Applied Sports Science newsletter – December 19, 2015

… his injury record in the last couple of seasons has reached the same league as Kieron Dyer or Jack Wilshere and Sturridge’s presence has been a rare treat for the Liverpool faithful.

As ever, a player who is injured seems to experience a rapid increase in their reputation and Liverpool appear to be living in a parallel universe of always expecting their star striker to be fully fit sometime soon.

In his increasingly rare appearances, Sturridge looks capable of producing his best football, but it’s almost impossible to justify his retention when he is available for what feels like 5 games a season.

… You know the stories of the games, how the Warriors’ season-opening winning streak reached 24 games, longest in major pro sports history, before they lost on the final stop of the trip Saturday night.

But B/R sought to find the elements of what has made this team great, a group with uncommon chemistry, compassion, leadership and skill.

Here are those stories.

… “He has to decide what is his next step. His next step obviously has to be becoming a professional,” said Klinsmann. “It’s not an easy decision for him.”

Morris spent a season with the Seattle Sounders Academy and is eligible to sign a Homegrown contract with his hometown club. Last month, Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey said that the Sounders have offered Morris the most lucrative Homegrown player deal in league history.

Joe Haden became emotional when talking about the recovery process from a concussion.

The Browns cornerback was candid on the team’s official podcast, stating that it was frightening to deal with, especially for the first time.

We need something extra. The thought reverberated for Sam Koch. In four days, the Baltimore Ravens would face one of the NFL’s most explosive punt returners. Koch, a veteran punter in his ninth season, wanted to have a little something extra for him.

So as the Ravens gathered for their Wednesday practice, special-teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg suggested a twist. Let’s see if we can fool him. Koch began experimenting. He angled his body toward the right sideline, a pre-snap position that usually indicates the kick’s direction, and torqued his hips and right leg toward the left sideline without changing his horizon — ultimately sending the ball some 40 yards toward the opposite sideline a returner would expect.

“After a few minutes,” Rosburg said, “we knew we had something.”

My first job, I was hired at the University of Pittsburgh by then head coach, Jackie Sherrill. I made twelve thousand dollars a year. I had no assistance, and I had to do everything myself which meant going in and vacuuming the carpet, cleaning machines, cleaning floor on a daily basis, plus being responsible for training over one hundred athletes.

Here’s the problem with this country right now: technology. How many people go to the Apple store? You have your Apple phone, and the Apple store, and (please excuse me, because I will drop a few f-bombs) it is fucking crowded. So much for technology. You have athletes with problems, and what has technology done? I could solve all of the functional movement screen problems in this country right now. Do you know how I’d do it? Get rid of the computer, get rid of video games, and let kids go outside and play again.

Let the body solve complex motor problems in the chaotic environment. Let the brain figure things out. The brain learns by getting things wrong. New parents, stop helping your kids. If the kid is in a backseat and he can’t clip the seat belt, don’t turn around and say, “here, let mommy and daddy help you.” Let him figure it out. That’s how the brain learns.

Purpose

We investigated association of hematological variables with specific fitness performance in elite team-sport players.
Methods

Hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) was measured in 25 elite field hockey players using the optimized (2 min) CO-rebreathing method. Hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]), hematocrit and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were analyzed in venous blood. Fitness performance evaluation included a repeated-sprint ability (RSA) test (8 x 20 m sprints, 20 s of rest) and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 (YYIR2).
Results

Hbmass was largely correlated (r = 0.62, P0.05). [Hb] and MCHC displayed moderate correlations with both YYIR2TD (r = 0.44 and 0.41; both P<0.01) and RSA sprint decrement score (r = -0.41 and -0.44; both P<0.05). YYIR2TD correlated with RSA best and total sprint times (r = -0.46, P<0.05 and -0.60, P0.05).
Conclusion

Hbmass is positively correlated with specific aerobic fitness, but not with RSA, in elite team-sport players. Additionally, the negative relationships between YYIR2 and RSA tests performance imply that different hematological mechanisms may be at play. Overall, these results indicate that these two fitness tests should not be used interchangeably as they reflect different hematological mechanisms.

… Dallas is always adding new wrinkles, because nobody outworks Carlisle. When Pachulia arrived, Carlisle introduced himself by saying he had just watched Pachulia’s last 100 shots in Milwaukee, Pachulia said. When Pachulia was settling into bed in Portland around 2 a.m. Dec. 1, hours after a loss to the Kings and a short flight north, he got a text from Carlisle asking him to come to Carlisle’s room for film study.

The new plays and video work can be tough to internalize, so Carlisle has stepped up his game-day tests, players say. He has ditched pen-and-paper for iPad-based exams. Players watch clips of the Mavs or their next opponent, and the clips freeze at key moments. Then a multiple-choice question pops up asking what the Dallas player pictured should do: switch on defense, pass to a cutter, go under a screen, etc. The team grades players on speed and accuracy, though some of the veterans, including Nowitzki, blow off the tests.

Here’s what the Positive Coach Alliance out of California mentions as to major reasons why up to 75% of our children drop out of sports by the age of 12.

1. It’s not fun anymore
2. Pressure to perform
3. Lack of competence in the sport
4. Time demands

Getting back up to speed following a tough football season is a scenario faced by all strength and conditioning coaches at every level of the game. Chris Doyle, head strength and conditioning coach for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, faces the same challenges with his athletes.

First and foremost, Doyle focuses on his athletes’ recovery. Before an athlete can get back in the gym or out on the field, he must be functioning at baseline levels with regard to his recovery.

“We use new technology at Iowa to evaluate our athletes’ recovery day-to-day,” says Doyle. “Our athletes get up in the morning and they put on a monitor, hit an app on their phone, and their data immediately shoots to our computers. Then we get a reading on their Heart Rate Variability. There has been significant research showing a correlation between HRV and recovery.”

PUSH CEO and founder Rami Nabel (centre) poses with TRSM Dean Steven Murphy (left) and Dale Hooper, Chief Brand Officer, Rogers (right) after taking first place in the inaugural Next Big Idea in Sport competition held yesterday at the DMZ at Ryerson University. Dean Murphy announced the launch of the Sport Innovation Hub to be housed within Ted Rogers School of Management following the competition.

Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University (TRSM) has launched the Sport Innovation Hub (SPIN). The announcement was made at the grand finale of the inaugural Next Big Idea in Sport (NBIS) competition, held in partnership with Rogers.

Surface functionalization techniques could pave the way to smarter implants and wearables.

Biometrics is revolutionizing how NFL players maximize their performance.

An engineer at UBM’s recent Designers of Things (DoT) conference shared his insight into the trials and tribulations of developing one of the most challenging kinds of wearable products — a heart rate monitor for swimmers.

Andy Grunes of Aavid Corp., which provided the design services for the new product, told show attendees that the heart rate monitor presented a host of unusual design dilemmas, as it had to monitor heartbeats at the swimmer’s temple while being submersible, as well as ergonomically functional and comfortable to wear. It also had to minimize drag and be manufacturable. “I’ve been developing mechanical products for 15 years and this is probably the most challenging one I’ve ever worked on,” said Grunes, who serves as director of global design services for Aavid.

A team led by a Microsoft researcher has won the prestigious Marr prize in computer vision research for a paper that presents an alternative to what is currently the most popular method of teaching computers to recognize images.

The Marr prize winner was announced Monday at the International Conference on Computing Vision in Santiago, Chile. The prize is awarded every two years and is considered a top honor for computer vision researchers.

The award-winning paper, Deep Neural Decision Forests, showed that by using a technique called random forests researchers could create a system that was just as good, if not better, at teaching computers to recognize images than the system many leading computer vision researchers are using today.

… The incidence of injuries to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow has been on the rise recently. This injury occurs with repetitive valgus load across the elbow joint, experienced during repetitive throwing motions. The majority of this stress is concentrated on the anterior band of the ulnar collateral ligament. Over the last few seasons there has been an increase in the incidence of UCL injuries amongst professional baseball pitchers. There has been recent interest to determine whether lower body strength can predict upper extremity injury. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether there is a predictive connection between scan metrics from force plate testing and in the incidence of UCL injuries in professional baseball pitchers.

The league wants to make sure another Case Keenum doesn’t happen.

And they’re willing to fine or suspend people to prove it.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the league “will impose discipline for future violations of medical protocol.”

Some of the biggest names in professional sports are facing retirement. David Ortiz and Kobe Bryant recently announced that they’ll be calling it quits in 2016. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods is openly talking about the possibility of retiring from professional golf if his surgically repaired back does not heal. Peyton Manning, sidelined after suffering a debilitating foot injury, has fans and sportswriters wondering if this season could be his last.

All of us must eventually confront the end of our careers; for professional athletes, the end comes at a younger age, often under intense media scrutiny.

So how does an athlete make a successful transition? It’s a question I sought to answer in my study, which examined the ways former professional baseball and football players successfully – or unsuccessfully – navigated the challenges of retirement.

Background: There are limited and inconsistent data regarding return-to-sport outcomes after revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Hypothesis: Return-to-sport rates will be lower after revision ACLR when compared with primary ACLR.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of 136 eligible patients who had undergone their first revision ACLR between March 2006 and March 2010. Of these, 109 patients (80%) completed a sports activity survey at a mean 5-year follow-up (range, 3-7 years). Follow-up also included the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective form, Marx Activity Scale, and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score–quality of life (KOOS-QOL) form. Operative details were obtained from the clinical record.

Results: After revision ACLR, 46% (95% CI, 37%-55%) of patients returned to their preinjury level of sport, compared with 50% (95% CI, 41%-59%) after the primary reconstruction in the same patients. Of the patients who were not able to return to their preinjury level of sport after primary reconstruction, 33% improved to the point that they were able to do so after revision. Younger patients were more likely to have returned to their same level of sport (58% vs 38%, P < .05), while the rate of return was the same between male and female patients. Those who returned to their preinjury level of sport scored higher Marx (P < .01), KOOS-QOL (P < .001), and IKDC scores (P < .01) than those who did not. Patients with <50% thickness articular cartilage lesions at revision surgery were more likely to have returned to their preinjury level (52% vs 31%, P < .05) and had significantly better Marx (P < .01), KOOS-QOL (P < .01), and IKDC scores (P < .01) at follow-up. The status of the menisci at the time of revision surgery was not associated with rates of return to sport, but patients with an intact medial meniscus had significantly higher KOOS-QOL (P < .05) scores at follow-up.

Conclusion: Return-to-sport rates of patients after revision ACLR were similar to those after their primary surgery but were still lower than the reported rates of ACLR patients who did not need revision surgery. Greater chondral pathologic abnormalities at revision surgery were associated with reduced function at follow-up.

Background: Intensive sport participation in childhood and adolescence is an established cause of acute and overuse injury. Interventions and programs designed to prevent such injuries are important in reducing individual and societal costs associated with treatment and recovery. Likewise, they help to maintain the accrual of positive outcomes from participation, such as cardiovascular health and skill development. To date, several studies have individually tested the effectiveness of injury prevention programs (IPPs).

Purpose: To determine the overall efficacy of structured multifaceted IPPs containing a combination of warm-up, neuromuscular strength, or proprioception training, targeting injury reduction rates according to risk exposure time in adolescent team sport contexts.

Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: With established inclusion criteria, studies were searched in the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, and AusSportMed. The keyword search terms (including derivations) included the following: adolescents, sports, athletic injuries, prevention/warm-up programs. Eligible studies were then pooled for meta-analysis with an invariance random-effects model, with injury rate ratio (IRR) as the primary outcome. Heterogeneity among studies and publication bias were tested, and subgroup analysis examined heterogeneity sources.

Results: Across 10 studies, including 9 randomized controlled trials, a pooled overall point estimate yielded an IRR of 0.60 (95% CI = 0.48-0.75; a 40% reduction) while accounting for hours of risk exposure. Publication bias assessment suggested an 8% reduction in the estimate (IRR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.54-0.84), and the prediction interval intimated that any study estimate could still fall between 0.33 and 1.48. Subgroup analyses identified no significant moderators, although possible influences may have been masked because of data constraints.

Conclusion: Compared with normative practices or control, IPPs significantly reduced IRRs in adolescent team sport contexts. The underlying explanations for IPP efficacy remain to be accurately identified, although they potentially relate to IPP content and improvements in muscular strength, proprioceptive balance, and flexibility.

Clinical Relevance: Clinical practitioners (eg, orthopaedics, physical therapists) and sports practitioners (eg, strength and conditioners, coaches) can respectively recommend and implement IPPs similar to those examined to help reduce injury rates in adolescent team sports contexts.

…Researchers at Australian Catholic University’s Mary Mackillop Institute for Health Research tested the importance of fuel source to endurance sports performance by blocking the body’s use of fat. Male competitive half-marathon runners ran on a treadmill until exhausted at a pace 95 percent of their best half-marathon time. They ate a calorie-free or carbohydrates meal before and during the run and took nicotinic acid to prevent the use of fat stores.

The Minnesota Vikings, currently leading the pack for an NFC wild card playoff spot, have a top-10 pass defense that is built on tight cornerback coverage and an aggressive pass rush. And red wine.

In a move that is part health fad, part bonding exercise, the Vikings defensive backs have started dabbling as wine connoisseurs, with some believing that it may even be helping their bodies. “Whatever [you’re] doing, drink some red wine and you’ll do better,” said cornerback Captain Munnerlyn.

The Vikings’ taste for wine is the product of 37-year-old defensive back Terence Newman, who previously starred for the Cowboys and Bengals. Newman began exploring wine earlier in his career and has since emerged as the NFL’s answer to Robert Parker.

IAAF’s birthday wishes to former drug-user Heike Drechsler were beyond the pale amid the gravest doping crisis in sport’s history.

Economist Richard Thaler visited Google’s office in Cambridge, MA to discuss the topic “The Behaviorializing of Economics: Why Did It Take So Long?”.

The talk is an introduction to his book “Misbehaving”. He points out that economic models are based on ideal entities he calls “econs”. But maybe economic choices are made by entities we might call “humans”.

Researchers at Georgia Tech discovered that humans can categorize data using less than 1 percent of the original information, and validated an algorithm to explain human learning—a method that also can be used for machine learning, data analysis and computer vision.

“How do we make sense of so much data around us, of so many different types, so quickly and robustly?” said Santosh Vempala, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of four researchers on the project. “At a fundamental level, how do humans begin to do that? It’s a computational problem.”

During the first day of the IMG Intercollegiate Athletic Forum while on a panel about cost-of-attendance stipends, North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow voiced a concern. “You try to teach student-athletes about financial literacy,” she said of the school’s student-athletes, “but know you failed when you see them on their new hoverboard.” Shortly after, the white-haired Alabama athletic director, Bill Battle, interrupted the moderator to add “tattoos and rims.”

(He later told AL.com that he was referring to the incident at Ohio State that led to Jim Tressel’s resignation).

To me, a former college and NFL player, it feels like a couple of out-of-touch executives mocking line-workers, the people whose names don’t appear on an org chart but collectively are more indispensable to the operations of an organization.

Quick — which NBA player is most integral to his team’s offense? Which player shoulders the biggest offensive burden? And to what degree are those questions even equivalent?

Statistically, such concerns fall under the umbrella of “usage rate,” a term that colloquially describes an entire class of metrics tasked with quantifying the size of a player’s offensive role. Usage is one of the most accessible concepts in basketball analytics — rock-simple in its purview and relatable to anyone who’s ever played with a shameless ball hog or been a terrified freshman playing hot potato. In statsier circles, usage is a staple of player analysis, in part because it remains relatively constant amid a player’s shifting contexts and roles. At a glance, usage says more about how a player plays than most other basic basketball metrics.

One small problem: Nobody seems to agree about what exactly usage rate is, or should be, or how it is calculated.

… Time and again we see clubs sack the manager after a bad run of results (often prematurely, when the underlying performance is actually on track), and then commence the search process. Or a club is left stranded as their incumbent manager is headhunted by a rival club. In such urgent moments, the question inevitably becomes “who’s available?” rather than “who’s the right fit?”, and so the reactive cycle continues.

And while it may sometimes feel like the situation is beyond our control, in fact we can be much better prepared for these moments. In the same way that we should be building succession plans for our players, we’ve created a surveillance system for identifying potential future managers.