Manchester Evening News (UK), Charlotte Duckner from
Benjamin Mendy has been in good spirits at Manchester City’s training ground as he steps up his recovery from his knee injury.
The left-back made just 15 appearances last season after successive knee injuries kept him out of the squad and was restricted to just one appearance, against Crystal Palace in the league in April, in the last 26 league games of the season.
But, he’s gradually stepping up his recovery and has been in good spirits since returning to the City Football Academy earlier this month.
The world No. 4 is known for being one of the fittest players on the ATP tour and the Austrian’s fitness level plays a key factor when facing the big three. [video, 3:40]
… According to Hirofumi Tanaka, an researcher of aging at the University of Texas, there can be substantial variations in how fast or slow physiological functions go down with increasing age. The good news for Brady and every other aging athlete is that a lot can be done to slow down that process.
Professional athletes in a variety of sports are playing longer, preserving performance by what Tanaka calls the “Formula One approach”, an intense focus on key athletic elements – nutrition, injury prevention, sleep, training – by the specialists or support staff that surround professional teams.
Father Time has ignored Tom Brady, at least for now. But the question is, when will Brady’s age-less weapons – his competitiveness, experience and knowledge of football – fail to compensate for an age-related decline in his arm and feet.
Because he is still only 20 years old, Juan Soto cannot legally drink in the United States. And yet, despite his recent pubescence, he’s one of baseball’s best hitters. Last week, he became just the third player in major league history to hit 50 home runs before turning 21. He’s drawn comparisons to Miguel Cabrera. He’s even already received some Hall of Fame discussion, assuming he can stay healthy over the course of what ought to be a long career.
In a piece for MLB.com from early August, Mike Petriello noted something interesting about Soto: his consistency.
… Determined not to let her injury shatter her dream of representing her country, Otto prioritized a speedy recovery over long-term health, choosing to have her meniscus removed completely as opposed to having it repaired.
Otto went on not only to play in the U-20 World Cup but to thrive there. She played every minute of every game, helping her team reach the semifinals.
Even at her current role at UNC, Otto has been a game changer. Last year she was a first-team All-ACC selection, and head coach Anson Dorrance went as far to say that Otto is “one of the top three players on our roster.”
Given the success that Otto has had despite her injuries, one may think that she always had stellar character – but if you did, you would be dead wrong.
From an organization now called the First Point Volleyball Foundation, to smaller colleges adding programs, to help from the AVCA and more media exposure, men’s volleyball is growing in this country.
This is a look at the state of the men’s game and how it is moving forward.
… The trick is to manage the integration of this science into NBA decision-making in a smart way. It’s not as simple as contracting with a vendor to bring science into your decision-making, or hiring a director of sports science. It takes a talented, forward-thinking manager to identify the right vendors, ask the right questions, and build organizational support for well-conceived new systems.
Phil Wagner, M.D. is the founder of Sparta Science, a Silicon Valley startup dedicated to using evidence to prevent injuries. Clients range from the armed forces to the NFL. Former NBA commissioner David Stern is among Sparta’s investors. The good news, Wagner says, is that implementing evidence-based injury prevention systems has the potential to reduce injuries 30-50 percent.
How soon might that happen in a major American sports league?
That’s when Wagner laughs. There are obstacles beyond science.
Brad Stevens, Alex Cora, and Bruce Cassidy have all courted Bill Belichick in some form or fashion over the years, leaning on the six-time Super Bowl winner for advice when it comes to game preparation, managing the locker room, or simply trying to craft a championship roster.
On Wednesday, all three got their chance to explain what has impressed them the most about the Patriots’ coach (who joined later on the phone) during WEEI’s annual Jimmy Fund Telethon.
… Three steps to learn complex problem-solving from your body
1. Become a mindful observer
Whenever you learn a new movement – whether it is balancing on a slackline, the handstand or a rugby tackle – carefully observe your body’s reaction. Be careful to not overthink, merely observe. You’ll be surprised how fast your body improves – even though you don’t fully grasp the complexity of the problem.
… Given the continued innovation with digital devices, sensors, wireless communications, material sciences, and textiles, it was only a matter of time before the clothes on our backs joined the act. And while fitness and personal health trackers have more or less co-opted the term “wearables,” it’s also often used interchangeably with smart clothes by the general public and the industries that make them. Smart clothes, also referred to as high-tech clothing, smart garments, or electronic textiles, have been defined as “clothing items that have been enhanced with technology to add functionality beyond that of the traditional use.” Some smart clothes use advanced textiles with interwoven or printed circuitry, while others implement sensors, haptics, and additional hardware to provide smart functionality. Many smart clothes can connect to an app or program on a secondary device using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
For instance, the Mobile Warming Technology platform, built into their Fieldsheer line, features heating systems in jackets, pants, base layers, socks, gloves, and other accessories. The technology found in Mobile Warming garments utilizes a sophisticated power and control system with integrated electrical circuitry, wireless 2-way communications, and a garment management Bluetooth app.
Devices and sensors are getting smaller with each passing year, but some are still constrained by the need for bulky batteries or other inconvenient power sources. However, if a new proof-of-concept research projected headed by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers pans out, the minuscule wearables of tomorrow could receive their juice via the wearer’s skin.
“We’re using the human skin, which is composed of mostly water, as a conductor,” Sunghoon Ivan Lee, a UMass Amherst researcher and assistant professor of computer science, said in a release from the school. “But human skin is one big chunk of conductive material, so there’s no distinction between the signal wire and the ground wire. So we’re using the skin as a signal wire, and air as the ground.”
PLOS One; Eduard Pons, Tomás García-Calvo, Ricardo Resta, Hugo Blanco, Roberto López del Campo, Jesús Díaz García, Juan José Pulido from
The aim of this study was to compare the agreement of the movement demands data during a soccer match (total distance, distance per minute, average speed, maximum speed and distance covered in different speed sectors) between an optical tracking system (Mediacoach System) and a GPS device (Wimu Pro). Participants were twenty-six male professional soccer players (age: 21.65 ± 2.03 years; height: 180.00 ± 7.47 cm; weight: 73.81 ± 5.65 kg) from FC Barcelona B, of whom were recorded a total of 759 measurements during 38 official matches in the Spanish second division. The Mediacoach System and the Wimu Pro were compared using the standardized mean bias, standard error of estimate, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficient of variation (%), and the regression equation to estimate data for each variable. In terms of agreement between systems, the magnitude of the ICC was almost perfect (> 0.90–1.00) for all variables analyzed. The coefficient of the variations between devices was close to zero (< 5%) for total distance, distance per minute, average speed, maximum speed, and walking and jogging, and between 9% and 15% for running, intense running, and sprinting at low and at high intensities. It can be observed that, compared to Wimu Pro the Mediacoach System slightly overestimated all the variables analyzed except for average speed, maximum speed, and walking variables. In conclusion, both systems can be used, and the information they provide in the analyzed variables can be interchanged, with the benefits implied for practitioners and researchers. [full text]
The top of the Nourish3d homepage cycles through images of three young adults shown next to the seven ingredients in their own personalized daily supplements. Olivia’s Nourish3d includes ginger, marine collagen, and an “omega blend.” Mark needs tart cherry and vitamins A and E. Sophie gets green tea extract and something called CoQ10.
Like Olivia, Mark, and Sophie, consumers in the UK will be able to order supplements of their own that are customized to their goals and lifestyle beginning later this month, says Nourish3d CEO Melissa Snover. Each person’s selected ingredients, as determined by a questionnaire, will be “conveniently 3D printed into a tasty fruity, gummy stack,” according to the website, and mailed to them for £40 (about $50 US) per month or £360 per year.
Nourish3d’s 3D-printed spin on supplements has garnered some publicity, including a profile of Snover in Inc. and a Reuters video. Yet the company enters an already-crowded ecosystem of companies promising nutritional products or advice tailored to consumers’ unique needs. Megan Rossi, who studies nutrition at King’s College London, notes that “there is a growing tendency for more and more companies to do this personalization approach because people want to feel unique.” The quality of the research foundation on which these products rest varies, but independent experts such as Rossi are largely skeptical that they can deliver the benefits promised.
… This season, the last vestiges of the flying wedge are becoming extinct. The NCAA rules committee has banned two-man wedges on kickoffs. In that sense, it has taken 114 years to wipe out what preceded then-President Teddy Roosevelt’s involvement in a football safety summit at the beginning of the 20th century.
That summit was called after 19 college football deaths alone in 1905. Out of that meeting, the NCAA eventually evolved.
Those health concerns haven’t subsided. The elimination of football at Arizona junior colleges last year drew rebukes from of college coaches all over the country. Officials in Arizona cited increased insurance and upkeep costs.
“They gave it up because they couldn’t afford it,” said David Calloway, who has recruited Arizona as coach at Central Methodist, a small NAIA program in Missouri. “Insurance is killing this game. That’s going to take a toll.”
… Revenues for the 2017-18 season were $4.86 billion, up from $2.9 billion in 2009-10. The action on the ice in the NHL has arguably never been better, thanks to rules changes that emphasized speed and an influx of elite offensive talent to exploit them. Relocation talk has quieted, while two new expansion teams were added. Things are, by and large, pretty good.
It’s not a utopia. The NHL remains plagued with player safety issues, part of an ongoing identity crisis for a league built on bloody rivalries that have become much more pallid. There’s debate about everything from video reviews to the playoff format. There’s still much work to be done to grow the game.
But the NHL did a lot of growing in the past 10 years.