Applied Sports Science newsletter – July 30, 2018

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for July 30, 2018

 

Kyrie Irving insists he’ll be ready for Celtics camp

Associated Press, Tim Reynolds from

Kyrie Irving isn’t in a position where he could play with USA Basketball this week at its minicamp.

He made the trip to Las Vegas anyway.

The way Irving sees it, if USA Basketball calls, you answer. So he was in the gym Thursday for the start of the two-day camp, watching and interacting with guys but not partaking in the on-court action.

And he insisted that when the Boston Celtics start training camp in about two months, he will be fully ready to go.

 

Manchester United target Harry Maguire has rugby and hockey to thank for making him a World Cup hero

The Telegraph (UK), Tim Wigmore from

Harry Maguire’s performances in the World Cup represented a broader triumph for English sport. As Maguire explained, his football prowess is underpinned by qualities he has learned across a multitude of games. He credits cross country for his stamina, rugby for “my bravery, weaving in and out of players, helping with agility” and hockey for “my vision and passing”.

Maguire’s tale is an essential counterpoint to what has become orthodoxy to too many young players and, especially, their parents and clubs: that, to rise to the top, children must specialise from well before their teens. By this logic, every minute spent playing hockey or rugby, as Maguire did, is time that could have been better spent on the football pitch.

 

Chiney Ogwumike’s Road To All-Star Return – WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA

WNBA, Brian Martin from

… “I came into the season just trying to touch the court, because a lot times people say ‘Achilles injury, knee injury, it’s over.’ I just wanted to prove that there’s a power to positivity, there’s a power to still working hard and when you surround yourself with believers and achievers, anything is possible.”

 

Inside the discovery of Mike Trout

ESPN MLB, Buster Olney from

Greg Morhardt was the Los Angeles Angels’ scout assigned to oversee the Northeast corridor a dozen years ago, and on a beautiful, late-summer day, he watched over a flock of high school age ballplayers in New Jersey. When somebody mentioned that the last name of the muscular kid with the football-player build standing out at shortstop was Trout, Morhardt immediately wondered whether he had a connection with the teenager.

More than two decades before, Morhardt had played minor league baseball with a Trout, Jeff Trout. He was fast, Morhardt recalled, and a really good hitter, someone who might have had a little time in the big leagues if he had hung around pro ball a few more years. But Morhardt had been present when Jeff met Debbie Busonick, and Jeff and Debbie married, moved beyond the uncertainty of minor league baseball and returned to Jeff’s hometown in southern New Jersey to raise a family.

That was the last Morhardt had heard of his old teammate. Now Morhardt was at a ballfield tracking this teenager with the last name of Trout — in Jersey. It had to be more than a coincidence, he thought. “Is that Jeff Trout’s kid?” Morhardt asked somebody else at the workout, and he was told, yes, that’s Jeff and Debbie’s son. That’s Mike Trout.

 

Eagles’ Carson Wentz takes big step forward in rehab from knee injury

ESPN NFL, Tim McManus from

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz took another significant step forward in his rehab Thursday, participating in full-team non-contact drills on the first day of training camp.

Wentz was cleared for the activity on Wednesday when the players reported to camp and had their physicals.

 

Chip Kelly: “We don’t get caught up in ‘What does it look like?”

FootballScoop, Doug Samuels from

… “I think the game itself has changed. So I think that you have to change with it,’ Kelly shared. “We’re just trying to figure it out. We’re not trying to revolutionize. It’s not a revolution. It’s an an evolution. It’s how do we put the players that we have right now in position to make plays. And what’s that look like? I don’t care.

“What we don’t get caught up in is ‘What does it look like?’ It’s just ‘How does it work?’ So whether we’re driving a car that looks good on the outside, as long as it gets me from point A to point B I’m happy.”

 

Mavs have arguably the best head athletic trainer in the entire NBA in Casey Smith

Dallas Mavericks from

When it comes to trainers, Dallas Mavericks head athletic trainer Casey Smith is arguably the LeBron James of NBA trainers.

Smith is so highly sought after that he’s been on the training staffs of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team for the Pan American Games in 2003, the World Championships in 2006 and ’10, and the Olympics in ’08 and ’12.

That means, on a daily basis, he’s constantly dealing with the world’s best players while helping them stay physically fit.

“He’s the best of the best, in my opinion,” Mavs assistant coach Jamahl Mosley said. “I’m not taking anything away from anyone else, but I just love how he approaches all of it.”

Smith will be working his 15th season with the Mavs after arriving in Dallas from working with the Phoenix Suns. His distinctive style and approach to his job is unprecedented, and the unique way in which he solves problems has the Mavs knowing they’ve got a good one on their hands.

 

What Playing Through Pain Taught Me About Leadership & Excuses

Medium, Dan Blewett from

… This is what separates people in life. There’s two types of people:

  • Those who say they can, yet make excuses when they don’t.
  • Those who say they can, and take complete responsibility when they don’t.
  • In the sports world, the disabled list is a polarizing and excellent example of this divide.

     

    Home Court: New Mobile App Helps Hoopers Improve Their Basketball Skills

    NBC Bay Area, Scott Budman from

    A Bay Area company and some big name NBA investors are hoping artificial intelligence can improve your basketball game.

    The technology is being used in a new mobile app, Home Court, that is backed by investors like NBA player Jeremy Lin and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

    Two-time NBA champion Beno Udrih recently was seen using the app, which tracked his every move. The app used artificial intelligence to figure out what he is doing well and what he needs to work on.

     

    THE SHOE CUSHIONING PARADOX

    Equinox, Furthermore, Rachael Schultz from

    … “The goal of healthy running is to hit the ground as softly as possible,” says Jordan Metzl, MD, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and author of Running Strong. In both men and women, taking shorter steps minimizes impact by helping you strike the ground with your midfoot. But more cushioning encourages longer strides, making you more likely to land heel first, he explains. That jolts the impact straight through your lower limbs.

     

    OpenSim: Simulating musculoskeletal dynamics and neuromuscular control to study human and animal movement

    PLOS Computational Biology; Scott L. Delp et al. from

    Movement is fundamental to human and animal life, emerging through interaction of complex neural, muscular, and skeletal systems. Study of movement draws from and contributes to diverse fields, including biology, neuroscience, mechanics, and robotics. OpenSim unites methods from these fields to create fast and accurate simulations of movement, enabling two fundamental tasks. First, the software can calculate variables that are difficult to measure experimentally, such as the forces generated by muscles and the stretch and recoil of tendons during movement. Second, OpenSim can predict novel movements from models of motor control, such as kinematic adaptations of human gait during loaded or inclined walking. Changes in musculoskeletal dynamics following surgery or due to human–device interaction can also be simulated; these simulations have played a vital role in several applications, including the design of implantable mechanical devices to improve human grasping in individuals with paralysis. OpenSim is an extensible and user-friendly software package built on decades of knowledge about computational modeling and simulation of biomechanical systems. OpenSim’s design enables computational scientists to create new state-of-the-art software tools and empowers others to use these tools in research and clinical applications. OpenSim supports a large and growing community of biomechanics and rehabilitation researchers, facilitating exchange of models and simulations for reproducing and extending discoveries. Examples, tutorials, documentation, and an active user forum support this community. The OpenSim software is covered by the Apache License 2.0, which permits its use for any purpose including both nonprofit and commercial applications. The source code is freely and anonymously accessible on GitHub, where the community is welcomed to make contributions. Platform-specific installers of OpenSim include a GUI and are available on simtk.org.

     

    The Athletic Shoulder (ASH) test: reliability of a novel upper body isometric strength test in elite rugby players | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine

    BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine journal from

    Objectives Lower limb isometric tests are used to assess strength and strength asymmetries and monitor reductions in muscle force that may contribute to loss of performance and increase injury risk. Isometric tests in the upper body may be appropriate to monitor neuromuscular performance of the shoulder joint in sports involving contact and overhead actions. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of a novel upper body isometric strength test.

    Methods Eighteen elite rugby players (age 22.4±4.6 years; body mass 95.5±13.4 kg) were tested on consecutive days. Maximal isometric contractions using both limbs against a force platform were assessed at three angles of abduction (180°, ‘I’; 135°, ‘Y’ and 90°, ‘T’), in a prone lying position. To evaluate interday reliability, intraclass coefficients (ICC) were calculated for mean net peak force (NPF) and highest NPF achieved in any trial (peak NPF). Intratrial variability was assessed using coefficient of variation (CV), and the standard error of measurement (SEM) was used to calculate minimal detectable change (MDC).

    Results Interday reliability for NPF was excellent in all test positions (ICC 0.94–0.98). The test demonstrated high absolute reliability values (SEM 4.8–10.8) and interday measurement error was below 10% in all test positions (CV 5.0–9.9%) except for the non-dominant arm I-position (CV 11.3%). Minimum detectable change was between 13.2 and 25.9 N.

    Conclusion The Athletic Shoulder test demonstrated excellent reliability for each test position supporting its use as a reliable tool to quantify the ability to produce and transfer force across the shoulder girdle. [full text]

     

    ABC of Football Medicine® Lesson 2: Muscle Injuries in Football – Part 1

    Football Medicine blog from

    As we have seen in the first chapter, according to the UEFA Elite Club Injury Study Report 2016/17,muscle injuries represent about 45% of all injuries in football and it is expected that, during a season, approximately 37% of players miss training sessions or match due to these injuries. Because of this, and with the huge negative impact that results for the club, we have decided to explore this topic, to help to understand better what a muscle injury is, when and how does it occur and what can be done to prevent it from happening.

    Despite its high occurrence rate, the muscle injury is still a poorly understood entity or, at least, with a lot more to unveil, with its prevention being one of the biggest challenges that clubs’ health and performance related departments face.

    With that said, and keeping in mind that the primary goal of this project is to educate its readers towards the problems related to health in football and not to simply present recipe-like answers, the first step is to go a little bit deeper on some basic knowledges regarding this organ – the muscle – and this entity – the muscle injury– in order to better understand what strategies may be used to lower the risk of this injury to occur, and creating a logical reasoning on why muscle injuries prevention and treatment should follow certain approaches.

     

    Overuse injuries, sports specialization rates seen more often in athletes of high socioeconomic status

    Healio, Orthopedics Today from

    During a media webcast from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, a presenter discussed the impact of socioeconomic status on sports specialization and risk of injury in young athletes from the Chicago metropolitan area.

    “We feel this is the first study to report in young Chicagoland athletes that as socioeconomic status increases, the likelihood of sport specialization increases and [they are] more likely to do individual sports but also to have more serious overuse injuries,” Neeru A. Jayanthi, MD, said during his presentation. “However, it’s interesting those of lower economic status, those kids have more physical activity and, as a result, more free play. So perhaps, free play is protective of overuse injury and may play a vital role in a young athlete’s life.”

     

    Effective injury forecasting in soccer with GPS training data and machine learning

    PLOS One; Alessio Rossi et al. from

    Injuries have a great impact on professional soccer, due to their large influence on team performance and the considerable costs of rehabilitation for players. Existing studies in the literature provide just a preliminary understanding of which factors mostly affect injury risk, while an evaluation of the potential of statistical models in forecasting injuries is still missing. In this paper, we propose a multi-dimensional approach to injury forecasting in professional soccer that is based on GPS measurements and machine learning. By using GPS tracking technology, we collect data describing the training workload of players in a professional soccer club during a season. We then construct an injury forecaster and show that it is both accurate and interpretable by providing a set of case studies of interest to soccer practitioners. Our approach opens a novel perspective on injury prevention, providing a set of simple and practical rules for evaluating and interpreting the complex relations between injury risk and training performance in professional soccer.

     

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