2023 – Page 3 – The Sport Journal

An analysis of weight and fighting styles as predictors of winning outcomes of elite mixed martial arts athletes

Authors: Chenghao Ma

¹School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China

Corresponding Author:

Chenghao Ma
2001 Longxiang Blvd.,
Shenzhen, China 518172
machenghao@cuhk.edu.cn

Chenghao Ma is now at the School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

An analysis of weight and fighting styles as predictors of winning outcomes of elite mixed martial arts athletes

ABSTRACT

This study analyzed weight and fighting styles as predictors of the methods used by 174 top-ranking Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) elite athletes to victory, thus providing valuable information to help coaches and athletes formulate their training plans and competition strategies. A total of 174 athletes (male: 127; female: 47) who are champions and rank in the top 15 were involved in the sample data. The backward multiple regression test was applied to test the effective predictors (weight and fighting styles) for the outcomes (KO/TKO, Decision, and Submission) of winning MMA athletes in each gender group. One-way ANOVAs were also performed to examine the significance of the regression models. The study indicates that weight and fighting styles (MMA and Striker) are significant predictors of KO/TKO victories for male athletes, whereas female athletes’ KO/TKO wins can be predicted by fighting styles (MMA and Striker). Results showed that the weight and striker style were effective predictors for Decision wins. In addition, the findings indicate that weight and fighting styles can be utilized as predictors of Submission wins for both male and female athletes. The present study aims to provide managers, coaches, and athletes with valuable references concerning weight, fighting styles, and winning outcomes, thus enabling them to optimize training plans and competition strategies to secure competitive advantages. Sports fans can make more logical predictions concerning the winning methods of their favorite athletes.

Key Words: combat sports; UFC; athletic performance; training plan; competition strategy

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-10-11T14:55:50-05:00October 13th, 2023|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Impact of statistical significance and sample size on conclusions in sports science research – an analysis on the example of the relative age effect

Authors: Ib K. Keune

¹Department of Sport Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GER

Corresponding Author:

Ib K. Keune, M.Ed., PT
Philippstraße 13
10115 Berlin
ib.keune@hu-berlin.de
017681194891

Ib K. Keune is sport sociology doctoral student at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His areas of research interest include the relative age effect in sports and its interaction with factors of social inequality, statistics and methods in sport research, and applied ethics in sports.

Impact of statistical significance and sample size on conclusions in sports science research – an analysis on the example of the relative age effect

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The null hypothesis significance test (NHST) is a commonly applied statistical method for detecting effects in science, despite it being repeatedly criticized. Detractors argue that by focusing exclusively on NHST results, scientists fail to consider descriptive results, potentially leading to misinformed policy makers. They also point out that the influence of sample size on statistical power is often overlooked. This paper investigates whether this critique holds true in sport science research by analyzing the conclusions in publications about the relative age effect (RAE) – an effect manifested in biased birth date patterns. Method: In an extensive content analysis, 7,247 samples listed in 647 sources were recorded and analyzed using binary logistic regression. Results: Findings show discrepancies between NHST results and birth patterns. Authors in RAE research rely more heavily on NHST results than on birth patterns to draw their conclusions regarding the presence of a RAE. In addition, findings indicate that NHST results are influenced by sample size, birth pattern, and the interaction of both. This interaction leads to a RAE more often being suspected in large samples than small samples, even though birth patterns are more evenly distributed in large samples. Conclusion: As large samples are more likely to represent recreational sport and small samples are more likely to represent elite sport, the strong orientation towards NHST results for conclusions can lead to misinformation about the location of substantial RAEs. Applications in Sport: Similar reliance on NHST results and potential misinformation are also to be expected in other topics in sport research, where characteristics like elite status tend to accumulate in certain sample sizes. Decision-makers in sport should contextualize research findings. Researchers should use NHST appropriately and carefully and combine it with other statistical measures.Key Words: null hypothesis significance testing, birthdate effect, metascience

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-10-03T13:40:10-05:00October 6th, 2023|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Affective Forecasting and Social Physique Anxiety among Female Athletes: A Pilot Study

Authors: Jessica Wolverton¹ & Urska Dobersek²

¹Athletics Department, McDaniel College, Westminster, USA; ²Department of Psychology, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN USA

Corresponding Author:

Jessica Wolverton, M.S.
2 College Hill Westminster, MD 21157
jwolverton@mcdaniel.edu
410-857-2566

Jessica Wolverton, MS is a former collegiate volleyball coach and a current collegiate athletics administrator. Her research focus includes well-being, mental health resourcing, and programming for student-athletes.
Urska Dobersek, Ph.D., CMPC is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern Indiana. Her research interests include individuals’ identities, objectification of women, sexual and mate selection, and diet and mental health

Affective Forecasting and Social Physique Anxiety among Female Athletes: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

While people make affective forecasts every day, they overestimate the impact of future events on their emotional states — displaying an impact bias. Comparatively few studies examined athletes’ accuracy of specific emotions in aesthetic sports. To remedy this gap, we explored predicted social physique anxiety and self-presentational concerns in an experimental analysis of 156 female collegiate volleyball players between 18 and 23 years of age. Athletes completed a Demographic Questionnaire and the Trait Anxiety Inventory before being randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions (i.e., control, practice, intersquad scrimmage game, or heavy spectator game). After the manipulation, their social physique anxiety levels and self-presentational concerns in sport were assessed. A one-way Analysis of Variance revealed significant differences among the conditions on social physique anxiety, F(3, 152) = 4.70, p = .004, h² = .09. Specifically, Tukey HSD post-hoc test revealed that athletes in the control condition scored higher on social physique anxiety (M = 2.74, SD = 0.71) compared with intersquad scrimmage game condition (M = 2.15, SD = 0.70), p < .01, d = .83. No other significant differences were observed. Contrary to prior literature, athletes overestimated their forecasted anxiety in the control group and underestimated their forecasted social physique anxiety levels in a game closed to large crowds. Our study extends previous work on affective forecasting, and more importantly, provides additional information on specific emotions in aesthetic sports. Our findings suggest that coaches and sport psychology consultants could potentially reduce athletes’ social physique anxiety and self-presentational concerns by channeling their attention to the task at hand.

Key Words: affective forecasting, social physique anxiety, self-presentational concerns, pilot study

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-09-27T11:50:12-05:00September 29th, 2023|Research, Sports Coaching, Sports Health & Fitness, Women and Sports|Comments Off

Increased Exposure to Women in Sport Increases Familiarity and Liking

Authors: Beth Dietz

Department of Psychology, Miami University, Middletown, Ohio, US

Corresponding Author:

Beth Dietz
Department of Psychology, Miami University
Middletown, OH 45044
dietzbl@miamioh.edu

Dr. Beth Dietz is a professor of psychology at Miami University. Her research interests include social identity, sport fans and spectators, women in sport, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Increased Exposure to Women in Sport Increases Familiarity and Liking

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The quantity of media coverage of sports played by females has not achieved parity with coverage of sports played by males. Additionally, coverage of sport played by females is often regarded as boring, uninteresting, and bland. The current study tests the hypothesis that as exposure to sport and gender increases, so will liking. Methods: Participants completed measures of familiarity, liking, and knowledge before and after a course on Sport and Gender. Results: The results showed increases over time in liking-to-watch, frequency-of-watching, knowledge of and familiarity with sport played by women (results also showed increases for neutral sports and sports played by males). Conclusions: These results suggest that repeated exposure to sports played by females leads to greater liking and interest. Applications: Increasing exposure to sports played by females in the media and in classrooms will lead to increased liking of, and likely demand, for sports played by females.

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-09-22T13:09:26-05:00September 22nd, 2023|Research, Sports History, Sports Marketing, Women and Sports|Comments Off

Understanding written message framing, motivation, and performance in competitive cyclists

Authors:¹Kimberly S. Fasczewski, ¹Paige N. Bramblett, ¹Landry K. Bobo, ²James Peterman, ¹R. Andrew Shanely

¹Department of Public Health and Exercise Science, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA

²Fisher Institute of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA

Correspondence:

Kimberly S. Fasczewski, PhD.
Department of Public Health and Exercise Science
Beaver College of Health Sciences, 1179 State Farm Rd
Boone, NC 28608-207
Phone: 828-262-7987
fasczewskiks@appstate.edu

Understanding written message framing, motivation, and performance in competitive cyclists

Abstract

Purpose: An athlete’s motivation and sport performance is impacted by their environment, including the interpersonal relationship between athlete and coach. What messages the coach conveys, and how those messages are received, can impact performance. Conveying messages via controlling message framing (dictating goals and outcomes) or informational/supportive message framing (providing information and recognizing effort) may impact the athlete’s perceptions of the environment and alter motivation, thus impacting performance. Endurance sports, such as cycling, require high amounts of self-determined motivation due to the duration and solo nature of training. Often the primary interaction with the coach is through online written communication. As such, the goal of this study was to explore the impact of written forms of controlling and informational/supportive message framing on motivation and performance in trained cyclists. Methods: Using a crossover design, 11 amateur competitive cyclists (9 Male, 2 Female; age 43.6 ± 10.3 years) were randomly assigned a written training protocol containing either controlling or informational/supportive messages and describing a specific workout with a goal of participation to exhaustion. Perceived competence, perceived autonomy, motivation, and performance (time to exhaustion) were measured for each trial. Results: No significant differences were found in perceived competence, perceived autonomy, motivation, or performance between controlling or informational/supportive conditions. There was a significant correlation between pre-task competence valuation and post-task perceived competence (r = -0.738), and autonomous motivation and time-to-exhaustion (r = -0.674) in the controlling condition. Additionally, a significant correlation was seen between perceived competence and perceived autonomy (r = 0.666) in the informational/supportive condition. Conclusions: A relationship does exist between written message framing and motivation. Motivation and performance may be increased by using informational/supportive messages in written communication with athletes. Application in Sport: Coaches must be aware of the impact communication has on athletes even when using online platforms. These interactions should be considered an important part of the coach-athlete relationship. For optimal athlete motivation and performance, coaches should focus on creating well-designed workouts that include detailed written information using supportive wording.

Keywords: (coaching, endurance athletes, online, Self-Determination Theory, cycling)

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-09-13T14:18:59-05:00September 15th, 2023|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off