What Kind of Fitness Does Each Sport Ask For?

An archer and a wrestler are both called fit, and they mean different things by it. One of the clearest ways to see the difference is to look at what each sport’s coaches are told to test in a child.

The Sports Authority of India’s Talent Identification Protocols list the physical tests for 20 sports, mostly for children under 12. Read as a set, they sort the sports into families. That is useful to a parent whose child has not chosen yet, and to a child who wonders why one sport feels natural and another does not.

Everything below is what the tables list. The grouping into families is ours.

Sports built on a jump and a burst

Volleyball has the shortest list: an absolute vertical jump, a 20m flying sprint, a 1kg medicine-ball throw and an agility run. Basketball adds to the same idea: a 30m sprint, vertical jump, a 10-bound test, plank, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, a seated medicine-ball throw, an agility run and a Yo-Yo endurance test.

The picture is a child who gets off the ground quickly and does it again and again.

Sports built on repeated running

Football tests 12 sprints of 20m with 20 seconds of rest between them, a 30m flying sprint, a vertical jump, throws, an agility run and a Yo-Yo test. Hockey tests 10m and 40m speed and six sprints of 30m, then moves straight to receiving and passing. Kabaddi has a 6 by 10m shuttle run, a 30m run, standing broad jump, forward bend, medicine-ball throw, sit-ups and an 800m run.

Kho-kho is the odd one out and the most honest about its own game. Its tests are all runs from the sport itself: pole turns, zig-zags and chases against the clock.

What these share is not top speed alone. It is the ability to sprint, recover in seconds and sprint again.

Combat sports

Boxing lists an 800m run, hand grip, a medicine-ball throw, standing vertical jump, a 30m flying sprint, an agility test and a bend-and-reach. Judo has sit and reach, balance, a 300m shuttle, an agility T-test, vertical jump, a medicine-ball put, a multistage shuttle run and pull-ups. Wrestling has agility, a 30m sprint, sit and reach, sit-ups, standing broad jump, a 1,000m run, a 5m rope climb and a 200m run. Fencing has a standing broad jump, a medicine-ball put, forward bend, a 30m flying sprint, two shuttle runs and an 800m run.

Pulling strength shows up here and almost nowhere else for this age: pull-ups in judo, the rope in wrestling, grip in boxing. So does a hard middle-distance run of 200m to 1,000m.

Sports of stillness and precision

Archery is the surprise. Its list opens with a 1.6km run and a heart-rate count. Then come holding the bow hand out for time, push-ups, sit-ups, sit and reach, a plank and two jumps, vertical and broad. Shooting has a long list that includes a bent-arm hang, a flamingo balance, a single-leg balance with eyes closed, hand grip and plate tapping for hand speed. Table tennis starts with a posture strength test and a step test for the heart, then hand and leg reaction time and an agility test.

The lesson is that being still is physical work. These sports test whether a child can hold a position and keep a quiet heart.

Racket, water and boat

Badminton is heavy on reaction: side-step jumps, hand and foot reaction tests, a 20m shuttle run, shoulder flexibility, grip, jumps, push-ups and a plank.

Swimming has the least land running of all: sit and reach, sit-ups, a plank, a reaction test and a speed test. Rowing asks the most strength: a 500m ergometer row, sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, bench pull and squat tests and a reaction test. Cycling has two jumps, an endurance run of 1,600m for boys or 800m for girls, and a power test on a bike.

Strength and body control

Gymnastics tests a 20m sprint, a standing broad jump, grip in both hands, a shuttle run, a flexed-arm hang on a high bar and walking a balance beam. Weightlifting, whose table is for ages 12 to 14 and not under 12, tests jumps, push-ups, sit-ups, a shuttle run, a 300m run and a 12-minute endurance test before it lists the lifts.

Even the strength sport is tested first on jumping and running.

What to take from this

Nearly every list has a jump or a short sprint in it. A child who jumps and sprints well is not shut out of any family.

The differences are in the second layer: repeat sprints for field games, pulling and grip for combat, holding still for precision, reaction for rackets. A child who loves one of those kinds of effort will often enjoy the whole family.

These are tests for spotting potential. They are not entry requirements, and How fit does a child need to be before joining a sport? covers how little a beginner needs. For how each of these qualities is trained, see How training works at Work On Fitness, our sister site for fitness.