Sports Applications Research Articles

Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Traditional Sports: A Case Study of the Asian Games and Future Directions for Modernization

Abstract: This paper explores the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into traditional sports, addressing a critical gap in existing research through a qualitative case study of the Asian Games. AI's application in modern sports has demonstrated its potential to enhance event management, athlete preparation, and scoring fairness. However, its adoption in traditional sports, such as Wushu and Chinese wrestling, remains limited. This study examines the challenges and opportunities associated with applying AI to traditional sports, offering development strategies to modernize these disciplines. By analyzing the impact of AI in modern competitive sports, the research proposes specific recommendations for integrating AI into traditional sports, aiming to preserve their cultural heritage while advancing their global relevance. Limitations include the focus on a single event and the exclusion of the most recent AI developments. Future research should consider a broader range of global sporting events and incorporate the latest advancements in AI technology. This study provides a theoretical and practical foundation for the application of AI in traditional sports, with implications for future technological innovation and the evolution of the sports industry.

Advancements in surface treatments for aluminum alloys in sports equipment

Abstract This review examines recent advancements in surface treatment technologies for aluminum alloys used in sports equipment. We discuss conventional methods like chemical conversion coatings and anodizing, as well as emerging techniques such as plasma electrolytic oxidation, physical vapor deposition, and laser surface modification. The replacement of toxic hexavalent chromium with eco-friendly alternatives is highlighted as a key development. We also explore the potential of smart, self-healing coatings to extend equipment lifespan. Our analysis reveals that while significant progress has been made in enhancing corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, challenges remain in scaling up advanced treatments for industrial implementation. The review concludes that continued innovation in surface treatments will be crucial for improving the performance, safety, and sustainability of aluminum alloys in sports applications, ultimately benefiting athletes and manufacturers alike.

Engaging Youth with the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Framework: Sport Psychology Graduate Students’ Experience in a Service-Learning Course

Purpose: Grounded in the framework of Hellison’s (2011) Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model, this study sought to understand how graduate students learned to facilitate a youth physical activity program while participating in a service-learning course designed to promote sport for development. Methods: This study utilized a thematic narrative analysis approach. Researchers interviewed one cohort of Master’s students (n=5) studying counseling and sport psychology who participated in the service-learning course. Results: Identified themes included: (1) supervision and consultation, (2) observation, and (3) self-reflection, along with emergent sub-themes when relevant. Conclusions: This research provides insight into how future service-learning courses in the field of counseling and sport psychology can be developed to facilitate graduate student learning through a culturally conscious lens. Applications in Sport: This information can be valuable for sport psychologists, sport social workers, mental performance consultants, physical education teachers, and coach educators when considering how to promote the development of future practitioners.

An adaptive bionic sensor: enhancing ankle joint tracking with high sensitivity and superior cushioning performance

Flexible sensors are renowned for their rapid responsiveness, high flexibility, and outstanding mechanical properties, making them ideal for applications in wearable devices, sports and health monitoring, and human-machine interfaces. To enhance the sensing performance of these flexible sensors, researchers have drawn inspiration from nature, creating various bionic microstructures. However, these structures often manifest in the macroscopic form of thin films, which do little to improve impact resistance and joint protection. In response, this work achieves a highly sensitive and impact-resistant pressure sensor by integrating bionic principles at both micro and macro levels. Specifically, at the micro level, a muscle-like hydrogel system consisting of MXene nanosheets incorporated into the double network of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate matrix is selected. At the macro level, the bionic prototypes of mimosa leaves and durian spikes with good energy absorption structure, together with octopus’ sucker with good adsorption capacity are selected, and the synergistic construction of the three structures is realized through 3D printing methods. The obtained sensor has an appropriate response range, sensitivity and stability. More importantly, the displacement deformation of the hydrogel can be reduced by 91.22%, while its adhesion strength can be increased by 57.5% compared to the unstructured hydrogel. As a proof-of-concept, the proposed bionic flexible sensor can be used to monitor the motion status of the human ankle joint in real-time, thereby assisting users in making real-time judgments on gait health.

Advances in Markerless Motion Capture Systems: A Review of OpenCap and Its Applications

Motion capture technology has long been a cornerstone of biomechanical research and analysis, traditionally relying on marker-based systems. However, these systems have inherent limitations, including high costs, time-consuming setup, and constraints on natural movement. Recent advancements in computer vision and machine learning have paved the way for markerless motion capture systems, such as OpenCap, which offer a more accessible and natural approach to biomechanical analysis. This review focuses on OpenCap, exploring its accuracy, challenges, and future potential, while comparing it with traditional motion capture technologies and discussing its applications in sports, clinical rehabilitation, and everyday use. Areas in need of refinement, such as improving pose estimation algorithms and addressing inter-trial variability, are identified as key future research directions. Other markerless systems are also compared in terms of advantages, limitations, and application. The findings suggest that while OpenCap and similar systems hold significant promise, further research and refinement are necessary to fully realize their potential and integrate them seamlessly into various biomechanical applications.

Sports Medicine Protocols: Guide to Injury Management and Rehabilitation

Sports medicine protocols are crucial manuals that provide evidence-based methods for managing injuries, recovering from surgeries, and maximising performance for athletes of all skill levels. Sports medicine professionals can use these protocols as standardised frameworks to evaluate, diagnose, and treat sports-related injuries. They can also be used to help make safe and efficient return-to-play choices. This paper offers a thorough review of sports medicine practices, including important elements like injury evaluation, treatment options, physical therapy exercises, and criteria for returning to the game. This research tries to improve the understanding and application of sports.

Highly selective detection of methamphetamine in urine using biosynthesized graphene oxide-gold nanoparticle composite modified electrodes

This study presents a novel electrochemical aptasensor for the detection of methamphetamine, utilizing a biosynthesized graphene oxide-gold nanoparticle (GO-AuNP) composite. The nanocomposite was synthesized using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, offering a green and cost-effective alternative to traditional chemical methods. Characterization by UV–vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, and FTIR confirmed the successful formation of the GO-AuNP composite, with AuNPs averaging 18.3 ± 3.7 nm in diameter uniformly distributed on GO sheets. The aptasensor was optimized for aptamer concentration (10 μM), incubation time (30 minutes), and pH (7.4). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed a linear relationship between the change in charge transfer resistance and the logarithm of methamphetamine concentration from 0.5 nM to 500 nM. The aptasensor achieved a detection limit of 0.15 nM, surpassing many existing methods. Cross-reactivity studies with potential interferents showed minimal response, with all tested compounds exhibiting less than 15 % relative signal compared to methamphetamine. The sensor demonstrated good reproducibility (RSD = 4.8 %) and retained over 90 % of its initial response after 30 days of storage. Analysis of spiked urine samples yielded recovery rates between 96.8 % and 103.5 %, validating the aptasensor's potential for real-world applications in sports doping control and clinical diagnostics.

Exploring plausible uses of artificial intelligence in sports

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast gaining popularity in almost every field. This study explores the uses of AI in the field of sports, which has significantly evolved in technological aspects over the past two decades. Available data and expert opinions were analyzed. The analysis shows that AI has a wide variety of applications in sports, which—when implemented—can improve the field; at the same time, the data makes clear that indiscriminate use may cost the sports industry its stability and glory.

A speech-based convolutional neural network for human body posture classification

Abstract Problem In recent years, computing and sensing advances have helped to develop efficient human posture classification systems, which assist in creating health systems that contribute to enhancing elder’s and disable’s life quality in context-aware and ambient assistive living applications. Other applications of body posture classification include the simulation of human bodies into virtual characters, security applications such as kidnapping and the body position of the kidnapper or victim, which can provide useful information to the negotiator or the rescue team, and other sports applications. Aim This work aims to propose a body posture classification system based on speech using deep learning techniques. Methods All samples pass through the preprocessing phase. The Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC) with 12 coefficients was used as features, and the best features were selected by the correlation-based feature selection method. Two supervised learning techniques called artificial hydrocarbon networks (AHN) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) were deployed to efficiently classify body postures and movements. This research aims to detect six human positions through speech, which include walking downstairs, sitting, walking upstairs, running, laying, and walking. The dataset used in this work was prepared by the authors, named the human activity speech dataset. Results The best performance gained was with the AHN classifier of 68.9% accuracy and 67.1% accuracy with the CNN. Conclusion It was concluded that the MFCC features are the most powerful features in body position classification, and the deep learning methods are powerful in classifying body positions.

Preparation and characterization of functional dual network hydrogel for motion monitoring in smart bra

The smart bra is a kind of sports underwear with providing health monitoring and comfort protection for women breast in sports. Developing smart sensing materials that combine comfort and functionality for sensing breast condition remains a challenge. Here, natural polysaccharide sodium alginate (SA), acrylamide (AM) monomer and chitosan (CS) and polypyrrole (PPy) in-situ polymerized from pyrole (Py) monomer were used as raw materials to successfully synthesize double network conductive hydrogel by two-step method. The results show that in the hydrogels, the entanglement and interpenetration of macromolecules produce toughness (tensile/compressive strength is ∼0.248 MPa/∼2.836 MPa), elasticity (tensile/compression elastic recovery rate is∼94.06 %/∼98.41 %) and durability (after 30 tensile/compression cycles conducting at 25 %, 50 % and 100 % constant strain keep at high recovery rate). The rich moisture content provides its adhesion (adhesion strength ∼4.7557 kPa) and flexibility (bending stiffness 1.0843 cN cm∼), presenting sufficient adhesion reliability and robustness to different substrates. The addition of PPy enables the hydrogel to have conductivity (6.77 × 10−2 S cm−1) and sensing performance (tensile/compression sensitivity is ∼1.94/∼1.43). The conductive hydrogel, as a flexible strain sensor, shows good adhesion, flexibility, elasticity and sensitivity in application of sports smart bra, can detect both the tensile behavior of skin and the compression state of tissue through its mechano-electricity, and accurately sense the changes of physiological parameters during movement. The conductive hydrogel with high elasticity and strength has broad application prospects in smart bra.

Validation of Automated Countermovement Vertical Jump Analysis: Markerless Pose Estimation vs. 3D Marker-Based Motion Capture System

This study aimed to validate the automated temporal analysis of countermovement vertical jump (CMJ) using MMPose, a markerless pose estimation framework, by comparing it with the gold-standard 3D marker-based motion capture system. Twelve participants performed five CMJ trials, which were simultaneously recorded using the marker-based system and two smartphone cameras capturing both sides of the body. Key kinematic points, including center of mass (CoM) and toe trajectories, were analyzed to determine jump phases and temporal variables. The agreement between methods was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis, root mean square error (RMSE), and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r), while consistency was evaluated via intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 3,1) and two-way repeated-measures ANOVA. Cohen’s effect size (d) quantified the practical significance of differences. Results showed strong agreement (r > 0.98) with minimal bias and narrow limits of agreement for most variables. The markerless system slightly overestimated jump height and CoM vertical velocity, but ICC values (ICC > 0.91) confirmed strong reliability. Cohen’s d values were near zero, indicating trivial differences, and no variability due to recording side was observed. Overall, MMPose proved to be a reliable alternative for in-field CMJ analysis, supporting its broader application in sports and rehabilitation settings.

Heart Rate Variability in Elite Team Sports: A Systematic Review

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) is recognized as a crucial indicator of autonomic nervous system function and is valuable in sports science for monitoring athlete health and performance. This systematic review investigates the use of HRV in elite team sports to monitor training adaptations, athlete status, and overall health. The purpose is to consolidate recent findings and provide a comprehensive understanding of HRV's application in elite team sports. Methods: The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023431208). A comprehensive search was performed across PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, covering studies from January 2013 to November 2023. Studies included involved elite team-sport athletes, with HRV measured immediately after waking. Exclusion criteria were underage athletes, injured athletes, and studies using HRV for different purposes. The review process involved screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, with a final inclusion of 12 studies. Results: Out of 277 identified articles, 12 studies met the inclusion criteria, involving sports such as water polo, rugby, football, basketball, volleyball, handball, futsal, hockey, and rowing. The studies highlighted HRV as a valuable tool for tracking training load adaptations, monitoring athlete readiness, recovery, and mental stress. Daily HRV measurements were commonly used, showing effectiveness in detecting overtraining and ensuring adequate recovery. Various HRV parameters and recording methods were discussed, emphasizing the need for individualized assessment. RMSSD and LnRMSSD were the most commonly used parameters, with variations in recording times and positions. Conclusions: HRV is an effective non-invasive marker for optimizing training regimens and improving athlete health, making it a significant tool in sports medicine. This review provides actionable insights for integrating HRV monitoring into daily training practices, ultimately enhancing athletic performance and preventing overtraining. Standardized protocols for HRV measurement are recommended to ensure consistency and reliability in data collection and interpretation. The findings highlight the need for further research to refine HRV applications and establish best practices in elite team sports

Reliability and repeatability assessment of single camera 2D and 3D markerless approach for sport applications

Reliability and repeatability assessment of single camera 2D and 3D markerless approach for sport applications

Polymer-assisted dispersion of reduced graphene oxide in electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers for enhanced piezoelectric monitoring of human body movement

Electrospun graphene oxide (GO)/polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/PVDF piezoelectric hybrid nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning to enhance the β-phase content of the PVDF crystal structure. The addition of rGO increased the number of nucleation sites in the PVDF matrix, leading to an improved β-phase content in the nanofibers. Although the inclusion of GO also increased the β-phase content, rGO addition resulted in higher output voltages due to its greater conductivity compared to GO. rGO/PVDF produced higher output voltages than GO/PVDF because rGO has few oxygen-containing groups on its carbon atoms. The 1 wt% GO/PVDF nanofibers exhibited an 86.24 % β-phase content and an average output voltage of 3.2 V under a 15 N load. The 0.5 wt% rGO/PVDF nanofibers demonstrated an 84.09 % β-phase content and an average output voltage of 3.66 V under the same load. The nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 improved rGO dispersal, enhancing its effectiveness in inducing β-phase formation, and increasing the number of stress concentration points in the nanofibers. A piezoelectric device composed of TX-100/rGO/PVDF nanofibers exhibited stable performance even after 1,500 load cycles, generating an average output voltage of 7.13 V under a 15 N load. This device serves as both an energy harvester and a footwear sensor, offering potential applications in new sports monitoring technologies and self-powered wearables.

Advances in Intelligent Sports Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerators

In the realm of intelligent sports, the integration of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) marks a transformative approach toward energy sustainability and more advanced athletic monitoring. By leveraging the principle of triboelectricity, TENGs ingeniously convert mechanical energy from athletes’ movements into electrical energy, which offers a green and efficient power solution for wearable technology. This paper presents an innovative study on the application of TENG technology in sports science, with the results illustrating the potential utility of TENGs in revolutionizing the way we monitor, analyze, and enhance athletic performance. Through the development of self-powered wearables and equipment, TENGs facilitate real-time data collection on physiological and biomechanical parameters, ultimately enabling personalized training adjustments and injury prevention strategies. Our findings underscore the dual benefit of TENGs in promoting environmental sustainability by reducing the overall reliance on traditional energy sources and growing the capabilities of intelligent sports systems. This research contributes to the burgeoning field of nano-energy sports applications while setting the stage for future explorations into the optimization of TENG integration in athletic performance enhancement. Finally, the paper concludes by discussing remaining challenges in this area and opportunities for further research.

SmartDampener: An Open Source Platform for Sport Analytics in Tennis

In this paper, we introduce SmartDampener, an open-source tennis analytics platform that redefines the traditional understanding of vibration dampeners. Traditional vibration dampeners favored by both amateur and professional tennis players are utilized primarily to diminish vibration transmission and enhance racket stability. However, our platform uniquely merges wireless sensing technologies into a device that resembles a conventional vibration dampener, thereby offering a range of tennis performance metrics including ball speed, impact location, and stroke type. The design of SmartDampener adheres to the familiar form of this accessory, ensuring that (i) it is readily accepted by users and robust under real-play conditions such as ball-hitting, (ii) it has minimal impact on player performance, (iii) it is capable of providing a wide range of analytical insights, and (iv) it is extensible to other sports. Existing computer vision systems for tennis sensing such as Hawk-eye and PlaySight, rely on hardware that costs millions of US dollars to deploy with complex setup procedures and is susceptible to lighting environment. Wearable devices and other tennis sensing accessories, such as Zepp Tennis sensor and TennisEye, using intrusive mounting locations, hinder user experience and impede player performance. In contrast, SmartDampener, a low-cost and compact tennis sensing device, notable for its socially accepted, lightweight and scalable design, seamlessly melds into the form of a vibration dampener. SmartDampener exploits opportunities in SoC and form factor design of conventional dampeners to integrate the sensing units and micro-controllers on a two-layer flexible PCB, that is bent and enclosed inside a dampener case made of 3D printing TPU material, while maintaining the vibration dampening feature and further being enhanced by its extended battery life and the inclusion of wireless communication features. The overall cost is $9.42, with a dimension of 21.4 mm × 27.5 mm × 9.7 mm (W × L × H) and a weight of 6.1 g and 5.8 hours of battery life. In proof of SmartDampener's performance in tennis analytics, we present various tennis analytic applications that exploit the capability of SmartDampener in capturing the correlations across string vibration, and racket motion, including the estimation of ball speed with a median error of 3.59 mph, estimation of ball impact location with accuracy of 3.03 cm, and classification of six tennis strokes with accuracy of 96.75%. Finally, extensive usability studies with 15 tennis players indicate high levels of social acceptance of form factor design for the SmartDampener dampener in comparison with alternative form factors, as well as its capability of sensing and analyzing tennis stroke in an accurate and robust manner. We believe this platform will enable exciting applications in other sports like badminton, fitness tracking, and injury prevention.

Cannabinoid Therapy in Athletics: A Review of Current Cannabis Research to Evaluate Potential Real-World Cannabinoid Applications in Sport.

The increasing legalization of Cannabis sativa plant products has sparked growing interest in their therapeutic applications. Prohibition laws established in 1937 hindered formal research on cannabis, a plant with cultural and medicinal roots dating back to 2700 BC in Chinese history. Despite regulatory hurdles, published research on cannabis has emerged; yet elite athletes remain an underrepresented population in these studies. Athletes, known for exploring diverse substances to optimize performance, are drawn to the potential benefits of cannabinoid therapy, with anecdotal reports suggesting positive effects on issues ranging from anxiety to brain injuries. This review aims to evaluate empirical published cannabis research with a specific focus on its potential applications in athletics. The changing legal landscape, especially the removal of cannabis from drug testing programs in leagues such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), and endorsements by Major League Baseball (MLB) for cannabinoid products and the National Football League (NFL) for cannabis research, reflects a shift in the acceptability of such substances in sports. However, stigma, confusion, and a lack of education persist, hindering a cohesive understanding among sports organizations, including business professionals, policymakers, coaches, and medical/training staff, in addition to athletes themselves. Adding to the confusion is the lack of consistency with cannabinoid regulations from sport to sport, within or out of competition, and with cannabis bioactive compounds. The need for this review is underscored by the evolving attitudes toward cannabinoids in professional sports and the potential therapeutic benefits or harms they may offer. By synthesizing current cannabis research, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the applications and implications of cannabinoid use in the realm of athletics.

Laser Fabrication of Humidity Sensors on Ethanol-Soaked Polyimide for Fully Contactless Respiratory Monitoring.

Humidity-sensor-based fully contactless respiratory monitoring can eliminate the discomfort and infection risks associated with any wearable device. However, challenges in the facile fabrication of highly sensitive humidity sensors continue to hinder their widespread application for fully contactless respiratory monitoring. In this study, we introduce a simple method to fabricate highly sensitive humidity sensors. Our method employs laser-induced graphene (LIG) on an ethanol-soaked polyimide (PI) film as the electrode of the humidity sensor. The ethanol-soaked PI between adjacent LIG electrodes functions as the sensing material, enabling ion-conductive humidity sensing. Compared to the LIG humidity sensors fabricated on untreated PI films, LIG humidity sensors fabricated on ethanol-soaked PI films exhibit superior performance with higher linearity (R2 = 0.9936), reduced hysteresis (ΔH = 5.1% RH), and increased sensitivity (0.65%/RH). Notably, the LIG humidity sensor fabricated on the ethanol-soaked PI film can detect a person's breathing from a distance of 30 cm, a capability not achieved by sensors fabricated on untreated PI films. Moreover, incorporating these LIG humidity sensors into an array further enhances both the detection distance and the sensitivity for respiratory monitoring. Experimental results demonstrate that the LIG humidity sensor array can be employed for fully contactless on-bed respiration monitoring and for continuous, fully contactless monitoring of the respiratory rate during treadmill exercise. These results highlight the great potential of our LIG humidity sensors for various practical applications in medicine and sports.

Evidence of spontaneous cardiac-locomotor coupling during daily activities in healthy adults.

One way to improve exercise performance and protect heart health is the extended synchronization of the stepping with the diastolic phase of the cardiac cycle. Cardiac-locomotor coupling (CLC) happens when the step rate (SR) equals the heart rate (HR). The extent of CLC in daily life is unknown. This study aims to analyze spontaneous occurrences of CLC during daily activities. A retrospective analysis of daily life recordings from a wrist-worn sensor was undertaken (PMData, N = 16, 5months duration). The deviation between HR and SR was used to define CLC (deviation ≤ 1%) and weak CLC (1%< deviation ≤ 10%). The occurrence and the probability of CLC during everyday life were computed from the recordings. The CLC occurrences were stratified depending on the duration and intensity of the physical activity. Finally, a Monte Carlo simulation was run to evaluate the probability of random occurrences of CLC vs. the observed recordings. Participants couple for 5% and weakly couple for 35% of the observational period. The ratio of 1:1 between HR and SR is the dominating occurrence across the study population and this overrepresentation is significant. CLC occurs mostly for long activities. The extent of CLC for various intensities of activity is subject-dependent. The results suggest that CLC is feasible for most people. CLC occurs spontaneously during unsupervised daily activity in everyone in our cohort, which suggests a mechanistic interaction between the cardiac and the locomotor systems. This interaction should be investigated for medical rehabilitation and sports applications in the future.

Alpha Neurofeedback Training in Elite Soccer Players Trained in Groups.

Neurofeedback training is applied in the world of sports as a means to improve athletes' performance. Training sessions are usually organized on an individual basis, one at a time. Here we investigated if the training could also be organized in groups. Forty-one national-level football (soccer) players (26 females, 15 males) carried out training sessions simultaneously in groups of up to 13, using a wearable device with Bluetooth connection, during their regular training hours at the club. It was possible to obtain good EEG measurements using this setup, albeit with a somewhat higher data loss than usual in standard laboratory sessions. The brain's alpha activity was trained using music-based neurofeedback in a crossover design. A training session consisted of alternating periods of neurofeedback and execution of cognitive tasks. EEG alpha (8-12Hz) activity was higher in the neurofeedback periods compared to the cognitive task periods, and the reverse was true for beta (13-30Hz) activity. The training program resulted in an increase of 34% in alpha activity associated with the training, and improved the athletes' performance on task switching and mental rotation tasks. In addition, self-reported sleep duration, as well as scores on the Being in Shape questionnaire (Feeling of Control and Flow) also improved. This study shows that neurofeedback training is feasible in groups of athletes, which can stimulate its application in team sports.