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SAPhysical Education

Focus Area 2: Through Movement

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do arousal and anxiety affect performance, and how can performers manage them?

Explain the relationship between arousal, anxiety and performance using the inverted-U and related theories, and evaluate strategies for managing arousal.
How arousal and anxiety influence performance through the inverted-U, drive and catastrophe theories, and the psychological strategies that help performers regulate their arousal.
6 min answer →

How do groups form, develop and become cohesive, and what makes a team perform better than the sum of its members?

Explain how groups form and develop, the factors that build cohesion, and the social processes that influence group performance.
How groups form and develop through stages, the factors that build task and social cohesion, and social processes such as social loafing and the Ringelmann effect that shape group performance.
6 min answer →

What drives people to start, persist with and improve in physical activity, and how does goal setting harness this?

Explain intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and apply the principles of effective goal setting to improve participation and performance.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, how rewards can help or undermine it, and the SMART and process-outcome principles of effective goal setting for participation and performance.
6 min answer →

How do nutrition and hydration before, during and after activity support performance and recovery?

Explain the role of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fluids in fuelling performance and recovery, including pre-event, during-event and post-event strategies.
The role of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fluids in performance, plus pre-event, during-event and post-event nutrition and hydration strategies including carbohydrate loading.
6 min answer →

How is a training year structured so an athlete peaks at the right time and avoids overtraining?

Explain periodisation - the division of training into macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles - and apply it to plan training that peaks for competition.
How periodisation divides training into macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles across preparatory, competition and transition phases to manage overload, recovery and peaking.
6 min answer →

How do collaboration, communication and tactical decision-making influence the quality of performance in a group movement context?

Analyse how collaborative behaviours and tactical decision-making shape performance, and evaluate strategies that improve a group's effectiveness.
How teamwork, communication, roles and tactical decision-making shape group performance, and how strategies and game sense improve a team's effectiveness.
7 min answer →

How do the principles of training and the choice of training method produce specific physiological adaptations that improve performance?

Apply the principles of training and select appropriate training methods to design a program that improves a targeted component of fitness.
How the FITT variables and training principles guide program design, the major training methods, and the specific physiological adaptations each produces.
8 min answer →