Science and the Gaelic sports: Gaelic football and hurling

Abstract

The two major sports indigenous to Ireland are Gaelic football and hurling. Both are 15-a-side field games played on a pitch 40% longer than a soccer field. They are firmly linked to a nationalist tradition and have by far the highest participation rates in sports in the country. Both games make multiple demands on participants due to their free-flowing nature and quick movement of play from end to end of the pitch. Hurling calls for hand–eye coordination and skilled use of the hurling stick in hitting and blocking the ball. Fitness characteristics mirror game demands. Participants at elite level in both games display high aerobic power, the footballers tending to be stronger in the upper body and better in vertical jumping. Gaelic footballers in particular match the fitness characteristics of professional soccer players, except for sprinting speed. Less attention has been paid to female participants, especially in camogie, the female version of hurling. Despite their amateur status, and due to the popularity of the sports and the training regimens adopted by players, the games have garnered sports science support systems for elite performers. Support personnel benefit from a generic knowledge base as well as a burgeoning research agenda targeted at the Gaelic games.     

Sport injuries as the main cause of sport career termination among Finnish top-level athletes

Abstract

Injuries are common among athletes, and are sometimes so severe that they affect an athlete's career in sport. As studies on sport career termination are few, we conducted a study to investigate the role of injuries as a reason for ending a sport career. The study group consisted of 574 male and female top-level cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players who responded to a retrospective postal questionnaire in 2006. Twenty-seven athletes (4.9%, 27/548) reported ending their sport career because of injury. A follow-up interview was conducted by telephone in 2007 (n=20 volunteered to be interviewed) to confirm sport career termination and the reasons for this. Fifteen of the interviewed athletes terminated and five continued their sport on the same level as earlier. Female athletes (12/15) terminated their sport career more frequently than male athletes (3/15). Athletes who reported terminating their sport career because of injury were on average two and a half years older (24.1 years vs. 21.6 years, P=0.006) than athletes who continued the sport. All the swimmers (n=5) who were interviewed terminated their career because of a shoulder injury. All the soccer players who ended their career (n=4) were female and had a severe knee injury, such as anterior cruciate ligament injury. Most of the athletes who terminated their sport career (70.4%, 19/27) reported that the injury caused them mild or moderate permanent disability. We found that sports injuries play a significant role in terminating a career in sport, and in some sports events injuries may commonly be the main reason for sport career termination. Injury prevention and adequate treatment and rehabilitation of injuries are thus essential to avoid the long-term consequences of severe sport injuries.     

Development and field validation of an omni-domain power-duration model

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To validate and compare a novel model based on the critical power (CP) concept that describes the entire domain of maximal mean power (MMP) data from cyclists.

Methods: An omni-domain power-duration (OmPD) model was derived whereby the rate of W? expenditure is bound by maximum sprint power and the power at prolonged durations declines from CP log-linearly. The three-parameter CP (3CP) and exponential (Exp) models were likewise extended with the log-linear decay function (Om3CP and OmExp). Each model bounds W? using a different nonconstant function, W?eff (effective W?). Models were fit to MMP data from nine cyclists who also completed four time-trials (TTs).

Results: The OmPD and Om3CP residuals (4 ± 1%) were smaller than the OmExp residuals (6 ± 2%; P < 0.001). W?eff predicted by the OmPD model was stable between 120–1,800 s, whereas it varied for the Om3CP and OmExp models. TT prediction errors were not different between models (7 ± 5%, 8 ± 5%, 7 ± 6%; P = 0.914).

Conclusion: The OmPD offers similar or superior goodness-of-fit and better theoretical properties compared to the other models, such that it best extends the CP concept to short-sprint and prolonged-endurance performance.     

浅谈竞赛规则与运动技战术发展的辩证关系

体育运动的发展促进了竞赛规则的产生和发展,竞赛规则的不断完善推动了技战术水平的发展,竞赛规则与运动技战术既相互促进,又相互制约.分析研究两者的辩证关系有利于运动技战术的发展,也使各项竞赛规则更加日趋完善.     

湖南省部分高校排球运动员运动损伤的调查与分析

调查研究了湖南省9所高校排球运动员的运动损伤情况,对排球运动员在体育训练与竞赛中运动损伤的类型、身体部位、损伤产生的原因进行了分析,找出了运动损伤发生的一般规律和特点,提出了在高校体育训练和竞赛中预防和减少运动损伤的一些措施和建议。     

运动能力与营养

多年来一直在寻找某种膳食或膳食的成分,以增强运动员的运动能力。本文讨论运动员膳食中主要营养素如:蛋白质、脂肪、碳水化物、维生素、矿物质和水的作用。     

山东省高校大学生篮球运动损伤的调查分析

通过采用文献资料法、问卷调查法和专家访谈法,对山东省部分高校大学生篮球运动损伤情况进行调查分析。结果表明：大学生篮球运动损伤主要发生在课外活动时间,损伤类型以踝关节、膝关节、指关节为主;且高年级运动损伤发生率多于低年级,体育专业学生高于其他专业,其原因除准备活动不足和心理因素外,还与场地器材因素有关。     

高校体育竞赛与校园文化建设互动研究

高校体育竞赛作为校园文化活动的重要组成部分之一,具有许多校园文化的特点和功能。高校体育竞赛的健康发展促进了校园文化各个层面的发展,同时高校体育竞赛又成为展示和传播校园文化的窗口。二者的关系是相互促进、相互影响、互为动力的。其中某一因素的良好发展必将对另一因素产生积极的推动作用。     

试论运动训练科学范式

当代国际体育竞技的特征是运动员水平越来越接近、比赛越来越激烈,而如何得到科学技术的最大"帮助"是当代运动训练的惟一选择.近代运动训练科学范式是建立在以牛顿力学为基础的简单性范式基础上的,它对加深人类对运动训练本质的认识产生了积极的作用.但是,20世纪80年代以来,随着复杂性科学的兴起,传统运动训练科学范式日益显示出其自身难以逾越的局限性.通过对近代运动训练科学范式形成的历史过程进行梳理,对其所面临的困境进行论述,提出实现运动训练科学范式从简单性向复杂性转化的迫切性.     

竞技太极拳的舞台表演研究

随着现代社会多元化的发展和舞台表演艺术的繁荣,从各种大中型文艺表演活动的发展趋势来看,存在于其中的竞技太极拳表演不仅满足了人们不断变化的观赏需要,同时也为自身的发展寻求了一条新的发展之路。以竞技太极拳舞台表演为切入点,运用舞台表演中的音乐、服装、动作设计等艺术手法来丰富与充实竞技太极拳的表演形式与内容。