Applied Sports Science newsletter – September 21, 2016

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for September 21, 2016

I recently joined an applied research group at Georgia Tech, the Wearable Computing Center (WCC).

WCC is interdisciplinary and skilled in both technology development and communication. The group works with industry through contract services or on an ongoing basis. So if you are a sports team that isn’t getting desired results from athlete performance technology, the Center can create an educational workshop that gets your organization on the same page technically. WCC can also develop custom technology to help achieve unmet objectives. If you are a sports technology vendor, WCC can help with content, service designs, user interfaces and business models. Please get in touch if I can tell you more or if you have questions I can answer.

You are also invited to check out the blog at http://sports.bradstenger.com where I am writing essays that work on making sense of the rapid and often technical advances in sports science. The blog is to be a staging area for reports that should go on sale in early-2017. If your organization needs custom research into an applied sports science issue, please get in touch.

Thanks.
-Brad Stenger

 

Wayne Rooney’s presence is stifling Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba

Independent.ie, Miguel Delaney from September 18, 2016

… Although United won their first three games and were intermittently impressive, you couldn’t say they clicked. The roles of those two main signings weren’t exactly clear either, especially Pogba’s. The French star has so often had to roam around to find the space to express himself, and when Ibrahimovic has attempted to drop back in that way that has proven so effective in the past, he has found that area congested.

That is because one player is always there, forcing Pogba away from where the record signing is most effective, occupying the same few yards as Ibrahimovic. One player is just always there in general, no matter what. Wayne Rooney.

 

sc Heerenveen wants to align players’ daily workload with their individual workload tolerance

LinkedIn, Alexander Janssen from September 15, 2016

sc Heerenveen (ranked 7th in the Eredivisie) intensifies its working relationship with TopSportsLab. Technical Director Gerry Hamstra: “We have extended the cooperation agreement for another 3 years, however the scope of the agreement has been broadened”. Head coach Jurgen Streppel wants to align the workload tolerance of every individual player with the daily imposed workload during training sessions. The objective is twofold: to increase performance and to prevent injuries. By dropping the number of injuries, they will eventually be able to lower the number of players whilst increasing their value. TopSportsLab offers its proprietary overuse indicator to help him accomplish that goal. The overuse indicator is based on an algorithm emanating in a simple-to-use traffic light type of system indicating a player’s readiness and fatigue levels at any time, any place. In parallel, TopSportsLab has given sc Heerenveen access to its mobile app allowing the players to fill in questionnaires at the start of each working day from their iPhone/iPad. The app collects key information on the players’ mental status, sleep, hydration, soreness, fatigue etc. This tool, in turn, will increase the efficiency of the staff, as it allows both staff and coach to solely focus on the daily anomalies in the well-being of the players (generated through the questionnaire). These two approaches together (i.e. continuous monitoring of workload through devices and well-being through subjective data from athletes) form the building blocks for TopSportsLab’s workload and fatigue management.

 

What its like to train as a Chelsea player Antonio Conte fitness regime examined – ESPN FC

ESPN FC, Miguel Delaney from September 15, 2016

If Friday’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool illustrated that the Chelsea squad still have some way to go in terms getting up to speed with manager Antonio Conte’s tactical ideal, it at least showed they’re in tune with his immense physical demands. The home side started the game poorly but ended it running hard, just as they’ve done in every match this season.

Had Chelsea claimed an equaliser, it would have extended quite a record: Five of the 10 goals scored by Conte’s side in their opening five games have come after the 80-minute mark. Two, against West Ham and Watford, proved to be outright match-winners while another, vs. Swansea, saved a point.

It’s a sign that Conte has his squad in tip-top shape, at least for this stage of the season, and that his players’ fitness perhaps has overcome other weaknesses until the players are entirely at ease with their manager’s tactics.

 

Nudging Works. Now, Do More With It.

Bloomberg View, Cass Sunstein from September 20, 2016

… While behavioral science has informed some major initiatives from the Obama administration, we could see an increased effort to make a dent in the most serious policy problems. There is growing evidence that behaviorally informed approaches can help officials to tackle the largest challenges, including persistent poverty, inadequate education, climate change and crime. In the coming years, behavioral science teams within governments should devote their attention to problems of that magnitude.

 

Is Innate Talent a Myth?

Scientific American, David Z. Hambrick, Fredrik Ullén, Miriam Mosing from September 20, 2016

Elite-level performance can leave us awestruck. This summer, in Rio, Simone Biles appeared to defy gravity in her gymnastics routines, and Michelle Carter seemed to harness super-human strength to win gold in the shot put. Michael Phelps, meanwhile, collected 5 gold medals, bringing his career total to 23.

In everyday conversation, we say that elite performers like Biles, Carter, and Phelps must be “naturals” who possess a “gift” that “can’t be taught.” What does science say? Is innate talent a myth? This question is the focus of the new book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Florida State University psychologist Anders Ericsson and science writer Robert Pool. Ericsson and Pool argue that, with the exception of height and body size, the idea that we are limited by genetic factors—innate talent—is a pernicious myth. “The belief that one’s abilities are limited by one’s genetically prescribed characteristics….manifests itself in all sorts of ‘I can’t’ or ‘I’m not’ statements,” Ericsson and Pool write. The key to extraordinary performance, they argue, is “thousands and thousands of hours of hard, focused work.”

 

What Separates Champions From ‘Almost Champions’?

New York Magazine, Science of Us blog, Bradley Stulberg from September 20, 2016

… For a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, talent development researchers Dave Collins, Áine MacNamara, and Neil McCarthy examined the differences between athletes who overcame adversity and went on to become world-class (what they call super champions) and those who struggled in the face of hardship (the heartbreakingly named “almost champions”). Whereas super champions were playing in premiere leagues and/or competing on national teams (think: Olympics), almost champions had achieved well at the youth level but were playing in less prestigious leagues as adults.

The researchers found that super champions were characterized by an almost fanatical reaction to challenge.” They viewed challenges in a positive light — as opportunities to grow — and overcame them thanks to a “never satisfied” attitude. This runs in contrast to almost champions, who blamed setbacks on external causes, became negative, and lost motivation. Although athletes in each group faced comparable challenges, the researchers write, their responses — “what the athletes brought to the challenges” — were quite distinct.

 

Why Humans Are Hard-Wired For Curiosity

Footnote, Vivian Hemmelder and Tommy Blanchard from September 08, 2016

… What drives animals’ information-seeking behaviors? One possibility is that each individual animal learns over the course of its life that a greater knowledge of its environment leads to rewards like food or other essential resources. However, while this is something we can imagine humans or monkeys learning, it is probably beyond the capacity of roundworms. Furthermore, we see curiosity-driven behaviors in very young animals, before they have had enough experience to learn the association between knowledge and rewards. For example, human newborns look at new visual scenes for much longer than at known visual scenes.

Another possibility is that evolutionary pressures have made information intrinsically rewarding. The reason so-called “primary rewards” like food and sex are pleasurable is because animals that enjoy eating and reproducing are more likely to survive and produce offspring.(a) Evolution has therefore built up a reward system in the brain that drives behaviors that help animals acquire essential resources. Could this same reward system be prompting information-seeking behavior by making animals find new information intrinsically rewarding?

 

The Difference Between Rationality and Intelligence

The New York Times, SundayReview from September 16, 2016

… It all started in the early 1970s, when the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted an influential series of experiments showing that all of us, even highly intelligent people, are prone to irrationality. Across a wide range of scenarios, the experiments revealed, people tend to make decisions based on intuition rather than reason. … But starting in the late 1990s, researchers began to add a significant wrinkle to that view. As the psychologist Keith Stanovich and others observed, even the Kahneman and Tversky data show that some people are highly rational. In other words, there are individual differences in rationality, even if we all face cognitive challenges in being rational. So who are these more rational people? Presumably, the more intelligent people, right?

 

Quantifying the high-speed running and sprinting profiles of elite female soccer players during competitive matches using an Optical Player Tracking System.

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research from September 06, 2016

The aim of this study was to determine the high-speed running and sprinting profiles of elite female soccer players during competitive matches using a new Optical Player Tracking System. Eight stationary video cameras were positioned at vantage points surrounding the soccer field so that when each camera view was combined the entire field could be viewed simultaneously. Following each match, an optical player tracking system detected the coordinates (x,y) of each player for every video frame. Algorithms applied to the x and y coordinates were used to determine activity variables for twelve elite female players across seven competitive matches. Players covered 9,220-10,581 m of total distance, 1,772-2,917 m of high-speed running (3.4-5.3 m·s) distance and 417-850 m of sprinting (>5.4 m·s) distance, with variations between positional groups (p < 0.001, partial ? = 0.444-0.488). Similarly, the number of high-speed runs differed between positional groups (p = 0.002, partial ? = 0.342) and a large proportion of high-speed runs (81-84 %) and sprints (71-78 %) were performed over distances less than 10 m. Mean time between high-speed runs (13.9 s ± 4.4) and sprints (86.5 s ± 38.0) varied according to playing position (p < 0.001, partial ? = 0.409) and time period of the match (p < 0.001, partial ? = 0.113 – 0.310). The results of this study can be used to design match-specific conditioning drills, and shows that coaches should take an individualised approach to training load monitoring according to position.

 

Ohio State football utilizing medical tent in 2016

The Lantern from September 19, 2016

The Ohio State football team added a scarlet and gray medical tent to its sideline for the 2016 season to provide more privacy to injured players.

The tent will allow a player to be evaluated away from the public eye, according Alexis Shaw, a spokesperson for the team’s sports medicine physicians.

“There’s no special equipment inside the tent,” Shaw said. “Players are just brought there for a private assessment before determining whether they will be put back on the field or taken out of the game.”

 

The effect of low back pain on trunk muscle size/function and hip strength in elite football (soccer) players

Journal of Sports Sciences from September 19, 2016

Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem in football (soccer) players. The effect of LBP on the trunk and hip muscles in this group is unknown. The relationship between LBP and trunk muscle size and function in football players across the preseason was examined. A secondary aim was to assess hip muscle strength. Twenty-five elite soccer players participated in the study, with assessments conducted on 23 players at both the start and end of the preseason. LBP was assessed with questionnaires and ultrasound imaging was used to assess size and function of trunk muscles at the start and end of preseason. Dynamometry was used to assess hip muscle strength at the start of the preseason. At the start of the preseason, 28% of players reported the presence of LBP and this was associated with reduced size of the multifidus, increased contraction of the transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles. LBP decreased across the preseason, and size of the multifidus muscle improved over the preseason. Ability to contract the abdominal and multifidus muscles did not alter across the preseason. Asymmetry in hip adductor and abductor muscle strength was found between players with and without LBP. Identifying modifiable factors in players with LBP may allow development of more targeted preseason rehabilitation programmes.

 

Vitamin D in relation to bone health and muscle function in young female soccer players

European Journal of Sport Science from September 15, 2016

The present work investigated serum vitamin D (25(OH)D) status in relation to bone and muscle qualities and functions in 19 female soccer players (13–16 years) resident at northern latitude with very low sun exposure (?32–36?h/month) during winter season (late January to early March). Serum 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone and bone turnover markers osteocalcin (OC) and beta carboxy-terminal collagen cross-links (?-Ctx), as well as body composition and muscle performance were examined. Hormones were tested using routine laboratory methods. Fat mass, lean mass, and bone mineral density in whole body, as well as femur and lumbar spine were evaluated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle performance was assessed through isokinetic knee extension and flexion, countermovement jump, and sprint running. 25(OH)D was low (50.5?±?12.8?nmol?l?1), whereas the values of bone turnover markers were markedly high (OC: 59.4?±?18.6?µg?l?1; ?-Ctx: 1075?±?408?ng?l?1). All bone and muscle measurements were normal or above normal. 25(OH)D was not significantly correlated with most of the parameters of bone and muscle quality or function, except the knee extension time to peak torque (r ?=??0.50, p?=?.03). In conclusion, the level of vitamin D is markedly low in adolescent female soccer players during the winter in Sweden. However, vitamin D levels did not significantly correlate with measures of bone and muscle except a moderate correlation in time to peak torque in the knee extensors. The practical implication of low vitamin D levels in young growing female athletes remains unclear.

 

The Impact of Injuries on Player Valuation

The Hardball Times, Max Flignor from September 20, 2016

Growing up as a young Cubs fan in the 2000s, I became quite a gullible supporter. Whenever a promising player joined the team, I was swept up by the Cubs hype machine that inevitably proclaimed the guy destined to bring the team its first World Series title in a century. While most of these players fell short of expectations, for one season — the ill-fated 2003 campaign — Mark Prior seemed to fit the bill. That season, Prior put up a dominant 2.47 FIP with a K/9 rate above 10, but afterward he was never truly the same, succumbing to countless injuries. Ten years old at the time, I wondered how injuries could have such an effect on players. This curiosity remained, and for my college thesis paper I analyzed the impact of player health on team valuation. This article, a condensed version of my thesis, uses an economic model to measure that effect from 2002 through 2013.

 

Space: The Next Frontier in Tactical Analytics of Elite Team Sports

F.C. Business, Bill Gerrard from September 20, 2016

… Level 1 Spatial Analytics can be very useful but it is possible to go much further. Commercial data providers such as Opta are increasingly providing the full coding of games including x,y event data i.e. the Cartesian coordinates of every coded action. Access to this type of data opens up a whole range of possibilities for a much finer analysis of the spatial distribution of player actions, what could be called “Level 2 Spatial Analytics”. In football one key Level 2 development has been the expected goal model which uses distance from goal and the shooting angle to calculate the likelihood of a shot leading to a goal scored. This gives a much more informative evaluation of a striker’s shooting ability than just looking at whether the shots are inside or outside the penalty box. Another Level 2 development has been the analysis of the extent to which teams use the pressing game defensively. This has involved analysing the x,y coordinates of defensive actions and identifying teams with a much higher proportion of their defensive actions in the final third as using a high press. In rugby union x,y event data is being used to plot maps of attacking plays as well as kicking maps.

While the Level 2 use of x,y event data offers some very interesting possibilities particularly for opposition analysis, the most exciting possibilities for tactical analytics lie in the use of trajectory data. This is “Level 3 Spatial Analytics” and represents the cutting edge for tactical analytics. By trajectory data I mean continuous locational data for all players, not just events. Trajectory data can be provided by video tracking systems or GPS wearables. At the moment GPS and video tracking data are used almost exclusively by sports scientists to analyse the physical performance of players, especially distance covered and speed, during games and training sessions. While such analysis is very important, it is vital that GPS and video tracking data are not seen exclusively as sources of physical performance metrics. Trajectory data can help defence coaches to analyse whether or not players have adopted the optimal defensive shape. Attack coaches can use trajectory data to evaluate how well their team has exploited space in possessio

 

Machine Learning and Data Mining for Sports Analytics

ECML/PKDD 2016 from September 19, 2016

ECML/PKDD 2016 workshop, 19 September 2016, Riva del Garda, Italy — List of Papers

 

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