Professional Players Research Articles

A Study on the Educational Level and Career Development of Professional Chinese Billiards Players

Currently, Chinese billiards is developing particularly well in China, plus the billiards industry itself has a low threshold, so the billiards industry can be used as an employment direction for people with low education. This paper investigates and researches the educational backgrounds of the top 8 active international and nine world-class players in China, the abilities and incomes of active international players, and the analysis of the commercial marketization of the sport of billiards. It first discusses the commercial ecology of Chinese billiards and the advantages of its current development and promotion in China, and then discusses the educational backgrounds and incomes of professional billiards players. Finally, it analyzes the comparison of the status of international and domestic snooker and Chinese billiards. As well as the volume of non-higher education groups aged 15-22 years old at this stage and the necessity of the introduction of Chinese billiards, this paper draws the conclusion that the education level of billiards professional players is completely irrelevant to their career development. Combined with the current situation of junior and senior high school education in China, this paper finally concludes that billiards can be used as a useful supplement to the vocational education of young people.

Behavioral System to Detect Injury and Rehabilitation Process in Karate Using Hybrid Model

Sports injuries are becoming increasingly widespread, and professional player injuries are having a negative impact on the field of sports. Preventing sports injuries is becoming more popular. Numerous machine learning (ML) techniques have been used in different sports injury fields since the birth of ML. In order to deal with the issue of karate injury treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention, this paper presents a new behavioral system to identify injuries and the rehabilitation process in karate utilizing hybrid models that mix unsupervised learning and supervised learning. In our scenario, we picked Autoencoder for unsupervised learning and CNN and DNN models for supervised learning. The experimental investigation shows that the suggested model is capable of yielding accurate outcomes. In fact, our model’s accuracy for DNN and CNN is 99.67% and 99.66%, respectively.

Musical instruments, oral problems and prosthodontics: A review and a clinical report of a musician menopausal woman

The condition of teeth and the function of the oral organs are important when playing musical, especially brass or wind, instruments. This article describes the prosthodontic treatment provided for a musician who had lost a tooth and her subsequent musical performance. The relevant literature is also discussed. A 49-year-old professional clarinet player who fractured and avulsed the upper left central incisor during a fall sought maxillofacial rehabilitation for the missing tooth to maintain her ability to play the clarinet. Her treatment consisted of a provisional removable prosthesis with an acrylic base and clasps followed by a final fixed implant and conventional prostheses, designed accordingly. Her satisfaction with the prostheses was assessed by a self-reported questionnaire. The dental treatment helps to ensure that the musicians with oral, mainly prosthodontic, problems can continue playing the wind or brass instrument, especially the clarinet at their previous performance level professionally.

The impact of the changes made to the men's professional tennis tour system: A case study of Japanese players

In 2019, the International Tennis Federation implemented major changes to the men's professional tennis tour system in order to (1) reduce the number of professional players who cannot make a living, and (2) create a system that allows talented junior players to quickly transition to the professional level. These changes in the tour system are considered to have had a significant impact on the players' environment and psychological aspects. The purpose of this study was to exploratively examine the impact of the tour system changes on Japanese male tennis players. The subjects of the study were four Japanese male tennis players who participated in the ITF World Tennis Tour held in Japan. They were interviewed one-on-one for approximately 40 minutes using a semi-structured interview method. The interview was centered on the question “How did the change in the tour system affect you?” and the interviewees were asked to give specific reasons for their answers. Following a qualitative inductive analysis of the verbatim transcripts of the interviews, five areas of impact were identified: feeling, game plan, status, environment, and requests.

Tommy John Ligament Repair with Ulnar Collateral Ligament Internal Brace

Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries commonly occur in overhead athletes as a result of excess valgus stress on the elbow and can be functionally debilitating, requiring surgical intervention. Since the advent of the first initial UCL reconstruction technique pioneered by Dr. Frank Jobe performed on professional baseball player Tommy John, UCL, or Tommy John Ligament reconstruction has successfully returned athletes to sport following injury and shown enhanced clinical outcomes with minimal complication rates. Tommy John surgery continues to evolve with the development of various techniques over recent years. This technical note describes a UCL repair with an internal brace using knotless suture anchors and aims to contribute to the current literature a technique that is efficacious and reproducible and offers satisfactory stability, functionality, and return to play.

Gambling as Work: A Study of German Poker Players

The study addresses the question whether professional gamblers can be considered an occupational group from a sociological perspective. It combines survey data on poker players from the German state North Rhine-Westphalia with sociological theory in order to explain the oxymoron of professional gambling. The descriptive analysis of the survey data is supplemented by ego-centric network data of the poker players to analyze whether hobby and professional players maintain different forms of social relationships. Even when semiprofessionals and professional players are grouped together for the purpose of comparative analysis, they fulfill the criteria of occupational groups according to Salaman’s major work on the topic. The study points to the fact that more research on occupational groups outside of the common fields is needed and bridges the gap between the literature on serious leisure and sociological research on professions and professionalization.

Flortaucipir tau PET findings from former professional and college American football players in the DIAGNOSE CTE research project.

Tau is a key pathology in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Here, we report our findings in tau positron emission tomography (PET) measurements from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. We compare flortaucipir PET measures from 104 former professional players (PRO), 58 former college football players (COL), and 56 same-age men without exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) or traumatic brain injury (unexposed [UE]); characterize their associations with RHI exposure; and compare players who did or did not meet diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES). Significantly elevated flortaucipir uptake was observed in former football players (PRO+COL) in prespecified regions (p<0.05). Association between regional flortaucipir uptake and estimated cumulative head impact exposure was only observed in the superior frontal region in former players over 60 years old. Flortaucipir PET was not able to differentiate TES groups. Additional studies are needed to further understand tau pathology in CTE and other individuals with a history of RHI.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SALIVARY BIOMARKERS AND EXTERNAL LOAD IN PROFESSIONAL MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS DURING A GAME

In a sport-specific setting, the external load represents the cumulative amount of stress placed on the athlete during a specific activity, while the internal load describes the athlete’s individual physiological response to that particular activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between external load measured with a tri-axial accelerometer and salivary testosterone (T), cortisol (C), and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (T/C) as measures of internal load during a 5-on-5 basketball game. Six professional male basketball players volunteered to participate in the investigation (age=28.3±1.9 years; height=193.3±10.6 cm; body mass=90.7±10.7 kg). Upon completing a standardized warm-up protocol, athletes played a simulated basketball game composed of four 10-minute quarters with the Elam Ending. Each athlete wore a tri-axial inertial measurement unit (StriveTech, Bothell, WA, USA) embedded within tightly fitted compression shorts throughout the competitive period. The salivary samples were collected immediately upon arrival at the gym and immediately after each quarter. To determine the relationship between the external load and T, C, and T/C, separate restricted maximum likelihood linear mixed-effects models were fitted (p&lt;0.05). External load demonstrated a strong positive relationship with C (p&lt;0.001, F=49.03, R2=0.59, R2CI=0.36-0.78) and a strong negative relationship with T/C (p&lt;0.001, F=56.53, R2=0.61, R2CI=0.39-0.79). Overall, these findings simply that C may be a valuable biomarker for assessing the summative psychophysiological stress experienced during competitive 5-on-5 basketball play as a gradual rise in C was observed along with accumulating external loads.

Relationship between perceived fatigability and the values of biological and biometric markers in young professional and amateur rugby players during a sporting season

Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between the level of perceived fatigability and the values of biological and biometric markers in young professional and amateur rugby players during a sporting season.Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 30 rugby players divided into an amateur (12) and a professional (18) group. Fat mass, creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase were measured for 9 months in each player before they completed the french society of exercise and sports medicine overtraining questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed and the significance level was set at 5%.Results: The higher the percentage of body fat the athletes have, the higher the questionnaire score (r= 0.14, p &lt; 0.01). Plasma creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase concentrations were negatively correlated with overtraining score (creatine kinase: r= -0.15, p= 0.03; aspartate aminotransferase: r= -0.11, p= 0.03).Conclusion: Our study has shown that there is a negative correlation between our biological markers and the perceived fatigue score and a positive correlation between body fat and the same score. Further work is required to determine whether creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase and percentage of body fat can really be markers of fatigue or even markers of recovery (creatine kinase) in order to make the best use of them in the monitoring of rugby players.

Real-World Fatigue Testing in Professional Rugby Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Professional rugby union is a high-intensity contact sport with position-specific high training and match volumes across a season that may lead to periods of fatigue if above a typically experienced threshold. This study assesses the influence of match play and/or training on fatigue levels in rugby union players. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of measures used to assess fatigue status in male professional rugby union players. Using electronic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE), a systematic review of fatigue testing in rugby union was conducted on (1) neuromuscular, (2) subjective self-report, (3) biochemical, and (4) heart rate-derived measures. Thirty-seven articles were included in this systematic review, of which 14 were further included in a meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis revealed small, yet not significant, decreases in countermovement jump height immediately after (effect size [ES] = - 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] - 0.64 to 0.06), 24h (ES = - 0.43; 95% CI - 3.99 to 3.21), and 48h (ES = - 0.22; 95% CI - 0.47 to 0.02) after exposure to rugby union match play or training. Reported wellness (ES = - 0.33; 95% CI - 1.70 to 1.04) and tiredness (ES = - 0.14; 95% CI - 1.30 to 1.03) declined over a period of a few weeks (however, the results were not-statistically significant), meanwhile muscle soreness increased (ES = 0.91; 95% CI 0.06 to 1.75) within the 96h after the exposure to rugby union match play or training. Finally, while cortisol levels (ES = 1.87; 95% CI - 1.54 to 5.29) increased, testosterone declined (ES = - 1.54; 95% CI - 7.16 to 4.08) within the 24h after the exposure. However, these results were not statistically significant. Subjective measures of muscle soreness can be used to assess fatigue after match play and training in rugby union players. Within-study and between-study variability for countermovement jump height, biochemical markers, and heart rate-derived measures means the utility (practical application) of these measures to assess fatigue in professional rugby union players after matches and training is unclear. PROSPERO ID: CRD42020216706.

The 50 Most Cited Papers on Rugby since 2000 Reveal a Focus Primarily on Strength and Conditioning in Elite Male Players.

We sought to conduct a bibliometric analysis and review of the most cited publications relating to rugby since 2000 in order to identify topics of interest and those that warrant further investigations. Clarivate Web of Science database was used to perform a literature search using the search term "rugby." The top 200 papers by citation count were extracted and reviewed for the inclusion criteria: all subjects were rugby players. The top 50 manuscripts were included for analysis of author, publication year, country of lead authors, institution, journal name and impact factor, topic, participant sex, and level of rugby. The total number of citations was 9,071 (average of 181.4 citations/article), with an average journal impact factor of 7.21; the top article was cited 407 times at the time of analysis. The most frequent publication was the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (26%), followed by the British Journal of Sports Medicine (20%) and the Journal of Sports Sciences (18%). Forty-eight (96%) of the manuscripts contained only male subjects, with 1 manuscript including females only and 1 manuscript containing mixed sexes. Thirty-three (66%) of the manuscripts focused on professional rugby players, with the next highest player group being mixed levels (10%). Twenty-eight (56%) concentrated on topics regarding strength and conditioning, 11 (22%) on injury, and 4 (8%) on physiology. Despite rugby being one of the most injurious sports and community players representing the largest component of the player pool, most of the top-cited rugby articles are cohort studies of professional male athletes focused on performance and strength and conditioning, noting the bias in research towards socially relevant topics that may not impact the majority of stakeholders and long-term health of rugby athletes. These findings highlight the need for further research among women and community athletes and on topics in injury prevention.

The Association of Serum Calprotectin with Fitness Indicators and Biochemical Markers in High-Level Athletes: A Continuous Dynamic Monitoring during One Competitive Season.

Twenty professional male water polo players (median age: 28 (22-42)) were included in this study. Serum creatine kinase activity was determined by the automated photometric UV method. The concentrations of calprotectin, C-reactive protein, and myoglobin were measured using an automated immunoturbidimetric method, while an automated immunochemistry method was employed for interleukin-6, troponin I, and cortisol determination. Tests of repeated strength, maximal strength, and static strength were used to evaluate physical activity. Serum calprotectin concentrations expressed in median and IQR were significantly different: T1: 2.92 g/mL (2.47; 3.86); T2: 2.35 g/mL (1.26; 2.87); T3: 2.27 g/mL (1.60; 3.27); and T4: 1.47 g/mL (1.04; 2.85) (p = 0.004). Cortisol concentration and CK activity showed significant changes among phases (p = 0.049 and p = 0.014, respectively). Each physical activity examined showed a significant seasonal decrease (all p values were 0.001). Calprotectin serum concentration and indicators of muscular injury, inflammation, and physical activity were found to be correlated during particular stages of the seasonal examination. Calprotectin values determined throughout one competitive season decreased as training intensity among water polo players increased. Serum calprotectin concentrations and indicators were related to biochemical markers of inflammation and muscle damage.

The Influence of Strength Level on Handball-Specific Fitness Elements Between Stronger and Weaker Professional Players.

Kyriacou-Rossi, A, Hadjicharalambous, M, and Zaras, N. The influence of strength level on handball-specific fitness elements between stronger and weaker professional players. J Strength Cond Res 38(5): 966-975, 2024-The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of strength level between stronger and weaker handball players on handball specific fitness elements and to explore the correlations between strength and sport-specific fitness elements. Twenty-one professional male handball-players (age: 25.9 ± 6.9 years; mass: 87.9 ± 13.9 kg; height: 1.81 ± 0.08 m), participated in the study. Players were divided into the stronger (SG) and weaker group (WG) according to their relative to body mass 1 repetition maximum strength (1RM). Measurements included body composition, countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric leg extension peak torque (IPT) and rate of torque development (RTD), 5-step long-jump, 0-20 m linear sprint, T-half test, throwing velocity, and 1RM in bench press and squat. No significant difference was found for body composition between SG and WG ( p > 0.05). However, SG had significantly higher CMJ height (21.5%, p = 0.002), IPT (22.4%, p = 0.008), RTD relative to body mass ( p < 0.05), 5-step long jump (10.9%, p = 0.005), lower 0-20 linear sprint (-6.3%, p = 0.012), lower T-half test time trial (-7.3%, p = 0.001), and higher throwing velocity compared with WG ( p < 0.05). When all players included in one group, large to very large correlations were found between 1RM strength and IPT with fat-free mass ( r = 0.518-0.774) and throwing velocity ( r = 0.472-0.819). Very large correlations were found between RTD with fat-free mass ( r = 0.760) and throwing velocity ( r = 0.780-0.835). Stronger players have greater performance in all handball-fitness attributes compared with their weaker counterparts. The significant correlations between handball-specific fitness elements with strength and RTD suggest that strength training is essential for handball players as it may link to higher on court performance.

A formative investigation assessing menstrual health literacy in professional women’s football

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to assess and compare menstrual health literacy in professional women’s football. A three-section questionnaire was completed by professional players (n = 25), development players (n = 22) and staff (n = 19). The mean total knowledge score (out of 19) was lower for development players (5.4 ± 2.9) than professional players (7.8 ± 3.2) and staff (9.1 ± 4.8) (p < 0.001). No group achieved >50% correct answers. For each group, knowledge of the menstrual cycle (MC) was greater than knowledge of hormonal contraceptives (HC) (p < 0.001). Previous MC and HC education did not correspond to higher knowledge scores in professional players (p = 0.823) or development players (p = 0.274). In professional and development players, comfort of communication was influenced by the sex of whom they were communicating with (p < 0.001), with a preference for females. In conclusion, results from the present study suggest refined education strategies and new approaches are required for both players and staff to improve menstrual health literacy in professional women’s football.

A video-based time-motion analysis of an elite male basketball team during a season: game demands according to player position, game quarter, and actual time played

ABSTRACT To investigate differences in the game demands of top-level professional basketball players based on their position and the quarter of the game. Thirteen elite male players were assessed on their positions (point guard, guard, forward, and centre) over different quarters (Q1-Q4) during 15 home games. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed using role and quarters as predictors to assess distances, speeds, and accelerations. The guard and point guard covered more distance than the centre and forwards (p > 0.001). The average distance covered was higher (p < 0.01) in Q4 than in the other quarters. Both speed and the percentage of time spent in the jogging to max speed range decreased significantly from Q1 to Q4, while time spent standing and walking tended to increase from Q1 to Q4. The point guard spent the highest percentage of total time performing major accelerations followed by the guard, while the forwards and centre spent less time performing accelerations. Overall, 22.8 ± 0.7% of total playing time was spent performing major accelerations, which decreased from Q1 to Q4. These findings suggest that the positions of elite basketball players vary in terms of the activities demands they place on players, underscoring the need for individualised role-based conditioning.

Exploring Sentiment Extraction from Dota 2 Update 7.33 “The New Frontiers” Tweets Using STANZA and NLTK

Updates of a game can give a different experience while playing and sometimes it becomes the most awaited and decisive point for players who have left the game to return. Updates can come in the form of gameplay changes or character skin updates. Dota 2 game has complex game elements ranging from choosing heroes to choosing the right items to counter the opponent's hero. The big updates provided by the Dota 2 game are always awaited by casual to professional players and also enthusiasts of the game, some update may lead to negative impact in gameplay and otherwise. In this study, a classification will be carried out from the results of sentiment analysis given by people on the biggest Dota 2 ver 3.33 update from twitter. This update overhauls many elements in the game and to find out whether there are many people who like it or not, the test was conducted. From the results of the sentiment analysis, a comparison of the automatic targeting using the Stanza and NLTK libraries is also performed, which results in a different number of positive, neutral and negative statement values.

Differences in countermovement vertical jump force-time metrics between starting and non-starting professional male basketball players.

With force plates being widely implemented for neuromuscular performance assessment in sport-specific settings and various force-time metrics being able to differentiate athletes based on their performance capabilities, the purpose of the present study was to examine the differences in countermovement vertical jump (CVJ) characteristics between starting and non-starting professional male basketball players (e.g., ABA League). Twenty-three athletes (height = 199.2 ± 7.7 kg, body mass = 94.2 ± 8.2 kg, age = 23.8 ± 4.9 years) volunteered to participate in the present investigation. Upon completion of a standardized warm-up protocol, each athlete performed three maximal-effort CVJs without an arm swing while standing on a uni-axial force plate system sampling at 1,000 Hz. Independent t-tests were used to examine statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in each force-time metric between starters (n = 10) and non-starters (n = 13). No significant differences in any of the CVJ force-time metrics of interest were observed between the two groups, during both the eccentric and concentric phases of the movement (i.e., impulse, duration, peak velocity, and mean and peak force and power). Moreover, starters and non-starters demonstrated similar performance on CVJ outcome (e.g., jump height) and strategy metrics (e.g., countermovement depth). Overall, these findings suggest that at the professional level of play, the ability to secure a spot in the starting lineup is not primarily determined by the players' CVJ performance characteristics.

Game sides technical-tactical differences between professional male padel players

The main objective of this study was to analyze how professional male padel players technically-tactically behave and to whether determine if there are any differences between one game side and the other (left game side, LGS; right game side, RGS). The sample included 12.851 shots corresponding to 8 matches from the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals of the Premier Padel circuit held in 2022 where 16 different professional right-handed padel male players participated. All matches were analyzed through systematic observation using an ad-hoc instrument. Variables such as, type of strokes, outcomes, hitting zones and switching displacements, were taken into account. Significant differences ( p &lt; 0.05) were found on forehands, backhands, backhand volleys, forehand lobs, backhand lobs, counter wall forehand, counter-lateral wall forehand and backhand, and wall descent stroke backhand. Also, significant differences were found regarding the stroke outcomes: into play (RGS 46.4%; p &lt; 0.05); winners (LGS 2.3%; p &lt; 0.01). Finally, significant differences were noticed between switching displacements in which the LGS players switched considerably more times than the RGS (66.7%; p &lt; 0.001). The reported results proved that there exist differences between both game sides regarding their strokes, stroke outcomes, and switching displacements.

Increased game frequency period crossing Ramadan intermittent fasting decreases fat mass, sleep duration, and recovery in male professional basketball players

Background Increased basketball game frequency may affect athlete performances, especially during Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF). The objective of the present investigation was to assess the impacts of increased game frequency periods crossing the RIF on body composition, sleep habits, indices of well-being, recovery state, and dietary intake in professional male basketball players. Methods Twenty-eight professional basketball players participated in this study and were divided into increased-games-frequency (INCR) or normal-games-frequency (NORM) groups. INCR trained four times and completed two games per week, whereas NORM completed only one game per week. During the first and fourth weeks of RIF, the following variables were assessed: internal load (weekly session rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE), heartrate (HR)), dietary intake, body composition, sleep quality (PSQI survey), well-being indices questionnaire (sleep, fatigue, stress, delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS)), and recovery state with the Total Quality Recovery (TQR) questionnaire. Results The internal load significantly increased after 4 weeks of RIF in INCR compared to NORM (p &lt; 0.001). Significant decrease of TQR, sleep duration, and a significant increase of DOMS only for INCR (26.93%, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.48, small; 33.83%, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.40, small; 161.17%, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.32, small; respectively). Significant group × time interaction was observed for body mass (p = 0.006, ES = 0.46, small) and body fat percentage (p = 0.025, ES = 0.33, small), with INCR having a greater decrease in all these values. Conclusion Increased game frequency period crossing RIF decreases fat mass, sleep duration, and recovery in professional basketball players, which may consequently affect performance and health.

A comparative analysis for eye movement characteristics between professional and non-professional players in FIFA eSports game

Eye-tracking technology has been widely applied to various kinds of traditional sports research, such as football, basketball and table tennis. eSports is an emerging digital sport, which is currently enjoying rapid development. The previous study primarily focuses on the practical applications of eye movement in eSports, such as game design, visual attention, and performance analysis. However, there is a scientific gap for the specific differences between expert and novice players, the potential of eye-tracking as a biological marker for eSports performance, and the transfer of insights from real sports to eSports through eye-tracking studies. This study aims to uncover disparities in eye movement characteristics between professional players (N = 14, 24.1 ± 2.5 years) and non-professional players (N = 14, 25.2 ± 2.3 years) by employing the expert-novice paradigm. We extracted several key eye movement features, including average fixation counts, average fixation duration, first fixation duration, eye movement trajectory, and visits to areas of interest. The results indicate that professional players exhibit higher fixation counts, shorter first fixation duration, reduced average fixation duration, and employ a more effective visual search strategy. Professional players’ fixation trajectories are characterized by clarity and focus, with a greater number of fixation points concentrated on key areas of interest. In contrast, non-professional players demonstrate relatively random fixation trajectories, lacking distinct focal points. This study not only advances our understanding of eye-tracking in eSports but also provides technical guidance and practical significance for further research in this burgeoning field.