Combined individual scrummaging kinetics and muscular power predict competitive team scrum success

Scrummaging is a major component of Rugby Union gameplay. Successful scrummaging is dependent on the coordination of the forward players and the strength of the eight individuals. The study aim was to determine whether individual scrummaging kinetics and other candidate factors associated with scrummaging performance discriminate team scrum performances. Sixteen club-level forwards (stature: 1.80?±?0.1?m; mass: 99.0?±?18.2?kg) were initially divided into two scrummaging packs. A total of 10 various scrum permutations were tested, where players were randomly swapped between the two packs. Winning scrums were determined by two observers on opposite sides of the scrum. Fatigue (100?mm visual analogue scale (VAS)) and scrummaging effort (6–20 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)) were assessed following each scrum contest. Individual scrummaging kinetics were acquired through an instrumented scrum ergometer and muscular power indicated through vertical jump heights. Student’s t-tests were used to differentiate between winning and losing scrum packs. VAS and RPE were assessed using repeated measures ANOVAs. Winning scrum packs had significantly larger combined force magnitudes (p?<?.002), regardless of the player contribution calculations. Additionally, winning packs had less individual movement (p?=?.033) and higher combined vertical jump heights (p?<?.001) but were not significantly heavier (p?=?.759) than losing scrum packs. While perceived VAS and RPE values progressively increased (p?<?.001), no differences in the individual scrum magnitudes were observed between the 1st and 10th scrum (p?=?.418). The results indicated that the combination of individual forces, variation in movement and factors related to scrummaging performance, such as vertical jump height, were associated with team scrummaging success.     

Olympic lightweight and open-class rowers possess distinctive physical and proportionality characteristics

Abstract

Rowers competing at the 2000 Olympic Games were measured for 38 anthropometric dimensions. The aim was to identify common physical characteristics that could provide a competitive advantage. The participants included 140 male open-class rowers, 69 female open-class rowers, 50 male lightweight rowers, and 14 female lightweight rowers. Body mass, stature, and sitting height were different (P < 0.01) between the open-class and lightweight rowers, as well as a comparison group of healthy young adults (“non-rowers”, 42 males, 71 females), for both sexes. After scaling for stature, the open-class rowers remained proportionally heavier than the non-rowers, with greater proportional chest, waist, and thigh dimensions (P < 0.01). Rowers across all categories possessed a proportionally smaller hip girth than the non-rowers (P < 0.01), which suggested the equipment places some constraints on this dimension. Top-ranked male open-class rowers were significantly taller and heavier and had a greater sitting height (P < 0.01) than their lower-ranked counterparts. They were also more muscular in the upper body, as indicated by a larger relaxed arm girth and forearm girth (P < 0.01). For the male lightweight rowers, only proportional thigh length was greater in the best competitors (P < 0.01). In the female open-class rowers, skinfold thicknesses were lower in the more highly placed competitors (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the rowers in this sample demonstrated distinctive physical characteristics that distinguish them from non-rowers and other sports performers.     

Comparison of physiological responses to graded exercise test performance in outrigger canoeing

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish a graded exercise test protocol for determining the peak physiological responses of female outrigger canoeists. Seventeen trained female outrigger canoeists completed two outrigger ergometer graded exercise test protocols in random order: (1) 25 W power output for 2 min increasing by 7.5 W every minute until exhaustion; and (2) 25 W power output for 2 min increasing by 15 W every 2 min to exhaustion. Heart rate and power output were recorded every 15 s. Expired air was collected continuously and sampled for analysis at 15-s intervals, while blood lactate concentration was measured immediately after and 3, 5, and 7 min after exercise. The peak physiological and performance variables examined included peak oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2peak), minute ventilation, tidal volume, ventilatory thresholds 1 and 2, respiratory rate, respiratory exchange ratio, heart rate, blood lactate concentration, power output, performance time, and time to [Vdot]O_2peak. There were no significant differences in peak physiological responses, ventilatory thresholds or performance variables between the two graded exercise test protocols. Despite no significant differences between protocols, due to the large limits of agreement evident between protocols for the peak physiological responses, it is recommended that the same protocol be used for all comparison testing to minimize intra-individual variability of results.     

The Disappearance of the Perfect 10: Evaluating Rule Changes in Women's Artistic Gymnastics

The 2004 Olympic Games saw a range of judging scandals in the sport of artistic gymnastics that prompted the International Gymnastics Federation to make changes to the sport's judging system. Therefore, following these games, the International Gymnastics Federation reworked the gymnastics scoring system, where the most prominent change was the removal of the ‘perfect 10’ as the highest score possible, to be replaced by an open-ended scoring system. The goal of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the open-ended system that was introduced in 2006 through examining some of the sport's key values – an approach loosely aligned with broad internalism. It is suggested that the dual purposes of analysing what is achieved and the manner of achieving it are key values of the sport and are differentiated through the way judging utilises two categories known, in gymnastics, as ‘difficulty’ and ‘artistry’. This paper argues that the method of judging ‘difficulty’ is an improvement on previous judging methods. Our analysis of the definition and judging of ‘artistry’ in artistic gymnastics, however, reveals a less certain result.     

Changes in organisation of instep kicking as a function of wearing compression and textured materials

This study investigated effects of wearing compression garments and textured insoles on modes of movement organisation emerging during performance of lower limb interceptive actions in association football. Participants were six skilled (age?=?15.67?±?0.74 years) and six less-skilled (age?=?15.17?±?1.1 years) football players. All participants performed 20 instep kicks with maximum velocity in four randomly organised insoles and socks conditions, (a) Smooth Socks with Smooth Insoles (SSSI); (b) Smooth Socks with Textured Insoles (SSTI); (c) Compression Socks with Smooth Insoles (CSSI); and (d), Compression Socks with Textured Insoles (CSTI). Results showed that, when wearing textured and compression materials (CSSI condition), less-skilled participants displayed significantly greater hip extension and flexion towards the ball contact phase, indicating larger ranges of motion in the kicking limb than in other conditions. Less-skilled participants also demonstrated greater variability in knee–ankle intralimb (angle–angle plots) coordination modes in the CSTI condition. Findings suggested that use of textured and compression materials increased attunement to somatosensory information from lower limb movement, to regulate performance of dynamic interceptive actions like kicking, especially in less-skilled individuals.