An Investigation Into Handedness and Choking Under Pressure in Sport

When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced “choking“ (sudden decline in performance) under pressure.”. Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left- and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes’ handedness may be linked to choking susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Differences were indicated in performance between the left- and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.     

Elite cricket coach education: a Bourdieusian analysis

The social structures within coach education have been largely unexplored, undiscussed, and treated as unproblematic in contributing to coach learning, both in research and practice. The study used semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 11 elite cricket coaches to gather their perceptions of an elite coach education programme. In particular, this research attempted a more nuanced critical inquiry into the impact of culture on coach learning, habitus on knowledge production and the extent to which capital structures practice within the field of cricket coach education. Data analysis followed abductive reasoning, combining inductive thematic analyses of the data, with a deductive abstraction of these themes within a Bourdieusian framework to provide a level of explanation to the data. The findings present coach education as a complex social field in which coaches were active social beings in the (re)production of coaching knowledge. The culture of cricket was found to perpetuate a powerful doxic system that highlighted the tensions and conflict between an accepted model of coach education with a singular and prescribed body of knowledge and a strong underlying sporting culture and individuals hierarchically placed within it. This data further highlighted how coach education contributes to the (re)production of power within the field of cricket coaching.     

Force– and power–time curve comparison during jumping between strength-matched male and female basketball players

The purpose of this study was to compare force– and power–time curve variables during jumping between Division I strength-matched male and female basketball athletes. Males (n?=?8) and females (n?=?8) were strength matched by testing a one-repetition maximum (1RM) back squat. 1RM back squat values were normalised to body mass in order to demonstrate that strength differences were a function of body mass alone. Subjects performed three countermovement jumps (CMJ) at maximal effort. Absolute and relative force– and power–time curve variables from the CMJs were analysed between males and females. Average force– and power–time curves were generated for all subjects. Jump height was significantly greater (p?≤?.05) in males than females. Absolute force was higher in males during the concentric phase, but not significantly different (p?≥?.05) when normalised to body mass. Significance was found in absolute concentric impulse between sexes, but not when analysed relative to body mass. Rate of force development, rate of power development, relative peak force, and work were not significantly different between sexes. Males had significantly greater impulse during the eccentric phase as well as peak power (PP) during the concentric phase of the CMJ than did females in both absolute and relative terms. It is concluded that sex differences are not a determining factor in measured force during a CMJ when normalised to body mass between strength-matched subjects. However, eccentric phase impulse and concentric phase PP appear to be influenced by sex differences independent of matching strength levels.     

The organisational stressors encountered by athletes with a disability

Organisational stressors have been found to be prevalent and problematic for sport performers, with research identifying demographic differences in the stressors encountered. Nevertheless, extant sport psychology research on the topic of stress has generally focused on able-bodied athletes; whilst that which has been conducted on performers with a disability has typically recruited relatively small samples to explore a narrow selection of organisational stressors, or examined other components of the stress process. The purpose of the present study was to explore the various organisational stressors that athletes with a disability encounter. The sample comprised 18 elite athletes with a disability (10 male, 8 female) who had a classified disability and experience of competing at a major championships in their sport (e.g., Paralympic Games, World Championships). Participants took part in a semi-structured interview which was analysed by drawing from grounded theory procedures. A total of 316 organisational stressors were identified, which were abstracted into 31 concepts and four, previously conceptualised, exploratory schemes: leadership and personnel issues, cultural and team issues, logistical and environmental issues, and performance and personal issues. This study not only provides the first illustration of the prevalence of organisational stressors for athletes with a disability, but also significantly points to salient similarities and distinct differences between the stress experiences of performers with and without a disability.     

An examination of the correlation amongst trunk flexibility,x-factor and clubhead speed in skilled golfers

Skilled golfers are reported to be more flexible than lesser able golfers, which may assist in increased x-factor (shoulder–pelvis separation) at the top of the backswing. However, it is unknown if increased flexibility produces faster clubhead speed. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations amongst trunk flexibility and x-factor, as well as the association between flexibility and clubhead speed in low handicap golfers. Fifteen low handicap male golfers who displayed a modern swing, had their trunk static anatomical end-range of motion (flexibility) and driver swing kinematics were measured. Although Pearson correlations revealed trunk extension and lateral bending were moderately related to x-factor, axial rotation flexibility was not. A generalised linear model (GLM) reported three axial rotation flexibility variables, and six golf swing kinematic variables were associated with faster clubhead speed. The Pearson correlation results suggest that skilled golfers who have increased axial rotation flexibility do not necessarily utilise it to increase x-factor, and the GLM results support the importance of multisegment flexibility and interaction for improving golf performance with skilled golfers.     

Self-ratings versus teacher-ratings of adolescents' type A behavior pattern in the normal classroom

Self-ratings versus teacher-ratings of adolescents' Type A Behavior Pattern were compared with 80 eighth-grade and 70 eleventh-grade teenagers from a typical high school in Melbourne, Australia. Data indicated that there were significant differences in the ratings from these two sources, with little predictive power from teachers' ratings to adolescents' ratings. Implications for the reliable and comprehensive assessment of adolescents' Type A Behavior Pattern are discussed.     

An exploratory investigation to detect cross-cultural differences on the PPVT-R

The Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) was administered to 410 nonreferred Australian children to determine if significant cultural differences were apparent on either Form L or M of the revised test. Data indicated that there were differences that, while statistically nonsigniffcant, could lead to inaccurate clinical classification if all the American items and norms were used. It appears that the PPVT-R is not significantly culturally biased towards white, middle-class children from the USA, and may be used in Australia, but with some care. Implications for practitioners are discussed, with suggestions made to overcome the presence of some minor problems due to lack of familiarity of terms used in some items of the PPVT-R.     

Teachers' ratings vs standardized tests: An empirical investigation of agreement between two indices of achievement

The degree of correlation between teachers' ratings of vocabulary, comprehension, mathematics, and verbal intelligence with scores from the Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) plus the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was assessed with 120 boys and 110 girls aged 8.6 to 10.5 years in three southeastern suburban state schools in Melbourne. Teachers' ratings of students' general attitude also were collected. While results indicated that significant correlations did exist between data from the two sets of measures, these accounted for only small amounts of the total variance, suggesting that two almost discrete domains of information were being tapped. The need for reconciliation between these two domains is discussed and the presence of sex bias in teachers' ratings is raised for further study.     

Conflict of Learning Styles: University Science Lectures in the Sultanate of Oman

This article examines the differing learning styles found in western lecturers and Omani students in science lectures in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman is a country which modernized very recently, and students there were encountering western lecturers and lecturing methods for the first time. The western lecturers found the Omani approach to science, which they characterized as memorization deficient and wished to introduce a problem-solving approach. However, it is argued that some memorization occurs in all learning of science everywhere, that the Omani approach has its merits, and that a major problem in these lectures was the lack of knowledge of Omani and Arabic culture in the lecturers. It is argued that all learning takes place by matching new knowledge and methods with previous ones, and that to successfully lecture to the Omani students the lecturers would need to research further into ways in which their approach could have built on, rather than replaced entirely, the Omani approach. The article is based on interviews with the lecturers and extracts from the lectures, which were recorded and transcribed by the writer.