United States Sports Academy - "America's Sports University"

Abstract

The aim of this study was to define which coordination abilities are the most important in tennis and to identify whether a coordination training program will improve the learning process of tennis skills (backhand and forehand). Fifteen expert coaches in tennis completed a check list of five coordination abilities and suggested that the most important coordination abilities for tennis players are “kinaesthetic differentiation” and “reaction time”. Based on the results from the questionnaires, the program designed to practice the two most important coordination abilities. Participants were 48 novice children (age 11 ± 2 years). They were randomly divided into two group, the experimental group (EG, n=24) and the control group (CG, n=24). Both groups followed tennis training program 3 times/wk for eight weeks. Participants of the experimental group performed a specific coordination program for 20 min before the skills practice and participants of control group performed the traditional practice. The tennis skill performance and learning assessed using observation technique in five basic elements of every skill. There were three measurements, pre, post and retention test, one week after post test without practice. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures (2 group X 3 measures) revealed that there was significant interaction between groups and measures. The Bonferroni post hoc analysis revealed that experimental group perform better than the control group in the post test and in the retention test in the two skills. The results of this study indicated that coordination training program help athletes to learn and perform the forehand and backhand tennis skills better.

Key words: Coordination abilities, kinaesthetic differentiation, reaction time, tennis skill

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine if certain throwing techniques for the sport of Ultimate Frisbee were advantageous relative to other techniques. The defense can attempt to force a thrower to utilize a specific throw; knowing the advantages of different throws can influence a defender’s decision to force the thrower to use a certain throw.

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the study was to analyse the sports activity and lifestyle of secretaries in Slovenia.

Methods

A questionnaire with 37 variables was completed by 104 secretaries from different places within Slovenia. We calculated the frequencies and contingency tables, whereas the statistical characteristics were determined on the basis of a 5% risk level.

Results

We established that 26% of the secretaries were obese; most of the time secretaries are sitting down, working with their fingers, and are in forced positions. 56% of the secretaries occasionally take medicines; most of their pain occurs in the neck region, of the back, the shoulder region and in the loins; other common problems include insomnia, emotional exhaustion, and headache. The majority of secretaries engage in sporting activities on the weekend and 2 – 3 times weekly; most of them practiced sport in an unorganized way, with their family or by themselves. A good 20% engaged in an organized sport in a sport club or society, where fitness can also be classified. A good 20% practiced sport in an unorganized way, with their friends. It was established that those secretaries who engaged in an unorganized sport activity were accompanied by their friends or family. Those practicing an organized sport were mainly alone.

Conslusion

Secretaries who are frequently active often have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI), take painkillers less often or never, and believe that sport has a great impact on their health.

Applications in Sports

Sports clubs and associations should prepare appropriate activities for secretaries which will fullfil their interest, health, and wellbeing.

Key words: working conditions, wellbeing, health.

Abstract

The present study investigated the acute effects on power following the bench press exercise with a combination of elastic band and free-weights vs. free weight only. Eight college-aged males and females participated in this study. All 8 subjects were college track and field athletes that participated in throwing events. The participants performed two bench press training sessions that consisted of three sets of five repetitions. One session used a combination of elastic band (15% of total resistance) and free-weight exercise (85% of total resistance), while the other session consisted only of a free-weight exercise (100%). Power was measured twice at 50% of their one repetition maximum (1 RM) at the conclusion of each lifting session. Analysis via repeated measures Ancova (Treatment by Time covaried for gender) revealed a significant effect for Time (F= 5.951, p=0.05) and a significant two way interaction for Treatment*Time (F=54.093, p<0.001). The present investigation demonstrated an initial power measurement that was greater for the combined group rather than the free-weight only group. This information is potentially beneficial for many different groups of trainee’s.

Key Words: Elastic tension, Strength Training, Acute Training Effect

Abstract

Our study used the log likelihood ratio methodology proposed by Even and Noble (2) to test the market efficiency of both point spread betting and totals betting for consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 2000–01 to 2007–08. It was motivated by recent contradictory evidence that both support and reject opportunities to exploit inefficiencies in NBA gambling by Paul and Weinbach (9, 11) as well as other evidence suggesting that these opportunities fade as the market responds to new information (12).

Abstract

Gordon Allport (3) suggested that people are able to form accurate perceptions of others from mere glimpses of their behavior. The concept of interpersonal perception accuracy based solely on thin slices has been brought to mainstream attention by the popular book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (35). Gladwell (35) proclaims that “decisions made very quickly can be as good as decisions made consciously and deliberately” (p. 14). Research suggested that expressive behaviors (movement, speech, gesture, facial expressions, posture) contribute to impressions made about the target (8). With that said, coaching research has identified behaviors that elicit positive perceptions from athletes towards coaches (63, 78). This research examined accuracy, consensus, and self-other agreement of personality assessments and coaching effectiveness based on thin-slice judgments of 30-second video clips of 9 recreation level coaches. Naïve raters (N=206) viewed the clips and rated the targets on coaching effectiveness and personality attributes. Ratings of coaching effectiveness were correlated with expert ratings of effectiveness to measure accuracy. The ratings of attributes were correlated with expert ratings of the same attributes to measure consensus. Gender, race, and level of sport participation of naïve raters was subjected to independent samples t-tests and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) to determine if they moderated thin-slice judgments. Results indicated that naïve raters as a group were not accurate in assessment of coaching effectiveness, nor were there significant correlations on consensus or self-other agreement. There were significant differences between levels of sport participation groups on two of the fourteen attributes: competence and confidence.

Key Words: Thin-slicing, Coaching Effectiveness, Consensus, Accuracy