Questionnaire – The Sport Journal

Rowing Performance Following a Single Teaching Session in School Children

Authors: Giovanni Ficarra¹, Fabio Trimarchi¹, Alessandra Bitto², Debora Di Mauro¹

¹Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Sciences,

²Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, c/o AOU Policlinico G. Martino, Via C. Valeria, Gazzi, 98125, Messina, Italy.

Corresponding Author:

Prof. Alessandra Bitto, MD, PhD

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina

Torre Biologica 5th floor, “AOU” Policlinico G. Martino

Via C. Valeria, Gazzi, 98125 Messina, Italy

E-mail: abitto@unime.it

Giovanni Ficarra, MSc, is a PhD student at the University of Messina, Italy. He holds a degree in Sports Science and his research interests focus on teaching physical activity with the particular attention to rowing to adolescents, and sport-related measurement issues especially in experimental settings.

Fabio Trimarchi, MD, PhD, is a Full Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Messina, Italy. His research interests focus on the mechanical aspects of human body and he is in charge for the outpatient of Sport Medicine at the University Hospital of Messina.

Debora Di Mauro, PharmD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Sport Methodology at the University of Messina, Italy. His research interests focus on the methodological aspects of teaching sport.

Alessandra Bitto, MD, PhD is a Full Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Messina, Italy. Her research is focused on the effects of drugs and supplements on various aspects of diseases, she also shares research interest on experimental training protocols to ameliorate drug response.

ROWING PERFORMANCE FOLLOWING A SINGLE TEACHING SESSION IN SCHOOL CHILDREN

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The teaching of sport activities during childhood is fundamental to improve their fitness levels, but also to promote inclusion, sense of responsibility and self-discipline. In many countries physical activity based educational programs include rowing among the disciplines that schools promote and support. In Italy, rowing is not included in the common school activities; thus, we carried out a pilot project in a secondary school in Sicily to evaluate the efficacy of teaching and learning of the basic concepts of rowing technique in school pre-adolescents exposed to rowing for the first time.

Methods: After a 2-hour teaching session, a short survey was administered, and the 20 seconds maximum speed test was performed by 62 schoolchildren (12-14 years of age) of both sexes.

Results: Despite some difference in anthropometric characteristics, and in the retention of the information provided before the questionnaire, no significant difference between male and female students was observed in the 20 second all-out test.

Conclusions, and Applications in Sport: Rowing could be easily performed by all school kids and should be included in the physical activities performed at school to improve not only their physical skills but also their wellbeing.

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Athlete Perceptions of a Monitoring and Strength and Conditioning Program

Authors: Jacob P Reed(1), Mauro Palmero(2), Kimitake Sato(3), Cheng-Tu Hsieh(4), Michael Stone(3)

(1)Kinesiology, Allied Health, and Human Services
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614

(2)Hospitality Management Department
University of Missouri Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211

(3)Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education
Department of Exercise and Sport Science
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN 37614

(4)Departmet of Kinesiology
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA 95929

Corresponding Author:
Jacob P. Reed
University of Northern Iowa
203 Wellness and Recreation Center
Cedar Falls, IA 50614
Phone: (319)-271-8090
Email: Jacob.reed@uni.edu

Athlete Perceptions of a Monitoring and Strength and Conditioning Program

ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to assess athlete perceptions of a monitoring program.

Methods: Athletes currently participating in the monitoring program were invited to participate. Reliability for the questionnaire and principle components analysis (PCA) were completed in the spring of 2013. To analyze changes throughout the academic year, the questionnaire was administered six times throughout the fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters.

Results: The questionnaire was considered reliable. PCA revealed a three-component model (KMO = .798, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity = p < .001) with eigenvalues over one explaining 68.88% of total variance. Statistical differences between pre and later time points were noted for of overall performance, skill, strength, speed, power and understanding of the monitoring protocols. Conclusion: The questionnaire was shown reliable and can be considered for future use. The first component of the PCA revealed that perceptions of overall performance are influenced by perceptions of strength, skill, power, and agreement that testing data reflects performance. Second, aerobic and anaerobic endurance and speed are all highly correlated. Finally, athletes understanding of the program monitoring increased with the return of data. Overall, perceptions of the programs influence the questionnaire components were positive ranging from no different to much better.

Applications in Sport: The athlete monitoring program seems to be a beneficial model for enhancing athlete’s perceptions of certain aspects of performance.

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