At the beginning of the 20th century, a scientific approach to sport began to take shape. And any science begins with the classification of the object of study. Therefore, the first classifications of sports and sports exercises soon appeared.
Exercises were divided:
- into strength;
- speed and coordination;
- Cyclic (based on repetitive movements);
- acyclic;
- One-moment (clear beginning and end of an exercise);
- Power (weightlifting, hammer throw, shot put);
- power and speed (long jump, high jump, water jump, ski jump);
- composition (a complex of individual skills or compositions) – gymnastics, figure skating, etc.
Later, in 1945, a division of sports appeared:
- stereotypical (sports that are evaluated in points);
- Situational (games, martial arts, cross-country).
What is “kind of sport”? A kind (variety) of sport is a kind (variety) of competitive activity, formed in the course of the development of sport, distinguished by its specific subject of competition, the composition of the allowed actions and the method of sports confrontation (sports techniques and tactics), the rules of the competition and the criterion of the achieved results and the nature of motor activity.
In this case, different authors divide sports into groups, i.e. classify them in different ways. Let’s consider these classifications and find out how they differ from each other.
Proposes to classify all sports on the peculiarities of the subject of competition and the nature of motor activity and allocates six groups.
The first group is sports, which are characterized by the active motor activity of athletes with the utmost manifestation of physical and mental qualities. Sports achievements in these sports depend on the athlete’s own motor capabilities. Most sports belong to this group.
The second group is sports, the operational basis of which is the action of controlling special technical means of transportation (car, motorcycle, yacht, plane, etc.). The athletic result in these sports is largely determined by the ability to effectively control the technical means and the quality of its manufacture.
The third group – sports, motor activity in which motor activity is severely limited by the conditions of striking the target with special weapons (bullet shooting, stand shooting, darts, etc.).
The fourth group – sports in which the results of the athlete’s model-construction activity are compared (aeromodels, car models, etc.).
The fifth group is sports, the main content of which is determined in competitions by the character of abstract-logical beating the opponent (chess, a checkers, bridge, etc.).
The sixth group is all-round events consisting of sports disciplines included in different groups of sports (orienteering, fox hunting, biathlon, maritime all-round events, service all-round events, etc.).
by target setting:
- sport of the highest achievements (record sport, big sport);
- base sport (mass sport, common access, ordinary sport);
by scale and organization within the international sports movement: - Olympic;
- non-Olympic.
By the nature of economic relations between athletes, federations, clubs, which are associated with obtaining financial profits, athletes’ income from sports activities: - commercial;
- non-commercial;
by the main type of activity of a person, who has chosen any kind of sport as the main area of application of their forces and abilities: - professional;
- amateur;
by the form of organization of activities: - Educational sport as a compulsory process, carried out in the system of general and special education;
- Amateur sport as a voluntary process, carried out in your free time
By age categories of athletes involved in sports activities - children and youth;
- adult sport;
- sports of veterans;
by the socio-professional status of the athletes: - school;
- student;
- military (army), etc.;
by the nature of application to prepare for some professional activity: - professional-applied sport;
- military-applied.