Sports’ disciplinary legacy and the challenge of ‘coaching differently’

Be empowering. Be athlete-centered. Be autonomy supportive. These are three related topics currently being promoted by sport psychologists and sport pedagogists in an effort to recognize athletes’ unique qualities and developmental differences and make coaching more holistic and coaches more considerate. This has led us to ask, how likely are such initiatives to lead to coaches putting their athletes at the center of the coaching process given that coaches’ practices have largely been formed through relations of power that subordinate and objectify athletes’ bodies through the regular application of a range of disciplinary techniques and instruments [e.g. Barker-Ruchti, N., &; Tinning, R. (2010). Foucault in leotards: Corporeal discipline in women's artistic gymnastics. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27, 229–250; Heikkala, J. (1993). Discipline and excel: Techniques of the self and body and the logic of competing. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10, 397–412; Gearity, B., &; Mills, J. P. (2012). Discipline and punish in the weight room. Sports Coaching Review, 1, 124–134]? In other words, to try to develop athlete-centered coaches capable of coaching in ways that will empower their athletes without also problematizing the discursive formation of coaches’ practices concerns us [Denison, J., &; Mills, J. P. (2014). Planning for distance running: Coaching with Foucault. Sports Coaching Review, 3, 1–16]. Put differently: how can athlete empowerment initiatives be anything more than rhetoric within a disciplinary framework that normalizes maximum coach control? It is this question that we intend to explore in this paper. More specifically, as Foucauldians, we will argue that coaching with greater consideration for athletes’ unique qualities and developmental differences needs to entail coaching in a less disciplinary way and with an awareness and appreciation of the many unseen effects that disciplinary power can have on coaches’ practices and athletes’ bodies.     

Optimal sampling frequency in recording of resistance training exercises

The purpose of this study was to analyse the raw lifting speed collected during four different resistance training exercises to assess the optimal sampling frequency. Eight physically active participants performed sets of Squat Jumps, Countermovement Jumps, Squats and Bench Presses at a maximal lifting speed. A linear encoder was used to measure the instantaneous speed at a 200 Hz sampling rate. Subsequently, the power spectrum of the signal was computed by evaluating its Discrete Fourier Transform. The sampling frequency needed to reconstruct the signals with an error of less than 0.1% was f_99.9 = 11.615 ± 2.680 Hz for the exercise exhibiting the largest bandwidth, with the absolute highest individual value being 17.467 Hz. There was no difference between sets in any of the exercises. Using the closest integer sampling frequency value (25 Hz) yielded a reconstruction of the signal up to 99.975 ± 0.025% of its total in the worst case. In conclusion, a sampling rate of 25 Hz or above is more than adequate to record raw speed data and compute power during resistance training exercises, even under the most extreme circumstances during explosive exercises. Higher sampling frequencies provide no increase in the recording precision and may instead have adverse effects on the overall data quality.     

Assessment of leg muscles mechanical capacities: Which jump,loading, and variable type provide the most reliable outcomes?

This study aimed to explore the strength of the force–velocity (F–V) relationship of lower limb muscles and the reliability of its parameters (maximum force [F₀], slope [a], maximum velocity [V₀], and maximum power [P₀]). Twenty-three men were tested in two different jump types (squat and countermovement jump: SJ and CMJ), performed under two different loading conditions (free weight and Smith machine: Free and Smith) with 0, 17, 30, 45, 60, and 75?kg loads. The maximum and averaged values of F and V were obtained for the F–V relationship modelling. All F–V relationships were strong and linear independently whether observed from the averaged across the participants (r?≥?0.98) or individual data (r?=?0.94–0.98), while their parameters were generally highly reliable (F₀ [CV: 4.85%, ICC: 0.87], V₀ [CV: 6.10%, ICC: 0.82], a [CV: 10.5%, ICC: 0.81], and P₀ [CV: 3.5%, ICC: 0.93]). Both the strength of the F–V relationships and the reliability of their parameters were significantly higher for (1) the CMJ over the SJ, (2) the Free over the Smith loading type, and (3) the maximum over the averaged F and V variables. In conclusion, although the F–V relationships obtained from all the jumps tested were linear and generally highly reliable, the less appropriate choice for testing the F–V relationship could be through the averaged F and V data obtained from the SJ performed either in a Free weight or in a Smith machine. Insubstantial differences exist among the other combinations tested.     

Negotiating women’s social space: public debates on gender in early modern Kerala,India*

Abstract

The paper argues that the formation of modern gender identities in early‐twentieth‐century Kerala was deeply implicated in the project of shaping governable subjects who were, at one and the same time ‘free’ and already inserted into modern institutions. Because gender appeared both natural and social, both individualising and general, it seemed to be a superior form of social ordering compared to the pre‐existing order of caste. The actualisation of a superior society ordered by gender was seen to be dependent upon the shaping of the fully‐fledged individuals with strong internalities and well‐developed gendered capacities that would place them in distinct social domains of the public and domestic, as ‘free’ individuals, who, however, were bound together in a complementary relationship. While this model still remains dominant in Kerala, by the 1930s, the public/domestic divide came to be blurred with the rapid spread of disciplinary institutions. Womanhood came to be associated not with a certain domain but with a certain form of power. This legitimated the entry of Malayalee women into public life, undergirded the much‐discussed ‘Kerala Model’ of development, and still holds up the highly ambiguous sort of ‘liberation’ elite Malayalee women have experienced. It has also strongly influenced the specific shape the resistance to patriarchy has taken in Kerala in the twentieth century.     

浅论文化软实力语境下高校思想政治理论课创新

高校思想政治理论课肩负着国家文化软实力建设不可替代的责任与使命。在文化软实力语境下,认清高校思想政治理论课与文化软实力建设的关系,创新高校思想政治理论课的教学理念和模式,加强对大学生社会主义核心价值体系教育、优秀传统文化教育,实现对大学生思想政治教育的生活化,对大学生文化素养的提高以及我国文化软实力的提升,必将发挥长远的积极作用。     

振动力量训练对跳远运动员膝关节肌力变化影响的实验

为了拓宽专项力量训练途径,丰富和创新力量训练方法,通过振动力量训练组(II组)和传统力量训练组(I)对比实验研究来探索振动力量训练对跳远运动员下肢肌肉力量训练效果的影响规律,为进一步振动力量训练发展和应用提供实验依据。实验结果表明:振动力量训练法能在同等的负荷条件下,能更有效地发展运动员膝关节屈肌群的最大力量、快速力量、爆发力,其中伸肌表现不明显;振动力量训练也提高了运动员的膝关节肌群力量耐力水平,同时使膝关节屈伸肌群得到协调发展。     

追问与省思：面子心理导向下的中国武术发展研究

摘要：国民文化心态综合体现着中华文明的印记与传统文化的培塑,是一种对自己本民族文化与价值观念所持有的总体态度,容易受到社会心理导向的干预,进而对国民文化认知产生影响。主要运用文献资料法,从家族面子与武术的“入奥”追求,他人面子与武术“能打”的证明以及自我面子与武术的“优越”情结3个层面,探讨了当前中国武术的发展问题。研究认为：不可兼容的中西文化差异,特殊的国民文化心态以及不全面的武术本土化认知,导致中国武术在对“自我认知”与“他者认知”的时候出现误区。在此基础上,提出：要实现中国武术的体面发展应该坚守文化自觉的主张,加快武术现代化转型;树立文化自信的观念,摆正武术的文化姿态;培育自尊自强的国民心态,确保武术的理性发展。惟其如此,才能从更全面、更客观的视角看待武术、发展武术。     

一个带协变量调整多响应比较的高效方法及其在基因组数据中的应用

目前在文献中有很多关于多响应比较的研究方法,但是对带协变量调整的非参数检验的研究较少。一种直观的想法是将数据先投影到协变量的正交空间中,然后再利用秩和检验、调整的秩和检验或最大值检验方法。但是,功效普遍不高。在调整的秩和检验和伪F检验两种方法基础上,构建MIN2检验。大量模拟和实际数据表明,MIN2检验的效果优于现有的非参数检验方法。     

关于彰显学术权力的若干问题

学术权力与行政权力的关系是近年来人们在讨论大学管理时涉及较多的一个话题。由于我国大学的学术权力是在严密的行政权力体系下开始生长的,且如何在大学管理中发挥学术权力的作用、如何协调学术权力与行政权力的关系还正在摸索过程中,因此有必要就大学学术权力的内涵、作用内容与范围、学术权力的构成形式以及彰显学术权力的制度保障等问题作进一步深入的分析研究。     

体育的主旨是强化体能而非保健养生--读张之沧先生《论身体教育的迫切性》一文有感

分析了健康、体育、教育等方面的惯常误解，认为轻视知识的风气是知识分子的健康大敌，强调体育虽有助于健身但主要是为强化体能。