Analyzing Hair Pulling in Athletics

Authors: Laura Ruhala, Richard Ruhala, Emerald Alexis, E. Scott Martin

Corresponding Author:
Laura Ruhala, Ph.D.
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kennesaw State University
1100 S. Marietta Pkwy
Marietta, GA 30060
lruhala@kennesaw.edu
812-589-2982

Dr. Laura Ruhala is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kennesaw State University. Her research topics include biomechanics and engineering pedagogical techniques. She is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. She enjoys collaborating with her husband and colleague, Dr. Richard Ruhala.

Analyzing Hair Pulling in Athletics

ABSTRACT
This paper investigates biomechanical and ethical issues surrounding long hair in athletics, with a focus on the population of athletes in the National Football League (NFL), the professional organization for American football, who is most affected. Background on the NFL rules regarding player hair length is described. Unlike grabbing a player’s facemask, it is not a penalty to grab and pull hair under certain situations in the NFL. The 2,905 players listed on rosters as of June 2015, are analyzed by their age, NFL units, positions, hair length, and style. Trends in player hair length are illustrated, and it is found that nearly ¾ of players with long hair, defined as long enough to reach their jersey, wear them in a dreadlock style. Three documented case studies of extreme hair pulling incidents by tackling in the NFL are described. A case study of hair tackling in women’s college soccer is also described. An engineering analysis is conducted to estimate the amount of force applied to a player’s hair during an actual NFL hair tackle. The forces are a function of the angle at which the hair is grabbed, and at some angles, the impulsive force applied to a player’s head and neck may exceed 500 pounds. Finally, the ethics behind hair tackles are investigated: both looking at the responsibility of the NFL for its players, as well as player sportsmanship.
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2017-08-29T14:33:33-05:00October 12th, 2017|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off on Analyzing Hair Pulling in Athletics

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…)

2017-07-05T14:14:01-05:00August 10th, 2017|General, Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on The Examination of Sportsmanship Behaviors of Beach Handball Players in Turkey
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