Contemporary Sports Issues – Page 13

Kinematic Analysis of the Slap Hitting Technique in Division I Softball Players

Submitted by Robin Lund1, Ph.D.*, Travis Ficklin2, Ph.D.* Mr. Johnathan Faga3*, Ms. Cassie Reilly-Boccia4*

1* Assistant Professor of Physical Education at University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614

2* Assistant Professor of Physical Education at University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614

3* B.A. in Movement and Exercise Science from the University of Northern Iowa.

4* Director of Research and Development at Athletes Warehouse in Pleasantville, NY.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to provide a kinematic description of the phase parameters of the slap hitting technique and the interrelationships that may exist in Division I softball players. Video data were collected for all swings during a 15-game softball tournament in which six NCAA Division I teams played. A high-speed video camera filming at 300 Hz was located along the third base line recording every pitch. Only data from trials in which a slap swing attempt was made were kept, resulting in 200 trials. Three phases were identified; preparatory step, wind-up and swing. The duration of each phase (t_PREP, t_WIND-UPand t_SWING, s) as well as the duration of the entire technique (t_TOTAL, s), the forward velocity of the hips (v_HIP, m/s) during the wind-up phase and the velocity of the bat at contact (v_BAT, m/s) were obtained for each trial. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the variables and Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine the relationships among the variables. Several significant relationships were identified (p<0.05). The duration of the preparatory step phase has a direct effect on v_HIP and v_BAT. The duration of the wind-up and swing phases appear to be related to the timing of each individual trial and do not appear to play a role in v_HIP and v_BAT. Coaches should consider the role of the preparatory step phase on v_HIP and v_BAT when coaching different techniques such as the soft slap and the power slap.

Key words: softball, kinematic, slap hitting. (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2020-10-21T08:24:27-05:00March 17th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Ratios of Certified Athletic Trainers’ to Athletic Teams and Number of Athletes in South Carolina Collegiate Settings

Submitted by Robert Bradley1, Ed.D, ATC, SCAT*. Fred Cromartie2, Ed.D*, Jeff Briggs3 PhD.*, Fred Battenfield4, Ph.D.*, Jon Boulet5 Ph.D*.

1* Assistant Professor of Sport management at North Greenville University, Tigersville, South Carolina, 29680

2* Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy, Daphne, Alabama, 36526

3* Professor of Sport Management at North Greenville University, Tigersville, South Carolina, 29680

4* Professor of Sport Management at North Greenville University, Tigersville, South Carolina, 29680

5* Professor of Economics at North Greenville University, Tigersville, South Carolina, 29680

Robert Bradley is a certified athletic trainer and assistant professor at North Greenville University. He is an expert in the financial resources of athletic training and appropriate medical coverage research.

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association produced a recommendation for the appropriate medical coverage of college athletics back in 1998.¹ The purpose was to determine how many certified athletic trainers (ATC’s) they need to have to reach the NATA’s minimum recommendation. Despite the recommendation, there has been no review of the application of this recommendation in colleges since its inception. This research was to determine the current ratios of full time athletic trainers to the number of athletic teams and student-athletes in the collegiate setting in South Carolina.

Method:

Cross-sectional study, using an open ended questionnaire sent to the head athletic trainers or athletic directors of the 32, four year colleges in South Carolina that support intercollegiate athletic teams. The subjects represented FBS, FCS, NCAA DI no football, NCAA DII with football, NCAA DII without football, NAIA, and NCCAA schools. Results were compared to the original results from Rankin’s survey.

Results:

Of the 32 available schools 23 responded for a 72% return rate. The number of full time athletic trainers in South Carolina colleges and universities rose from 3.0 in 1992 to 3.6 in 2014. The ratio of student-athletes to full time athletic trainers decreased from 115/1 to 87/1. The ratio of sports to full time athletic trainers fell from 6/1 to 4/1 in the same time period. Public schools report more full time athletic trainers with fewer sports than their private college counterparts.

Conclusion:

Colleges in South Carolina are attempting to address the NATA’s Appropriate Medical Coverage statement. The ratio of student/athletes and teams to full time athletic trainers shows an effort by schools to address the medical coverage needs of their college student athletes. Public colleges report having fewer sports and more full time athletic trainers than private colleges.

Application in sports:

In order for colleges in South Carolina and other states to meet the standards for appropriate medical coverage as determined by the National Athletic Trainers Association, colleges will need to hire additional full time athletic trainers.

Key Words: Ratio, Medical Coverage, Public Colleges, Private Colleges (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2015-11-06T20:22:47-06:00March 16th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sport Training, Sports Exercise Science|Comments Off

Experiences from Attention Training Techniques among Athletes

Submitted by Frode Moen1, Ph.D*, Kristian Firing2. Ph.D*

1* Department of Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

2* Department of Leadership, The Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, 7450 Trondheim, Norway

Dr. Frode Moen is currently the head manager of the Olympic Athlete program in central Norway, where he also has a position as a coach / mental trainer for elite athletes and coaches. He also is an associate professor at the Department of Education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He previously has worked as a teacher in high school where sport was his major subject, and he has been a coach for the national team in Nordic combined in Norway for several years. Frode received his Ph.D. in coaching and performance psychology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research focuses mainly on coaching in business, coaching in sport, communication, performance psychology and relationship issues.

Dr. Kristian Firing is currently Associate Professor at The Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, where he conducts teaching, coaching and research. Kristian received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2011. His research focuses mainly on leadership development, experience based learning, debriefing, coaching, process oriented writing and academic writing.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how Attention Training Techniques (ATT) affects young athletes in sport. Six athletes who participated in a 12-week ATT training program participated in qualitative interviews that explored their experiences from the program. Our findings indicate that ATT training can influence junior athletes’ experiences of being able to switch from a mind wandering state to take executive control of their attention. Secondly, when the athletes experiences that they have executive control of their attention, they are also able to make an attention switch to key points that make the athletes mindful in context. Thirdly, when the athletes experience that they are mindful in context, they experience that they are able to understand themselves at a deeper level and thereby enhance their self-esteem.

Key words: attention, mindfulness, stress, burnout (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2015-04-16T16:16:42-05:00March 13th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Examination of agility performances of soccer players according to their playing positions

Submitted by Dr. Kemal Goral*

1* Department of Coaching Education , Mugla Sitki Kocman University, School of Physical Education and Sport, Mugla, Turkey, 48000

Dr. Kemal Goral is in the Department of Coaching Education at the Mugla Sitki Kocman University School of Physical Education and Sport, Turkey. He is also Mugla Sitki Kocman University Futsal Team coach.

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to examine of agility performances according to soccer players’ playing positions. Sixty-eight soccer players (age: 23.76±2.79 years; height: 178.09±4.80 cm; body weight: 74.15±4.39 kg; body mass index: 23.37±0.85) were tested for agility performance using the Illinois agility test and Agility-T test after warm up completion. The players were divided into 4 subgroups (goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers) according to their self-reported best position on the field. The analysis of the data obtained from the study was saved in SPSS version 16.0. First, the means and standard deviations were calculated for all variables. Then, the differences between soccer players from different groups were examined by One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The Tukey HSD test procedures were used to determine where differences existed. The level of significance was set at p0.05). The statistical analysis revealed that the Illinois agility test was significantly lower in the midfielders compared with the goalkeepers (p<0.05) and strikers (p<0.05). Also, there is no difference between goalkeepers and defenders (p>0.05). According to the results of The Agility T-test, midfielders were found to be significantly faster than the goalkeepers (p<0.05), but no difference were detected between other positions (p>0.05). In this study, the midfielders had the fastest agility values. Goalkeepers are slower than the other players’ positions. In regard to the conclusion of this study, to measure and report the agility performances of players at regular intervals can provide significant benefits in the process of training to improve the performance levels of athletes playing in different positions.
(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2015-04-24T14:34:41-05:00March 6th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off

The Coach’s Role in Sport Concussion Care: Developing High School and Youth Coaches through the Concepts of Deliberate Practice

Submitted by Brandon D. Spradley1, EdD*, Fred Cromartie2, EdD*

1* Acting Director of Continuing Education at the United States Sports Academy, Daphne, Alabama 36526

2* Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy, Daphne, Alabama, 36526

Dr. Brandon Spradley is the Acting Director of Continuing Education at the United States Sports Academy. Dr. Fred Cromartie is the Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy.

ABSTRACT

Sport coaches have a significant role in providing concussion care to young athletes. The foundations of expert coaching and elite performance that is so often cited in scholarly literature can be used to develop coaches in the area of sport-related concussion care. There are two essential components to providing optimal sports concussion care: understanding athletes and the sports they play and understanding the neurology of the injury (Kutcher, 2011). Research shows that detecting early signs of concussion can improve outcomes (Lovell, 2009); therefore, there is a need for a rapid screening test to assess athletes who may have a concussion (Galetta et al., 2011). The King-Devick Test is a concussion screening test that could meet this need and is based on measuring the speed participants complete rapid number naming test cards. The King-Devick Test has been consistently published in research as an accurate and reliable method of identifying athletes with head trauma. Using the concepts and applications of deliberate practice, high school and youth sport coaches can implement easy-to-use assessments such as the King-Devick Test into their sport programs to develop competency in protecting athletes from the effects of concussion.

Key Words: sport-related concussions, King-Devick Test, expertise, deliberate practice (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2015-04-24T15:01:17-05:00March 5th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off