Home advantage in soccer: A retrospective analysis

The existence of home advantage has been established for all major professional team sports in England and North America. The advantage was found to be greatest in soccer, with the home team currently obtaining about 64% of all points gained in the English Football League. Home advantage has changed very little since the formation of the League in 1888 and there are only small variations between the four Divisions of the League. The advantage is less marked in local derbies, in the FA Cup and in non‐professional competitions. It is greater in the European Cup and increases as the stages of the competition progress. The allocation of three points, instead of two, for a win in the Football League has not changed home advantage, but its effect has been greatly reduced in the GM Vauxhall Conference where an away win gains more points than a home win. The statistical evidence suggests that crowd support and travel fatigue contribute less to home advantage in soccer than do the less easily quantifiable benefits of familiarity with conditions when playing at home. Further possible explanations for the advantage are discussed in the light of findings in other sports.     

Increased dietary carbohydrate and endurance during single‐leg cycling using a limb with normal muscle glycogen concentration

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that increased availability of blood‐borne glucose would improve endurance after carbohydrate loading. A single‐leg exercise model was employed, taking advantage of the fact that supercompensation of muscle glycogen occurs only in a previously exercised limb. Endurance time to exhaustion at 70% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max) was determined for 11 males and three females who were then allocated to a control group or a high‐carbohydrate (CHO) group. For 3 days following Test 1 the control group maintained a prescribed normal diet whilst the CHO group increased the proportion of energy derived from carbohydrate (62.1 ± 4.3% cf. 43.9 ± 2.0%, P < 0.01). The endurance test was then repeated using the leg that was inactive during Test 1. Endurance time was increased on Test 2 (123.7 ± 43.2 min cf. 98.5 ± 21.9 min, P <0.05 one‐tailed test) for the CHO group but not for the control group (101.8 ± 21.7 min cf. 107.5 ± 9.1 min, NS). There was no indication of enhanced carbohydrate metabolism during Test 2 for the CHO group but mean heart rate was lower during Test 2 than during Test 1 (145 ± 14 beat min ^‐1 cf. 152 ± 12 beat min ^‐1, P<0.05). These results suggest that the prior consumption of a high‐carbohydrate diet improves endurance during high‐intensity cycling with a limb with normal muscle glycogen concentration.     

Relative shank to thigh length is associated with different mechanisms of power production during elite male ergometer rowing

The effect of anthropometric differences in shank to thigh length ratio upon timing and magnitude of joint power production during the drive phase of the rowing stroke was investigated in 14 elite male rowers. Rowers were tested on the RowPerfect ergometer which was instrumented at the handle and foot stretcher to measure force generation, and a nine segment inverse dynamics model used to calculate the rower's joint and overall power production. Rowers were divided into two groups according to relative shank thigh ratio. Time to half lumbar power generation was significantly earlier in shorter shank rowers (p = 0.028) compared to longer shank rowers, who showed no lumbar power generation during the same period of the drive phase. Rowers with a relatively shorter shank demonstrated earlier lumbar power generation during the drive phase resulting from restricted rotation of the pelvic segment requiring increased lumbar extension in these rowers. Earlier lumbar power generation and extension did not appear to directly affect performance measures of the short shank group, and so can be attributed to a technical adaptation developed to maximise rowing performance.     

An examination of psychosocial variables moderating the relationship between life stress and injury time-loss among athletes of a high standard

Based on Williams and Andersen's model of stress and athletic injury, six psychosocial variables were assessed as possible moderators of the relationship between life stress and injury among 121 athletes (65 males, 56 females) competing in a variety of sports at state, national or international level. No significant effects of the sex of the participants were evident. Correlational analyses revealed moderator effects of several variables. Specifically, dispositional optimism and hardiness were related to decreased injury time-loss in athletes when positive life change increased, and global self-esteem was associated with decreased injury time-loss when both negative life change and total life change increased. The results indicate that athletes with more optimism, hardiness or global self-esteem may cope more effectively with life change stress, resulting in reduced injury vulnerability and recovery rates.     

Back injuries and the fast bowler in cricket

Here, I review research that has investigated the aetiology of injuries experienced by adolescent and adult fast bowlers. Mechanical factors play an important role in the aetiology of degenerative processes and injuries to the lumbar spine. This is particularly so in fast bowling, where a player must absorb vertical and horizontal components of the ground reaction force that are approximately five and two times body weight at front-foot and rear-foot impact, respectively. Attenuated forces are transmitted to the spine through the lower limb, while additional foces at the lumbo-sacral junction are caused by trunk hyperextension, lateral flexion and twisting during the delivery stride. Fast bowlers are classified as side-on, front-on or mixed. The mixed action is categorized by the lower body configuration of the front-on action and the upper body configuration of the side-on technique. This upper body configuration is produced by counter-rotation away from the batsman in the transverse plane about the longitudinal axis of the body of a line through the two shoulders. Counter-rotations of 12–40° during a delivery stride have predicted an increased incidence of lumbar spondylolysis, disc abnormality and muscle injury in fast bowlers. During the delivery stride, the mixed bowling action also shows: more lateral flexion and hyperextension of the lumbar spine at front-foot impact, and a greater range of motion of the trunk over the delivery stride when compared with the side-on and front-on techniques. The pars interarticularis of each vertebra is vulnerable to injury if repetitive flexion, rotation and hyperextension are present in the activity. Fast bowlers should reduce shoulder counter-rotation during the delivery stride to reduce the incidence of back injuries. When a player is required to bowl for extended periods irrespective of technique, overuse is also related to an increased incidence of back injuries and must be avoided.     

Relationship between achievement goal orientations and the perceived purposes of playing rugby union for professional and amateur players

The recent professionalization of rugby union makes it an excellent achievement context in which to examine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and the perceived purposes of sport as a function of competitive standard. During the 1996–97 season, 73 professional and 106 amateur rugby players in England completed a series of questionnaires assessing their achievement goal orientations, beliefs about the purposes of rugby and demographic information. The results of a canonical correlation analysis revealed a conceptually coherent relationship between achievement goal orientations and purposes of rugby. Specifically, a high ego/ moderate task orientation was positively related to fitness, aggression and financial remuneration as significant purposes of rugby. Professional players scored higher on those purposes of rugby related to aggression, financial remuneration and fitness, but lower on sportspersonship than amateur players. Professional players also reported higher task and ego goal orientations than amateur players. The findings are discussed in terms of the differences in lifestyle and motivation of professional and amateur rugby union players.     

Retroactive interference effects of mentally imagined movement speed

In two retroactive interference experiments, we assessed the effect of mentally imagined movement speed on subsequent motor performance. All participants performed a sequential motor action at three speeds during a baseline test and a retention test. During the retention interval of Experiment 1, the participants (n = 50) physically performed the action at a slow speed, physically performed it at a fast speed, imagined it at a slow speed, imagined it at a fast speed, or performed a no-practice control task. In Experiment 2, the participants (n = 24) imagined the movement, overtly vocalized words, or both, all at a slow speed. The results revealed that the speed of the imagined motor action affected the speed of subsequent performance in the retention test and that imagery and physical practice were functionally equivalent. The results are consistent with Lang's bio-informational theory.     

The influence of intermittent high-intensity shuttle running and fluid ingestion on the performance of a soccer skill

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of intermittent high-intensity shuttle running and fluid ingestion on the performance of a soccer skill. Nine semi-professional soccer players volunteered to participate in the study. Their mean (± _sx ) age, body mass and maximal oxygen uptake were 20.2 ± 0.4 years, 73.2 ± 1.8 kg and 59.1 ± 1.3 ml·kg^-1 ·min^-1 respectively. The players were allocated to two randomly assigned trials: ingesting or abstaining from fluid intake during a 90 min intermittent exercise protocol (Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test:LIST).This test was designed to simulate the minimum physical demands faced by soccer players during a game. Before and immediately after performance of the test,the players completed a soccer skill test and a mental concentration test. Performance of the soccer skill test after the 'no-fluid' trial deteriorated by 5% (P ? 0.05),but was maintained during the fluid trial. Mean heart rate, perceived exertion, serum aldosterone, osmolality, sodium and cortisol responses during the test were higher (P ? 0.05) in the 'no-fluid' trial than in the fluid trial. The results of this study suggest that soccer players should consume fluid throughout a game to help prevent a deterioration in skill performance.