Former Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin says he has found the first few months of his post-NFL career to be more challenging than relaxing, but he has no second thoughts about his decision to walk away from football and doesn’t think he’ll ever get the urge to come back.
The process of arriving at that decision, according to Baldwin, began well before he suffered a slew of injuries during what turned out to be his final season.
“It was a process longer than just last year,” Baldwin told ESPN.com on Monday. “I think when you come into the NFL or any entertainment business as a young person, you have to be selfish, you have to be self-centered because it’s all about self-preservation in that arena. I’m not saying this is the general population of athletes and entertainers, but I think a lot of us struggle with the concept of having a god complex, thinking that we’re invincible and that we’re immortal in some ways, and when you start to come to grips with the reality of being mortal and knowing that this is all going to come to an end at some point, you start to see the world differently. Perspective changes. I’ve been going through that process for a number of years. It actually started my second year in the NFL, understanding that eventually there’s got to be a plan.”
Earning the No. 3 seed requires core work, carbs, and more.
For Karolína Pliskova, hard courts are the best surface. That’s one reason she’s excited to play in the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament left in 2019. Before its start on August 26, the No. 3 seed took some time off at her home in Monaco to rest and recharge.
“In those three weeks, I tried to maximize recovery and balance it with fitness and tennis prep before heading to New York,” the 27-year-old from the Czech Republic says of the break between competitions.
Roger Federer says having enough sleep leaves him with a “beautiful feeling” and is key to avoiding injury.
According to the NHS, sleep deprivation can have “profound consequences” for physical health and they say “a solid night’s sleep is essential for a long and healthy life”
Working with Parents in Sport, Gordon MacLelland from
Most parents do a great job when it comes to sports parenting with many investing huge amounts of time and money. We are often told how we should behave and what is expected of us but that does not always have the greatest impact.
We are all trying to do the best that we can and I have often heard banded by coaches and organisations that we need ‘supportive parents, but what does that actually look like?
The aim of this study was to assess the effects of concurrent biomechanical biofeedback on the ability of novices to modify relative knee, spine, and elbow motions during a rowing-type task. After six non-instructed practice sessions, novices were assigned to a biofeedback (BFb; n = 7) or control group (Con; n = 7), before six, ten-minute sessions of continuous rowing were performed over 2 weeks. The BFb group received concurrent, visual biofeedback for developing sequential timing of knee, spine, and elbow motions during the pull. Following the intervention, the BFb group demonstrated delayed elbow flexion initiation (pre-intervention, 46 ± 11% pull; post-intervention, 78 ± 3% pull; p = 0.001). The biofeedback further promoted the consecutive ending of joint rotations (BFb: knee, 69 ± 4% pull; spine, 73 ± 7% pull; elbow, 85 ± 3% pull; Con: knee, 79 ± 8% pull; spine, 28 ± 6% pull; elbow, 79 ± 4% pull) and a move towards the sequential sequencing pattern. Concurrent biomechanical biofeedback during short-term training altered technique, possibly by providing guidance towards the desired movement pattern and increasing error detection and correction capabilities.
Background It has been hypothesised that injury risk after return to play following an injury absence is influenced by the amount of training completed before return to competition.
Aim To analyse if the number of completed training sessions between return to play and the first subsequent match appearance was associated with the odds of injury in men’s professional football.
Methods From a cohort study, including 303 637 individual matches, 4805 first match appearances after return to play following moderate to severe injuries (≥8 days absence) were analysed. Rate ratios (RRs) were used to compare injury rates in the first match appearances with the average seasonal match injury rate. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to analyse associations between the number of completed training sessions and general (all injuries), muscle, and non-muscle injury odds.
Results Injury rate in the first match after return to play was increased by 87% compared with the average seasonal match injury rate (46.9 vs 25.0/1000 hours, RR=1.87; 95% CI 1.64 to 2.14). The odds of injury dropped 7% with each training session before the first match (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.87 to 0.98). The same association was found for muscle injuries (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.79 to 0.95) but not for non-muscle injuries (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.91 to 1.07).
Conclusions Injury rates in the first match after injury are higher than the average seasonal match injury rate, but the propensity for player injury is decreased when players complete more training sessions before their first match.
When taking a flight, whether it’s across the country or the world, you may want to take a nap so you’ll be well-rested when you land. However, when it comes to actually trying to do so, it may be more challenging than you planned. There might be plenty of unwanted distractions: people coughing, babies crying, and your seat mates waking you up every time they need to get past you to use the restroom — not to mention that your seat won’t recline like a bed. In trying to figure out the best way to sleep on planes, you may try everything from herbal remedies, like melatonin, to listening to sound frequencies, like binaural beats, or using a device that emits frequencies meant to help you sleep, such as the Philip Stein Sleep Bracelet.
It’s safe to say that few technologies have changed personal fitness more than wearable fitness trackers. These devices collect data to provide in-depth tracking of many different exercise parameters for coaching, analysis, record-keeping, and other purposes. But with all that data, how can you be sure your privacy won’t go flying out the window?
What data is being collected?
The first key to securing data from a tracking device is understanding precisely what is in that data. The capabilities of wrist-worn trackers vary widely, from simply counting steps and measuring basic activity to tracking advanced human performance data like VO2 max (maximal oxygen uptake) and time spent in specific heart rate zones.
New materials and new designs have produced demonstrably faster racing shoes with bouncy foams and propulsion plates. Every brand is now getting in the super shoe game.
Upper extremity (UE) musculoskeletal injuries are common in baseball athletes due to the increased demand placed on the UE. The link between risk factors for UE musculoskeletal injuries and baseball athletes’ perceived UE function and pain, as measured by the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic (KJOC) questionnaire, is unclear. OBJECTIVE:
To (1) describe the musculoskeletal characteristics of the UE (posture, range of motion, flexibility, and isometric strength) in a population of baseball athletes and (2) determine the predictive capability of UE musculoskeletal characteristics for the KJOC score in these athletes. DESIGN:
Cohort study. SETTING:
Athletic training room. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 37 male National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I baseball athletes (age = 20.10 ± 1.27 years, height = 186.96 ± 7.64 cm, mass = 90.60 ± 10.69 kg). INTERVENTION(S):
Athletes self-reported all shoulder musculoskeletal injuries and completed the KJOC questionnaire. Postural assessment consisted of forward head and shoulder posture. Flexibility tests characterized glenohumeral internal and external rotation, posterior shoulder tightness, and pectoralis minor length. Strength tests involved the lower and middle trapezius, rhomboid, glenohumeral internal and external rotation, pectoralis major, serratus anterior, supraspinatus, and upper trapezius. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):
All 10 KJOC questions were summed for an overall score out of 100. Questions 1 through 5 were summed for a pain score; questions 6 through 10 were summed for a function score. All data were assessed for normality. A stepwise multiple regression model was fit to determine if the predictor variables assessed could predict the KJOC score. We set the α level a priori at .05. RESULTS:
For the KJOC total score, a 1-year history of shoulder injury accounted for 7.80% of the variance in the KJOC total score (P = .07). For KJOC questions 1 through 5, a history of UE injury in the year before testing and posterior shoulder tightness accounted for 14.40% of the variance in the KJOC total score (P = .047). CONCLUSIONS:
The link between a history of UE musculoskeletal injuries and the KJOC score highlights the need for continued focus on self-perceived pain and function after UE musculoskeletal injury.
New Jersey has been ranked first in the nation for the second straight year in the area of managing injury risk to its high school student athletes by the Korey Stringer Institute.
New Jersey scored best in four categories, including exertional heat stroke, one of the top causes of sudden death in sports.
The NBA on Thursday suspended Brooklyn Nets forward Wilson Chandler for 25 games due to Chandler testing positive for Ipamorelin. Ipamorelin is one of nearly 200 substances listed under the category of “steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (SPEDS)” in the NBA and National Basketball Players’ Association jointly administered drug testing policy.
Under the policy, a player who tests positive for a SPED receives an automatic 25-game suspension, which amounts to 31% of the 82-game regular season. A second offense leads to a 55-game suspension (67%). A third offense triggers a minimum two-year ban from the NBA.
The policy, which attempts to balance safeguarding the sport with player privacy interests, also extensively details how testing is conducted. In brief, urine samples are randomly collected from players as many as four times during the season and up to twice during the offseason. In addition, if either the NBA or NBPA obtains information which leads it to develop reasonable cause that a player is using a prohibited substance, either can petition a neutral, independent expert to authorize additional testing of the player.
… “When we started this deeper partnership, we viewed this as one of our longest-running partners essentially giving us a green light to improve the game,” Kearney said.
The first season was a feeling out stage, getting to know the team setups and schedules. In year two, Gatorade has provided testing with 21 teams through the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. The partnership has an ultimate goal of elevating the league by providing its players with access to health and nutritional support they might not otherwise receive, Kearney said.
As Gatorade sport scientists perform regular fitness and nutritional testing on the basketball players, they’re also testing products. The company recently released Gatorade Essentials to the public, a line it first tested in the G League.
NFL owners continue to push for an expanded season even as players continue to demonstrate little appetite for such an idea.
Sources who have been briefed on the current state of CBA negotiations told ESPN that there has been little substantive progress in talks so far. The players’ side is determined to up its share of the revenue pool in the next CBA, while the owners so far have indicated that they’re not interested in discussing the revenue split absent a discussion on the possibility of expanding the season.
The 2026 World Cup will bring a number of firsts to international football as the tournament expands to 48 teams, three countries serve as hosts, and all six FIFA confederations are guaranteed berths. North America will also make history with Mexico hosting a record third Men’s World Cup and Canada hosting its first.
As the tectonic plates begin to shift towards this region of the world, how do top domestic leagues in the Americas compare with the European elites? How have those leagues fared over the last decade? And what might we expect out of certain leagues between now and 2026?