Applied Sports Science newsletter – September 26, 2015

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for September 26, 2015

 

Kobe Bryant of Los Angeles Lakers to have hard cap on minutes, Byron Scott says

ESPN, NBA, Baxter Holmes from September 19, 2015

In an effort to help preserve Kobe Bryant in what could his final NBA campaign, Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said the 37-year-old Bryant will have a hard minutes cap this season, a move that both parties hope will help Bryant avoid injury after having his past three seasons cut short by it.

“We’ve got to stick to the guns,” Scott told the Orange County Register of the cap. “If we agree on a certain amount of time we’re going to stick to it.”

 

Michael Johnson A Man for All Ages | Spikes powered by IAAF

IAAF, Spikes from September 22, 2015

… “Understand what you want to do and how that works. Look, as a track and field athlete, you’re training every day but you have a lot of downtime; you have a tremendous amount of downtime. Take that downtime to research and think about and figure out the things you are interested in, and how those things actually work.” [video, 13:56]

 

NBA tweaks format for Finals to ease travel demands

ESPN, NBA, Marc Stein from September 24, 2015

The NBA, in an ongoing attempt to ?build more rest into the schedule and ease travel demands on its players, has announced another change to the NBA Finals format.

The league introduced a revised template for its Finals schedule Wednesday, scrapping its long-standing Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday model with a pledge to ensure two days between games any time teams are required to change cities.

 

Scientific American’s October Issue Highlights Importance Of Sleep

Huffington Post, Scientific American from September 18, 2015

There’s been a major resurgence of interest lately in sleep — a subject that has long proved elusive to scientists — in both the medical world and the popular consciousness.

Too often, we dismiss sleep’s importance — equating it with idle time, laziness or lack of motivation. But the latest new research is helping people learn that sleep is actually essential.

Now, a story on the science of sleep has made the cover of Scientific American’s October issue, highlighting the critical role sleep plays in a wide array of physical and psychological processes.

“It is physiologically vital that we spend about a third of our lives unconscious,” editor-in-chief Mariette DiChristina writes in her editor’s letter.

 

Why Do Game-Sense Coaches Get It So Wrong When They Could Be Getting It So Right? – Analysis and Discussion of Coaching Science, Methods and Technology

Coach+ from September 21, 2015

… Game-sense coaches use games to encourage players to develop skills, techniques and decision-making. With a competitive atmosphere and more randomised scenarios, the players are motivated to find solutions and discover new skills. They also put current skills under pressure, testing out their ability to execute them correctly and at the right moment. … But this all comes unstuck if the coach fails to do a couple of things.

 

Why Running Is Hard | SALTMARSH RUNNING

SALTMARSH RUNNING, Matt Fitzgerald from August 03, 2015

What makes running hard? If you ask a random runner this question, you are likely to get answers such as “pain,” “fatigue,” and “lactic acid.” These are all good answers, but none of them captures the essence of why running (as well as other endurance activities) feels so difficult at times. Only very recently have scientists identified the true reason.

Pain certainly is a part of the running experience. Remember how sore your quads felt in the final mile of your last marathon? Yet running is often difficult in the absence of muscle pain. For example, muscle pain is much less of a factor in the 6th second of a steep uphill sprint than it is in the final mile of a marathon, but overall, the experience is not any easier. In both situations you are trying as hard as you can, and you feel it.

 

Building smarter wearables for healthcare, Part 1: Examining how healthcare can benefit from wearables and cognitive computing

IBM Bluemix from August 04, 2015

In this article, I examine the current trends in wearable computing in healthcare. Also, I explore the gaps between what can be done with current hardware offerings and their analytic capabilities. You’ll learn how cognitive computing platforms like Watson can accelerate time to market for wearable device makers and also how Watson can fill the gap between the potential of wearables and their current rather weak offerings.

 

Inaugural class in sports product management takes flight | Around the O

University of Oregon, Around the O from September 17, 2015

The University of Oregon’s Sports Product Management master’s degree program has officially kicked off, welcoming 39 students from around the U.S. and the world to start their journeys to become future leaders in the sports product industry.

The students are immersing themselves in the program, Portland and Oregon through an intensive two-and-a-half-week orientation before classes start at the end of the month. Orientation includes meeting with mentors, a visit to the Eugene campus and introductory workshops such as The Art of Sports Apparel Making and Brand and Business Innovations: How Big Ideas Make New Markets.

 

This Intelligent Mirror Can Diagnose Everything Wrong With You From Your Reflection | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

Fast Company, Co.Exist from September 18, 2015

The Wize Mirror knows if you’ve been drinking too much or eating foods you shouldn’t. It can sense if you’ve got high cholesterol or are on the way to getting diabetes. And it does all of this without ever taking a blood sample or getting you to pee in a cup.

Under development by 11 European research groups, the mirror isn’t like any looking glass you’ve seen before, and it sounds barely believable. But the scientists behind the project are confident they can diagnose a string of health problems just by looking at people’s faces. So, soon you could be checking your health as well as your appearance, as in Mirror, mirror on the wall… tell me if I’m drinking too much?

 

Open Source Code May Unite IoT | EE Times

EE Times from September 21, 2015

A high profile open source project working on software-defined networks has given birth to what could become an important standard for bringing unity to the fragmented Internet of Things.

A robust middleware platform can unlock innovation and fulfill the promise of the Internet of Things. Such an approach is the IoT Data Management (IoTDM) project, an open source middleware solution recently started at the Linux Foundation under the auspices of the OpenDaylight project.

 

Intelligent car seat detects driver’s stress level| Reuters

Reuters from September 23, 2015

Keeping calm behind the wheel could get easier thanks to a new car seat that actively monitors a driver’s physical and mental status to offer an on the move therapy session.

The “Active Wellness” seat is the world’s first health-monitoring car seat, according to automotive suppliers Faurecia. It uses a biometric sensing system built into the seat lining that can detect if the driver has a drop in energy levels or is under stress and responds with a specific massage pattern, along with air flow through the seat’s ventilation system. [video, pre-roll + 2:00]

 

Patellar Tendinopathy: Clinical Diagnosis, Load Management, and Advice for Challenging Case Presentations

Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy from September 21, 2015

The hallmark features of patellar tendinopathy are (1) pain localized to the inferior pole of the patella and (2) load related pain that increases with the demand on the knee extensors, notably in activities that store and release energy in the patellar tendon. While imaging may assist in differential diagnosis, the diagnosis of patellar tendinopathy remains clinical, as asymptomatic tendon pathology may exist in people who have pain from other anterior knee sources. A thorough examination is required to diagnose patellar tendinopathy and contributing factors. Management of patellar tendinopathy should focus on progressively developing load tolerance of the tendon, the musculoskeletal unit, and the kinetic chain as well as addressing key biomechanical and other risk factors. Rehabilitation can be slow and sometimes frustrating. This review aims to assist clinicians with key concepts related to examination, diagnosis, and management of patellar tendinopathy. Difficult clinical presentations (eg, highly irritable tendon, systemic comorbidities) as well as common pitfalls such as unrealistic rehabilitation timeframes and over-reliance on passive treatments are also discussed.

 

Informed Consent Doesn’t Make Athletes Safer

CSMi Solutions from September 22, 2015

Requiring athletes to acknowledge receipt of concussion-related educational materials may limit liability, but it won’t necessarily make them safer.

 

Goldilocks, Bayes Theorem, and the Clinical Search for Optimal Load – by Scot Morrison

MedBridge from August 25, 2015

Tissue loading is one of the key variables that we can manipulate in rehabilitation. From the more passive loading (i.e. manual therapy) through the most active approaches (i.e. max effort lifts, plyometrics), the management of load represents a key component of what the physiotherapist or athletic trainer does.1-3 Once the clinician establishes the need for some form of physiological adaptation, the primary clinical question becomes one of dosage. The clinician can determine appropriate dosage by methodically applying clinical reasoning over time to the presentation of the individual. There are a few models that deal with the conceptual aspects of determining appropriate dosage. Two that are very relevant to clinical practice are the tissue homeostasis model and the idea of optimal load.4-6 Both look at the process in a similar manner and to some extent can be used together to drive the clinician’s reasoning. Applied appropriately, these models give the clinician a powerful framework to guide the rehabilitation process.

 

Eva Carneiro: Chelsea doctor leaves after Jose Mourinho row

BBC Sport from September 22, 2015

… [Heather] Rabbatts, the FA’s only female board member, has been vocal in her support of Carneiro, whom she said acted “properly”.

“Her departure raises a serious question on how players are safeguarded if their medical support is compromised,” said Rabbatts.

 

Ayla Bystrom-Williams Makes Beer That’s (Kind of) Good For You

Outside Online, Women Who Rock from September 15, 2015

Ayla Bystrom-Williams wants you to drink more beer. (We know, we like her, too!) But it’s not your garden-variety microbrew or local IPA. Instead, the founder of Santa Fe–based HoneyMoon Brewery suggests you start guzzling kombucha beer.

Kombucha beer is exactly what it sounds like: a hybrid of a rejuvenating health drink and a happy-hour craft brew. HoneyMoon’s flagship Wildfire ’Bucha Beer tastes like champagne with more fruit and floral notes, and a light, crisp finish. “It’s not so much healthy beer as healthier beer,” Bystrom-Williams says. “Alcohol, per se, is never going to be healthy. But the industry standard for a healthy beer is a Miller Lite.”

 

Football’s dirty secret: ignorance is not bliss when it comes to doping

Jumping the Gun from September 21, 2015

And so it begins.

After decades of anecdotal evidence — think star players spotted at renowned doping clinics, rogue doctors bragging about trophies their pharmacology has won for club and country, major European titles being won by players with blood as thick as golden syrup — there is finally cold, hard evidence to suggest that maybe, just maybe (whisper it quietly, for many don’t want to hear) football has a doping problem.

A report by The Sunday Times yesterday revealed details of a study commissioned by Uefa which examined more than 4,000 urine tests from top-level European players between 2008 and 2013, which found that 7.7pc of the 879 players tested had “atypical samples” that indicated the possible use of anabolic steroids.

 

The Amount of Water You Actually Need Per Day – ABC News

ABC News, Health.com from September 20, 2015

Eight, 8 oz. glasses of water a day: it’s a rule that’s been burned into our brains for years as the ideal amount of fluid to drink each day. Yet no matter how many times experts say that’s not quite accurate, many still believe “8×8” is the magic amount.

The truth: How much water you should drink each day really, truly depends on the person, Robert A. Huggins, PhD, of the University of Connecticut explained to Health.

 

20 years of sports studies and development – FIFA.com

FIFA.com from September 05, 2015

“The legs of a 20-year-old are made to travel the world,” wrote the French poet Christian Bobin.

The same can be said of the International Centre of Sports Studies (CIES), which was founded 20 years ago in Switzerland and which, through the FIFA/CIES network, has made its presence felt across the globe in working with 16 partners from South Africa and Senegal to Spain, Lebanon and Peru.

The scientific institution welcomed the world to the shores of Lake Neuchatel on Saturday as it celebrated its 20th anniversary. Founded in 1995 by FIFA and the Canton, City and University of Neuchatel, CIES has brought its expertise and experience to bear for the last two decades in serving the world of sport.

 

STATS.com | A Glimpse into STATS’ new Touch-by-Touch Data Points for Soccer

STATS from September 16, 2015

STATS has introduced brand-new, touch-by-touch data points to its soccer coverage in order to keep up with the increasing demand of a more statistically focused soccer market. These new data points give a glimpse into a previously underutilized area of soccer analysis, affording everyone a better understanding of what it is that makes a champion.

 

O’Reilly Media – Data Analytics in Sports

O'Reilly Publishing from September 18, 2015

Get the Free Report

As any child with a baseball card intuitively knows, sports and statistics go hand-in-hand. Yet, the general media disdain the flood of sports statistics available today: sports are pure and analytic tools are not. Well, if the so-called purists find tools like baseball’s sabermetrics upsetting, then they’d better brace themselves for the new wave of data analytics.

In this O’Reilly report, Janine Barlow examines how advanced predictive analytics are impacting the world of sports—from the rise of tools such as Major League Baseball’s Statcast, which collects data on the movement of balls and players, to SportVU, which the National Basketball Association uses to collect spatial analysis data.

 

Quantification of Competitive Game Demands of NCAA Division I College Football Players Using Global Positioning Systems.

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research from September 12, 2015

The aim of the present study was to examine the competitive physiological movement demands of NCAA Division I college football players using portable global positioning system (GPS) technology during games, and to examine positional groups within offensive and defensive teams, to determine if a player’s physiological requirements during games are influenced by playing position. Thirty-three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football players were monitored using GPS receivers with integrated accelerometers (GPSports, Canberra, Australia) during 12 regular season games throughout the 2014 season. Individual datasets (n = 295) from players were divided into offensive and defensive teams, and subsequent position groups. Movement profile characteristics including total, low-, moderate-, high-intensity and sprint running distances (m), sprint counts, and acceleration and deceleration efforts, were assessed during games. A one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Bonferroni statistical analysis were used to determine differences in movement profiles between each position group within offensive and defensive teams. For both offensive and defensive teams, significant (p < 0.05) differences exist between positional groups for game physical performance requirements. The results of the present study identified that wide receivers (WR) and defensive backs (DB) completed significantly (p < 0.05) greater total distance, high-intensity running, sprint distance, and high-intensity acceleration and deceleration efforts compared to their respective offensive and defensive positional groups. Data from the present study provide novel quantification of position specific physical demands of college football games and support the use of position-specific training in the preparation of NCAA Division I college football players for competition.

 

Can Expected PDO teach us about luck in football?

11tegen11 from September 22, 2015

… xPDO measures how efficiently a team converts shots into goals, and prevents the opponent from doing do, given the shot quality for and against, and assuming league average conversion of xG into goals.

In the long run we can expect teams to be equally skilled at converting xG into goals, so in the long run we can expect a team’s PDO to approach the xPDO. We should not expect each team’s PDO to revert back to 1000 because the assumption about equal shot quality does not hold.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.