Football,sport and the development of young people’s life skills

The development of life skills has been associated with participation in sport, football and other physical activities. A factor in enabling this ambition to be realized is the actions and behaviours of sports coaches. Drawing on the concept of positive youth development through sport, the first part of this paper considers the types of environments coaches need to create in order for players to develop life skills. The second part of this paper discusses formal coach education and its role in developing coaches’ knowledge of life skills development. The third and final section of this paper offers an alternative explanation of how people’s exposure to certain social contexts results in the development of life skills. A review of literature in these areas reveals that the role sport and football has played in players’ development of life skills is unclear and in need of future research attention.     

Influence of cold-water immersion on limb blood flow after resistance exercise*

This study determined the influence of cold (8°C) and cool (22°C) water immersion on lower limb and cutaneous blood flow following resistance exercise. Twelve males completed 4 sets of 10-repetition maximum squat exercise and were then immersed, semi-reclined, into 8°C or 22°C water for 10-min, or rested in a seated position (control) in a randomized order on different days. Rectal and thigh skin temperature, muscle temperature, thigh and calf skin blood flow and superficial femoral artery blood flow were measured before and after immersion. Indices of vascular conductance were calculated (flux and blood flow/mean arterial pressure). The colder water reduced thigh skin temperature and deep muscle temperature to the greatest extent (P?<?.001). Reductions in rectal temperature were similar (0.2–0.4°C) in all three trials (P?=?.69). Femoral artery conductance was similar after immersion in both cooling conditions, with both conditions significantly lower (55%) than the control post-immersion (P?<?.01). Similarly, there was greater thigh and calf cutaneous vasoconstriction (40–50%) after immersion in both cooling conditions, relative to the control (P?<?.01), with no difference between cooling conditions. These findings suggest that cold and cool water similarly reduce femoral artery and cutaneous blood flow responses but not muscle temperature following resistance exercise.     

A meta-study of qualitative research on mental toughness development

Mental toughness (MT) is considered a necessary ingredient for high-level performance. Unsurprisingly, scholarly interest in the development of mental toughness has increased over the past decade, with much of this work informed by qualitative designs. No study to date has systematically reviewed and integrated this body of qualitative research on MT development. The primary purpose of this study was to create an integrated theoretical framework that incorporates extant MT development research in sport and performance settings. Three subsequent aims were to (a) systematically review and evaluate the qualitative literature regarding key developmental factors and processes for MT; (b) synthesise knowledge of key developmental factors and processes for MT; and (c) generate an integrated framework that can inform future research and advancement in theory with regard to MT development. Following a systematic search of online journals, search engines, and databases, 10 papers met the criteria for inclusion and were retained. These studies served as the primary data for meta-data, meta-method, and meta-theory analyses, which were integrated using a meta-synthesis approach. Four key themes were identified from the existing qualitative evidence: personal characteristics, interactions with environment, progressive development, and breadth of experience. These unique themes were integrated with existing theory to propose a bioecological model of MT development that encompasses interdependent interactions among the person, proximal processes, context, and time. We describe how this model can be used as a heuristic for research and practice, and underscore the importance of methodological diversity for future work on the development of MT.     

Assessment of passive drag in swimming by numerical simulation and analytical procedure

The aim was to compare the passive drag-gliding underwater by a numerical simulation and an analytical procedure. An Olympic swimmer was scanned by computer tomography and modelled gliding at a 0.75-m depth in the streamlined position. Steady-state computer fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were performed on Fluent. A set of analytical procedures was selected concurrently. Friction drag (D_f), pressure drag (D_pr), total passive drag force (D_f+pr) and drag coefficient (C_D) were computed between 1.3 and 2.5 m · s^?1 by both techniques. D_f+pr ranged from 45.44 to 144.06 N with CFD, from 46.03 to 167.06 N with the analytical procedure (differences: from 1.28% to 13.77%). C_D ranged between 0.698 and 0.622 by CFD, 0.657 and 0.644 by analytical procedures (differences: 0.40–6.30%). Linear regression models showed a very high association for D_f+pr plotted in absolute values (R² = 0.98) and after log–log transformation (R² = 0.99). The C_D also obtained a very high adjustment for both absolute (R² = 0.97) and log–log plots (R² = 0.97). The bias for the D_f+pr was 8.37 N and 0.076 N after logarithmic transformation. D_f represented between 15.97% and 18.82% of the D_f+pr by the CFD, 14.66% and 16.21% by the analytical procedures. Therefore, despite the bias, analytical procedures offer a feasible way of gathering insight on one’s hydrodynamics characteristics.     

Postural Sway of Human Infants while Standing in Light and Dark

Postural sway was measured in 12-14-month-old human infants and in adults while they were standing in the light and dark. Spectral density analyses conducted on all frequencies, at specific frequencies, and for individual subjects showed that infants generally did not sway significantly more in the dark than in the light, whereas adults did. For example, infants' dark/light sway proportions were 1.12 and 1.21 for the anterior-posterior and lateral dimensions, respectively, compared to adult values of 2.23 and 3.43 for one-footed stance, and 1.43 and 2.13 for two-footed stance. A statistical power analysis indicated that if the dark/light proportions for infants had been comparable to those for adults, significant differences could have been detected. These findings indicate that the early regulation of standing posture does not depend on the continuous availability of visual information.     

Evolution of methods to measure student information use

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the application of the case study method to investigate the process used by students in secondary school and undergraduate academic settings to locate and use information through the library. The case study method has, in most recent years compared to investigations of 20 to 30 years ago, become established as the primary research technique used to document student thought processes in topic focus and in source selection. Direct observation and interviewing successful library users, two tools common to the case study method, may also lead to examination of student selection and critical use of evidence for research projects as students move beyond the traditional library collection. These tools have also proven to be useful as researchers in recent studies are more interested in an analysis of student use of information as evidence rather than conducting studies which only document student location and citation of resources. Selected studies which illustrate this evolution are drawn from the dissertations and field studies related to secondary school and undergraduate bibliographic instruction.