Female Sports Science newsletter – January 6, 2019

Female Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for January 6, 2019

 

athletes


Shiffrin Enters Elite Club of Skiers to Win in Five Disciplines

Ski Racing, Mackenzie Moran from

n December 2nd, 2018, Mikaela Shiffrin won her first super-G in Lake Louise, Canada. It took her nine career starts in the discipline before she was victorious, but with that win, she became one of seven female athletes to have ever won in all five major disciplines – super-G, downhill, slalom, giant slalom, and combined. Over the last two weekends, Shiffrin swept the field in Courchevel, France where she won both the giant slalom and the slalom, making her the youngest alpine athlete to ever hit the landmark of 50 wins. Then in Semmering, Austria on the Saturday following Christmas, she won her 36th career World Cup slalom.

Six female ski racers in history have won in all five major disciplines, Shiffrin will make that seven. She joins the ranks of American Lindsey Vonn, Slovenian Tina Maze, Croatian Janica Kostelic, Austrian Petra Kronberger, and Swedes Pernilla Wiberg and Anja Paerson.

It is a massive accomplishment that only 12 other athletes have achieved. Impressively, three of them are Americans, more than any other country on the elite list, one being Vonn, the other being Bode Miller. Shiffrin’s success received some recognition on Twitter from other “overall club” members, like Tina Maze and Vonn.

 

How A Single Word Inspires Kara Goucher’s Strongest PerformancesHow A Single Word Inspires Kara Goucher’s Strongest Performances

Women's Running, Kara Goucher from

As far back as I can remember, a little voice of self-doubt has plagued my confidence in my running. It tells me that I’m not good enough, that I’m just an imposter. Who am I to be a world-class athlete? I don’t come from a running pedigree; I’m just a simple girl from northern Minnesota.

I have worked for years and years to conquer that voice, to turn off that negative chatter and replace it with an arsenal of tools to help me.

One of the techniques that has worked really well for me is to pick a power word.

 

Cat Osterman on USA Softball trials — ‘It might look like old Cat, it might not’

espnW, Cat Osterman, as told to Graham Hays from

Olympic gold and silver medalist Cat Osterman, 35, announced in October that she was coming out of retirement with the goal of making Team USA and competing in the 2020 Olympics. This week, she shares her experience as she takes part in national team trials in Clearwater, Florida.

 

training


Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in female athletes [Part 1: Recognition and diagnosis]

BJSM blog, Craig Sheridan and Simon Tarsha from

… In a study of 6179 women aged 15-55 years-old, a total of 1627 women described their menstrual loss as above average(4). Ninety-one percent of these women reported that when their periods were heavy it impacted their ability to perform sport and fitness activities. Furthermore, 75% felt less confident during this time with 91% stating that their heaviest menstrual flow days influenced the type and colour of clothes they felt able to wear.

What about elite athletes with HMB?

The elite female athlete is not immune to these problems with up to 37% reporting HMB(5). Indeed the physical and psychosocial effects of excessive menstrual blood loss are potentially greater due to the demands of training, travel and competition, as well as the high profile status of many female athletes.

 

Monitoring Training Load and Perceived Recovery in Female Basketball: Implications for Training Design. – PubMed – NCBI

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research from

This study investigated the relationship between internal training load and perceived recovery of semi-professional female basketball players during the competitive season. Eleven female players were monitored for 14 weeks during the in-season phase. For each event (training and game), data were collected as follows: (a) Total Quality Recovery (TQR) score before the event (TQRpre); (b) session Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) 20 minutes after completion of the event, to calculate training load (s-TL) of the event; and (c) TQR scores 12 (TQRpost12) and 24 hours (TQRpost24) after the event. Data were analyzed for daily, weekly, and mesocycle (regular season; regional play-off; and national play-off) time frames. Daily analysis showed that: TQRpost12 was lower than TQRpre (p < 0.001) and TQRpost24 (p < 0.001); s-TL had a moderate negative correlation with TQRpost12 (r = -0.48, p = 0.002); the difference between TQRpre and RPE (TS-Δ) had a very large positive correlation with TQRpost12 (r = 0.70, p < 0.001); and TQRpost24 was not significantly correlated with training parameters. Weekly analysis highlighted a very large negative correlation between the acute:chronic workload ratio and TQR collected at the start of the following week (TQRfw) (r = -0.86, p < 0.001). Finally, although weekly TL and TQRfw did not differ between mesocycles, their correlation increased in the later seasonal phases. This study demonstrated negative relationships between training load and recovery of semi-professional female basketball players at daily, weekly, and mesocycle levels. Therefore, concurrently monitoring training and recovery with the sRPE method and TQR scale is recommended for designing training schedules in basketball.

 

How Improving Your Posture Can Make You Run Better

Women's Running, Kristen Seymour from

When you think of perfect posture, what comes to mind? Images of ballet dancers, models walking with books on their heads or straight-spined yogis, perhaps? Runners aren’t necessarily where the mind immediately goes for most of us—but making that connection a bit stronger just might improve your running game.

Posture is actually quite important for runners, and to better understand exactly why, we went to Dave Ochsendorf, M.P.T., M.Ed., A.T.C., owner of Siesta Key Sports and Physical Therapy in Sarasota, Fla., where he specializes in evaluating and treating running injuries and foot and ankle pain. An avid runner himself, he’s worked with athletes of all ages and levels and believes that good posture can be a major benefit to runners for several reasons—and not just because it makes them look fast. (Although, let’s be honest—it does.)

 

technology


Ideas Made to Matter Digital economy A McKinsey leader lays out a positive vision of tech’s future

MIT Sloan School of Management, Brian Eastwood from

… Silicon Valley firms often find candidates for jobs through personal references, professional networks, and alumni organizations.

“A lot of those things make it very difficult to actually find talent that looks like people of color or women,” Manyika told McAfee.

One strategy to address this challenge is to implement a policy like the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for coaching or front-office roles. “Even though you have this insider referral network, at least make sure you’re seeing three or four other candidates,” Manyika said.Another strategy — Manyika’s life hack, a common feature on McAfee’s podcast —is a more informal process of extending meeting invitations to those who are otherwise unlikely to be represented — whether it’s someone young, poor, less educated, or from a minority group.

“Anybody who has access, like you and me, anytime we go to an important meeting, take a friend or colleague who has no access,” he said.

 

sports medicine


Female Soccer Players With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Have a Higher Risk of New Knee Injuries and Quit Soccer to a Higher Degree Than Knee-Healthy Controls.

American Journal of Sports Medicine from

BACKGROUND::

Many patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction who return to sport suffer new ACL injuries or quit sports soon after returning.
PURPOSE::

To prospectively follow a cohort of female soccer players with primary unilateral ACL reconstruction and matched knee-healthy controls from the same soccer teams to compare (1) the rate of new traumatic and nontraumatic knee injuries and other injuries, (2) the proportion of players who quit soccer, and (3) player-reported activity level and satisfaction with activity level and knee function.
STUDY DESIGN::

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.
METHODS::

A total of 117 active female soccer players (mean ± SD age, 19.9 ± 2.5 years) 18.9 ± 8.7 months after ACL reconstruction and 119 knee-healthy female soccer players (19.5 ± 2.5 years) matched from the same teams were prospectively followed for 2 years for new knee injuries, other injuries, soccer playing level, activity level according to the Tegner Activity Scale, and satisfaction with activity level and knee function.
RESULTS::

Players with ACL reconstruction had a higher rate of new ACL injuries (n = 29 vs 8; 19 vs 4 per 100 player years; rate ratio [RR], 4.82; 95% CI, 2.20-10.54; P < .001), other traumatic knee injuries (29 vs 16 per 100 player years; RR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.16-2.93; P < .01), and nontraumatic knee injuries (33 vs 9 per 100 player years; RR, 3.62; 95% CI, 2.11-6.21; P < .001) as compared with controls. There was no difference in the rate of other (not knee) injuries (43 vs 48 per 100 player years; RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.65-1.23; P = .494). During the 2-year follow-up, 72 (62%) players with ACL reconstruction quit soccer, as opposed to 43 (36%) controls ( P = .001). The median Tegner Activity Scale score decreased in both groups ( P < .001) but more for the ACL-reconstructed group ( P < .015). CONCLUSION::

Female soccer players with ACL reconstruction had nearly a 5-fold-higher rate of new ACL injuries and a 2- to 4-fold-higher rate of other new knee injuries, quit soccer to a higher degree, and reduced their activity level to a greater extent as compared with knee-healthy controls.

 

Trends in Incidence of ACL Reconstruction and Concomitant Procedures Among Commercially Insured Individuals in the United States, 2002-2014

Sports Health journal from

Background:

Few population-based descriptive studies on the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and concomitant pathology exist.
Hypothesis:

Incidence of ACL reconstruction has increased from 2002 to 2014.
Study Design:

Descriptive clinical epidemiology study.
Level of Evidence:

Level 3.
Methods:

The Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, which contains insurance enrollment and health care utilization data for approximately 158 million privately insured individuals younger than 65 years, was used to obtain records of ACL reconstructions performed between 2002 and 2014 and any concomitant pathology using Current Procedures Terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. The denominator population was defined as the total number of person-years (PYs) for all individuals in the database. Annual rates were computed overall and stratified by age, sex, and concomitant procedure.
Results:

There were 283,810 ACL reconstructions and 385,384,623 PYs from 2002 to 2014. The overall rate of ACL reconstruction increased 22%, from 61.4 per 100,000 PYs in 2002 to 74.6 per 100,000 PYs in 2014. Rates of isolated ACL reconstruction were relatively stable over the study period. However, among children and adolescents, rates of both isolated ACL reconstruction and ACL reconstruction with concomitant meniscal surgery increased substantially. Adolescents aged 13 to 17 years had the highest absolute rates of ACL reconstruction, and their rates increased dramatically over the 13-year study period (isolated, +37%; ACL + meniscal repair, +107%; ACL + meniscectomy, +63%). Rates of isolated ACL reconstruction were similar for males and females (26.1 vs 25.6 per 100,000 PYs, respectively, in 2014), but males had higher rates of ACL reconstruction with concomitant meniscal surgery than females.
Conclusion:

Incidence rates of isolated ACL reconstruction and rates of concomitant meniscal surgery have increased, particularly among children and adolescents.
Clinical Relevance:

A renewed focus on adoption of injury prevention programs is needed to mitigate these trends. In addition, more research is needed on long-term patient outcomes and postoperative health care utilization after ACL reconstruction, with a focus on understanding the sex-based disparity in concomitant meniscal surgery.

 

analysis


Rory Dames and the Red Stars once again hold the cards on NWSL draft day

Equalizer Soccer, John D. Halloran from

Over their six years in the National Women’s Soccer League, the Chicago Red Stars have become known for memorable moves on draft day. In 2014, they nabbed Julie Ertz and Vanessa DiBernardo and, in 2015, picked up Arin Gilliland, Danielle Colaprico and Sofia Huerta. Last January, in Philadelphia, they took part in the biggest moment of the day, a trade which brought superstar Sam Kerr to the Windy City.

The Red Stars are once again the team to watch this year as they head into the 2019 NWSL College Draft with the No. 1 pick overall, as well as the No. 6 and No. 7 selections in the first round.

But even with the draft being only two weeks away, Chicago head coach Rory Dames hasn’t been able to plan too far ahead because of the way the draft is structured.

 

What is the salary cap situation for each WNBA team heading into free agency?

SB Nation, Swish Appeal blog, Albert Lee from

The WNBA free agency season begins on Jan. 15, when teams can negotiate contracts with free agents and, if necessary, core key players who would otherwise be unrestricted free agents. In past seasons, salary data wasn’t widely available, which made covering the league a bit difficult during this time.

Today, Howard Megdal of High Post Hoops has an updated salary database of all WNBA teams, the salary cap for 2019 and the number of players with cap holds at the present time. This data increases transparency in the league and interest in what WNBA teams may do over the next month.

 

‘There was blood everywhere’: the abuse case against the Afghan FA president

The Guardian, Suzanne Wrack from

Afghanistan women’s national team players have made detailed allegations to the Guardian of sexual and physical abuse they say they suffered at the hands of the president of the country’s football federation, Keramuudin Karim.

 

fairness


2018 Year in Review: A Candid Conversation on Gender Equality

United Nations Foundation from

In its earliest days, the United Nations Foundation committed to championing the rights of girls and women, in allegiance to the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter and because the dignity and agency of girls and women is essential for a more peaceful and prosperous world for all. 2018 was a year of challenge, but also change.

Geeta Rao Gupta, the Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and UN Foundation Senior Fellow, and Michelle Milford Morse, our Vice President of Girls and Women Strategy at the UN Foundation, reflect on the year that was, and the year to come.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.