Latest Articles
Reliability of a Point-of-Care Device for Saliva Analysis During Aerobic Exercise
Authors: Asher L. Flynn, Tyler Langford, Cody Whitefoot
Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN, USA
Correspondence:
Asher L. Flynn, PhD, CSCS
6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway
AsherLFlynn@gmail.com
423.869.6828
Asher L Flynn, PhD, CSCS is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Lincoln Memorial University, TN. His research interests focus on fatigue and athlete monitoring in colligate athletes, and aspects of women’s soccer performance.
Tyler Langford, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Lincoln Memorial University, TN. His areas of research interest include exercise testing and prescription for special populations (incomplete spinal cord injury and older adults) as well as the use of effort perception for exercise prescription.
Cody Whitefoot, PT, DPT, OCS is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Lincoln Memorial University, TN. His research interests include the impact of blood flow restriction (BFR) on aerobic capacity and orthopedic clinical evaluation with a special emphasis on diagnostic testing.
Reliability of a Point-of-Care Device for Saliva Analysis During Aerobic Exercise
Abstract
Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and Cortisol (C) have been of increasing focus as biomarkers for monitoring acute and chronic stress. Recently there has been an interest in improving point-of-care devices to increase practicality of salivary testing and remove the need for laboratory analysis. A new point-of-care device has been reported to be highly reliable during baseline testing but has yet to be proven reliable up to the expected concentrations from intense exercise (exceeding 1000 U/mL). Following a modified graded exercise test (GXT) which consisted of sAA and C analysis at baseline, 50-, 70-, and 90-percent of heart rate max, the new point-of-care device showed strong to very strong reliability across the concentration spectrum (sAA: r = 0.60; C: r = 0.73). According to the results of this study, this point-of-care device is able to assist the coaching staff in making training decisions based off of the results provided.
Key Words: Alpha-Amylase, Cortisol, Athlete Monitoring, Fatigue
(more…)Which global tennis rating better measures player skill? Evidence from the 2022 USTA Junior National Championships
Authors: Rebecca L. Mayew1 and William J. Mayew2
1USPTA Tennis Coach, Cary, NC, USA
2Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Corresponding Author:
William J. Mayew
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
100 Fuqua Drive
Durham, NC 27708
919-660-7781
wmayew@duke.edu
Rebecca L. Mayew, MS is a tennis coach certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) with interests in player development and player performance measurement.
William J. Mayew, MS, PhD is a Professor of Business Administration at Duke University. His research focuses on performance measurement of financial analysts and public corporations as well as the prediction of financial reporting fraud.
Which global tennis rating better measures player skill? Evidence from the 2022 USTA Junior National Championships
ABSTRACT
Assessing relative player skill is important in many aspects of tennis. In 2008, the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) was introduced as a global tennis player skill rating that put all players, regardless of gender, age or geographic location, on a common scale. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) recently launched a competitor rating called the World Tennis Number (WTN). The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on which rating is a superior measure of player skill. We assume better skilled players are more likely to win tennis matches and examine whether UTR or WTN ratings better predict head-to-head match success using 1,532 matches played by 870 participants at the 2022 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Junior National Championships. We observe classification accuracy of 73.9% and 70.4% for UTR and WTN ratings, respectively. Both classification accuracy levels are statistically greater than chance and approximate the accuracy level observed for bookmakers at the professional level. UTR and WTN rating classification accuracy does not statistically differ between ratings in the sample overall, by age division, by gender, by match format, or by the magnitude of player rating differences. We conclude that UTR and WTN ratings are equivalent measures of player skill based upon their ability to predict match outcomes. These findings provide initial empirical evidence important to tennis organizations making rating adoption decisions, tennis coaches seeking play parity, tournament directors seeding players and college coaches screening potential recruits. We provide mapping functions between UTR and WTN ratings for situations where players have one rating but not the other.
Keywords: Universal Tennis Rating (UTR), World Tennis Number (WTN), junior tennis, match forecasting, classification accuracy
(more…)Return to Play and Learn: Findings from a Countywide High School Sports-Related Concussion Program
Authors: Gillian Hotz PhD1, Jacob R. Griffin2, Hengyi Ke3, Raymond Crittenden IV2, Abraham Chileuitt MD4
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
2KiDZ Neuroscience Center, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
3Department of Public Health, Division of Biostatistics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
4Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
Corresponding Author:
Gillian Hotz, Ph.D.
1095 NW 14th Ter
Miami, FL 33136
ghotz@med.miami.edu
305-243-2074
Gillian A. Hotz, PhD is a research professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a nationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and expert in pediatric and adult neurotrauma, concussion management, and neurorehabilitation. Dr. Hotz is the director of the KiDZ Neuroscience Center, WalkSafe, and BikeSafe programs.
Return to Play and Learn: Findings from a Countywide High School Sports-Related Concussion Program
ABSTRACT
Purpose
To report return to play (RTP) and learn (RTL) findings of high school athletes with a sports-related concussion (SRC) from a 10-year injury surveillance system. The goal was also to explore differences between athletes who received and did not receive academic accommodations.
Methods
SRC data was entered into a REDCap database by certified athletic trainers (ATs) at 35 public high schools in Miami-Dade County (MDC). A required 6 Steps to Safe Play concussion protocol was implemented between 2012 to 2022. Concussion Clinic data was also reported for as well as symptom scores of post-injury ImPACT retesting.
Results
From review and analysis of the ImPACT retesting scores, the most common symptoms reported included; headache (54.0%), difficulty concentrating (35.0%), sensitivity to light (34.6%), and dizziness (30.5%). Overall, female athletes reported a higher symptom count and severity on post-injury ImPACT assessments than males (7 vs. 4 total symptoms score; p < 0.001), and all but 4 of the 22 reportable symptoms listed on the symptom inventory (vomiting, fatigue, numbness/tingling, and difficulty remembering) were significant (p < 0.05) between males and females. Despite experiencing a greater number of overall SRCs, athletes playing football had a smaller average (p < 0.001) ImPACT total symptom score than athletes playing other sports (10.9 vs. 14.2). Those seen in clinic and receiving academic accommodations were less likely to RTP, have a greater (p < 0.05) ImPACT total symptom score, more days between injury date and post-ImPACT testing, and a greater number of days until returning to play than athletes not academically accommodated.
Conclusions
It is important for concussion providers to identify and monitor symptoms post-SRC. Study findings report that high school female athletes report more symptoms following an SRC and that appropriate academic accommodations should be included when necessary to ensure athletes recover in a safe and timely manner. Understanding how SRC symptoms vary based on an athlete’s circumstances can help in managing SRC and making better RTL and RTL decisions.
Application In Sports
Academic accommodations, when appropriate, should be incorporated and implemented in an athlete’s recovery plan to help them safely return to the field and classroom after an SRC.
Key Words: Concussion, Adolescent, Accommodations, Symptoms
(more…)Visual Memory Recovery by Gender in Young Athletes with a Sport-Related Concussion (SRC)
Authors: Hyunsoo Yoo
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Science and Disorders, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA
Correspondence:
Hyunsoo Yoo Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Science and Disorders
Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences
Baylor University
One Bear Place #97332
Waco, TX 76798
Visual Memory Recovery by Gender in Young Athletes with a Sport-Related Concussion (SRC)
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to determine 1) whether there are gender differences in the post-concussion (PC 1-3) recovery process in visual memory after a concussion, and 2) whether there is interaction between two gender groups and the number of concussions.
Method: 75 athletes with sports-related concussion in two groups by gender. The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) performance was compared between and within subjects from post-concussion test 1 (PC1) to PC3. The visual memory composite scores were obtained from ImPACT.
Results: Two gender groups were significantly different in visual memory: female athletes were higher than male athletes in visual memory composite scores. Two gender groups also exhibited different recovery pattern: female group showed early recovery from PC1 to PC2 as well as from PC1 to PC3, while male athletes showed significant recovery from PC1 to PC3 only. There was no significant interaction between visual memory scores and the number of concussions.
Conclusions: We can conclude that two gender groups differed in visual memory composite scores. Additionally, the timing of the recovery was different by gender. There was no interaction between the visual memory scores and the number of concussions sustained.
Keywords Sports-related concussion (SRC), Visual memory, Gender
(more…)The role of coach education in coaching philosophy development and implementation: A dual case study
Authors: Kim Ferner1, Lindsay Ross-Stewart2, and Drew Dueck2
1Department of Educational Psychology, University of North Texas
2Department of Applied Health, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Corresponding Author:
Kim Ferner, MS
1155 Union Circle #310769
Denton, TX 76203-5017
Kimberly.Ferner@unt.edu
843-331-2876
Kim Ferner, MS is currently faculty and a Psychosocial Aspects of Sport doctoral student at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. Her research area includes coach education, coaching philosophy, and coach expectations of sport psychology services.
Lindsay Ross-Stewart, PhD, CMPC® is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Health at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, IL. Her research area includes a focus on sources of efficacy for athletes, including the impact of coaches on athlete development.
Drew Dueck, MS is a recent graduate from the Exercise and Sport Psychology graduate program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He is a track and field coach who is interested in coaching philosophy development, leadership, confidence, and motivation.
The role of coach education in coaching philosophy development and implementation: A dual case study
ABSTRACT
Developing a coaching philosophy (CP) is important due to the influence coaches have in creating positive sport environments for their athletes. Despite the numerous benefits identified in literature for developing a CP, limited research exists on whether coaches implement their philosophies, which has created a gap in the coaching literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore coaches’ perceptions of their coach education (CE) experiences and the influence this has had on their CP development and implementation. A secondary purpose was to understand athletes’ perceptions of their head coach’s CP through their experiences with their coach. A case study methodology, which is useful when exploring experiences and perceptions, was employed for this study. Two NCAA head coaches—one female and one male, along with two athletes from each coach’s team, were recruited for this study. The researcher conducted a semi-structured interview with each participant and examined the data with thematic analysis. The current study identified four themes: Comprehension of CP, Influences on CP, Communication of CP, and Coaching Goals. A discrepancy between CP theory and practice was observed via the disconnect in athlete and coach responses. Coaches’ reported experiences with CE were also found to impact their CP development and implementation. These findings indicate having a well-developed CP and positive CE experiences may lead to athletes having a better understanding of their coach, which may lead to a more positive sport experience. This study may be of use to coaches and coach educators interested in CPs and highlights the need for future research with larger, more inclusive samples.
Key Words: coach development, coach perceptions, athlete perceptions
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