Is there a sweet spot on the foot in Australian football drop punt kicking?

In the collision between a striking implement and ball, the term “sweet spot” represents the impact location producing best results. In football kicking, it is not known if a sweet spot exists on the foot because no method to measure impact location in three-dimensional space exists. Therefore, the aims were: (1) develop a method to measure impact location on the foot in three-dimensional space; (2) determine if players impacted the ball with a particular location; (3) determine the relationship between impact location with kick performance; (4) discuss if a sweet spot exists on the foot. An intra-individual analysis was performed on foot-ball impact characteristics of ten players performing 30 Australian football drop punt kicks toward a target. (1) A method to measure impact location was developed and validated. (2) The impact locations were normally distributed, evidenced by non-significant results of the Shapiro-Wilk test (p > 0.05) and inspection of histograms, meaning players targeted a location on their foot. (3) Impact location influenced foot-ball energy transfer, ball flight trajectory and ankle plantar/dorsal flexion. (4) These results indicate a sweet spot exists on the foot for the Australian football drop punt kick. In conclusion, the impact location is an important impact characteristic.     

Mechanical Player Load™ using trunk-mounted accelerometry in football: Is it a reliable,task- and player-specific observation?

The aim of the present study was to examine reliability and construct convergent validity of Player Load? (PL) from trunk-mounted accelerometry, expressed as a cumulative measure and an intensity measure (PL · min^–1). Fifteen male participants twice performed an overground football match simulation that included four different multidirectional football actions (jog, side cut, stride and sprint) whilst wearing a trunk-mounted accelerometer inbuilt in a global positioning system unit. Results showed a moderate-to-high reliability as indicated by the intra-class correlation coefficient (0.806–0.949) and limits of agreement. Convergent validity analysis showed considerable between-participant variation (coefficient of variation range 14.5–24.5%), which was not explained from participant demographics despite a negative association with body height for the stride task. Between-task variations generally showed a moderate correlation between ranking of participants for PL (0.593–0.764) and PL · min^–1 (0.282–0.736). It was concluded that monitoring PL^® in football multidirectional actions presents moderate-to-high reliability, that between-participant variability most likely relies on the individual’s locomotive skills and not their anthropometrics, and that the intensity of a task expressed by PL · min^–1 is largely related to the running velocity of the task.     

Is device-measured vigorous physical activity associated with health-related outcomes in children and adolescents? A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThis study sought to analyze the prospective association between vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) and health-related outcomes in children and adolescents.MethodsStudies reporting associations between device-measured VPA and health-related factors in children and adolescents aged 3–18 years were identified through database searches (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SPORTDiscus). Correlation coefficients were pooled if outcomes were reported by at least 3 studies, using DerSimonian-Laird random effects models.ResultsData from 23 studies including 13,674 participants were pooled using random effects models. Significant associations were found between VPA at baseline and overall adiposity (r = −0.09, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): –0.15 to –0.03; p = 0.002; I² = 89.8%), cardiometabolic risk score (r = –0.13, 95%CI: –0.24 to –0.02, p = 0.020; I² = 69.6%), cardiorespiratory fitness (r = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.15−0.35; p < 0.001; I² = 57.2%), and total body bone mineral density (r = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.06 to 0.25; p = 0.001; I² = 0%).ConclusionVPA seems to be negatively related to adiposity and cardiometabolic risk score and positively related to cardiorespiratory fitness and total body bone mineral density among children and adolescents at follow-up. Therefore, our findings support the need to strengthen physical activity recommendations regarding VPA due to its health benefits in children and adolescents.     

Managing football organizations: a man’s world? Comparing women in decision-making positions in Germany and Norway and their international influence: a contextual approach

This research examines the representation of females in the executive committees of the national football associations of Germany and Norway and their international influence. Pettigrew’s contextual approach to change is used to identify the change process in governance, with a focus on pressures from outside and within sport in general and especially within football, the key actors, their values and legitimacy, and the structures and the strategies of the organizations. The analysis is based on secondary sources and interviews. The women’s football teams in these two countries have been relatively successful and while the national football associations may appear similar and also atypical of most countries; important differences between them are to be found in the speed of the changes associated with different cultures and the different ways in which the two football federations elect their executive boards. In Europe, the big clubs see the added value of having women’s teams.     

Communicating aims and learning goals in physical education: part of a subject for learning?

Based on a socio-cultural perspective on learning, the aim of this article is to examine how aims and learning goals are communicated in physical education (PE) practice. A special focus is on scrutinising how teaching practices are framed in terms of whether and how the aims and learning goals are made explicit or not to students. The aim is also to relate these kinds of communications to different movement cultures. The result shows that many of the students taking part in the study do not understand what they are supposed to learn in PE. However, if the goals are well articulated by teachers, the students are more likely to both understand and be aware of the learning outcomes and what to learn in PE. The opposite is also true. If the goals and objectives are not clarified, students find it difficult to state the learning objectives and know what they are supposed to learn.     

Authentic inquiry-based learning in health and physical education: a case study of ‘r/evolutionary’ practice

Background: Greater understandings about how progressive pedagogies are interpreted and practiced within schools will be required if international calls to enhance relevance and meaning in Health and Physical Education (HPE) are to be realised. Little is understood about how inquiry-based units of work connected to real-life issues are enacted, engaged with, and generate deeper knowledge within a HPE context.

Purpose: This study explores learner outcomes and perceptions of engagement with an inquiry-based unit of work, Take Action, that aimed to provide young people with an opportunity to critically reflect on movement, investigate an issue important to them, and enhance their capacity to enact positive change for themselves and others.

Participants and setting: Forty-four students and three teachers from two secondary school settings participated in the research. Both schools were located in relatively low socio-economic status areas in southern metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Data collection and analysis: An exploratory and evaluative study design that employed naturalistic inquiry, using qualitative semi-structured interview data, observational data, and analysis of learner-produced artefacts were used. Analysis drew upon authentic learning frames to explore elements of knowledge construction through disciplined inquiry and real-life application.

Findings: Take Action provided a unique experience of HPE for the students and teachers who engaged with it. It was a collaborative, learner-centred inquiry-based experience that most learners found to be engaging and authentic. Both teachers and learners lacked the foundational knowledge of the discipline and a sound understanding of a critical-inquiry process that would have allowed them to deconstruct and reconstruct new ideas in deep interconnected ways.

Conclusions: More support for teachers and students is needed to legitimate these types of approaches within broader curriculum contexts to support student learning. Specifically, foundational understandings of: socially critical approaches to critical inquiry that serve to enhance knowledge relating to learner-identified topics; learning intentions and authentic assessment and how these might align with inquiry-based learning; forming connections with external experts to support learners early in an inquiry process; and how to extend explorations and elaborations within the constraints of a congested and contested curriculum.     

Is football now feminist? A critique of the use of McCaughey’s physical feminism to explain women’s participation in separate leagues in masculine sports1

Over the past two decades, there have been a number of sociological investigations of participation by women in sports that had previously appeared to have been played exclusively by men. These investigations have rightly celebrated this participation as examples of greater physical empowerment, choice and freedom for women in sport. Several of these investigations have gone further by utilizing McCaughey’s notion of physical feminism to argue that participation in these sports is indicative of a broader feminist political challenge. This paper contends that this characterization of the broader political challenge is a misinterpretation of McCaughey’s physical feminism. Further, this misinterpretation is indicative of the theoretical underpinnings of the shift from a second wave radical feminism to a third wave celebrity feminism. This paper proposes a set of commitments that would be necessary, although not sufficient, to see these women’s leagues as feminist organizations that politically challenge patriarchal power.     

The effect of playing status,maturity status,and playing position on the development of match skills in elite youth football players aged 11–18 years: A mixed-longitudinal study

This mixed-longitudinal study examined the development of match skills in elite male youth footballers (aged 11–18 years), while considering the effect of playing status, maturity status, and playing position. Across two seasons, 126 elite male youth footballers were assessed in 1–10 competitive matches (401 player-matches). For each match, the on-the-ball actions of each player were recorded using a notation system. The match skills observed were frequencies of successful passes, on-target shots, dribbles, crosses, clearances, and tackles/blocks/interceptions. Multilevel Poisson analysis was used to model the development of players, with regard to each match skill. Modelling revealed significant (p?p?p?p?p?相似文献   

Weekday–weekend variations in mother-/father–child physical activity and screen time relationship: A cross-sectional study in a random sample of Czech families with 5- to 12-year-old children

This study assessed the associations between these factors in a random sample of Czech families with preschool and school-aged children. A nationally representative sample comprised 185 families with preschool children and 649 families with school-aged children (dyads; both parents and child n?=?365, mother and child n?=?730, and father and child n?=?469). The participants wore Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 pedometers at least four weekdays and both weekend days and completed family logbooks (anthropometric parameters, daily step counts (SC), and screen time (ST)). When a parent (fathers at weekends and mothers both on weekdays and at weekends) achieved 10,000 SC per day, their children were also significantly (OR?=?2.93–6.06, 95% CI?=?2.02–9.26) more likely to meet the daily SC recommendation. On the contrary, the involvement of fathers in organized leisure-time PA reduced their children's odds of meeting the SC recommendation on weekdays (OR?=?0.53, 95% CI?=?0.31–0.89) and at weekends (OR?=?0.41, 95% CI?=?0.24–0.72). The excessive ST of parents at weekends reduced the odds of their children meeting the SC recommendation (mother–child dyads: OR?=?0.44, 95% CI?=?0.26–0.72; father–child dyads: OR?=?0.63, 95% CI?=?0.37–1.06). High levels of parents’ PA contribute to the achievement of the recommended daily PA in children on weekdays and at weekends. Excessive weekend ST of parents reduces their odds of their children achieving the recommended daily PA; however, the influence of parents’ PA on their children’s achieving the recommended daily PA is stronger than the inhibitory effect of ST.     

If you build it,will they come?: A case study of digital spaces and brand in the National Basketball Association

This case addresses the relationship between sport and digital spaces by introducing students to strategic marketing processes related to developing a team-managed fan website. The case was created in conjunction with three former members of the Cleveland Cavaliers who helped create www.cavfanatic.com, the official fan site of the team. Key areas addressed within the case study are brand development, brand communication, and brand extension. The case follows a new hire, Natalie, as she joins the new media team of www.cavfanatic.com. The sport marketers she works with review the development of the website and provide information on the strategic development process they went through. In the end, Natalie is charged with looking forward and developing further strategies to continue to engage the Cavaliers fans and to develop the CavFanatic brand.     

Does intensity really matter regarding aerobic exercise reductions in wave reflection and central hemodynamics? Commentary on "The effect of acute aerobic exercise on central arterial stiffness,wave reflections,and hemodynamics in adults with diabetes: A randomized cross-over design"by Way et al.

We read with great interest the study by Way et al.1 pub-lished in this journal, which described and compared the acute changes in central arterial stiffness (A...