2018 – Page 7 – The Sport Journal

Talking Bodies: Athletes & Tattoos as Nonverbal Communication

Authors: Sam Belkin(a) & R. Dale Sheptak Jr(b)

Corresponding Author:
Sam Belkin, MA
sb787@leicester.ac.uk
440-241-5913

(a) Department of Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester, England.
(b) Department of Health, Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, Ohio, USA.

Talking Bodies: Athletes & Tattoos as Nonverbal Communication

ABSTRACT
Dennis Rodman, the quintessential example of deviant behavior as a player in professional basketball, along with Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen fast tracked the normalization of tattoos in the National Basketball Association. Still considered deviant behavior in Western societies, the prominence of highly visible tattoos in the NBA and collegiate basketball world has been growing rapidly. In this article, we discuss how professional and collegiate basketball players perceive tattoos in regard to identity and performance. We focus on how tattoos act as a channel for nonverbal communication in this population. Through these two topics, players avertedly or inadvertently address the interplay of tattoos and identity as well as how tattoos inform social groups. With the increased visual media presence of players through social media, smart phones, the internet, and other forms of technology, the necessity of understanding what role tattoos have among the players cannot be understated.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-24T10:13:59-05:00July 5th, 2018|Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

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

Factors Triggering Pressure on Basketball Coaches’ In-Game Decision-Making

Authors: E. Nicole McCluney, Bryan A. McCullick, Paul G. Schempp

Corresponding Author: Bryan A. McCullick, Ph. D.
355 Ramsey Center
Department of Kinesiology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
bamccull@uga.edu
706-542-3621

E. Nicole McCluney is a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia. Bryan A. McCullick is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. Paul G. Schempp is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia.

Factors Triggering Pressure on Basketball Coaches’ In-Game Decision-Making

ABSTRACT
High-stakes decision-making has been long studied in psychology and business, however, scholars have only recently begun to focus attention towards this type of decision-making in the coaching field. Coaches make a multitude of decisions many of which may be high-stakes (22), but there has yet to be an empirical investigation of coaches’ in-game decision-making under pressure. The purpose of this study was to determine which performance-related factors (stressors) create the greatest pressure (strain) on basketball coaches’ in-game decision-making. Male and female basketball coaches (N=205) with an average of 19.77 years’ experience were asked to separately rate 14 stressors based on whether it caused intense (1), moderate (2), or low (3) pressure on in-game decision making. Descriptive statistics were calculated to determine which stressors caused intense, moderate, and low pressure on coaches’ in-game decision making for the entire sample and based on gender, years of experience, current coaching position, educational level, gender of athletes coaching, and level of athletes coaching. Stressors rated as creating the most intense pressure on these coaches’ in-game decision-making were Expectations of Self, Importance of Eventual Outcome, and Quality of Preparation. The stressors rated as creating low pressure were Others’ Expectations, Venue, and Your Physical Well-Being. Coaching position, gender of coach, years of experience, and the gender of athletes coaching, all rated Expectations of Self, Quality of Preparation and Importance of Eventual Outcome as the stressors creating the most intense pressure. The level of athletes being coached yielded a minor difference as more high-school level coaches rated Amount of Preparation as creating intense pressure as opposed to college coaches who rated Importance of Eventual Outcome as creating intense pressure in their in-game decision-making. The results provide some of the first data regarding which factors create the most pressure on coaches’ in-game decision-making. Differences between high-school and college coaches may be indicative that the type of decision, whether high-stakes or not, significantly impacts the level of pressure experienced by coaches during competition. These data are important as they can provide guidance to researchers in how to design studies of coaches’ pressurized, in-game decision-making processes.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-24T14:17:21-05:00June 28th, 2018|Research, Sports Coaching|Comments Off

An Investigation of the Effects of Frontal Plane Glenohumeral Joint Angle, Scapular Mobility and Lower-Back Orientation of the Horizontal Bench Press on Electromyographic Activity of Four Muscles for Male Subjects

Authors: Miguel Jagessar

Corresponding Author:
34 Zebrina Drive
Roystonia, Couva
Trinidad, West Indies
miguel.jagessar@gmail.com
868-784-5110

Dr. Miguel Jagessar is currently an Assistant Professor at The University of Trinidad and Tobago and Discipline Coordinator of the BASc/MEng Utilities Engineering Programme

An Investigation of the Effects of Frontal Plane Glenohumeral Joint Angle, Scapular Mobility and Lower-Back Orientation of the Horizontal Bench Press on Electromyographic Activity of Four Muscles for Male Subjects.

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of frontal plane glenohumeral joint abduction (GHJA), scapular mobility and lower-back orientation of the horizontal bench press (HBP) on electromyographic activity of the upper clavicular and lower sternocostal heads of the pectoralis major (UCPM and LSPM), anterior deltoid (AD) and lateral head of triceps brachii (TB). Fourteen male subjects, with at least two years weight-training experience, volunteered for this study and signed informed consent forms prior to testing. Filtered EMG signals were full-wave rectified, integrated, and time normalized (EMG activity/time taken for concentric phase of lift) and expressed as a percentage of maximum mean integrated EMG (%MmIEMG) for each muscle. Repeated-measures ANOVA recorded overall differences in %MmIEMG between six exercise positions for each muscle with α level of 0.05. No significant differences in EMG activity were found in frontal plane GHJA, scapular mobility or lower-back position for anisometric measurements of the UCPM and LSPM and the lateral head of triceps brachii. Significant difference in EMG activity of the anterior deltoid was found for change in frontal plane GHJA from 70° to 90° (P = 0.046) and from 50° to 90° (P = 0.027) (fatigue screen applied) (with the 70º and 50° GHJAs producing greater activity than the 90°). This significant change in muscle fiber recruitment of the anterior deltoid from the 70º to 90º GHJA, together with the results of no significant changes in %MmIEMG activity of the UCPM, LSPM and lateral head of triceps brachii can aid in outlining specific techniques that can be employed by powerlifters, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts when performing the HBP.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-25T16:12:33-05:00June 26th, 2018|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Perceived Impact of Short Term Experiential Education Activities: The GolfWeek Amateur Tour Case Study

Authors: Dexter J. Davis, Ed.D. & Timothy J. Newman, Ed.D.

Corresponding Author:
Dexter J. Davis Ed.D.
11O Business Administration Building
University of Tennessee-Martin
Martin, TN, 38237
731-881-7369
Ddavis78@utm.edu

Dexter Davis is an Associate Professor of Sport Business and Program Coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he oversees a robust Experiential Learning program. He is also a non-residential faculty member at the United States Sports Academy

Timothy Newman is Clinical Assistant Professor and Sport Management Program Coordinator at Georgia State University, the author of textbook Social Media in Sport Marketing, and a non-residential faculty member at the United States Sports Academy.

Perceived Impact of Short Term Experiential Education Activities: The Golfweek Amateur Tour Case Study

ABSTRACT
The “big business” of sport has captured the attention of both students and administrators across the country and around the global, resulting in nearly 230 sport management programs across North America alone. The purpose of this article is to examine one approach to assisting students to create a competitive advantage for themselves in the job market, a short term experiential education activity at the GolfWeek Amateur Tour National Championships. Using a post-event survey, student perceptions of the impact of this event on their professional growth were examined. The results indicate that students felt that this experience had a positive impact on their professional growth and preparedness for a career in the highly competitive sport industry. Future research is needed to determine if short term experiential education activities have an impact on student learning outcomes.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-24T09:09:37-05:00June 21st, 2018|Sports Management|Comments Off