Applied Sports Science newsletter – February 4, 2016

The numbers say Derrick Rose is driving to the rim at a higher rate now than he was at any other point this season. After a slow start to the season — the former MVP was statistically one of the worst shooters in the league from October through December — that’s significant progress for Rose and the Bulls, who have been maddeningly inconsistent and are stuck in the middle of the pack in the East.

What the numbers don’t show is that Rose is teaching himself how to be the Rose of old again. That’s a process that can’t happen quickly enough for a team that desperately needs him to find his groove.

“I think it’s just me getting back to used to just playing,” Rose recently told ESPN.com. “Seeing openings, training my mental to be prepared and training my body to be prepared so that if I see a gap or if I see an opening, I’m hitting openings and gaps within a couple of seconds to be able to get to the rim. So it’s all about just reading the game, and I think I’ve been doing a better job with just making sure that I’m getting there and getting contact with whoever’s there.”

Tayshaun Prince may not be the hottest star in the NBA. But when the Minnesota Timberwolves signed the 35-year-old forward last year, they saw his value as a veteran player.

In a league where the average career lasts five years, according to the NBA, Mr. Prince is in his 14th season, still starting games and still having an impact.

Mr. Prince credits his longevity in a sport with endless travel and an 82-game regular season to his work with Arnie Kander, named the Timberwolves’ vice president of sports performance in September. Mr. Prince worked with Mr. Kander for 11 years when they were both with the Detroit Pistons.

Joe Kenn points out that he’s been a strength and conditioning coach for nearly 25 years, the past five with the Carolina Panthers, and has been fortunate at several stops to work with some rare, special athletes.

Kenn worked with Steve Smith twice — first at Utah during his college career and then for a second stint in Smith’s final three years with the Panthers — and with Terrell Suggs at Arizona State. There were other elite athletes Kenn crossed paths with over the years but none, he said, fit the profile of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

Back in the days before many pro athletes practiced yoga or pilates or took up boxing to get in shape, there was an option called “The Breakfast Club.”

The club was selective – Bulls teammates Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper were the only members – and the premise was simple: Show up to MJ’s morning workout and MJ buys breakfast. I was MJ’s trainer during the 1990s; the Breakfast Club gathered every morning of the season whenever the Bulls were home during Chicago’s second three-peat of NBA titles.

Teammates hanging out together, sharing the pain? Not really. The Breakfast Club was MJ’s way of saying, “Look, I bust my butt every single day to stay in top shape … if you’re on the bench gassed, you’re of no help to me. Do what you have to do, so I can do what I have to do.”

I thought about all of that morning weight training and oatmeal this week, when the Cleveland Cavaliers new head coach Tyronn Lue said his players were too tired and not “in good enough shape” for the new up-tempo offense he wanted to run.

This week’s EXSS Impact post examines various factors that may influence the perception of “burnout” in athletic training professionals. Many thanks to J.D. DeFreese for developing this week’s post.

Why did you do this study?

Burnout is maladaptive psychological syndrome characterized by feelings of chronic exhaustion, depersonalization (for those who one provides services/care to), and reduced accomplishment towards one’s work. Burnout is an important psychological health concern for working professionals including those within the dynamic, fast-paced environment of competitive sport. In sport, burnout has been examined in populations of athletes, administrators and officials. But more recently, social science researchers have begun to examine burnout in athletic training professionals.

In three days, Nigel Knott will be one step closer to playing college football. The four-star Germantown cornerback is among a handful of Mississippi’s Division I prospects who will sign a letter of intent on Wednesday’s national signing day, choosing from a long list of in-state and national powers.

At the same time, former Callaway safety Dwayne Pickett Jr. will have likely wrapped up a workout at Hinds Community College, hoping to one day earn his dream offer from a Power 5program. Meanwhile, Madison-Ridgeland Academy slot receiver Karter Bounds is enjoying the final few months of his senior year, having hung up his cleats for a final time months ago.

At first glance the three have little in common, other than sharing a birth year and their sport of choice. But while their immediate futures may be very different, all three had the same goal — to play college football — and their parents quickly realized that little about the recruiting process comes free. Parents can spend thousands of dollars traveling to the various combines and camps hoping that their child will perform well enough to be noticed.

This review discusses previous literature that has examined the influence of muscular strength on various factors associated with athletic performance and the benefits of achieving greater muscular strength. Greater muscular strength is strongly associated with improved force-time characteristics that contribute to an athlete’s overall performance. Much research supports the notion that greater muscular strength can enhance the ability to perform general sport skills such as jumping, sprinting, and change of direction tasks. Further research indicates that stronger athletes produce superior performances during sport specific tasks. Greater muscular strength allows an individual to potentiate earlier and to a greater extent, but also decreases the risk of injury. Sport scientists and practitioners may monitor an individual’s strength characteristics using isometric, dynamic, and reactive strength tests and variables. Relative strength may be classified into strength deficit, strength association, or strength reserve phases. The phase an individual falls into may directly affect their level of performance or training emphasis. Based on the extant literature, it appears that there may be no substitute for greater muscular strength when it comes to improving an individual’s performance across a wide range of both general and sport specific skills while simultaneously reducing their risk of injury when performing these skills. Therefore, sport scientists and practitioners should implement long-term training strategies that promote the greatest muscular strength within the required context of each sport/event. Future research should examine how force-time characteristics, general and specific sport skills, potentiation ability, and injury rates change as individuals transition from certain standards or the suggested phases of strength to another.

… There have been several approaches towards integrating data analysis and video playback; however, a company by the name of Match Analysis has not only succeeded in this venture, but they’ve also redefined how clubs analyze players and strategize against their opponents. Gavin Wilkinson, GM of the 2015 MLS Cup Champion Portland Timbers, recently stated, “…Match Analysis’ toolset is head and shoulders above the competition. [Their] tools are cutting edge, still extremely accessible, and easy to use for both coaches and players.”

Fifteen years ago, Match Analysis began its journey as one of the leading companies to infuse analytics into soccer. Match Analysis’ founder, Mark Brunkhart, developed a proprietary system that he used to help players see the game objectively. Beginning with a paper and pencil shorthand, this unique system quickly evolved from a collection of printed reports and infographics into the ground-breaking video and data analysis platform it is today.

Impellia, a sports medicine technology company focusing on injury-prevention, human-performance, and rehabilitation-focused technology and co-founded by former NFL quarterback, Charlie Batch, has completed its first license for technology developed at the University of Pittsburgh.

Impellia has signed the license for PIVOT, a software platform developed by researchers at UPMC Sports Medicine. PIVOT non-invasively quantifies the stability of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee and classifies the degree of injury. PIVOT can be used both as a pre-surgical diagnostic tool for orthopaedic surgeons and as a tool for physical therapists to monitor patients’ progress during the rehabilitation process.

Concussions are a form of traumatic brain injury that can lead to long-term consequences if not treated properly. They can happen at any time: a teen taking a tough hit during a football game, an older adult falling and hitting their head, or a driver suffering head trauma during a car accident. The goal of NYU Langone Medical Center’s ResearchKit app is to obtain a better understanding of how activity, as well as rest, impacts recovery for those diagnosed with concussion.

A collaboration between physician researchers from NYU Langone’s Concussion Center and clinical informatics experts with the Medical Center’s IT department, our research team has started testing whether the new NYU Langone Concussion Tracker ResearchKit app can help those with concussions better track their symptoms during the critical six weeks following their diagnosis.

We’re excited that with iPhone and Apple Watch, we can now evaluate a potentially large percentage of the concussion population across the country to gain daily insights into symptom profiles for patients. We used modules that capture symptoms (including balance issues, blurred vision, and drowsiness), a six-minute walk test, and tasks to measure concentration.

… Is it possible to rationalize injuries like these in sports? In my opinion–no… no more than rationalizing acute life-threatening injuries in any human endeavor. What about the overall health risks of playing a sport like American football?

This study investigated the relationship between GPS variables measured in training and gameplay and injury occurrences in professional soccer. Nineteen professional soccer players competing in the Australian Hyundai A-League were monitored for 1 entire season using 5 Hz Global Positioning System (GPS) units (SPI-Pro GPSports) in training sessions and preseason games. The measurements obtained were total distance, high-intensity running distance, very–high-intensity running distance, new body load, and meters per minute. Noncontact soft tissue injuries were documented throughout the season. Players’ seasons were averaged over 1- and 4-week blocks according to when injuries occurred. These blocks were compared with each other and with players’ seasonal averages. Players performed significantly higher meters per minute in the weeks preceding an injury compared with their seasonal averages (+9.6 and +7.4% for 1- and 4-week blocks, respectively) (p < 0.01), indicating an increase in training and gameplay intensity leading up to injuries. Furthermore, injury blocks showed significantly lower average new body load compared with seasonal averages (?15.4 and ?9.0% for 1- and 4-week blocks, respectively) (p < 0.01 and p = 0.01). Periods of relative underpreparedness could potentially leave players unable to cope with intense bouts of high-intensity efforts during competitive matches. Although limited by Fédération Internationale de Football Association regulations, the results of this study isolated 2 variables predicting soft tissue injuries for coaches and sports scientists to consider when planning and monitoring training.

… the story of how the Royals — and we don’t really need to bring up all the anecdotes about how cheap they used to be, do we? — are able to play an entirely different financial game now is more complicated.

Now, the biggest reasons for the Royals’ success are the development and talents of their players, smart decisions by the front office, increased commitment from owner David Glass and the requisite good fortune of all championship clubs. Most of this has been covered.

What hasn’t been discussed as much is the financial side, about how one of the sport’s lowest revenue clubs has grown into a power — and part of the top half of spenders. This involves increased ticket revenue, of course, but also bigger revenue sharing and a counter-intuitive spending pattern across the majors.

It’s a long-standing article of faith: We like our quarterbacks handsome. The storied lineage spans from Broadway Joe Namath to Joe Montana to Brett Favre to Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson. The polarizing, short-lived cult of Tim Tebow? Even his biggest detractors must concede: not the worst-looking guy. The attractiveness of Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury is an Internet meme. (HOT KLIFF KINGSBURY FLIRTS WITH MOMS OF RECRUITS.) Naturally, Hot Kliff Kingsbury is a former college quarterback.