What do coaches orchestrate? Unravelling the ‘quiddity’ of practice

The general purpose of this article is threefold. Firstly, it is to further the notion of coaching as orchestration through developing insight into precisely how and what coaches orchestrate. Secondly, it is to firmly position coaching as a relational practice, whilst thirdly it is to better define coaching’s complex nature and how it can be somewhat ordered. Following an introduction where the purpose and value of the article are outlined, we present the reflective method of critical companionship through which we explored and addressed the aforementioned purposes. The case for the quiddity, or the ‘just whatness’ (i.e. the inherent nature or essence) of coaching as involving complex, relational acts which can be somewhat explained through recourse to the developing theory of orchestration is subsequently made. In doing so, two precise examples of how we as coaches orchestrate sporting practice are presented. The article concludes with both a summary of the principal argument(s) made, and some reflective considerations for future directions.     

Understanding the increase in parents’ involvement in organized youth sports

As part of an ethnographic study on young people and learning (the knowledge in motion across contexts of learning project, set in Norway), we interviewed a diverse sample of parents of young teenagers, many of whom were active in organized sports. The parents described their level of involvement in sport in a way that contrasted sharply to our own experiences participating in youth sports in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then most parents were absent from the sports fields. This new role of sports in the practice of parenthood is what we investigate in this study. The purpose is to further the understanding of the cultural processes that drive what we see as a marked generational change in the relationship between organized sports and the practice of parenthood. In contrast to previous studies, we also focus on the relationship between generational change and classed patterns in parenting. Our data suggest that across social classes, parents see involvement in sports as normal, and as a way to connect to the child emotionally and to further the child's development. We interpret the significance of sports in the parent–child relationship as related both to the normalization of youth sports that the parents experienced when they grew up, and to the new cultural ideas of parenthood that they encounter as adults. We find that there are tensions embedded in this new form of parenthood that are particularly evident in what we call ‘deep involvement’, an intensified form of parental engagement with youth sports that is practiced primarily by fathers in the economic fraction of the middle class. We conclude that the new role of sport in the practice of parenthood is a classed as well as a generational phenomenon.     

How do elite ski jumpers handle the dynamic conditions in imitation jumps?

We examined the effect of boundary conditions in imitation ski jumping on movement dynamics and coordination. We compared imitation ski jumps with – and without – the possibility to generate shear propulsion forces. Six elite ski jumpers performed imitation jumps by jumping from a fixed surface and from a rolling platform. The ground reaction force vector, kinematics of body segments, and EMG of eight lower limb muscles were recorded. Net joint dynamics were calculated using inverse dynamics. The two imitation jumps differed considerably from each other with regard to the dynamics (moments, forces), whereas the kinematics were very similar. Knee power was higher and hip power was lower on the rolling platform than on the fixed surface. Mean EMG levels were very similar for both conditions, but differences in the development of muscle activity were indicated for seven of eight muscles. These differences are reflected in a subtle difference of the alignment of ground reaction force with centre of mass: the ground reaction force runs continuously close to but behind the centre of mass on the rolling platform and fluctuates around it on the fixed surface. This likely reflects a different strategy for controlling angular momentum.     

Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic: What is in the best interest of the players?

This case is about Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic. We explore how Major League Baseball has used this Caribbean island as an inexpensive labor market and the social problems of the situation. Specifically, we examine Corporate Social Responsibility, the leadership of Sandy Alderson, ethics and the various stakeholders involved. We also look into possible reform alternatives while addressing the central question: What is in the best interest of the players?     

Overuse wrist injuries in young athletes: What do sports physicians consider important signals and functional limitations?

This study’s objective was to collect items from experienced sports physicians, relating to the presence and severity of overuse wrist injuries in young athletes, for developing a measurement instrument for signals of overuse wrist injury. Seven Dutch elite sports physicians involved in guidance and treatment of young athletes in wrist-loading sports (gymnastics, tennis, judo, field hockey, volleyball and rowing) participated in a focus group. They discussed signals and limitations related to overuse wrist injuries in young athletes. Data were coded and categorised into signals and limitations with subcategories, using an inductive approach. Of the resulting 61 signals and limitations in nineteen (sub)categories, 20 were considered important, forming a comprehensive item set for identifying overuse wrist injury in young athletes. Signals such as pain, “click”, crepitations, swelling and limited range of motion were marked useful for early identification of overuse wrist injury. Limitations in movement and performance were considered indicative of severe overuse injury but less relevant for initial injury identification. The focus group provided 17 important signals and 3 important limitations indicative of overuse wrist injury. These provide the basis for a valid measurement instrument for identifying overuse wrist injury in young athletes, with equal emphasis on pain and on other symptoms.     

What must I know to be brave?: revisiting the role of knowledge in the exercise of courage in sport

The Platonic definition of courage as the ‘knowledge of the fearful and the hopeful’ is often eschewed by philosophers of sport. In fact, the passionate nature of sport itself seems to testify against such a definition. Hence, accounts of courage within sport tend to emphasize the affective dimension of courage at the expense of the cognitive dimension. This essay argues in defense of the Platonic vision of courage as a species of knowledge as opposed to contemporary attempts to recover the affective dimension of courage, as exemplified by John Corlett. I shall argue that far from producing an overly intellectualized vision of courage, treating courage as a species of knowledge, even within sport, throws valuable light on the exercise of courage in sport and on the shape of sport itself with regards to the exercise of virtue.     

‘How do you feel? What is your heart doing?’ … ‘It’s jumping’: the body and health in Early Years Education

Policy agendas for early childhood education in the UK as in many countries elsewhere are driven by expectations that play will impact positively on a child’s educational attainment, health and well-being. This paper focuses on health knowledge, social class and cultural reproduction within early year education in England, looking specifically at how health discourse is framed by Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) policy imperatives and subsequently by practitioners as they re-contextualise health knowledge through play across three socially and culturally different early years education (EYE) settings within England. Across the three settings, 15 practitioners and 80 children, aged 3–4 years old, participated in the research. Drawing on the theoretical work of Basil Bernstein particularly his concepts, ‘pedagogic device’ and ‘classification’ (c) and ‘framing’ (f), the paper documents how health is designed, defined, constructed and experienced through play pedagogy within each of these EYE settings. The analyses illustrate how the different organisational and curriculum structures, pedagogical interactions and transactions of each setting cultivate distinctive relationships to health knowledge. These relationships, in turn, play their part in the reproduction of social class and cultural inequalities, despite the best intentions of EYE policy to address these matters.     

Variable-cam resistance training machines: do they match the angle - torque relationship in humans?

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the resistance provided by variable-cam resistance training machines match joint torque capability. Eight variable-cam knee extension machines from six different manufacturers were assessed. Resistive torque for a constant weight/load was measured at five knee joint angles. Knee extensor muscle torque capability--the angle-torque relationship--of 10 healthy young men was determined isometrically and dynamically at the same five angles. After normalization, the two relationships were compared. The angle - torque relationship of the knee extensors displayed an inverted "U" shape as expected, with dynamic torque changing by +40% on the ascending limb (1.75 - 1.40 rad) and -60% on the descending limb (1.05-0.35 rad) of the angle - torque relationship. The angle-torque relationship of the different training machines was highly variable, but consistently less curvilinear and significantly different from knee extensor capabilities, with changes in torque of +2.5 to +22.2% (ascending limb) and +37.6 to -20.5% (descending limb). It is recommended that variable-cam resistance training machines be designed with the angle - torque relationship of the relevant joint and the inertial profile of the lifting exercise in mind.     

What are the contributory and compensatory relationships between physical education and physical activity in children?

Limited data are available on the contributory and compensatory relationships between physical education and physical activity in children. Four hundred eighty-five (280 girls) children in first through sixth grades wore sealed pedometers during waking hours, including normally scheduled physical education lessons. The least, moderately, and most active children accumulated approximately 1700, 1100, and 2500 more steps/day, respectively, on school days with physical education. No compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days that did not offer physical education. The implications of the contributory relationship are highlighted by the evidence that 50% of the least active children were at risk for overweight or overweight and that no compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days when physical education classes were not scheduled.     

What Are the Contributory and Compensatory Relationships Between Physical Education and Physical Activity in Children?

Limited data are available on the contributory and compensatory relationships between physical education and physical activity in children. Four hundred eighty-five (280 girls) children in first through sixth grades wore sealed pedometers during waking hours, including normally scheduled physical education lessons. The least, moderately, and most active children accumulated approximately 1,700, 1,100, and 2,500 more steps/day, respectively, on school days with physical education. No compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days that did not offer physical education. The implications of the contributory relationship are highlighted by the evidence that 50% of the least active children were at risk for overweight or overweight and that no compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days when physical education classes were not scheduled.     

What is really causing the obesity epidemic? A review of reviews in children and adults

Obesity prevention is a public health priority and intervention strategies have focused primarily on healthy eating and physical activity in children and adults. To date, no review has systematically compiled and synthesised the scientific evidence from published review articles to determine whether there is clear consensus on the causes of obesity. A systematic review of the literature was conducted searching PubMed/Medline for narrative and systematic review articles published between January 1990 and October 2014 that examined the causes of obesity. In total, 12 of 65 articles met the inclusion criteria; 7 reviews focused on adults (1 systematic, 6 narrative) and 5 reviews on children (2 systematic, 3 narrative). The most popular cause of obesity identified in reviews of adult studies was “combined physical activity and diet” (3 of 7 studies), whereas the most popular cause specified in reviews of child studies was deemed “inconclusive” (2 of 5 studies). While a number of reviews have examined the causes of obesity, the methodology and conclusions varied widely, and few were conducted systematically. Currently, no consensus exists across published literature reviews regarding the primary cause of the obesity epidemic, and more research, particularly prospective studies using state-of-the-art measures, is warranted.     

What Are the Barriers to Mobilizing Intensive Care Patients?

Purpose

Recently there has been increased interest in early mobilization of critically ill patients. Proposed benefits include improvements in respiratory function, muscle wasting, intensive care unit (ICU), and hospital length of stay. We studied the frequency of early mobilization in our intensive care unit in order to identify barriers to early mobilization.

Methods

A 4-week prospective audit of 106 patients admitted to a mixed medical-surgical tertiary ICU (mean age 60 ± 20 years, mean APACHE II score 14.7 ± 7.8) was performed. Outcome measures included number of patient days mobilized, type of mobilization, adverse events, and reasons for inability to mobilize.

Results

Patients were mobilized on 176 (54%) of 327 patient days. Adverse events occurred in 2 of 176 mobilization episodes (1.1%). In 71 (47%) of the 151 patient days where mobilization did not occur, potentially avoidable factors were identified, including vascular access devices sited in the femoral region, timing of procedures and agitation or reduced level of consciousness.

Conclusions

Critically ill patients can be safely mobilized for much of their ICU stay. Interventions that may allow more patients to mobilize include: changing the site of vascular catheters, careful scheduling of procedures, and improved sedation management.Key Words: intensive care units, mobility, physical therapy     

What is the optimal composition of an athlete's diet?

Abstract

Designing the most suitable diet for an athlete requires an intimate knowledge of the relevant scientific literature, the training and competition demands of the sport, the individual athlete's preferences and social situation. The scientific literature contains an abundance of information on nutritional demands of athletes undertaking endurance or strength training programmes, but much less information is available on sprint/power sports, team, racquet, weight-making, aesthetic (diving, gymnastics), and skill-based events. Furthermore, most research has been undertaken on adult males, with the assumption that females and adolescent athletes follow the same patterns of fuel usage and requirements. Consequently, assessing the optimal composition of an athlete's diet relies at best on an informed interpretation of the scientific data, plus individually collected observations. The aims of this article are to provide an overview of the current evidence on macronutrient requirements for day-to-day training for a range of different athletes, provide some recommendations regarding formulating an athlete's diet, and highlight areas where more research is required.     

What is the subject matter of physical education?

The school subject Physical Education (PE) deals explicitly with the body and movement. Therefore, it is essential to define the content of PE based on these two aspects. Historically, school is mainly oriented towards the mind, which has recently been named competency. For that reason, the mind-body problem is omnipresent in PE. Additionally, the recent shift to developing competencies in PE is intensifying the dualism of mind and body by opposing knowledge and knowing-how. In a first step, this categorical difference between mind and body will be explained in the course of a philosophical discussion and illustrated with appropriate examples. As will be shown, the mind-body contrast should be considered as a continuum instead of a dualism. Therefore—in a second step—Green’s teaching continuum will give an answer to the question if the subject matter of PE is a combination of cognitive and motor activity or not. In a third step, Dewey’s concept of experience will be outlined, based on which the practice of doing sport is explained and developed. A fourth step will be to develop a complementary curricular model that attempts to connect the two poles “mind” and “body” by linking performance with content standards (forms of sport), based on the current discourse on competencies and standards. In this manner, the presentation of a curricular model for PE overcomes the Cartesian contrast between mind and body. Additionally, it gives an answer to the current discussion about competencies and standards in PE that emanates from other disciplines and should be self-confidently discussed in our own discipline.     

What knowledge appears as valid in the subject of Physical Education and Health? A study of the subject on three levels in year 9 in Sweden

Background: Many studies have found that Physical Education and Health (PEH) is a popular subject among the majority of pupils. Still, there is an on-going discussion concerning the aim of PEH and what legitimises it as a school subject. It is difficult to identify what knowledge appears as legitimate within PEH, and this creates conflicts within the field.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the on-going debate regarding the knowledge content and the identity problems described in PEH. The conceptual framework used is curriculum theory, inspired by Bernstein's and Lundgren's theoretical work on the social construction of knowledge and the relationship between the production and reproduction of curricular knowledge, further developed by Linde. The specific research questions are the following: (1) What knowledge appears as legitimate in the subject in Sweden on these three levels: In the syllabus, as viewed by teachers, and during the realisation of lessons? (2) What are the similarities and differences between these levels with regard to legitimate subject knowledge? (3) Can we understand the described identity problem in the subject with the help of what knowledge appears legitimate?

Research design and data collection: The data used originate from three empirical materials obtained in Sweden from 2003 to 2005: the syllabus valid for compulsory school (i.e. Lpo 94) at the time the interviews and observations took place, material from semi-structured interviews with six PEH teachers who teach year 9 in four different secondary schools, and information from 20 videotaped PEH lessons taught by the interviewed teachers.

Findings: The results indicate that one can distinguish two largely dissimilar objects of learning which differ most markedly between the field of formulation and the field of transformation and realisation. The content knowledge of the field of formulation is largely reformulated in the field of transformation, but no major change takes place from the field of transformation to the field of realisation. The ‘formulated object of learning’ primarily comprises functional physical exercise, conceptual development, and the understanding of health and lifestyles. The ‘realised object of learning’ consists of formalised sport and physical exercise, with a minor focus on conceptual development.

Conclusions: Since two largely different objects of learning emerge in the subject, consensus is low regarding what knowledge is considered legitimate; the knowledge domain on the primary field most likely differs between the two arenas. A main problem for PEH in trying to gain legitimacy is that there are many different actors in the primary field who are related to and have interest in the subject and the knowledge basis of the subject derives from several different academic disciplines and from non-academic ones.     

Muscle capacity and physical function in older women: What are the impacts of resistance training?

The number of older adults (individuals ≥65 years), particularly women, in our society is increasing and understanding the impact of exercise on muscle capacity (e.g., strength and power) and subsequently physical function is of utmost importance to prevent disability and maintain independence. Muscle capacity declines with age and this change negatively impacts physical function in older women. Exercise, specifically resistance training, is recommended to counteract these declines; however, the synergistic relationships between exercise, muscle capacity, and physical function are poorly understood. This review will summarize the literature regarding age-related changes in the aforementioned variables and review the research on the impact of resistance training interventions on muscle capacity and physical function in older women. Recommendations for future research in this area will be discussed.     

What is PE?

Physical education is a socially constructed activity that forms one component of a wider physical culture that includes sport and health/physical activity . The terms sport and physical education are often used interchangeably in school contexts, where sport and health continue to shape what is understood by the term physical education. This study explores discourses shaping pre-service primary teachers' understandings of the nature and purposes of physical education within an Irish context and the relationship between these understandings. A 10-minute writing task prompted by the question ‘what is physical education?’ was completed by a sample of pre-service teachers (n=544, age range 18–46, 8.8% male) from two colleges of education, prior to the physical education component of their teacher education programme. Content analysis involved an initial text frequency search to create categories which were collapsed into three broad areas of students' understandings of physical education—sport, health and physical education. The research design allowed access to pre-service teachers' understandings of physical education. Participants' understandings reflected their own school experiences and were framed within health and sport ideologies of physical education. Although acknowledged as an important part of school life physical education was perceived as a break from academic subjects where the purpose of learning was to learn sports and activities to stay fit and healthy. While the overwhelmingly positive nature of participants' experiences and the changing discourses around competition and team games are encouraging the dominant discourses of physical education continue to reflect the dominant aspects of wider physical culture in Ireland. The capacity of physical education to move beyond reproducing dominant sport and health ideologies provides a significant challenge to teacher education contexts, to challenge dominant discourses and recreate understandings of physical education for future action.