Applied Sports Science newsletter – February 5, 2020

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for February 5, 2020

 

Sofia Kenin: Broward’s little underdog is Aussie Open champ

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, David Lyons from

… At 5 feet 7 inches and 125 pounds, Kenin is not one of the women’s tour’s more physically imposing players, but Macci said she has had other strengths since those early days.

“She wasn’t going to be the biggest, strongest player on the pro tour,” he said. “And when she was about 7, her thirst for competition was like nobody else I ever had. When your mind is all about the competition, you handle pressure better.”

 

Serena Williams’ coach admits changes are needed as another grand slam title continues to elude American

The Telegraph (UK), Telegraph Sport from

… “We have to accept the fact that it is not working,” Mouratoglou, who has coached Williams to 10 grand slam singles wins, told BBC Sport.

“Maybe come back with a different angle, a different strategy and different goals so she can make it.

“She does feel positive, she feels negative too because it is a failure when she doesn’t win a grand slam.

 

Report: Eagles shake up medical staff for third straight offseason

SB Nation, Bleeding Green Nation blog, Brandon Lee Gowton from

The Philadelphia Eagles are shaking up their medical staff for the third straight offseason.

The team will not be renewing expired contracts held by director of high performance Shaun Huls and director of rehabilitation Shireen Mansoori, according to a report from the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.

 

Sports Science? What Matt Rhule will bring to the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Huddle blog, Jeremy Igo from

Apparently the Carolina Panthers were so enamored with Matt Rhule that they would not give him the opportunity to continue interviewing with other franchises. Rhule historically has been finicky when it comes to interviewing with teams, much less accepting a position. The biggest selling point for David Tepper and the Carolina Panthers was likely the opportunity for Rhule to develop a Sports Science program.

Rhule did the same thing at Baylor, and now wants an NFL version. David Tepper is willing to cut the check. I’m sure Mr. Analytics was all about it.

What is a sports science program? Well, here is some info on the Baylor program under Rhule

 

DePaul’s Marie Zidek, coach and certified trainer, on preparing teams in offseason

VolleyballMag.com, Marie Zidek from

Having played volleyball for most of my life, coached at multiple levels of the game, and served as a certified strength and conditioning specialist who has trained volleyball players at all ages for the past 13 years, I get this question a lot:

“What’s the best weight and conditioning workout for my team? I coach (insert volleyball level or age here).”

Hopefully I’m able to share some ideas in this article that allow you to pull what I call “bedrocks” for the level you coach in terms of age and ability. I will also provide a sample volleyball workout that I’ve used at the latter high school- and college-aged populations. Before we get there, first some important background information that every coach should have as you think about what workout and what approach is going to work best for your group.

 

In-Season Session Training Load Relative to Match Load in Professional Ice Hockey. – PubMed – NCBI

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research from

The aim of this study was to describe match load and intensity across player positions and match periods, the distribution of pregame training load and intensity over training days before a match, by player position, and the cumulative weekly training load over a season. Fifty professional ice hockey players, which at one time or another were part of the roster for the Laval Rocket during the 2017-18 season of the American Hockey League, participated in this study. External load was monitored in every training session and match over the season using portable inertial measurement units. Data are reported in absolute and relative values to a match. Defensemen have a lower intensity during matches than forwards (-1.70 OIL·min) while load is similar across position. The first period shows a higher relative load (+5.28% relative on-ice load [OIL]) while the third has a lower relative intensity (-2.91% OIL·min). Defensemen seem to train at a systematic higher relative intensity than wingers and centers (+8.34% relative OIL·min). Finally, the weekly training load remains relatively constant throughout the season (equivalent of 3.56 ± 1.69 matches played per week). Our results support the need for player monitoring in ice hockey using an individualized approach.

 

What are we doing wrong when athletes report higher levels of fatigue from traveling than from training or competition?

Frontiers in Physiology journal from

… Since extended traveling is common in elite sport (Flatt et al., 2019), it is recommended that coaches and applied sports scientists consider the following key points in order to minimize injury risk, enhance recovery, optimize performance and bring down the effect of traveling and sleep disturbance on performance (Vitale et al., 2019):-Monitor external training load (before, during and after competition) using tracking systems (Fox et al., 2017) with the least possible invasion.-Monitor Internal responses using heart rate measures and biomarkers in blood, saliva and/or urine before, during and after competition (Halson, 2014).-Monitor daily sleep quality, sleep duration, and player wellbeing to inform same day adjustments to training and competition workload (Fox et al., 2019).-Arrive early to competition destination in order to include sufficient time on-site to recover from traveling and adjust to new time-zones, altitudes, climates and environments (Lastella et al., 2019).-Avoid environmental changes because changing physical sleep environments may increase susceptibility to altered sleep responses, which may negatively affect performance (Pitchford et al., 2017).-Develop and apply consistent strategies (pre, during and post-traveling) that may help prevent or ease jet lag (Fowler et al., 2014).-Develop and apply an ad-hoc nutrition plan for traveling .Stress on the body is probably cumulative (Issurin, 2009). Therefore, the development of new variables, such as ratios, that might relate player’s fatigue, training demands, match performance, environmental conditions, at home or away, could be an interesting open window to explore. Further, the creation and validation of a travel fatigue scale would enhance an understanding of the travelling effect. Also, a scale of mental fatigue (Russell et al., 2019) that informs about the stress derived from training, competition and environmental stress would be most useful.With the increasing popularity of sport, number of contests, and travel demands on the rise, the importance of athlete load monitoring in combination with nutritional programming, implementation of recovery methods, and proper sleep practices cannot be underestimated. Taking these steps will make for a more effective travel experience and support athlete health and playing career longevity.

 

University innovators judge NFL competition designed to advance player health and safety

University of Miami, News@TheU from

Three University of Miami innovators served as judges on a National Football League pitch competition that was designed to boost advancements in athlete health and safety. The event was part of the University’s collaboration with the NFL, which hosted a range of Super Bowl activities in Miami this past week.

The NFL’s 1st and Future competition, held Friday at the Miami Beach Convention Center, reviewed presentations on both innovative product concepts and analytics and data models—which compared factors such as natural versus synthetic turf with the aim to reduce the potential for injury, especially to lower limbs.

Dan Hellie, host of NFL Total Access, emceed the event he described as “a little bit ‘Shark Tank’ and a little bit ‘Oprah’ ” and a “unique and very cool look into the future and the innovation of our great game.”

 

‘Wristwatch’ Monitors Body Chemistry to Boost Athletic Performance, Prevent Injury

North Carolina State University, News from

Engineering researchers have developed a device the size of a wristwatch that can monitor an individual’s body chemistry to help improve athletic performance and identify potential health problems. The device can be used for everything from detecting dehydration to tracking athletic recovery, with applications ranging from military training to competitive sports.

“This technology allows us to test for a wide range of metabolites in almost real time,” says Michael Daniele, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University and in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Queensland’s Sports Tech Revolution Sees States go Head-to-Head

Bullpen (AU), Cheryl Gray from

Queensland has embraced a sport technology revolution powered by world-class athletes, engineers and computer programmers.

Inventions ranging from wearables, on-field sensor technology and high-performance analytic tools are ringing in a new age in sport that could give Queensland a winning edge as it eyes a bid for the 2032 Olympics.

The concepts of a next generation Olympics were discussed at CES, the world’s largest consumer technology trade show held in Las Vegas, United States. The impact of technology was acknowledged as a major growth area in the evolution of sport and fan engagement.

 

Wearable Monitor Provides Continuous Blood Pressure Data

Medgadget, Conn Hastings from

Researchers at Monash University in Australia have developed a wearable device that can continuously monitor blood pressure during a variety of activities including while exercising and during sleep. The technology does not require uncomfortable inflatable cuffs or invasive measurements, and uses continuous wave radar and photoplethysmogram sensors to monitor blood pressure.

“For close to a century, the health sector has used the cuff device to measure blood pressure. More invasive measures are used to monitor the continuous blood pressure of critically ill patients, which are uncomfortable and could potentially cause infection due to ischemia,” said Mehmet Yuce, a researcher involved in the study.

 

Andrews Sports Medicine’s Dr. Marcus Rothermich on the future of outpatient orthopedics

Becker's ASC Review, Rachel Popa from

… Q: Is there any new technology you’re looking forward to on the horizon?

MR: Two major areas of research in recent years have included robotic joint replacement and the introduction of regenerative medicine for arthritis, sports medicine injuries and even in the trauma setting for nonunions or chronic malunions. Both of these topics are of great interest to orthopedic surgeons who take care of patients with arthritis and chronic pain. We look forward to implementing these new technologies in the outpatient setting moving forward, as long-term research studies start coming out describing patient outcomes.

 

Proud to announce my Churchill report investigating best practice sports science and sports medicine care of the female athlete

Twitter, Kate Mahony from

available to download https://churchilltrust.com.au/fellows/detail/4376/Kate+Mahony Thank you to all those who supported me and shared their knowledge along the way

 

Why I decided to work on a sports analytics project.

Medium, Anirudh Shah from

… As part of my Startup Studio class at Cornell Tech I had to pitch an idea for a company, and then spend a semester developing and growing this company under the guidance of faculty and guest lecturers. When my company co-founder Natan approached me with his idea, I was instantly intrigued. He wanted to work on what I called quantifying the intangibles, using graphs and networks, the type of which we had been learning in one of our classes during our graduate studies. Some of the intangibles we are looking at are team chemistry, the effect of a manager/coach and reaction to adversity such as red cards or penalty kicks. Being able to quantify these factors and incorporate them into models could allow us to make more accurate models then are currently available.

Our initial thought was to use these models to predict the outcomes of games and use this to place bets. However, we have now decided to develop this technology for teams to use in their personnel decisions. A lot of recruitment and internal team selection decisions are done based purely on scouts’ intuition. This has started to change in recent times with the influx of analytics departments in sports teams, and we are aiming to be a part of this revolution.

 

FA admits it lacks coaches to deal with women’s football boom

The Guardian, Paul MacInnes from

… Campbell is hoping the app the FA is calling Playmaker will help to turn the tide. Launched in association with BT as part of wide-ranging tie-up between the telecom company and all four home nation football associations, Playmaker is designed to facilitate volunteering by allowing people not only to register an interest but also complete short coaching courses.

The FA and BT have set a target for Playmaker to register 100,000 volunteers by 2024. Half of the total is earmarked for the women’s game, although not all will be coaches, with support and administrative volunteers also included in the target number.

 

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