General – Page 3 – The Sport Journal

Investigation of Attention, Concentration and Mental Toughness Properties in Tennis, Table Tennis, and Badminton Athletes

Authors: Gulsum Bastug * (1), Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Turkey.

Corresponding Author:
Gulsum Bastug, PhD
Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences
Kotekli/Mugla, 48000
gbastug@mu.edu.tr
002522111951

(1) Gulsum Bastug, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences is a doctoral professor. She works in the field of exercise and sports psychology.

Investigation of Attention, Concentration and Mental Toughness Properties in Tennis, Table Tennis, and Badminton Athletes

ABSTRACT
The aim is to examine the attention, concentration, and mental toughness characteristics of tennis, table tennis, and badminton athletes. A total of 61 athletes participated in the study, with a mean age of 21.18 ± 2.96, playing tennis, table tennis, and badminton. The Concentration Endurance Test (d2 attention test) developed by Brickenkamp (1966) was used to determine the level of attention of the athletes participating in the study. The Letter Cancellation Task, developed by Kumar and Telles (2009), was used to determine the concentration level, and Sheard et al. (2009) developed the “Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire-SMTQ-14”. In the Analysis of Data, the ANOVA test was used to identify differences between groups, and Tukey Honest Significant Difference (HSD) analysis was used to determine which branches were different. As a result; concentration performance was significantly different between the groups. It was determined that tennis athletes were more successful in concentration performance than table tennis and badminton athletes.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-25T14:13:23-05:00July 3rd, 2018|General, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

The Examination of Sportsmanship Behaviors of Beach Handball Players in Turkey

Authors: Ali Gurel Goksel * (1) Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Turkey.
Ercan Zorba (2), Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Turkey.

Corresponding Author:
Ali Gurel Goksel, PhD
Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences
Kotekli/Mugla, 48000
aligoksel@mu.edu.tr
002522111951

(1) Ali Gurel Goksel is a research assistant in Sports Exercise Science at the Mugla Sitki Kocman University studying public relations and communications in sports.

(2) Ercan Zorba is assistant professor doctor in Sports Exercise Science at the Mugla Sitki Kocman University studying Olympic philosophy and fair play in sports.

The Examination of Sportsmanship Behaviors of Beach Handball Players in Turkey

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to examine sportsmanship orientation of individuals doing beach handball in terms of some variables. There were 140 athletes, 58 females and 82 males, which participated in the study group that consisted of participants of the Koycegiz Yasar Sevim Universities Beach Handball Tournament. For data collection, the Multidimensional Sportsmanship Orientation Scale, developed by Vallerand, Briere, Blanchard, and Provencher (1997) which was adapted to Turkish by Sezen-Balcikanli (2010), and a personal information form designed by the authors, were used. For the analysis of collected data, frequency analysis was used to determine socio-demographic features of the participant; and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine sportsmanship orientation of beach handball players in terms of different variables. Tukey’s honest significant difference (HSD) test was used for multiple comparisons to find out which group caused the difference. The p < 0.05 significance level was considered in analysis and interpretation of the data. Consequently, statistically significant differences were found in sportsmanship orientation of beach handball players according to age, years of playing handball, and the status of playing on a team. (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2017-07-05T14:14:01-05:00August 10th, 2017|General, Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Comparison of Shotokan Karate Injuries against Injuries in other Martial Arts and Select NCAA Contact Sports

Authors: John-David Swanson, Jacquelynn Morrissey, Adam Barragan

Corresponding Author:
John-David Swanson, Ph.D.
Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences,
Salve Regina University,
100 Ochre Point Ave,
Newport, RI 02840
jd.swanson@salve.edu
401-3413165

John-David Swanson is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Salve Regina University. A long time Shotokan Karate Practitioner he is the Director of both the National Collegiate Karate Association and the East Coast Collegiate Karate Union.

Comparison of Shotokan karate Injuries against Injuries in other Martial Arts and Select NCAA Contact Sports

ABSTRACT
United States Collegiate Shotokan karate clubs have historically played a vital role in the spread of the art of Shotokan karate. Additionally, Karate being included in the 2020 Olympics is expected to afford an increase in participation. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in risk management policies at universities to protect the liability of the school and increase the safety of the students who participate in any kind of athletic activity. While these policies are important, they vary depending on the type of sport or activity, resulting in different athletic activities being categorized into various categories based on their perceived risk. Shotokan karate is often placed into the high-risk category, with resulting policies being implemented in such a way as to make the day-to-day running of a Shotokan karate Club difficult to impossible. Interestingly, there is very little evidence that Shotokan karate is a high-risk sport and is deserving of the policies and regulations that it is often subjected to. To date, current risk assessments for injuries in Shotokan karate exist but have not been collated and organized in a meaningful way. To this end, using the current available data for injuries in Shotokan karate, this study aims to compare Shotokan karate to other types of martial arts and other collegiate sports, while looking at parameters including, but not limited to, the duration of training and number of days of training per week, to identify the safest ranges and determine ways to help prevent injury. It is hoped that in collating these data collegiate clubs will be able to help college policy makers to reach more informed decisions regarding risk management with respect to this sport.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-11-29T11:32:06-06:00January 19th, 2017|General, Sports Management|Comments Off

Effect of Therapeutic Tape on Upper Extremity Reaction Time

Authors: Scott L. Bruce, EdD, AT, ATC
Siobhan Fagan M.Ed, AT, ATC, CSCS
Cody Cummins, AT, ATC
Brooke Kidd, AT, ATC,
Jasmin Harvey, ATC
Wright State University

Corresponding Author:
Scott L. Bruce, EdD, AT, ATC
Assistant Professor/Director of Research
Wright State University
3680 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton, OH 45435
937-245-7622
scott.bruce@wright.edu

Scott Bruce is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Research for the Athletic Training Program at Wright State University.

Effect of Therapeutic Tape on Upper Extremity Reaction Time

ABSTRACT
The athletic training literature is lacking when comparing therapeutic tapes applied to the shoulder. The effect of these tapes on pain and range of motion have been studied, but their effect on reaction time has not. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of therapeutic taping has an effect on shoulder reaction time as assessed on a Dynavision™ unit. A single-blind, randomized control trial design was implemented. Participants included 23 male and 33 female, physically-active, college-aged, volunteer students. Baseline tests were performed on the Dynavision™ consisting of one warm-up activity and three reaction time tests. Participants returned a minimum of two weeks later and were randomly assigned to receive either Kinesio Tape®, RockTape or a sham tape applied to the slowest, baseline tested, shoulder. All tapes were applied by the same certified athletic trainer trained in both Kinesio Tape® and RockTape applications. Participants were blind folded to prevent them from seeing which tape was being applied. At the conclusion of the tape application participants rested for a minimum of 30 minutes, as per manufacturers’ recommendations, before repeating the same set of Dynavision™ tests. A chi-square test found no statistical differences across the three tape groups (2 = 0.426, p = 0.808). A paired t-test was used to assess each of the five different testing conditions for both shoulders of which 18 were the three different taped conditions. Although the RockTape condition was found to have the greatest difference in mean time across all three tests, only 4 of the 18 taped conditions assessed reached statistical significance. These results suggest, regarding shoulder reaction time, RockTape may be more beneficial than Kinesio Tape® or a sham tape.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-11-29T09:25:31-06:00January 12th, 2017|General|Comments Off

Leadership: Athletes and Coaches in Sport

Authors: Dr. Sharon P. Misasi*, Dr. Gary Morin and Lauren Kwasnowski

Dr. Sharon P. Misasi is a Professor of Exercise Science at Southern Connecticut State University. Dr. Gary Morin is a Professor of Exercise Science, Assistant Athletic Trainer and Program Director of the Athletic Training Education Program. Lauren Kwasnowski is a Research assistant for this study, undergraduate student in the Allied Health Program at the University of Connecticut and a member/captain of the UCONN Division I Lacrosse team.

*Corresponding Author:
Sharon P. Misasi PhD, AT.
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
PE 002B
New Haven CT 06515
misasis1@southernct.edu

ABSTRACT
This study investigated the interpersonal aspects and perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship as it pertains to collegiate athletes at Division I and II universities and athletes and coaches of different genders. Electronic surveys were emailed to 50 NCAA Division I and 50 Division II head coaches in the Northeast. Coaches were requested to respond to the survey and email the athlete survey to their respective athletes. These surveys were completed by both coaches and athletes: Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS). The final instrument, Coaching Behavior Scale for Sports (CBS-S), was completed by only the athletes. There were no significant differences found with the CART-Q. The LSS illustrated several areas of significances in the categories of Training, Democratic Behavior, Autocratic Behavior and Social Support. Although there was no significance found in Positive Feedback there was an interesting finding in that female coaches felt they were less likely to provide positive feedback than their male counterparts. The CBS-S has subscales which include: physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, competition strategies, personal rapport and negative personal rapport. Statistical significance was found in the following subscales: competition strategies, personal rapport and negative personal rapport. The coach is a meaningful person in the lives of athletes and the role they play is vital in the athlete’s sport experience. Our results indicate that the level of competitive division appears to play a role in how athletes perceive their coaches and how coaches perceive themselves. In addition, gender differences among coaches’ affect responses of the athletes and the coaches. Leadership is not a simple process. There is no one way to lead and what works for one may not work for all. Therefore, the best one can do is get to know their athletes and work hard to understand their goals, motivations and needs.

KEYWORDS: Coaching, Effective Leadership, Successful Leadership

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