Applied Sports Science newsletter – March 1, 2016

A ranking of the players who have made the most domestic league appearances since the start of their adult career shows English Premier League players occupying 15 of the 20 age group categories.

The ranking by the CIES Football Observatory puts Spurs star Dele Alli top of the list of players born 1996 or later with 98 appearances and Norwich’s Nathan Redmond heads the 1994 list with 163 appearances.

… It wasn’t long ago that Eberling was a standout volleyball player at Western Michigan and knew bobsled only as the sport that came on television every four years. Then, one day in 2010, she got a Facebook message out of the blue from recent bobsled bronze medalist Elana Meyers. Meyers (now Meyers Taylor) knew only that Eberling was a college athlete who’d been named to the National Strength and Conditioning Association All-America team, but was curious if she’d be interested in trying bobsled.

After some consideration, Eberling decided that she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity and one day wonder what might have happened.

Despite initially lacking the speed and strength necessary of a push athlete and not knowing the technique, Eberling’s body understood what it took to apply force and hit the position to move the sled. She quickly made up ground and in 2011 won the U.S. national push championship as a rookie.

This study investigated the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyric free acid (HMB) supplementation on physical working capacity at the onset of neuromuscular fatigue threshold (PWCFT). Thirty-seven participants (22 men, 15 women; 22.8 ± 3.4 years) completed an incremental cycle ergometer test (graded exercise test [GXT]); electromyographic amplitude from the right vastus lateralis was recorded. Assessments occurred preceding (PRE) and after 4 weeks of supplementation (POST). Participants were randomly assigned to control (C, n = 9), placebo (P, n = 14), or supplementation (S, n = 14) groups. Both P and S completed 12 HIIT sessions, whereas C maintained normal diet and activity patterns. The PWCFT (W) was determined using the maximal perpendicular distance (DMAX) method. Electromyographic amplitude (?Vrms) over time was used to generate a cubic regression. Onset of fatigue (TF) was the x-value of the point on the regression that was at DMAX from a line between the first and last data points. The PWCFT was estimated using TF and GXT power-output increments. The 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (group × time) resulted in a significant interaction for PWCFT (F = 6.69, p = 0.004). Post hoc analysis with 1-way ANOVA resulted in no difference in PWCFT among groups at PRE (F = 0.87, p = 0.43); however, a difference in PWCFT was shown for POST (F = 5.46, p = 0.009). Post hoc analysis among POST values revealed significant differences between S and both P (p = 0.034) and C (p = 0.003). No differences (p = 0.226) were noted between P and C. Paired samples t-tests detected significant changes after HIIT for S (p < 0.001) and P (p = 0.016), but no change in C (p = 0.473). High-intensity interval training increased PWCFT, but HMB with HIIT was more effective than HIIT alone. Furthermore, it seems that adding HMB supplementation with HIIT in untrained men and women may further improve endurance performance measures.

PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan recently attended a seminar by Joan Vila Bosch – Head of methodology at FC Barcelona. Speaking in Christchurch, New Zealand – Joan described how and why FC Barcelona are breaking down the coaching language of war surrounding football.

Purpose: To quantify the accumulative training and match load during an annual season in English Premier League soccer players classified as starters (n=8, started ?60% of games), fringe players (n=7, started 30-60% of games) and non-starters (n=4, started <30%% of games). Methods: Players were monitored during all training sessions and games completed in the 2013-2014 season with load quantified using GPS and Prozone technology, respectively. Results: When including both training and matches, total duration of activity (10678 ± 916, 9955 ± 947, 10136 ± 847 min; P=0.50) and distance covered (816.2 ± 92.5, 733.8 ± 99.4, 691.2 ± 71.5 km; P=0.16) was not different between starters, fringe and non-starters, respectively. However, starters completed more (all P25.2 km/h (11.2 ± 4.2, v 2.9 ± 1.2 km; ES=2.3) than non-starters. Additionally, starters also completed more sprinting (P<0.01. ES=2.0) than fringe players who accumulated 4.5 ± 1.8 km. Such differences in total high-intensity physical work done were reflective of differences in actual game time between playing groups as opposed to differences in high-intensity loading patterns during training sessions. Conclusions: Unlike total seasonal volume of training (i.e. total distance and duration),seasonal high-intensity loading patterns are dependent on players’ match starting status thereby having potential implications for training programme design.

… The first task of a coach is to create an environment. The dummy, the feint, the side-step – these are essential skills for managers as much as players. “No surprise on the training ground,” as Robert Frost almost said, “no surprise for the opposition.” In the ultra-professional era, when players yield their whole lives to the team, it is more important than ever to avoid tediousness.

It is a mistake to think that good preparation requires the elimination of uncertainty. Quite the reverse. The art of preparing a team – or any group of performers – rests on the right blend of routine and unfamiliarity. The conductor Christopher Seaman put it well in his book Inside Conducting: “I’ve never had much sympathy for conductors who ‘program’ an orchestra at rehearsal and then just run the program during the performance. There is much more to it than that.”

… We’ve all heard about sleep cycles. In the course of one night, it’s common to go through four stages throughout the night: three non-REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stages, followed by a shorter REM period—over and over again until you wake up.

To break that down even further, you start by falling asleep (stage one), which can take anywhere from one to 14 minutes—or longer or shorter if you happen to be stressed, distracted, intoxicated, caffeinated, or uncomfortable. Then, you eventually settle into sleep (stage two), which is when your heartbeat begins to slow and your temperature drops. Finally, you fall into a deep slumber (stage three), also known by scientists as slow-wave sleep, which then leads you to dream (REM). Based on this, your best bet for waking up rested is to not to have your alarm go off during the later stages.

Over the past four years, Clemson University Men’s Soccer has emerged as an elite Men’s Soccer program, making a jump from six straight years without an NCAA Tournament appearance to winning an ACC title and landing in the Sweet 16 in 2014 and playing in the National Championship last year. Throughout their growth as a program, the Tigers have increased their use of technology and are using CoachMePlus’s dashboard system to efficiently analyze their data.

CoachMePlus’s Matthew Coller sat down with Director of Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning Rick Franzblau, who is in charge of training for the Men’s soccer team as well as baseball and track and field sports.

… Giants coach Ben McAdoo has eight new hires on his first staff. One of the more intriguing fresh faces is [Aaron] Wellman, the team’s strength and conditioning coach. Wellman was the assistant strength director at Notre Dame last year, and was a head strength coach at Michigan (2011-14), San Diego State (2009-10) and Ball State (2004-08) prior to South Bend.

NJ Advance Media spoke to several of Wellman’s former players at Michigan and Notre Dame while in Indianapolis about their experiences and his coaching style.

“He definitely did a lot of good work for us,” Notre Dame running back C.J. Prosise said. “He wants you to get better.”

… The 225 test was a strength test for some of the team, but not all of them. Who benefitted and improved their testing results simply by getting stronger were the athletes who benched less than 325. What our findings essentially said were that yes, cross sectionally you do see those who are stronger being able to do more repetitions than someone who is weaker, but that does not mean it’s a strength test, as getting stronger did not change the results for all of the athletes (1).

Now what does this tell us? It tells us that the 225 test is a different test for different people of different strength levels.

Columbia University’s Paul Sajda introduces us to the Science of Rapid-Decision Making. How do baseball players decide whether to swing at a 90 mph fastball? What goes on in the minds of airplane pilots when they make an error? In this laboratory profile, we explore the work of Professor Sajda and his team, who are using brainwaves to do neural scouting for baseball players and explore the phenomenon of pilot-induced oscillations.

A senior athletics official at the University of Georgia posted a message late last year on an online discussion board for academic advisers, looking for ways to streamline the processing of academic accommodations for students with special needs.

The official, Ted White, wanted to know how other institutions were handling students’ accommodations, which can include help with taking notes, audio textbooks, and time extensions on tests. Such arrangements have become common in athletic departments as increasing numbers of athletes are diagnosed with learning disabilities and attention disorders.

Background: Running-related hamstring strain injuries remain a delicate issue in several sports such as soccer. Their unremittingly high incidence and recurrence rates indicate that the underlying risk has not yet been fully identified. Among other factors, the importance of neuromuscular coordination and the quality of interplay between the different hamstring muscle bellies is thought to be a key determinant within the intrinsic injury risk. Muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging (mfMRI) is one of the tools that has been proven to be valid for evaluating intermuscular coordination.

Purpose: To investigate the risk of sustaining an index or recurring soccer-related hamstring injury by exploring metabolic muscle characteristics using mfMRI.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Methods: A total of 27 healthy male soccer players and 27 soccer players with a history of hamstring injuries underwent standardized mfMRI. The mfMRI protocol consisted of a resting scan, a strenuous bilateral eccentric hamstring exercise, and a postexercise scan. The exercise-related T2 change, or the signal intensity shift between both scans, was used to detect differences in metabolic characteristics between (1) the different hamstring muscle bellies and (2) the prospective cohorts based on the (re)occurrence of hamstring injuries during a follow-up period of 18 months.

Results: The risk of sustaining a first hamstring injury was associated with alterations in the intermuscular hierarchy in terms of the magnitude of the metabolic response after a heavy eccentric effort, with the dominant role of the semitendinosus set aside for a higher contribution of the biceps femoris (P = .017). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that this variable was significantly able to predict the occurrence of index injuries with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 70% when the metabolic activity of the biceps femoris exceeded 10%. The risk of sustaining a reinjury was associated with a substantial deficit in hamstring strength endurance (P = .031). Soccer players who sustained a reinjury were only able to perform prone leg curls for a mean duration of 146.50 ± 76.16 seconds, whereas those with an injury history but no recurrence during follow-up were able to continue for a mean of 237.45 ± 110.76 seconds (95% CI, 11.9-230.5 seconds; P = .031).

Conclusion: This was the first study to assess the causal relation between the intramuscular recruitment pattern and the risk of sustaining an index or secondary hamstring strain. Changes in intermuscular interplay seem to significantly increase the risk of sustaining index hamstring injuries in male amateur soccer players. Inadequate eccentric muscle endurance could be associated with an increased risk of sustaining a recurring hamstring injury.

The NCAA recently released a survey of student athletes designed by the SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee), taking a look at time commitments of student athletes.

Football student athletes had one of the lowest response rates of any of the sports at 7%, but with over 2,000 participants, some of the findings were quite interesting.

The biggest thing that I think the coaching profession can take from this study is that student athletes didn’t feel like many coaches were completely honest with them about the time demands that football required during the the course of the recruiting process. 43% of FBS athletes that were recruited said that their time demands are more than what coaches told them during the recruiting process, while 25% of FCS student athletes communicated the same sentiment.

Moments after Arsenal’s Champions League ambitions were brutally coldcocked by Barcelona, their manager, Arsène Wenger, estimated his side’s chances of a miracle at the Camp Nou at 5%. He should be so lucky. Their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals are now barely one in 100.

I say this with some confidence based on a new piece of academic wizardry in the European Journal of Operational Research, with a distinctly unacademic title: “What is a good result in the first leg of a two-leg football match?” We know the answer: a thumping great shellacking. But the academics were searching for deeper truths. For the first time they wanted to quantify the effect of the away goals rule – and to show how a first-leg result affected a team’s chances of qualification.