Applied Sports Science newsletter – November 13, 2015

… In one of the most remarkable Champions League debuts ever, the 19-year-old produced an absolutely brilliant performance. He was everywhere across the attack, fought for every ball and scored a majestic goal with a curling shot into the far corner from the edge of the area that gave goalkeeper Iker Casillas no chance. That leveled the scores at 3-3 and then Sane was involved when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted Schalke’s fourth to put the Germans in front. The club almost completed a sensational comeback to go through on away goals as Sane’s brilliant effort was saved by Casillas, but it proved just beyond them.

Yet, after such a show, it was inevitable that Sane would become an undisputed starter for Schalke. Just three days later, on his full Bundesliga debut, he scored another beautiful goal at Hertha Berlin with a delicate chip. And if that wasn’t enough, Sane netted yet another stunner against Wolfsburg in April, after running the length of the pitch from his own penalty area.

His progress was much faster than expected.

The aims of the present study were to 1) examine the effect of body mass (BM) on eccentric knee flexor strength using the Nordbord, and 2) offer simple guidelines to control for effect of BM on knee flexors strength.
Methods. Data from 81 soccer players (U17, U19, U21, senior 4th French division and professionals) and 41 Australian Football League (AFL) players were used for analysis. They all performed one set of three maximal repetitions of the bilateral Nordic hamstring exercise, with the greatest strength measure used for analysis. The main regression equation obtained from the overall sample was used to predict eccentric knee flexor strength from a given BM (moderate TEE, 22%). Individual deviations from the BM-predicted score were used as a BM-free index of eccentric knee flexor strength.
Results. There was a large (r = 0.55, 90% confidence limits: 0.42;0.64) correlation between eccentric knee flexor strength and BM. Heavier and older players (professionals, 4th French division and AFL) outperformed their lighter and younger (U17-U21) counterparts, with the soccer professionals presenting the highest absolute strength. Professional soccer players were the only ones to show strength values likely slightly greater than those expected for their BM.
Conclusions. Eccentric knee flexor strength, as assessed with the Nordbord, is largely BM-dependent. To control for this effect, practitioners may compare actual test performances with the expected strength for a given BM, using the following predictive equation: eccentric strength (N) = 4 x BM (kg) + 26.1. Professional soccer players with specific knee flexors training history and enhanced neuromuscular performance may show higher than expected values.

… Many of us who participate in sports worry about our form. Good form is desirable, since it’s generally accepted that someone with good form, which is also known as good technique, is likely to perform better at his or her chosen sport and be less prone to injury.

But improving your form isn’t easy. Well-heeled athletes often employ a retinue of coaches and biomechanics consultants to regularly critique and fine-tune their form.

Black and White, Episode 3 focuses on Matt Price’s approach to making sure the Kings are in peak shape for an 82-game season. Kyle Clifford, who informs us that he is not a yoga fan, said, “Pricer’s really hands on. I’ve never had a strength coach that’s so hands-on and that works as hard as he does to find ways to make the workouts better. It’s always evolving and getting better.” [video, 4:46]

“Human performance will be as important, if not more important, than technology in 2030,” predicted a high-level Army intelligence expert.

The reason is that “we’ve seen an erosion in our technological advantage to overmatch adversaries,” a trend that will continue, said Thomas Greco, G-2 for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Greco and Dr. Kira Hutchinson, director, intelligence/engagement, TRADOC, G-2, spoke during a Nov. 9 media teleconference that summarized findings of the Mad Scientist 2015 conference’s “Human Dimension 2025 and Beyond: Building Cohesive Teams to Win in a Complex World,” held Oct. 27 – 28 on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Mad Scientist is an annual event that brings together thousands of U.S. and international leading scientists, innovators and thinkers from industry and academia at the conference and through virtual attendance.

Like many performers, I started off my career as a singer with severe stage fright. I never let it stop me – the inner drive to perform and make music was too strong – but it did cause me some sleepless nights and ruined some auditions until I found a way to deal with it. Once I overcame performance anxiety through a change in focus that I’ll talk about here, I was never hampered by it again. That doesn’t mean that I never feel performance anxiety; just that I experience it very differently now, and that my performances never suffer because of it. Anyone can learn this change in focus, which can transform the way you experience performing.

Canada’s time in the athletics shade is over: at the 2015 World Championships, the maple-leafed marvels won a total of eight medals, including two golds, their best return EVER. Here are ten reasons behind their outstanding Beijing haul.

1. Broadened base

For many years Athletics Canada operated a strategy that targeted certain event groups; throws, hurdles, combined events and relays. Yet after Canada returned from London 2012 with Derek Drouin’s high jump bronze their only athletics medal – the same number as Botswana, Guatemala and Iran – this approach was scrapped.

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson knows that in order to successfully shoot the basketball well, you must have “unwavering confidence.” Properly performed mechanics never hurts and Thompson preaches constant practice, but without that confidence you’ll lose the mental battle.

To help keep Thompson on track with his overall approach, the Warriors sharpshooter tells SI.com he has partnered with Kansas-based ShotTracker for the last 18 months to monitor his continued focus on shooting technique.

… Treating and preventing [overuse] injuries presents a unique challenge to sports medicine providers. While other athletes might stop training for a short period of time to give their bodies time to recover, this isn’t an option for most endurance athletes. When it comes to their training, it’s “use it or lose it,” and any time off can set them back months.

Here at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, we tackle this dilemma every day through the Endurance Medicine Program, a specialty group within the Sports Medicine Department. Composed of physicians, physical therapists, and athletic trainers, our clinic predominantly works with runners, cyclists, and swimmers, ranging in skill from high school cross country beginners to Olympic-caliber triathletes.

If you suffer from chronic pain, experts say a diet makeover with a focus on vegetables can have a dramatic effect.

Patients who follow strict vegan or Mediterranean diets have seen a complete turnaround in their pain symptoms, according to pain management specialist William Welches, DO. He says getting regular exercise, controlling stress and eating healthy foods all work together to reduce inflammation and chronic pain.

The common pattern of play in ‘team sports’ is ‘stop and go’, i.e. where players perform repeated bouts of brief high-intensity exercise punctuated by lower intensity activity. Sprints are generally 2–4 s long and recovery between sprints is of variable length. Energy production during brief sprints is derived from the degradation of intra-muscular phosphocreatine and glycogen (anaerobic metabolism). Prolonged periods of multiple sprints drain muscle glycogen stores, leading to a decrease in power output and a reduction in general work rate during training and competition. The impact of dietary carbohydrate interventions on team sport performance have been typically assessed using intermittent variable-speed shuttle running over a distance of 20 m. This method has evolved to include specific work to rest ratios and skills specific to team sports such as soccer, rugby and basketball. Increasing liver and muscle carbohydrate stores before sports helps delay the onset of fatigue during prolonged intermittent variable-speed running. Carbohydrate intake during exercise, typically ingested as carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions, is also associated with improved performance. The mechanisms responsible are likely to be the availability of carbohydrate as a substrate for central and peripheral functions. Variable-speed running in hot environments is limited by the degree of hyperthermia before muscle glycogen availability becomes a significant contributor to the onset of fatigue. Finally, ingesting carbohydrate immediately after training and competition will rapidly recover liver and muscle glycogen stores.

Calls for an independent global drug-testing agency are growing as it becomes clear many nations’ procedures and facilities fall well below expected standards

… “The league is growing,” Lagerwey said. “More (stars) of that ilk are coming. We have this layer of, what you do now? We’re all in these USL teams. If we’re being honest, not everybody has figured out how to integrate them. You can look at hockey and look at Major League Baseball and over at Europe to see how they do it. You can have a plan. But it’s literally going to be five years before anybody has a steady drum beat from academy to USL to first team.”

Some teams have been more willing to entrust their youngsters with significant first-team minutes than others. Oscar Pareja’s FC Dallas started a league-record five Homegrown Players in its 3-0 victory over Columbus in early September. Giving a trusted core time to jell — ala New York, Dallas, Columbus and Vancouver — isn’t new. The 2000s were dotted with championship contenders defined by their continuity, from the Galaxy to New England to Houston to Salt Lake.

“It’s the same method,” Real Salt Lake general manager Craig Waibel said. “It’s just being done at a younger age, with a far more talented payoff.”

… no other cycle in recent memory has contained this many unknowns heading into World Cup qualifying. Given the ever-increasing resources and programs in place, it amounts to a head-scratcher. The U.S. Soccer Federation’s Development Academy is now in its ninth season. MLS academies have set down roots and begun producing professionals. MLS clubs are fielding reserve teams in the USL, providing competition in the 18-21 age group that historically has been where plenty of players have fallen through the cracks. But there is a sense that while the level of the average player has gone up, fewer Claudio Reynas and Landon Donovans are being produced.

It leaves open the question of where the next crop of creative players is going to come from, even if the likes of Sebastian Lletget have adapted well to MLS.

“A lot of the players coming through the system lack personality and character on the field,” said former U.S. international and current ESPN television analyst Taylor Twellman.