Years Of Play Research Articles

Policy change eliminating body checking in non-elite ice hockey leads to a threefold reduction in injury and concussion risk in 11- and 12-year-old players

BackgroundIn ice hockey, body checking is associated with an increased risk of injury. In 2011, provincial policy change disallowed body checking in non-elite Pee Wee (ages 11–12 years) leagues.ObjectiveTo compare...

Use of a tracing task to assess visuomotor performance for evidence of concussion and recuperation.

The likelihood of suffering a concussion while playing a contact sport ranges from 15-45% per year of play. These rates are highly variable as athletes seldom report concussive symptoms, or do not recognize their symptoms. We performed a prospective cohort study (n = 206, aged 10-17) to examine visuomotor tracing to determine the sensitivity for detecting neuromotor components of concussion. Tracing variability measures were investigated for a mean shift with presentation of concussion-related symptoms and a linear return toward baseline over subsequent return visits. Furthermore, previous research relating brain injury to the dissociation of smooth movements into "submovements" led to the expectation that cumulative micropause duration, a measure of motion continuity, might detect likelihood of injury. Separate linear mixed effects regressions of tracing measures indicated that 4 of the 5 tracing measures captured both short-term effects of injury and longer-term effects of recovery with subsequent visits. Cumulative micropause duration has a positive relationship with likelihood of participants having had a concussion. The present results suggest that future research should evaluate how well the coefficients for the tracing parameter in the logistic regression help to detect concussion in novel cases.

EVALUATION OF A BODY CHECKING POLICY CHANGE AS AN INJURY PREVENTION STRATEGY FOR NON-ELITE YOUTH ICE HOCKEY PLAYERS

BackgroundIn Pee Wee (ages 11–12) ice hockey, body checking is associated with an increased risk of injury and concussion. In 2011, research informed some provincial policy change, disallowing body checking...

We Need to Know … Now!

We Need to Know … Now!

Behavioral characteristics of Internet gamblers who trigger corporate responsible gambling interventions.

As the worldwide popularity of Internet gambling increases, concerns about the potential for gambling-related harm also increase. This paper reports the results of a study examining actual Internet gambling behavior during 10 years of play. We examined the electronic gambling records of subscribers (N=2,066) who triggered a responsible gaming alert system at a large international online gaming company. We compared these cases with control subscribers (N=2,066) who had the same amount of exposure to the Internet gambling service provider. We used discriminant function analysis to explore what aspects of gambling behavior distinguish cases from controls. Indices of the intensity of gambling activity (e.g., total number of bets made, number of bets per betting day) best distinguished cases from controls, particularly in the case of live-action sports betting. Control group players evidenced behavior similar to the population of players using this service. These results add to our understanding of behavioral markers for disordered Internet gambling and will aid in the development of behavior-based algorithms capable of predicting the presence and/or the onset of disordered Internet gambling.

Sports Activities and Sense of Coherence (SOC) among College Students

The purpose of this study was to compare the level of Sense of Coherence (SOC) in athletes to that in non-athletes in a college population. Subjects were 716 students (315 males, 401 females; mean age 19.4±1.4 years; age range 18-37 years) from metropolitan colleges. SOC was measured by standard questionnaires (Antonovsky, 1987) including the Japanese version of the SOC-13 translated by Yamazaki (1999) which can also measure three sub-concepts of SOC, namely, senses of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The sports activities the subjects engaged in were also surveyed in terms of their affiliated athletic organizations, sporting events, frequency of play, successive years of play, and experience of playing sports. From the frequency of play at the time of survey, the subjects were categorized into three groups: high frequency sports activity (HFS), medium frequency sports activity (MFS), and Low frequency or No sports activity (LNS) groups. Additionally, from the number of successive years of play of their current sports, subjects were categorized into four groups: 0-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-9 years, and >10 years. Significant differences in SOC and meaningfulness scores were found between the HFS, MFS, and LNS groups (χ2=12.53, 11.80; both p<0.01). Significant differences in the SOC, meaningfulness, and comprehensibility scores were also found between the four duration groups (Z=3.68, 2.77, 3.19, p<0.001 or 0.01) with several sex differences. The results showed the possibility that sports activities related to SOC, and athletes possessed higher SOC than that of non-athletes. The findings suggested that experience of successive years of sport activities enhanced SOC. This hypothesis was discussed mainly in terms of General Resistance Resources (GRRs) and the three SOC sub-concepts.

Predicting performance over time using a case study in real tennis

James N. Predicting performance over time using a case study in real tennis. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 421-433, 2012. It has been predicted that women marathon runners would run as fast as men by 1998, a prediction that was both incorrect and based on rather dubious logic i.e. that world records would progress in a linear manner. This led to the suggestion that a flattened S shape logistic curve was the best fit for analysing world record times but their prediction for the best possible men’s marathon performance was achieved in September 2011. This paper suggests that a simple curve may be more appropriate for most performance data. Hours on court, handicap (55 to 29.1) and world ranking (4072 to 700) were recorded for one Real Tennis player over a period of 15 months. The player’s world rank was plotted over time and hours played with a logarithmic curve proving to be the best fit. This provided an estimate for future performance, which suggested the player would achieve number one in the world after just 474 hours of play. The handicap data for all 7750 players on the Real Tennis database showed that the world ranking is not linearly related to handicap and as such not a valid measure for predicting future performance. Consequently the same procedure was applied to the handicap data and a similar logarithmic curve suggested the player could achieve a handicap of 8 after 10,000 hours of play. 95% Confidence limits were calculated to suggest that after 450 hours (three years of play) the player would achieve a handicap of between 17 and 45. It is suggested that future research should consider the optimum trade off between certainty of prediction and acceptable range for lower and upper limits of performance. Key words: PREDICTING, PERFORMANCE, LEVELS, REAL TENNIS

Performance Changes During a College Playing Career in NCAA Division III Football Athletes

The purpose of this study was to compare anthropometric and athletic performance variables during the playing career of NCAA Division III college football players. Two hundred and eighty-nine college football players were assessed for height, body mass, body composition, 1-repetition-maximum (1RM) bench press, 1RM squat, vertical jump height (VJ), vertical jump peak, and vertical jump mean (VJMP) power, 40-yd sprint speed (40S), agility, and line drill (LD) over an 8-year period. All testing occurred at the beginning of summer training camp in each of the seasons studied. Data from all years of testing were combined. Players in their fourth and fifth (red-shirt year) seasons of competition were significantly (p < 0.05) heavier than first-year players. Significant increases in strength were seen during the course of the athletes' collegiate career (31.0% improvement in the 1RM bench press and 36.0% increase in squat strength). The VJ was significantly greater during the fourth year of competition compared to in the previous 3 years of play. Vertical jump peak and VJMP were significantly elevated from years 1 and 2 and were significantly higher during year 4 than during any previous season of competition. No significant changes in 40S or LD time were seen during the athletes playing career. Fatigue rate for the LD (fastest time/slowest time of 3 LD) significantly improved from the first (83.4 ± 6.4%) to second season (85.1 ± 6.5%) of competition. Fatigue rates in the fourth (88.3 ± 4.8%) and fifth (91.2 ± 5.2%) seasons were significantly greater than in any previous season. Strength and power performance improvements appear to occur throughout the football playing career of NCAA Division III athletes. However, the ability to significantly improve speed and agility may be limited.

Looking for Gender: Gender Roles and Behaviors Among Online Gamers

Several hypotheses regarding the importance of gender and relationships were tested by combining a large survey dataset with unobtrusive behavioral data from 1 year of play. Consistent with expectations, males played for achievement-oriented reasons and were more aggressive, especially within romantic relationships where both partners played. Female players in such relationships had higher general happiness than their male counterparts. Contrary to stereotypes and current hypotheses, it was the female players who played the most. Female players were also healthier than male players or females in the general population. The findings have implications for gender theory and communication-oriented methods in games and online research—most notably for the use of self-reported time spent, which was systematically incorrect and different by gender.

The relationship between hip rotation range of movement and low back pain prevalence in amateur golfers: An observational study

Objective To investigate whether amateur golfers with self-reported low back pain have reduced hip rotation compared to asymptomatic controls. Design Observational case-control study. Setting Data collection took place at 2 amateur golf clubs in southern England. Participants On initial contact, all participants completed a screening questionnaire used to allocate participants into LBP ( n = 28) and control groups ( n = 36). LBP group were found to be heavier than controls ( t = 2.242, 95% CI 0.763–13.332) but were matched for age, height, handedness, handicap, rounds played per week and years of play. Main outcome measures Primary outcome measures were lead and non-lead hip medial and lateral rotation in 0° of flexion as measured by inclinometer. Secondary measures included inter and intra-rater reliability. Results The LBP group had significantly reduced lead hip passive (LBP 21.14 ± 10.17°; controls 31.06 ± 8.06°, t = −4.228, 95% CI −14.621–−5.205) and lead hip active medial rotation (LBP 21.46 ± 10.01; controls 28.06 ± 7.49°, t = −2.908, 95% CI −11.147–−2.036) compared to controls. No between group differences were found in non-lead hips or any passive or active lateral rotation measures. Conclusion Although there is lack of causality between LBP and hip rotation, the deficit in lead leg medial hip rotation in amateur golfers who suffer LBP may be relevant for screening or treatment selection.

The world of competitive Scrabble: Novice and expert differences in visuopatial and verbal abilities.

Competitive Scrabble players spend a mean of 4.5 hr a week memorizing words from the official Scrabble dictionary. When asked if they learn word meanings when studying word lists, only 6.4% replied "always," with the rest split between "sometimes" and "rarely or never." Number of years of play correlated positively with expertise ratings, suggesting that expertise develops with practice. To determine the effect of hours of practice (M = 1,904), the authors compared experts with high-achieving college students on a battery of cognitive tests. Despite reporting that they usually memorize word lists without learning meanings, experts defined more words correctly. Reaction times on a lexical decision task (controlling for age) correlated with expertise ratings, suggesting that experts develop faster access to word identification. Experts' superiority on visuospatial processing was found for reaction time on 1 of 3 visuospatial tests. In a study of memory for altered Scrabble boards, experts outperformed novices, with differences between high and low expertise on memory for boards with structure-deforming transformations. Expert Scrabble players showed superior performance on selected verbal and visuospatial tasks that correspond to abilities that are implicated in competitive play.

Critical Events or Critical Conditions: The 1999 Women’s World Cup and the Women’s United Soccer Association

In the wake of the 1999 Women’s World Cup final, a women’s professional league was formed, and play commenced with much fanfare in 2001. Attendance for the tournament had been stellar, and the final between China and the United States garnered a phenomenal television rating. It was with much optimism that the WUSA (Women’s United Soccer Association) was launched. However, despite a strong first season, attendance and television ratings declined, and the league folded after three years of play. This essay seeks to analyze the failure of the WUSA in the face of the wild success of the 1999 World Cup. Strategically, the league suffered from saturation of the market (locations in major sports markets with a plethora of other sporting options) and a marketing strategy that seemed to outreach the demand for women’s professional soccer (reliance on corporate sponsorship rather than grassroots approaches). Culturally, I will argue that the success of the 1999 World Cup final had more to do with expressions of nationalism by American viewers and less to do with soccer itself. The essay will detail an instance of positive nationalism (the viewing of a particular sporting event because of the nationalistic implications of the event).

Knee movement patterns of injured and uninjured adolescent basketball players when landing from a jump: A case-control study

BackgroundA common knee injury mechanism sustained during basketball is landing badly from a jump. Landing is a complex task and requires good coordination, dynamic muscle control and flexibility. For adolescents whose coordination and motor control has not fully matured, landing badly from a jump can present a significant risk for injury. There is currently limited biomechanical information regarding the lower limb kinetics of adolescents when jumping, specifically regarding jump kinematics comparing injured with uninjured adolescents. This study reports on an investigation of biomechanical differences in landing patterns of uninjured and injured adolescent basketball players.MethodsA matched case-control study design was employed. Twenty-two basketball players aged 14–16 years participated in the study: eleven previously knee-injured and eleven uninjured players matched with cases for age, gender, weight, height and years of play, and playing for the same club. Six high-speed, three-dimensional Vicon 370 cameras (120 Hz), Vicon biomechanical software and SAS Version 8 software were employed to analyse landing patterns when subjects performed a "jump shot". Linear correlations determined functional relationships between the biomechanical performance of lower limb joints, and paired t-tests determined differences between the normalised peak biomechanical parameters.ResultsThe average peak vertical ground reaction forces between the cases and controls were similar. The average peak ground reaction forces between the cases and controls were moderately correlated (r = -0.47). The control (uninjured) players had significantly greater hip and knee flexion angles and significantly greater eccentric activity on landing than the uninjured cases (p < 0.01).ConclusionThe findings of the study indicate that players with a history of knee injuries had biomechanically compromised landing techniques when compared with uninjured players matched for gender, age and club. Descriptions (norms) of expected levels of knee control, proprioceptive acuity and eccentric strength relative to landing from a jump, at different ages and physical developmental stages, would assist clinicians and coaches to identify players with inappropriate knee performance comparable to their age or developmental stage.

Video game play in British and Japanese adolescents

Results from research into negative correlates of computer/video game play in the United Kingdom and in Japan are presented, with new analyses across cultures. Patterns of play are similar, although Japanese adolescents have been playing for longer, they play fewer aggressive games, and there is greater perceived concern by Japanese parents. Principal components analyses of a scale to measure needs met by game play produce essentially the same factors: “companionship,” which correlates with play in the United Kingdomonly, and “prefer to friends,” which in Japan correlates with play for both genders, but only for boys in the United Kingdom. Aggression scores are predicted by frequency of play in both cultures, but years of play explain none of the variance. A preference for aggressive games predicts lower aggression scores in Japan. These findings would seem to provide little support for the causal link hypothesis.

Groin and abdominal strain injuries in the National Hockey League.

To analyze groin and abdominal strain injuries retrospectively among elite male hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) over six seasons of play (1991/92 to 1996/97). Retrospective case series design. The NHL. The NHL participants were an inclusive sample of 7,050 NHL hockey players who played in the NHL from the 1991/92 to the 1996/97 seasons. A subset of 2,600 NHL hockey players who played from the 1995/96 to the 1996/97 seasons was further analyzed. The injury definition for groin/abdominal strain injury included any injury recorded as a muscle strain injury involving a muscle in any of the abdominal, hip flexor, or hip adductor muscle groups. Femoral, abdominal, and inguinal hernias were also included. Cumulative incidence rates over six seasons of play in the NHL and incidence densities over two seasons of play in the NHL are reported. Specific injury parameters examined included muscle region, time in season, type of session, reinjury, time period in session, position of play, player's experience, mechanism of injury, and time loss. A total of 617 groin/abdominal strain injuries were reported in the NHL over six seasons of play. The cumulative incidence rate in the NHL increased over 6 years of play from 12.99 injuries/100 players/year in the 1991/92 season to 19.87 injuries/100 players/year in the 1996/97 season. The rate of increase was 1.32 (95% confidence interval -0.58, 3.21) injuries/100 players/year. The incidence density of groin/abdominal injury during NHL training camp was five times that during the regular season and 20 times that during the postseason. The incidence density in the NHL during games was six times that during practice. The majority of injuries reported were adductor groin muscle strains. The proportion of injuries reported that were recurrent was 23.5%. There was no significant difference in proportion of injuries reported by time period within a session. The mechanism of injury recorded was noncontact in nature in >90% of injuries reported. Mean time loss due to injury was significantly greater for abdominal injuries (10.59 sessions) than for groin injuries (6.59 sessions). A conservative estimate of the impact of groin/abdominal injury on each NHL team is a game loss of 25 player games/year. The impact of groin and abdominal strain injury at an elite level of play in hockey is significant and increasing. Future research in this area is needed to identify risk factors and potentially implement prevention strategies to reduce groin and abdominal strain injury at all levels of play.

CONCUSSION IN HOCKEY: THERE IS CAUSE FOR CONCERN

2050 Head injuries suffered by athletes in full contact sports have been the focus of increasing attention from medical personnel and training staff responsible for the care of these athletes. According to Roberts (1992), the greatest risk to athletes occurs when a player sustains a second head injury before the symptoms of a previous concussion have cleared. Unfortunately, little data is available with respect to the first concussion, the recovery period, and subsequent concussions. The focus of the current research project is the development of methods for assessing the degree of impairment of the central nervous system that results in deficits of motor coordination and decreased motor stability following a mild head injury. Phase one involved the administration of a survey in which demographic information, head injury history and current symptoms of hockey players were investigated. A total of 262 players ranging in age from 16 to 20 years from 14 teams in the British Columbia Hockey League comprised the target group. The survey administrators remained present while the questionnaire was completed to clarify or answer any questions that arose. The survey included questions pertaining to: basic personal information such as height and weight; hockey history including position of play and years of play; head injury history including number received, cause, and treatment; and current symptoms such as headaches, depression, and light sensitivity. In total 160 or 61.1% of players reported a history of at least one concussion. The results indicate 35.5%, 19.1%, and 6.49% have a history of one, two, and three or more concussions respectively. The survey results also indicate that 62.6% of forwards and 37.4% of defensive players reported a history of head injuries. In spite of this high rate of concussion in hockey the majority of players remain symptom free. An analysis based on the demographic data will be presented as well as an analysis of factors predisposing hockey players to mild head injury. Supported by The B.C. Rick Hansen Neurotrauma Initiative.

Acute and chronic brain injury in United States National Team soccer players.

We designed a study to determine whether chronic encephalopathy occurs in elite, active soccer players resulting from repetitive heading of the soccer ball. Studies have suggested that the cumulative effects of heading a ball can cause a chronic brain syndrome similar to dementia pugilistica, which is seen in professional boxers. Twenty of 25 members of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team training camp (average age, 24.9; average years of soccer, 17.7), who completed a questionnaire on head injury symptoms and had magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, were compared with 20 age-matched male elite track athletes. The soccer players were surveyed about playing position, teams, number of headers, acute head injuries, and years of playing experience. An exposure index to headers was developed to assess a dose-response effect of chronic heading. The soccer and track groups were questioned regarding alcohol use and history of acute head traumas. Questionnaire analysis and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated no statistical differences between the two groups. Among the soccer players, symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging findings did not correlate with age, years of play, exposure index results, or number of headers. However, reported head injury symptoms, especially in soccer players, correlated with histories of prior acute head injuries (r = 0.63). These findings suggest that any evidence of encephalopathy in soccer players relates more to acute head injuries received playing soccer than from repetitive heading.

Thirty years of play in hospital

Thirty years of play in hospital

Effects of physical training and competition on the iron status of female field hockey players.

Female collegiate field hockey players showed decreases in iron stores (as measured by serum ferritin) in each of 3 successive fall seasons studied. After the 1st season of regular play, a decrease (25-23 ng/ml was observed, but measurements after post-season tournament play for the 2nd and 3rd seasons showed significant (P less than 0.05) decreases of 37% (30-19 ng/ml) and 30% (24-17 ng/ml), respectively. The added stress of tournament play appeared to cause additional loss of reserve iron nearly as great as that experienced during early season training. After several years of play, serum ferritin levels in these athletes were frequently between 10 and 20 ng/ml, with the lowest levels occurring in 3rd- and 4th-year athletes. Those women who participated in all 3 years had progressively declining serum ferritin levels throughout their collegiate careers. Participation in collegiate field hockey jeopardizes body iron stores, and iron reserves tend to become progressively more depleted after successive seasons of competition.

Jumper's Knee: An Epidemiological Study of Volleyball Players

In brief: We studied 407 volleyball players to investigate the factors that cause patellar or quadriceps tendinitis (jumper's knee). Athletes from 30 teams in various divisions of the Italian Volleyball Federation championship were interviewed personally or by questionnaire. Factors investigated included age and sex, years of play, frequency of training sessions and games, type of playing surface, and type of training. The results showed that symptoms occurred most often among athletes playing five times a week or more and among those playing on hard surfaces, such as cement. Age, sex, years of play, and type of training were less significant factors.