Peer choice – does reviewer self‐selection work?

The British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET) uses a novel system for obtaining referees by e‐mailing the abstracts of submissions to a panel of over 250 referees and allowing these individuals to choose which papers they would like to review. An analysis of 13 experienced referees showed that, of 473 reviews assessed, these referees were slightly more lenient than the editor and that electronic records provide useful data that can be mined in interesting ways.     

In pursuit of becoming a senior coach: the learning culture for Australian Football League coaches

Background and Purpose: Given the turbulent and highly contested environment in which professional coaches work, a prime concern to coach developers is how coaches learn their craft. Understanding the learning and development of senior coaches (SCs) and assistant coaches (ACs) in the Australian Football League (AFL – the peak organisation for Australian Rules Football) is important to better develop the next generation of performance coaches. Hence the focus of this research was to examine the learning of SC and AC in the AFL. Fundamental to this research was an understanding that the AFL and each club within the league be regarded as learning organisations and workplaces with their own learning cultures where learning takes place. The purpose of this paper was to examine the learning culture for AFL coaches.

Method: Five SCs, 6 ACs, and 5 administrators (4 of whom were former coaches) at 11 of the 16 AFL clubs were recruited for the research project. First, demographic data were collected for each participant (e.g. age, playing and coaching experience, development and coach development activities). Second, all participants were involved in one semi-structured interview of between 45 and 90 minutes duration. An interpretative (hierarchical content) analysis of the interview data was conducted to identify key emergent themes.

Results: Learning was central to AFL coaches becoming a SC. Nevertheless, coaches reported a sense of isolation and a lack of support in developing their craft within their particular learning culture. These coaches developed a unique dynamic social network (DSN) that involved episodic contact with a number of respected confidantes often from diverse fields (used here in the Bourdieuian sense) in developing their coaching craft. Although there were some opportunities in their workplace, much of their learning was unmediated by others, underscoring the importance of their agentic engagement in limited workplace affordances.

Conclusion: The variety of people accessed for the purposes of learning (often beyond the immediate workplace) and the long time taken to establish networks of supporters meant that a new way of describing the social networks of AFL coaches was needed; DSN. However, despite the acknowledged utility of learning from others, all coaches reported some sense of isolation in their learning. The sense of isolation brought about by professional volatility in high-performance Australian Football offers an alternative view on Hodkinson, Biesta and James' attempt in overcoming dualisms in learning.     

A descriptive study of step alignment and foot positioning relative to the tee by professional rugby union goal-kickers

This study describes foot positioning during the final two steps of the approach to the ball amongst professional rugby goal-kickers. A 3D optical motion capture system was used to test 15 goal-kickers performing 10 goal-kicks. The distance and direction of each step, as well as individual foot contact positions relative to the tee, were measured. The intra- and inter-subject variability was calculated as well as the correlation (Pearson) between the measurements and participant anthropometrics. Inter-subject variability for the final foot position was lowest (placed 0.03 ± 0.07 m behind and 0.33 ± 0.03 m lateral to the tee) and highest for the penultimate step distance (0.666 ± 0.149 m), performed at an angle of 36.1 ± 8.5° external to the final step. The final step length was 1.523 ± 0.124 m, executed at an external angle of 35.5 ± 7.4° to the target line. The intra-subject variability was very low; distances and angles for the 10 kicks varied per participant by 1.6–3.1 cm and 0.7–1.6°, respectively. The results show that even though the participants had variability in their run-up to the tee, final foot position next to the tee was very similar and consistent. Furthermore, the inter- and intra-subject variability could not be attributed to differences in anthropometry. These findings may be useful as normative reference data for coaching, although further work is required to understand the role of other factors such as approach speed and body alignment.     

High-intensity efforts in elite soccer matches and associated movement patterns,technical skills and tactical actions. Information for position-specific training drills

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to translate movement patterns, technical skills and tactical actions associated with high-intensity efforts into metrics that could potentially be used to construct position-specific conditioning drills. A total of 20 individual English Premier League players’ high-intensity running profiles were observed multiple times (n = 100) using a computerised tracking system. Data were analysed using a novel high-intensity movement programme across five positions (centre back [CB], full-back [FB], central midfielder [CM], wide midfielder [WM] and centre forward [CF]). High-intensity efforts in contact with the ball and the average speed of efforts were greater in WMs than CBs, CMs and CFs (effect sizes [ES]: 0.9–2.1, P < 0.05). WMs produced more repeated efforts than CBs and CMs (ES: 0.6–1.3, P < 0.05). In possession, WMs executed more tricks post effort than CBs and CMs (ES: 1.2–1.3, P < 0.01). FBs and WMs performed more crosses post effort than other positions (ES: 1.1–2.0, P < 0.01). Out of possession, CFs completed more efforts closing down the opposition (ES: 1.4–5.0, P < 0.01) but less tracking opposition runners than other positions (ES: 1.5–1.8, P < 0.01). CFs performed more arc runs before efforts compared to CBs, FBs and WMs (ES: 0.9–1.4, P < 0.05), however, CBs completed more 0–90° turns compared to FBs, CMs and WMs (ES: 0.9–1.1, P < 0.01). The data demonstrate unique high-intensity trends in and out of possession that could assist practitioners when devising position-specific drills.     

‘Tours of Imperialism’: Cricket and Cultural Transfer in South Africa, 1880–1910

Abstract

Few can deny the significance of sport in today’s South Africa. The sporting structures upon which this is based were first introduced to the country by the British in the late nineteenth century. In line with policies of cultural imperialism, sports such as cricket were promoted at this time as part of a wider political agenda that encouraged the adoption of an ‘English’ way of life in the region. Sports tours, most notably cricket, were a fundamental part of this cultural transfer between the ‘Mother Country’ and her colonies in Southern Africa. To underpin the study of transnational linkages and transfer in African sports, this paper will offer an historical overview of how ‘British-styled’ sport arrived in South Africa and how the early cricket tours between England and South Africa were constructed to promote distinct political and cultural connections. This paper will explore the early development of cricket in South Africa and investigate its symbiotic link to British imperialism and colonialism via the first tours and sporting exchanges that took place. The origins of the game in South Africa will be examined as well as its development up to 1910 (the date of Union in South Africa) as the site of a constructed transnational 'brotherhood' between Britain and its most coveted African colonies.     

Asian Martial Arts: The Anarchic Legacy of the War Machine

Abstract

The renaissance of Asian martial arts is a conspicuous example of cultural hybridity in a global setting. Globalization brings these arts under the dual sway of cinema and sport to a degree unprecedented in their history. This pull, which I describe in terms from Deleuze and Guattari as deterritorialization, creates new challenges for Asian martial arts practice. To explore these challenges and their stakes, I demonstrate the relevance of the concept of the war machine from Deleuze and Guattari, and discuss their distinction between weapons and tools as it bears on Asian martial arts history and practice.     

Simulation of Fragment Impact on Multi-Layer Targets Using Contact Method

Cased explosives generate highly energetic fragments as their casing breaks up. Due to the complexity of casing fragment related behavior such as embedment, perforation and ricochet, it may be insufficient to use equivalent triangular pressure loading in fragment impact simulations. This simplified method may over- or under-predict the target response. Recently, a procedure using contact techniques has been proposed to overcome such difficulties. It has been shown that the new method has the inherent capability in modeling the multi-piece and multi-hit fragment impact problems in a more realistic way. To investigate the applicability of the proposed method to simulations involving multi-layer penetration, the selected problems of fragment impact on multi-layer targets are described in this paper. It is demonstrated that this method is capable of predicting the complicated multi-layer structural response caused by fragment impact and penetration. Modeling procedures and some technical issues are also discussed.