Applied Sports Science newsletter – February 11, 2021

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for February 11, 2021

 

Yankees finally convinced Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton to cool it on the weights. What took ‘em so long?

NJ Advanced Media, Bob Klapisch from

Whoever convinced Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to ease up on the weight training this winter – whether it was a Yankees’ edict, a suggestion from strength coach Eric Cressey or an act of self-awareness from the two circus strongmen themselves – deserves a Common Sense award. Has there ever been a more obvious need for a Plan B than in the middle of the Bombers’ lineup?

Judge and Stanton, after all, have languished on the injured list throughout their careers in the Bronx. They’re the most fearsome-looking dudes in the game, and don’t think other clubs aren’t afraid of the aggregate muscle-mass in the Yankees’ dugout. The bench-clearing brawl with the Red Sox in 2018 – sparked by Joe Kelly’s plunking of Tyler Austin – ended with Judge and Stanton, on their own, herding nearly a dozen Sox off the field. It was 2-against-12 and even then the Sox seemed overmatched.


Myles Turner’s Game Has Evolved. The Box Score Doesn’t Know It Yet.

FiveThirtyEight, Chris Herring from

… The 24-year-old’s numbers haven’t budged, showing a Gorilla Glue-style consistency from one year to the next. While that could be spun as a negative — teams clearly prefer when young players improve their scoring by leaps and bounds, like Jerami Grant or Christian Wood — there’s evidence that Turner’s game has evolved immensely, even as his counting statistics have hardened in historic fashion.


Liverpool face fitness conundrum, and Jürgen Klopp could be forced into radical solution

Liverpool.com, Callum Rice-Coates from

“For me, the team looked mentally fatigued tonight,” said an increasingly exasperated Jürgen Klopp after last week’s home defeat against Brighton. “We were not fresh enough which means we were not good enough to break the formation of Brighton and in the end they scored a goal and had other chances. They deserved to win.”

This is becoming a familiar theme. After each defeat – of which there have been a growing number – there are suggestions that Liverpool’s key players are burnt out, that they have played too much too often and need an extended break.

Klopp, it seems, agrees with that assessment. He has, over the last month, attempted to rotate his team, bringing in the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Divock Origi and Curtis Jones.

In truth, Liverpool lack the depth to do this and maintain a title challenge, especially when missing Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. Still, forcing regulars to keep playing even when they are tired both physically and mentally could prove damaging in the long run.


How the brain helps us remember what we’ve seen

MIT News, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory from

Research finds that as one looks around, mental images bounce between right and left brain as they shift around in our visual system.


Top-Flight German Club Bayer 04 Leverkusen Signs with Stats Perform for Use of AI-Powered Match Preparation Tool Edge Analysis

Stats Perform from

Today, Stats Perform, the SportsTech leader in data and AI technology, have extended their existing relationship with top-flight German Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) football club Bayer 04 Leverkusen to give the Bundesliga side access to Edge Analysis, the most sophisticated football match preparation tool available.

Powered by tracking and event data, Edge Analysis applies unique AI models to unlock objective, dynamic and predictive insights to enhance pre and post-match analysis processes, delivering unique performance insights on all upcoming opponents. The platform uses over 100 AI-driven KPIs to deliver eight unique patented AI models, delivering objective insights within seconds, all linked to video. Recent features introduced in 2020/21 provide new insights into a team’s playing characteristics, changes to their shape during a game, ball progression and each player’s impact on generating goal scoring opportunities.


Deployment as a Critical Business Data Science Discipline

Harvard Data Science Review, Thomas Davenport and Katie Malone from

It is becoming increasingly clear that deployment—getting analytical and artificial intelligence (AI) systems fully and successfully implemented within organizations—is becoming one of the most critical disciplines at all phases of a business data science project. We often incorrectly think of deployment of a data science or analytical model as the last stage of the process, when the model or algorithm-based system is put into production as a part of a business process. A key aspect of deployment is change in the business process: a successfully deployed model will take a set of tasks that had previously been manual, heuristics-based, or simply impossible, and insert an algorithmically based solution. Starting with the algorithm first, and only at the end of the project thinking about how to insert it into the business process, is where many deployments fail. Instead of thinking of deployment as the last step in a linear set of activities, a data scientist—or at least key members of data science teams—should consider factors that have a strong influence on deployment throughout the data science project.


Elektra Labs and Carnegie Mellon University CyLab collaborate on health tech labeling for data rights and security

PR Newswire, Elektra Labs from

Today, Elektra Labs and Carnegie Mellon University researchers announced collaboration on an innovative IoT labeling system for understanding the data rights and security practices of connected health sensors.

Both organizations have published previous analysis regarding, and recommendations for use of, such a labeling system. As part of their collaboration, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab have contributed their research on an IoT Privacy and Security label as a blueprint, while Elektra Labs is incorporating its own published “tech nutrition label” recommendations as well.

Elektra Labs is excited to integrate the work of this collaboration into its proprietary, searchable catalog of 1000+ biosensors, called Atlas, which is currently the most comprehensive objective source of information on connected health sensors available.


NHL takes big stride on data and analytics with AWS deal

Associated Press, Stephen Whyno from

The NHL is taking another step forward in data, analytics, and puck and player tracking.

The league has reached an agreement with Amazon Web Services to put all its video and data on the cloud. The hope is to provide everyone from coaches, executives and players to fans an integrated look at the game with the aid of new camera angles, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Being able to search and sort every player’s speed, shot velocity and more isn’t here yet, but this is a starting point.

“Before we can get to building, let’s just say, like a new augmented-reality app that fans can use in arena to pull up real-time stats and puck and player tracking feedback while they’re sitting and watching the game, there’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be in place,” said Dave Lehanski, NHL executive VP of business development and innovation. “There’s a tremendous amount that we’ll be able to do.”


Wireless, implantable catheter-type oximeter designed for cardiac oxygen saturation

Science Advances journal from

Accurate, real-time monitoring of intravascular oxygen levels is important in tracking the cardiopulmonary health of patients after cardiothoracic surgery. Existing technologies use intravascular placement of glass fiber-optic catheters that pose risks of blood vessel damage, thrombosis, and infection. In addition, physical tethers to power supply systems and data acquisition hardware limit freedom of movement and add clutter to the intensive care unit. This report introduces a wireless, miniaturized, implantable optoelectronic catheter system incorporating optical components on the probe, encapsulated by soft biocompatible materials, as alternative technology that avoids these disadvantages. The absence of physical tethers and the flexible, biocompatible construction of the probe represent key defining features, resulting in a high-performance, patient-friendly implantable oximeter that can monitor localized tissue oxygenation, heart rate, and respiratory activity with wireless, real-time, continuous operation. In vitro and in vivo testing shows that this platform offers measurement accuracy and precision equivalent to those of existing clinical standards.


New wearable device turns the body into a battery

University of Colorado Boulder CU Boulder Today from

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new, low-cost wearable device that transforms the human body into a biological battery.

The device, described today in the journal Science Advances, is stretchy enough that you can wear it like a ring, a bracelet or any other accessory that touches your skin. It also taps into a person’s natural heat—employing thermoelectric generators to convert the body’s internal temperature into electricity.

“In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery,” said Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the new paper and an associate professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder.


Triathletes, Injuries and Nutrition

Beginner Triathlete, Nancy Clark from

Triathletes and runners get injured. Seems like it’s part of the deal. Be it a torn ACL, Achilles tendonitis, or a pulled muscle, the questions arise: What can I eat to recover faster? Would more vitamins be helpful? What about collagen supplements? At this year’s virtual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND, the nation’s largest group of nutrition professionals), several presentations offered updates on nutrition for injuries.


Is the Lighter Runner the Better Runner?

Beginner Triathlete, Nancy Clark from

… Weight-conscious runners must remember they need to “nourish to flourish.” Denying the body of food denies it of valuable fuel and nutrients. Runners and other athletes in sports focusing on leanness or weight classes get stuck between a rock and a hard place. Speaking at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Exposition (FNCE), Mary Jane De Souza PhD and Nancy Williams ScD, Penn. State University professors renowned for their research with female athletes, presented information that can help us learn why the quest for a lighter body commonly backfires into injuries and health issues that take a toll.


Vit-C rich juice to assist ACL healing

Twitter, Steve Duhig from

Shaw et al suggest adding gelatin (15g) to an intermittent exercise program (6min skip rope)
Upwards arrow
collagen synthesis and could play a beneficial role in injury prevention and tissue repair


Questions Remain about Big Food’s Influence on the New Dietary Guidelines

Civil Eats, Greta Moran from

Advocates and experts point to a long-standing pattern of corporate influence on the nation’s ‘go-to source of nutrition advice.’


Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Messi lead the way among soccer’s prolific older players getting it done in top leagues

ESPN FC, Gabriele Marcotti from

Serie A’s top scorer, with 16 goals, is Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned 36 last week. Just behind him, you’ll find a trio of players on 14: Romelu Lukaku, 27 years old, is the baby of the three, Ciro Immobile is 30 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a venerable 39 years old.

Ordinarily, this is when you’d cue up jokes about Serie A as a retirement league, a place where aging poachers keep banging in goals, aided by the supposedly slower tempo and the equally geriatric defenders. It’s a stereotype — and a lazy one at that — but it’s based on the fact that in the past decade the league’s scoring charts have been topped by a 33-year-old Antonio Di Natale, a 38-year-old Luca Toni, a 31-year-old Edin Dzeko and a 36-year-old Fabio Quagliarella. But look around the scoring charts in Europe’s top leagues and you may notice something unusual.

The top goal scorer in La Liga, Atletico Madrid’s Luis Suarez, is 34 and the guy right behind him, Lionel Messi, is 33, just like the guys who are fifth and sixth in the scoring charts: Karim Benzema and Jose Luis “El Comandante” Morales. (Sitting in eighth is another 33-year-old, Iago Aspas.) In the Bundesliga, 32-year-old Robert Lewandowski leads the way, and in the top 10 you’ll find 31-year-old Thomas Muller and 32-year-old Lars Stindl.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.