mega Bundle on TPT, or my post on 6 large group PE games.
Play
When the music starts or you give the signal, students start the game.
Stop the game often to talk about strategy, rules, or behavior.
Reset the game at the end of class for the next group.
4. Skill-Based Task Cards
Overview
Skill-based task cards show activities or movements students can do on their own, at their own pace and level. Many include several challenges to choose from. Students read the card and then perform fun, fitness-based movements in the gym, classroom, or at home, while you walk around and give feedback. My skill-based activity challenges post has more ideas.
Setup
Make skill-related task cards, with or without pictures. Print and laminate them so you can use them again. My Agility Task Cards are a great example.
Place the equipment students need in pods around your learning space.
Give each student a task card at the start of the lesson, or project one card on a screen for the whole class.
Put extra cards in piles around the learning area.
Check out my PE Manipulative Skills Task Cards 10 Set Super Bundle on TPT.
Play
When the music starts or you give the signal, students read their card and start moving.
Students do the tasks in their own personal space.
When they finish, they trade cards with a classmate or grab a new one from a pile.
Final Thoughts
The skill-related components of fitness are more than just curriculum content. They're the building blocks of skilled, confident movers. From agility on the soccer field to balance in gymnastics, each component plays a big part in students' growth. When you build agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed into your lessons, you give students the skills they need to stay active and healthy.
Circuits, stations, large group games, and task cards all give students fun, engaging ways to practice these skills. Every activity is a step toward physical literacy.
When you center your PE program around these components, you build students' physical abilities and help spark a lifelong love of movement. Which component will you focus on first? Let me know in the comments below!
Need PE Resources?
Do you need PE Component of Fitness Task Cards with clear instructions and colorful graphics for your physical education program? Here's a set to help!
Fill in the form below to download 20 FREE Component of Fitness Task Cards. This PDF digital download includes two cards from each of these fitness component sets: 1. Cardiovascular Endurance, 2. Flexibility, 3. Muscular Endurance, 4. Muscular Strength, 5. Agility, 6. Balance, 7. Coordination, 8. Power, 9. Reaction Time, and 10. Speed.
These cards are simple to use and great for teaching fitness movements. Just print, laminate, cut them out, and place them around your learning area for students to use during PE lessons.
The Ultimate Fitness Component Task Cards
If you want to take your PE program to the next level, check out my PE Components of Fitness Task Card Series: 10 Set Super Bundle. It combines 10 of my health-related and skill-related fitness task card sets for use in schools and community settings. You'll get more than 240 self-guided fitness station cards (24 per component).
You can find this bundle in my TPT store: PE Fitness Components: Movement Task Cards 10 Set Visual Resource Super Bundle
About Pete Charrette
Pete Charrette is a National Board Certified physical education teacher and former Georgia PE Teacher of the Year with more than 30 years of experience teaching elementary PE. He is the creator of Cap'n Pete's Power PE and has developed more than 1,000 PE and health resources used by teachers around the world. Pete loves helping PE teachers build programs their students enjoy.
