Sports Movement Research Articles

From Policy to Practice: Measures Against Sexual Abuse by Swedish Sports Federations.

The sport movement must protect children and young athletes from all forms of abuse. However, research points to a disconnect between policy and implementation of policy against sexual abuse. No studies have investigated measures against sexual abuse in Swedish sport. The purpose of this study was to explore measures against sexual abuse in the 10 largest sports federations (SFs) for child and youth sport in Sweden. The study draws on interviews with representatives (n = 18) of the SFs and on a review of SFs' website content regarding sexual abuse and safe sport. Results show that the SFs have taken few or no measures against sexual abuse. Measures for safe sports vary in existence, development, and organization between the SFs, and many SFs are in the early stages of safe sport measures and practice. Although the SF representatives emphasize that sexual abuse is unacceptable, a conflict between making it visible or invisible emerges and creates a gap between policy and practice. Reproducing a culture of silence around sexual abuse in sports seems advantageously for SFs. Social and organizational factors that can debilitate safe sport measures and facilitate sexual abuse in sport are discussed.

"Nothing About Us, Without Us": Empowering the Youth Athlete Voice in #SafeSport.

"Nothing About Us, Without Us": Empowering the Youth Athlete Voice in #SafeSport.

Enjoying Sports and Movement in Mental Illness

Enjoying Sports and Movement in Mental Illness Abstract. Sports and exercise therapy is an effective complemant in the treatment of major depression. The recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of intensive physical activity per week should be met to achieve positive effects of physical activity. In addition, individual needs and the physical health conditions must be considered in the planning and implementation, so that exercise will be enjoyed in the long term.

인공지능을 활용한 저비용 스포츠동작 분석의 검증

We projected to calculate and verify the flexion angle of the lower extremity joint during sports motion using low-cost artificial intelligence modeling. The data modeled by artificial intelligence was verified to the data which was produced from the IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit).<BR> We recruited seven youth male football players as participants for the project. The participants performed kicking motion of football with IMU attached to the landmark of the lower extremity joint for 3D motion analysis. The wireless data from the IMU and the video data from the general camera were measured simultaneously. The flexion angles of the pelvis, knee, and ankle were computed from the OpenPose library and the IMU data. The OpenPose library was processed on the image data from the camera. The football kicking motion was calculated over E1 (Toe Off), E2 (TOP Of Back Swing), E3 (Ball Impact), and E4 (Follow Swing) based on the kicking foot. For statistical processing, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient(ICC2,1) was performed to verify the consistency of AI modeling data. And Correlation(both, Pearson) analysis was performed to evaluate the accuracy of the data from the AI. The statistical significance level was set to .05.<BR> In the result, it showed excellent reliability and accuracy of the knee joint angle which occurs at the moment over the kicking preparation and kicking the ball(p<.05). Furthermore, It was possible to derive the characteristic trend of knee flexion angle change during football kicking.<BR> In conclusion, if image data with high-resolution and high-speed shutter speed can be obtained, quantitative kinematic data analysis might be available from artificial intelligence modeling.

The Role of Neuromuscular Control of Postural and Core Stability in Functional Movement and Athlete Performance.

Balance and core stabilization exercises have often been associated with improved athlete performance and/or decreased incidence of injuries. While these exercises seem to be efficient in the prevention of injuries, there is insufficient evidence regarding their role in sport-specific performance and related functional movements. The aim of this scoping review is (1) to map the literature that investigates whether currently available variables of postural and core stability are functionally related to athlete performance in sports with high demands on body balance and spinal posture and (2) to identify gaps in the literature and suggest further research on this topic. The literature search conducted on MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases was completed by Google Scholar, SpringerLink, and Elsevier. Altogether 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. Findings revealed that postural stability plays an important role in performance in archery, biathlon, gymnastics, shooting, and team sports (e.g., basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis). Also core stability and strength represent an integral part of athlete performance in sports based on lifting tasks and trunk rotations. Variables of these abilities are associated with performance-related skills in cricket, cycling, running, and team sports (e.g., baseball, football, hockey, netball, soccer, tennis). Better neuromuscular control of postural and core stability contribute to more efficient functional movements specific to particular sports. Training programs incorporating general and sport-specific exercises that involve the use of postural and core muscles showed an improvement of body balance, back muscle strength, and endurance. However, there is controversy about whether the improvement in these abilities is translated into athletic performance. There is still a lack of research investigating the relationship of body balance and stability of the core with sport-specific performance. In particular, corresponding variables should be better specified in relation to functional movements in sports with high demands on postural and core stability. Identifying the relationship of passive, active, and neural mechanisms underlying balance control and spinal posture with athlete performance would provide a basis for a multifaced approach in designing training and testing tools addressing postural and core stability in athletes under sport-specific conditions.

Exploring Training Strategies to Optimize Court Performance in Older Pickleball Athletes

ABSTRACT Pickleball is one of the fastest growing racket sports in the United States because of its high social engagement and ability to facilitate physical and emotional well-being. Although participation trends indicate the sport appeals to an array of ages and abilities, the highest purported participant demographic is 55 years and older. In spite of its rising popularity, there is limited strength and conditioning research exploring training strategies for pickleball athletes. Therefore, this article details how pickleball is played, the sport's movement and physiological demands, and injury risks. An example training program targeting the older pickleball athlete is provided.

Sports Action Recognition Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Neural Networks

Video acquisition has become more convenient as science and technology have progressed, and the development of mobile Internet has resulted in a large amount of video data being generated every day. The question of how to analyze these videos automatically has become urgent. Among them, the study of sports movement recognition in video has important theoretical implications in sports research as well as practical application value. This paper proposes a PSO-NN-based sports action recognition model. Kernel principal component analysis is used to extract and analyze the characteristics of sports movements. The improved neural network is used to identify common human postures in sports, and the classification and block background estimation method is used to detect human targets. The feature extraction of targets is completed according to the edge features, and the feature extraction of targets is completed according to the edge features. Finally, the feature vectors are trained using a backpropagation neural network (BPNN), and the parameters of the BPNN are chosen using the PSO algorithm to create a classifier for sports action recognition. The results show that this model improves the accuracy of sports video recognition and is an effective method of sports action recognition when compared to the comparison model.

Sports Motion Feature Extraction and Recognition Based on a Modified Histogram of Oriented Gradients with Speeded Up Robust Features

&lt;p&gt;Traditional motion recognition methods can extract global features, but ignore the local features. And the obscured motion cannot be recognized. Therefore, this paper proposes a modified Histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) combining speeded up robust features (SURF) for sports motion feature extraction and recognition. This new method can fully extract the local and global features of the sports motion recognition. The new algorithm first adopts background subtraction to obtain the motion region. Direction controllable filter can effectively describe the motion edge features. The HOG feature is improved by introducing direction controllable filter to enhance the local edge information. At the same time, the K-means clustering is performed on SURF to obtain the word bag model. Finally, the fused motion features are input to support vector machine (SVM) to classify and recognize the motion features. We make comparison with the state-of-the-art methods on KTH, UCF Sports and SBU Kinect Interaction data sets. The results show that the recognition accuracy of the proposed algorithm is greatly improved.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

What future model for international sports events? The case of the arctic winter games

This article focuses on the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) that, since 1970, have been bringing together young people from across the circumpolar world. This sporting and cultural gathering prioritises sharing and exchange between young people and promotes indigenous cultural and sporting practices (Dene Games, Arctic sports). As such, the Games’ purpose is to contribute to building an Arctic community. Furthermore, via their educational objectives and social aims, they assert their role as an actor in the development of the territories. This article proposes an analysis of the 2016 Games organised in Nuuk (Greenland). By employing an ethnographic approach, combining work on the archives of the AWG and interviews with participants and Games officials, we show that beyond their sporting aspect, it would seem that these events can constitute levers of social, cultural and educational development for a territory from a sustainable and responsible perspective. They thus disseminate a model that questions, even destabilises, the contemporary sports movement, while suggesting perspectives for its evolution. By examining the public value of the AWG, we will discuss the paradigm on which international sports events are built today.

Validation of the Perception Neuron system for full-body motion capture.

Recent advancements in Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) offers the possibility of its use as a cost effective and portable alternative to traditional optoelectronic motion capture systems in analyzing biomechanical performance. One such commercially available IMU is the Perception Neuron motion capture system (PNS). The accuracy of the PNS had been tested and was reported to be a valid method for assessing the upper body range of motion to within 5° RMSE. However, testing of the PNS was limited to upper body motion involving functional movement within a single plane. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to further validate the Perception Neuron system with reference to a conventional optoelectronic motion capture system (VICON) through the use of dynamic movements (e.g., walking, jogging and a multi-articular sports movement with object manipulation) and to determine its feasibility through full-body kinematic analysis. Validation was evaluated using Pearson's R correlation, RMSE and Bland-Altman estimates. Present findings suggest that the PNS performed well against the VICON motion analysis system with most joint angles reporting a RMSE of < 4° and strong average Pearson's R correlation of 0.85, with the exception of the shoulder abduction/adduction where RMSE was larger and Pearson's R correlation at a moderate level. Bland-Altman analysis revealed that most joint angles across the different movements had a mean bias of less than 10°, except for the shoulder abduction/adduction and elbow flexion/extension measurements. It was concluded that the PNS may not be the best substitute for traditional motion analysis technology if there is a need to replicate raw joint angles. However, there was adequate sensitivity to measure changes in joint angles and would be suitable when normalized joint angles are compared and the focus of analysis is to identify changes in movement patterns.

The role of athlete commissions in addressing sport-related human rights abuses: a case study of the Commonwealth Games Federation Athletes Advisory Commission

Athlete commissions have an important role to play in addressing sport-related human rights abuses. This article will explore this by examining the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) which made constitutional changes and created its first athlete representation body in 2017—the CGF Athletes Advisory Commission (AAC). These governance and legal changes empowered athletes to be part of the CGF leadership. Under the new governance structure, the Chair of the AAC is a voting member of the CGF Executive Board. The AAC met for the first time in 2018. In 2020, they launched their strategy (CGF Media Release 13 May 2020. https://thecgf.com/news/cgf-athletes-advisory-commission-launch-new-strategy. Accessed 28 October 2021) which seeks to uphold and live the Commonwealth Sport values of humanity, equality and destiny. The strategy identifies the Commonwealth athletes as agents of change, advocates for integrity and ambassadors for respect, impartiality and non-discrimination. How realistic is this ambition? The CGF itself, Commonwealth Sports Ministers and Commonwealth Member Countries have all adopted zero tolerance policies towards human rights violations (See The Commonwealth Consensus Statement on Promoting Human Rights in and through Sport 27 October 2020. https://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/inline/CW%20Consensus%20Statement-ADOPTED%20v2.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2021 and The CGF Transformation 2022 Refresh 3 September 2019 Page 31. https://thecgf.com/sites/default/files/2019-10/CGF_TRANSFORMATION%2022_BROCHURE_FINAL_16-08-19_LOW%20RES.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2021). The authors will speak to the current Chair of the AAC and the previous Chair of the AAC to ask some pertinent questions around what impact the 2020 AAC strategy can have in safeguarding participants from sport related human rights abuses. The interview will explore policy change, governance reforms and long terms strategies which can maximize the role of athletes in protecting, respecting and fulfilling the human rights of not just athletes but all involved in the delivery of the Commonwealth Sport movement.

Development of Mechanism to Support Waist Rotation in Sprint Running for Improving Coordination Between Trunk and Pelvis

Recently, there are a lot of researches to analyze motion in sports to improve motor skills. It is hard to learn ideal movement by simply analyzing data especially in sprint running, which requires complex movements in a short period of time. In this research, the authors have worked on the method to acquire the aimed movement through physical experience. In sprint running, it is said that the coordination between trunk and pelvic rotation generates more efficient horizontal floor reaction force for increasing speed. Therefore, we devised two experimental devices to reduce the phase difference between trunk and pelvic rotation. The first one is tension applying device to increase muscular activity for pelvic rotation with force by pulling a wire attached to both sides of the waist. Second one is skin shear deformation device to support fine adjustment of pelvic rotation by applying shear force to skin around pelvis. We confirmed that these devices satisfied experimental requirements, and it was suggested that the devices could have an effect on the waist rotation for sprint running.

THE EUROPEAN SPORT MODELS MANAGEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES EUROPEAN UNION

The relevance of the European model modern sports management development in the European Union countries today is a factor in the competitiveness and sports survival in crisis and instability conditions. A document published by the Commission in 1998 highlighted that the traditional sport organization model in Europe had undergone major changes since the 1980s, leading to a gradual alignment of its high level with commercial interests and a reconceptualization around spectator sport. The goal of the European model formation in modern sports management should be the changes that will occur in the European Union countries, to promote the development of an atmosphere to competitiveness and self-realization of a person in the sports world. The European modern sports management model in the European Union countries combines all the sports management resources – administrative, economic, cultural, social, technological, which contribute to the model formation as a single integral sports development project. The purpose of the research is to investigate the theoretical and practical aspects of the European model in modern sports management in the European Union countries. Research objectives: 1) to reveal the pyramidal European sports structure; 2) determine the directions of European sports model formation; 3) justify the approaches and principles to the formation of the European sports model; 4) identify the priorities of the European sports model in modern society. Setting the goal led to the use of the following methods and techniques. The following methods are used to study the theoretical and practical aspects of the European modern sports management model in the European Union countries: 1) institutional – for the organization of institutes of the European dimension of sports and their organization at the level of the national state; 2) axiological – to measure the values of European sports and their transformation in sports organizations; 3) structural and functional – identifying the functions of sport organization leaders and their implementation for the transformation of the modern sport dimension; 4) behavioral – identifying the behavioral motives of sports managers and their relationships with subordinates to the organizing feedback purpose; 5) systemic – arrangement of separate sports organizations into a single entity that creates a system. It has been proven that “European sport” is a symbolic, political and scientific construction that gives practical results. European sports activity (through the sports movement), the harmonization work of European institutions, transnational sports exchanges, the circulation of European professional athletes and the sports media work created not only a community of European thought about sports, but also a certain vision of the European and its mental map territory. The practical significance of the study is that the European Union contributes to the European sports promotion, taking into account its specificity, structure, social and educational function.

Ruch sportowy w Policji Państwowej w województwie łódzkim w latach 1919–1939. Zarys problematyki

Initiated in the 20s of the twentieth century, the sports movement in police cultural and educational associations in Kalisz and Pabianice, after 1930 developed mainly in police sports clubs. The main reason for the management of the State Police to become interested in sports activities was the possibility of using the acquired skills in the course of performing official duties. Particularly promoted disciplines in the police environment were: shooting, athletics, cycling, marches with a load and police multi-sport. In the years 1926–1929 the State Police Headquarters organized nationwide sports competitions, in which the representation of the Łódź Voivodeship participated. The central struggle was preceded by provincial eliminations, dominated by policemen from the city of Łódź. Sporadically, the fight with them was established by competitors from the district headquarters of the State Police in Kalisz, Brzeziny and Piotrków. The highest place of the representation of the Łódź Voivodeship from the national competition was the third place won in 1926. In other years, the representation of the Łódź Voivodeship was located in the middle of the final table. Police clubs from Łódź, Kalisz and Piotrków competed with local clubs within the district sports associations. The highest level of sport was demonstrated by the multi-section Police Sports Club of Łódź. The most titled was the fencing section with Bolesław Banaś, the master of Poland in foil and épée.

Ecological validity in exercise neuroscience research: A systematic investigation.

The contribution of cortical processes to adaptive motor behaviour is of great interest in the field of exercise neuroscience. Next to established criteria of objectivity, reliability and validity, ecological validity refers to the concerns of whether measurements and behaviour in research settings are representative of the real world. Because exercise neuroscience investigations using mobile electroencephalography are oftentimes conducted in laboratory settings under controlled environments, methodological approaches may interfere with the idea of ecological validity. This review utilizes an original ecological validity tool to assess the degree of ecological validity in current exercise neuroscience research. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify articles investigating cortical dynamics during goal-directed sports movement. To assess ecological validity, five elements (environment, stimulus, response, body and mind) were assessed on a continuum of artificiality-naturality and simplicity-complexity. Forty-seven studies were included in the present review. Results indicate lowest average ratings for the element of environment. The elements stimulus, body and mind had mediocre ratings, and the element of response had the highest overall ratings. In terms of the type of sport, studies that assessed closed-skill indoor sports had the highest ratings, whereas closed-skill outdoor sports had the lowest overall rating. Our findings identify specific elements that are lacking in ecological validity and areas of improvement in current exercise neuroscience literature. Future studies may potentially increase ecological validity by moving from reductionist, artificial environments towards complex, natural environments and incorporating real-world sport elements such as adaptive responses and competition.

ПОВЫШЕНИЕ УРОВНЯ КООРДИНАЦИОННЫХ СПОСОБНОСТЕЙ У ЮНЫХ БАСКЕТБОЛИСТОВ ПОСРЕДСТВОМ АКТИВАЦИИ МЫШЦ ПОЯСНИЧНО-ТАЗОВОГО КОМПЛЕКСА

The purpose of the research is to compare and analyze the indicators of the total electrical activity of skeletal muscles in young basketball players who trained according to the traditional program and the methodology for the development of coordination abilities, including physical exercises that affect the activity of skeletal muscles of the lumbo-pelvic complex. The differences between the obtained results of physical and technical fitness tests in the compared groups were revealed. Methods and organization of the research. The study involved 24 basketball players aged 13-14 years old, with experience of sports activity from 5 to 6 years. The effectiveness of the use of physical exercises affecting the muscles of the lumbo-pelvic complex was evaluated according to the results of stereotypical tests on the coordination ladder and with static postures. The analysis of the registered skeletal muscles' electrical activity (EMG) was provided by the calculation of its average amplitude. The total EMG electroactivity amplitude was also calculated, which was the sum of the average values of the EMG amplitude of all the studied muscles. The statistical significance of the differences was established by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Post-Hoc analysis according to the Newman-Keuls method of the STATISTICA 10 software package. Results and discussion. In the experimental group, under the physical exercises influence, affecting the activity of the skeletal muscles of the lumbo-pelvic complex, there were significant differences compared to the control group. Total electrical activity amplitude of the studied muscles significantly decreases during performing motor actions on the coordination ladder and during holding poses tests which are similar to sports movements motor structure. The results obtained indicate a smaller amount of developing efforts among young basketball players during test exercises in the experimental group. The control group was characterized only by a tendency to decrease the EMG activity of the studied muscles. Significant changes were also observed when assessing the physical and technical fitness of athletes after the study. Conclusion. It was established that the use of physical exercises aimed at the formation of rational activity of the muscles of the lumbo-pelvic complex contributes to more economical motor actions.

Biomecânica e traumatologia no râguebi

Rugby is one of the team sports with the highest incidence rate of injuries per exposure time. These mainly occur in specific sport movements such as the tackle, ruck, or maul. Therefore, it is important to understand the sports’ specificities and biomechanics and link them with its risk and injury type. The most common reported injuries are musculotendinous and ligament ruptures of the lower limbs, however, we highlight the important incidence of severe head and neck injuries, like cerebral concussion and cervical spine fractures. It is essential to gather data that enable us to characterize the risk and specify of each movement performed by the athlete, to make more effective programs on injury-prevention and rehabilitation of injured athletes, always focusing on their full recovery and reinjure risk reduction.

Historical Features of the Development of the Autonomy of non-Olympic Sports in the System of the International Sports Movement in the Period of Modern and Contemporary History

The main purpose of the article is to study, compare and identify the main features and factors that influenced the development of non-Olympic sports in the period of modern and contemporary history, as well as to identify the formation of the autonomy of non-Olympic sports in the international sports movement. It has been established that during the period of modern history, sport in its development had a «chaotic» character. The development of non-Olympic sports in the period of contemporary history took place in two stages: Stage I 1918–1979 – characterized by an intensive development of non-Olympic sports in the system of the international sports movement, Stage II 1980 – present – is associated with the confrontation and recognition of non-Olympic sports of the international sports movement. The main prerequisites are: scientific and technological progress, organizational and legal, political, scientific and educational, social component. The main factors are: the development of industry, production, the cultural component, the industrialization of society, economic growth, significant achievements in science and technology, the development of the sports industry, a biological need for physical activity, the transformation of physical activity into sports, improving the quality of life, the creation of sports organizations, the formation of an institutional environment, the development of the scientific sphere and the information field, the manifestation of national identity in sports, etc.

Editorial

Editorial

Photobiomodulation and Sports: Results of a Narrative Review.

Benefits of photobiomodulation (PBM) have been known for several decades. More recently, PBM applied in sports offers a special chance to support the modeling of the performance and recovery. Increasingly complex physical activities and fierce competition in the world of sports generate a state of psycho-emotional and physical stress that can induce chronic fatigue syndrome, failure in physical training, predisposition to muscle damage, physical and emotional exhaustion etc., for which PBM could be an excellent solution. To evaluate and identify all risk factors and the influence of PBM on health and performance in sport and for a better understanding of its effects, we did a search for “Photobiomodulation and Sports” on PubMed, to update the PBM science applied in sports, and we retained for analysis the articles published from 2014 to date. The term “PBM” is recent, and we did not include previous studies with “low level laser therapy” or “LLLT” before 2014. In the present research, PBM has been shown to have valuable protective and ergogenic effects in 25 human studies, being the key to success for high performance and recovery, facts supported also by 22 animal studies. PBM applied creatively and targeted depending on sport and size of the level of physical effort could perfectly modulate the mitochondrial activity and thus lead to remarkable improvements in performance. PBM with no conclusive results or without effects from this review (14 studies from a total of 39 on humans) was analyzed and we found the motivations of the authors from the perspective of multiple causes related to technological limitations, participants, the protocols for physical activity, the devices, techniques and PBM parameters. In the near future, dose–response experiments on physical activity should be designed and correlated with PBM dose–response studies, so that quantification of PBM parameters to allow the energy, metabolic, immune, and neuro-endocrine modulation, perfectly coupled with the level of training. There is an urgent need to continuously improve PBM devices, delivery methods, and protocols in new ingenious future sports trials. Latest innovations and nanotechnologies applied to perform intracellular signaling analysis, while examining extracellular targets, coupled with 3D and 4D sports motion analysis and other high-tech devices, can be a challenge to learn how to maximize PBM efficiency while achieving unprecedented sports performance and thus fulfilling the dream of millions of elite athletes.