Analysis of the 5 iron golf swing when hitting for maximum distance

Most previous research on golf swing mechanics has focused on the driver club. The aim of this study was to identify the kinematic factors that contribute to greater hitting distance when using the 5 iron club. Three-dimensional marker coordinate data were collected (250 Hz) to calculate joint kinematics at eight key swing events, while a swing analyser measured club swing and ball launch characteristics. Thirty male participants were assigned to one of two groups, based on their ball launch speed (high: 52.9 ± 2.1 m · s(-1); low: 39.9 ± 5.2 m · s(-1)). Statistical analyses were used to identify variables that differed significantly between the two groups. Results showed significant differences were evident between the two groups for club face impact point and a number of joint angles and angular velocities, with greater shoulder flexion and less left shoulder internal rotation in the backswing, greater extension angular velocity in both shoulders at early downswing, greater left shoulder adduction angular velocity at ball contact, greater hip joint movement and X Factor angle during the downswing, and greater left elbow extension early in the downswing appearing to contribute to greater hitting distance with the 5 iron club.     

Viscoelastic impact characterisation of solid sports balls used in the Irish sport of Hurling

In recent years, variability in behaviour of the sliotar, a small leather-bound ball used in the Irish sport of hurling, has become evident in championship matches. The inconsistency in performance was attributed to the range of constructions and material compositions of currently approved ball types. With a view to adopting a standard core, a new methodology has been commissioned to assess the dynamic impact behaviour of approved sliotar cores. In this paper, the relationship between the dynamic stiffness and the coefficient of restitution is presented with regard to material properties, ball construction and viscoelastic strain and strain-rate dependencies. The modern polymer ball types were shown to exhibit strain-rate sensitivity, while the performance of the traditional multi-compositional ball types exhibited lesser strain-rate dependence. The traditional balls types were shown to be up to 2.5 times stiffer than the modern ball types, with this finding having implications for ball energy dissipation.     

Losing is Not an Option! Women's Basketball in Israel and its Struggle for Equality (1985–2002)

The current paper sheds light on a process that has changed Israeli sport between the years 1981 and 2002. The paper traces, conceptually and historically, the multiphase nature and struggle for equality of the Israeli women's basketball team. Through examining interrelated processes, this paper illustrates that although women have gained some ground as far as visibility and awareness is concerned, it is far too early for a ‘victory lap’. The rapid increase in women's participation in sports in Israel over the last decades expresses the change in the status of women in sports itself and in many other social areas, but in parallel also exposes staunch thought patterns in regard to women's and men's involvement in sports.     

Can a competence or standards model facilitate an inclusive approach to teacher education?

The paper seeks to determine whether programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) can contri–bute to the development of beginning teachers’ inclusive attitudes, values and practices. The majority of ITE programmes are based on government prescribed competence or standards frameworks, which are underpinned by Codes of Professional Values. It is these value statements, which will form the focus of the research, alongside the views of ITE tutors. Since the professional values and practices element is integral to the teacher education framework, it is inevitable that a rather utilitarian approach has been adopted, both to the specification and development of the values statements.     

Training and accrediting a school staff as mentors: experience of a primary school in Northern Ireland

Arrangements for initial teacher education in Northern Ireland are different from England and Wales in three major respects. Firstly, no formal contracts exist between Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and schools for the training of student teachers. Secondly, no financial resources are transferred from the HEIs to the schools to assist with supporting student teachers while on school placement. Thirdly, the competence framework has been designed to identify the distinctive contribution which schools make to the training process. The amount of time student teachers spend in schools, however, is the same as that in England and Wales but no formal training has been provided for schools to enable them to undertake the new and additional responsibilities which the competence framework implies. This paper describes an initiative in which the whole staff in a primary school in Belfast participated in a programme of Mentorship Training which was provided and accredited by the University of Ulster. The programme which comprised two modules was offered at postgraduate level and was designed to assist the teachers to develop a more structured and systematic approach to supporting and training student teachers and newly qualified teachers. On completion, the programme was evaluated and the findings are reported in this paper.     

Associations between types of maltreatment and substance use during adolescence

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate associations between four categories of maltreatment and substance use among adolescents. METHOD: All 10th through 12th graders n = 2,187) at six public high schools in a rural Oregon county filled out an anonymous survey that included questions about their experience of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse and their use of a variety of substances. Substance use was subsequently categorized as: (1) tobacco use, (2) alcohol use, and (3) illicit drug use. Experience of maltreatment was subsequently categorized as: (1) no type of maltreatment, (2) emotional abuse, (3) physical abuse, (4) sexual abuse, and (5) sexual and physical abuse. RESULTS: Results showed that all four categories of maltreatment were associated with increased levels of all three categories of substance use. Statistical comparisons of the magnitude effects of different types of maltreatment on substance use indicated a linear trend with the effects of emotional abuse being significantly lower than those of physical or sexual abuse, and the effects of the combination of physical and sexual abuse being significantly higher than the other types. CONCLUSION: Results suggested that all types of maltreatment, including emotional abuse, are related to significantly higher levels of substance use and should be considered serious risk factors for substance use during adolescence. Results also indicated that the strength of association between maltreatment and substance use varies by type of maltreatment. Youth who have experienced both physical and sexual abuse are at especially high risk of substance use.     

The effects of anxiety and strategic planning on visual search behaviour

The past decade has witnessed increased interest in the visual search behaviour of athletes. Little is known, however, about the relationship between anxiety and eye movements in sport performers or about the extent to which athletes' planned and actual visual search strategies correspond. To address these issues, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, eight expert female gymnasts were presented with three digital slides of a model performing a skill that is known to be anxiety-provoking in this sport - namely, the 'back flip' on the beam. By varying the height of the beam and the presence or absence of safety mats, the slides differed in the amount of anxiety that they elicited vicariously in the viewer. In the study, the gymnasts were asked to imagine themselves in the position of the depicted model and to describe the anxiety that they felt. As they viewed the slides, their eye movements were recorded. As predicted, anxiety was associated with an increase in the number of fixations to peripheral areas. In addition, the more 'threatening' slides elicited significantly more fixations than the less feared images. In Study 2, the plans of 15 equestrian performers (5 expert, 5 intermediate and 5 novice) were elicited as they engaged in a virtual 'walk' around a computerized show-jumping course. Contrary to expectations, the congruence between intended and actual search behaviour was not significantly greater for expert riders than for the less skilled groups. Also, the fact that the top riders allocated more fixations to slides than the less skilled performers challenged the prediction that expertise would be associated with economy of visual search. Finally, as expected, the expert riders were significantly less dependent on the overall 'course plan' than the intermediate and novice equestrian performers when inspecting the fences.