Play Ball Research Articles

Youth Soccer – The Influences of Significant Othersʼ Behavior Explored

1521 PURPOSE: To identify age-related differences in the frequencies and nature of significant others' verbal comments at male youth soccer matches, and to assess whether it is typically conducive of a desirable youth sport environment. METHODS: The nature of comments made by 32 randomly selected significant others attending youth soccer games in the Central Lancashire (UK) Junior League (under 9 – under 16), were recorded. A total of 16 soccer matches were attended during mid-season. Prior to selecting each subject, the researcher observed interactions between the youth players and adult spectators, in order to identify apparent significant other-child relationships. The method used for data collection was an 'unobtrusive language analysis', utilizing a modified version of the Parent Observation Instrument for Sports Events (POISE) to hand record and categorize comments. Both researchers were located as inconspicuously as possible (out of the subjects' line of vision) to avoid any responses in behavior. The comments were categorized in terms of 1) nature (e.g. positive – reinforcing), 2) target (e.g. associated child) and 3) event (e.g. ball in play). Data were analyzed using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test to identify differences in the nature of general comments (all targets) and comments directed specifically towards the associated child, between age groups. RESULTS: No significant differences were identified in the frequencies or nature of significant others' general comments, and comments directed specifically towards the associated child, between broader age groups (u-9 to u-12 and u-13 to u-16). However, analysis of individual age-groups revealed significantly (P<0.05) higher frequencies of general comments in the u11 to u12 group, and significantly (P<0.05) lower frequencies of comments directed towards the associated child in the u15 to u16 group. Individual age group analysis of the nature of comments, also revealed significantly higher positive comments and significantly lower neutral comments in the u9 to u10 age group, for both general targets and comments directed towards the associated child. CONCLUSIONS: Although the majority of comments were of a positive nature, overall a higher percentage of negative comments (mean = 26.4%) were made than is advised in creating a supportive learning environment. Modification of significant others' verbal behavior to be more representative of youth soccer players' age related requirements, may reduce youth soccer attrition.

Author, Reviewer Play Ball

McCullen replies: John Wesson’s second version of the force analysis on the ball casing requires us to envision that the ball is pushed up by the internal pressure of the contained air on the upper part of the casing. But of course the total effect of that pressure on the whole casing is zero, as his analysis confirms. Splitting its effect into parts just confuses the issue—and therefore any statement about the cause of the bounce—for the reader.© 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Author, Reviewer Play Ball

It may not be good form for authors to respond to reviews of their books—but forbearance has its limits. In his review of my book The Science of Soccer (Physics Today, Physics Today 0031-9228 56 6 2003 64 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1595055. June 2003, page 64 ), John D. McCullen says that I give an “extraordinary incorrect” account of the bounce of the ball. In fact, my description is perfectly good physics. In a nutshell, here it is.One can simply say that, during the bounce, the force on the ball is the reaction force from the ground to the equal air-pressure force on the contact area. Alternatively, one can correctly say that the total force on the casing of the ball in contact with the ground is zero (it is not accelerating), and in this description the force on the casing is the unbalanced pressure force on that part of the upper surface opposite to the part of the casing in contact with the ground. In the book, I give both descriptions. Each has its merits and both, of course, give the same correct answer.A full account of the dynamics is given in the book, the first chapter of which is devoted to the ball and the bounce.© 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Patterns of play of international rugby union teams before and after the introduction of professional status.

Many methods of assessing game intensity that are appropriate to the research scientist- including heart rate analysis (Ali and Farrally1), blood lactates (Deutsch, Maw, Jenkins and Reaburn2) and time-motion analysis (Reilly and Thomas3 and Withers, Maricic, Wasilewski and Kelly4) - may have limited application in the ‘real world’. Hence in game analysis, the relative simplicity of videotape recordings may be considered the most appropriate tool for the rugby coach in terms of applicability and reproducibility.Anecdotal evidence would suggest that since the introduction of professional rugby union, the game has become more intense due to increases in total activity duration and speed of play. Analysis using a modified time/motion approach specifically relating to activity times may provide detailed information on the relative intensity of the game.The purpose of this study was to compare the time and frequency of activity and ball re-cycling (using videotaped recordings) of International Rugby Union teams in four discrete periods spanning the inception of professional rugby in the mid 1990’s with particular reference to periods spanning the inception of professional status in 1995/6.Individual activity times (initial possession to completed tackle) were recorded for twelve pre-recorded matches (1988-2002) taken from the Five and Six Nations Championships; using a standard lap split time stopwatch and hand notation system.Intra-observer reliability analysis of ruck time indicated 0.11sec difference between observations. This represented 96% level of agreement. For activity time, intra-observer reliability was calculated as 0.18 sec difference between observations. This represented an agreement of 97%.Repeated measure ANOVA indicated highly significant differences between periods activity times (F = 10.16, df = 3 12, p = .001). Post hoc analysis (Tukey HSD) revealed differences to be between period 1 compared to period 3 and period 1 compared with period 4. No main effect was established for ruck time. Analysis of ruck frequency revealed significant differences (F = 13.87, df = 3, 12, p < .0005) between games periods. Post hoc analysis indicated these to be between periods 4 and 2 (p = .003) and 4 and 1 (p = .0005). Repeated measures analysis for frequency of activity revealed significant main effects for period (F = 5.39, df = 3, 12, p <. 01). Results of post hoc analysis revealed differences in activity instances between periods 1 and 4 (p = .01). Analysis of ball in play time comparing pre and post 1995 revealed a significant main effect for period (F = 12.97, df = 1, 14, p = .003) with ball in play 26.5% of the time in the period pre-1995 compared to 32.1% of the time in the period post-1995. This represents a mean time difference of 4 minutes and 45 seconds of play.It was concluded that since the inception of professional status in rugby union, the mean time players spend in game activity has been significantly reduced, whilst total game activity has been increased. Similarly the frequency of rucks has significantly increased in the post professional era, although the speed of ball recycling has been shown to be relatively consistent during 1988-2002. This indicates that the game activity patterns may have shifted towards a faster ruck dominated game which includes more phases of play. Consequently, game activity time has increased indicating a positive shift in game activity duration. Accordingly, such changes in the game need to be considered in designing training schedules for rugby union.

Play Ball - Equally: Math Programming Lends a Hand to Little League Baseball

be used to solve a problem that happens all too often with Little League baseball teams. With the current Little League season ending, he was frustrated with the problem of trying to get each team member to play about the same amount of time. He felt strongly that Little League baseball should be about developing the skills of all the team members, and that not just the best players should be on the field most of the time with the players who really need the practice and experience sitting on the bench. He explained to me that each of twelve members on the team had several positions he or she wanted to or could play. The specific positions for each player are given in Table 1. The number after each position is a measure of how desirable it is to have that team member play that particular position. The higher the number the more desirable it is to have that team member play that particular position.

Governing from center stage: White House communication strategies during the television age of politics

White House Communication Strategies: The Impact of Governing. The Limits of Presidential Leadership, Presidential Rhetoric and Speechwriting in Context. Presidential Public Activities: Beyond the Rhetoric. The Presidential Public Agenda: Prioritizing Policies. Understanding the Presidential/Press Relationship. Assessing White House Communication Strategies. Kennedy: The Age of Television Arrives. Kennedy and the Press. Kennedy's Public Activities. The Kennedy Policy Agenda. The First Tier: The Tax Cut Proposal of 1963. The Second Tier. Aid to Education in 1961. Johnson and Nixon: Play Ball in the Kennedy's Court. Johnson and the Press. Johnson's Public Activities. The Johnson Policy Agenda. The First Tier: Medicare - 1965. The Second Tier: The Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968. Nixon and the Press. Nixon's Public Activities. The Nixon Policy Agenda. The First Tier: Welfare Reform in 1971-72. The Second Tier: Environmental Protection In 1970. Ford and Carter: the Aftermath of Watergate. Ford and the Press. Ford's Public Activities. The Ford Policy Agenda. The First Tier: The Tax Cut of 1975. The Second Tier: Energy Corporation. Carter and the Press. Carter's Public Activities. The First Tier: Energy. The Second Tier: Civil Service Reform. Reagan and Bush: Stagecraft and its Legacy, Reagan and the Press. Reagan's Public Activities. The First Tier: Social Security Reform of 1982-1983. The Second Tier: Student Aid Cuts in 1982. Bush and the Press. The Bush Policy Agenda. The First Tier: The Education Excellence Act. The Second Tier: The Clear Air Act of 1990. Clinton: Years of Scandal and Spin. Clinton and the Press. Clinton's Public Activities. The Clinton Policy Agenda. The First Tier: The Anticrime Bill of 1994. The Second Tier: The National Service Plan of 1993. is Governing From Center Stage Possible? A Comparison of Presidents. White House Communication Strategies: Useful or Futile? Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

"Illuminating the Darkened Corridors": An Interview with Alexs Pate

The first time I saw Alexs Pate I was startled. I couldn't believe that this man--clad in a loose black shirt, jeans, steel-toed boots, and a head full of chin-length dreadlocks, carrying a black Diesel bag--was a professor. A writer. He wrote Amistad? And even more surprising, after seeing this anomalous image, was listening to his voice, which was soft, serene, even tranquil at times. Pate, born and raised in Philadelphia, imparts his iconoclastic image onto his work. He is an innovator, clairvoyant in his observations about love, humanity, and freedom. Pate, who has published five novels and a collection of poetry in a span of eight years, breaks new ground in the realm of African American literature. He shatters stereotypes associated with African American men and the African American home with the novels Losing Absalom (1994) and Finding Makeba (1997). He probes the nature of guilt that African American men feel as a result of the societal stereotypes that mark them as villains, as outlaws in his collection of poems innocent (1998) and in his recent novel The Multicultiboho Sideshow (1999). And finally in his new novel, West of Rehobeth (2001), he introduces a young boy, coming of age into a world full of guilt and despair, who learns the importance of maintaining innocence and hope. This interview took place on June 10, 2000, at his home in Minneapolis, MN. It delves deep into the heart of Pate's novels and poetry as it explores themes in his work such as guilt and innocence. It examines Pate's philosophies on writing, on the job of the artist, on the importance of African American male writers, and on the state of contemporary African American literature. Ultimately, it gives us a clearer understanding of the relationship between Pate's work and his attempt to stimulate positive growth and change in our world. Link: Describe what it was like growing up in Philadelphia. Pate: I grew up in North Philadelphia, fairly deep in the hood. I lived on a block in the middle of a lot of poverty, but I lived in an enclave where most of the people owned their houses. Everybody had cars. It was a working middle-class community. Most of the fathers in the neighborhood worked one or two jobs, at least. Most of our mothers worked, too. It was like these black people, my parents and the people that were like them, really believed in the American Dream, and they worked hard to achieve it. They also worked hard to prepare their kids educationally. It was a time where kids learned etiquette and manners. There were clubs, Boy Scouts, summer camps, and summer vacations. I remember somebody in the neighborhood would gather up all the kids once a week during the summer to go for a ride. We would drive out of the neighborhood and into the suburbs to get ice cream, or to have a change of scenery. I had a good childhood, but it wasn't idyllic because, at the same time, I lived around a lot of gangs and gang fighting. I was constantly dodging the impact of gang violence on the streets. It was around us, but it wasn't among us. We were among it. I wasn't untouched by it, but I wasn't molded by it either. I was molded by the fact that most of my friends' families were intact. And I always had to contend with which parent was watching me because somebody's parent was always near. My mother made me read a lot, so I spent a lot of time in my room reading. That's where I developed a love for stories. My dad and I would go to baseball games to see the Phillies play regularly. He'd play ball with me, or I'd play ball with my friends out on the streets. I sort of vacillated between being studious and being a street jock. Of course, my family had a lot of stress, usually around money, but I grew up basically like a Disney kid. There was a certain kind of innocence actually, when I think about it--even among all the chaos and violence in the community. …

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Judging from the ratings for the 2000 World Series between the Yankees (they won again) and the Mets, one could question the premise that baseball is “America's Pastime.” If you look at the publishing of sports books, there is no question that there are a dozen or more books published about one aspect or another of baseball compared to any other sport -perhaps all other sports combined. Here is a compendium of 28 books about baseball, plus two others that feature baseball players and others associated with the game. This article is intended to prick your interest in the game, to perhaps re-kindle a passion you have lost, and to look forward every spring to “Play Ball!”

Play Ball!: A Selective History of the Round Object That Gives the National Game Its Name

Play Ball!: A Selective History of the Round Object That Gives the National Game Its Name

Free Radicals - Play Ball (Fall 1997)

Everyone has an opinion on the last baseball strike and continuing owner-player blustering and confrontations in virtually every major sport.

Analysis of a Movement of a Top Table Tennis Player using a Direct Linear Transformation (DLT) Method

We have conducted a research in order to clarify a movement of a top table tennis player using DLT method. We have tried to obtain basic data such as time intervals of various playing, times of shots, playing area, distance of movement and so on to plan a training program of a movement for table tennis.The objects of analysis were 5 games of YOO Nam Kyu, who was the SEOUL Olympic champion, in the 9th ASIAN Table Tennis Championships in Japan. The games were filmed at 60 frames/second with 6 VTR cameras which were installed at separate locations in the gymnasium. For the purpose of this analysis, the various time intervals are defined as follows: In-play Time was from the initial movement of the service to final contact with the ball during play. It is acknowledged that this definition differs slightly from the official ITTF regurations for “ball in play” time. Rally Time was from contact with the ball on service to final contact with the ball during play. Service Time was from the initial movement of the service to contact with the ball on service. Waiting Time was from one player's contact with the ball to the other player's contact.Two-dimensional coordinates on a TV monitor were computed with a VTR motion analyzer connected to a personal computer. These coordinates were then converted to real (X-Y-Z) coordinates using DLT method. The position of the player was estimated from the coordinates of the player's head (vertex), center of shoulders (acromions), center of hips (trochanterions) and center of ankles (malleolus fibulae points). Distance of movement and velocity of movement were computed for every body point in several directions; right to left and forward to backward (in relation to the table), and up to down. Distance of movement was a line that links the position of the player every 0.1 sec during Rally-time. Velocity of movement was calculated by dividing distance of movement by Rally-time for each rally.The results and findings are summarized as follows;1) Mean total In-play time was 144.63±27.69 sec (±SD). This represented about 20-30% of the games of which average was 611.75±33.50 sec long, meaning that about 70-80% of the games was excess time spent doing such things as picking up the ball or wiping off perspiration.2) Mean Service Time, Mean Rally Time, Mean In-play Time and Mean Waiting Time was 1.05±0.37 sec, 2.56±1.79 sec, 3.60±1.83 sec and 0.66±0.19 sec, respectively. This represented about 30% of In-play Time was Service Time and about 70% of it was Rally Time.3) Mean times of shots during 1 rally was 4.61±2.12. The distribution of times of shots during 1 rally showed that in the case of 74.6% of all rally, a player won or lost a point in 5 shots.4) The playing area for YOO was positioned at the side of his free hand in 4 games. In 1 game, it was positioned at the side of his racket hand. His main stroke of the game was different from previous 4 games.5) In each game, the distance of movement for YOO on a horizontal plane during Rally Time was between about 100m and 200m at the center of the ankles. And mean distance of movement for YOO on a horizontal plane during 1 rally was between about 3.5m and 4.0m at the center of the ankles. In the table tennis games, the player's repeated acceleration and deceleration in various directions was instantaneous.6) In each game, mean average velocity of movement for YOO on a horizontal plane during 1 rally was between 0.85m/sec and 1.08m/sec at the head, 0.90m/sec and 1.05m/sec at the center of the shoulders, 0.99m/sec and 1.18m/sec at the center of the hips and 1.36m/sec and 1.51m/sec at the center of the ankles.7) It seems that these new data and findings are very important to plan an efficient training program for table tennis coaches and players.

Players' Success in T-Baseball

The purpose of this investigation was to determine success of 6-yr.-old boys in T-baseball. These young athletes (100 players in a 10-team league) were very proficient in the offensive component of batting the ball from a stationary tee, however, 62% of all balls in play resulted in errors. Possible reasons for poor defensive performance are discussed.

Effect of Spin and Speed on the Lateral Deflection (Curve) of a Baseball; and the Magnus Effect for Smooth Spheres

The effect of spin and speed on the lateral deflection (curve) of a baseball has been measured by dropping the ball while spinning about a vertical axis through the horizontal wind stream of a 6-ft tunnel. For speeds up to 150 ft/sec and spins up to 1800 rpm, the lateral deflection was found to be proportional to the spin and to the square of the wind speed. When applied to a pitched ball in play, the maximum expected curvature ranges from 10 to 17 in., depending on the spin. The deflections of rough baseballs accord in direction with that predicted by the Magnus effect. But with smooth balls at low speeds the deflection is in the opposite direction. This is studied with an apparatus specially designed to measure the pressure at any point in the equatorial plane of the rotating ball.

Rain or Shine—Play Ball!

Rain or Shine—Play Ball!

Let's Play Ball

Let's Play Ball

British-Owned Kailan Mines Play Ball with Japanese

Other| June 15 1938 British-Owned Kailan Mines Play Ball with Japanese J. R. S. J. R. S. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Far Eastern Survey (1938) 7 (12): 140–141. https://doi.org/10.2307/3022026 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation J. R. S.; British-Owned Kailan Mines Play Ball with Japanese. Far Eastern Survey 15 June 1938; 7 (12): 140–141. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3022026 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

British-Owned Kailan Mines Play Ball with Japanese

British-Owned Kailan Mines Play Ball with Japanese

Play ball in chemistry

Play ball in chemistry