… Perhaps the last bit of mystery still shrouding Garza is what will happen when the NBA comes calling, and what he’ll be able to accomplish when he gets there. Rest assured, scouts have seen everything he can do over the last two years. But as the professional game continues to shift away from the style of play he’s all but perfected, it’s a foregone conclusion that Garza will have to adjust to survive the rigors of the best league on the planet.
Every coach wants to create a culture that produces a champion. What makes a good team? And in individual sports, what’s the point of good teamwork?
In my experience competing in individual sports (cross-country running, rowing, alpine skiing, cycling, and tennis), the team dynamic has tended to detract from the experience. Insecurities fester and self-confidence often wanes. The best athletes win while the rest of us are just “pack fill.” It never occurred to me that a supportive team could help foster good results for everyone.
But as I was researching my 2016 book World Class: The Making of the U.S. Women’s Cross-Country Ski Team, I realized this is what had been happening on that team, as well as in several other Olympic sports that I cover for TeamUSA.org.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes journal from
This article examines employees’ acceptance of behavior tracking in the workplace. We theorize that people more willingly accept behavior tracking when it is conducted solely by technology (i.e., computer algorithms) rather than by humans. We posit that this is driven by the expectation that human-free tracking feels less judgmental and will, therefore, allow for a greater subjective sense of autonomy. The results of five experiments supported these predictions, revealing that participants were more likely to accept technology-operated than human-operated tracking (Experiments 1–5), an effect driven by reduced concerns about potential negative judgment, which, in turn, increased subjective sense of autonomy (Experiment 2). The stated purpose for tracking (Experiment 3), relation to the human tracker (Experiment 4), and type of behaviors tracked (Experiment 5) did not eliminate the effect. Technology-operated tracking also led to higher anticipation of intrinsic motivation (Experiments 3–4). Implications for research on the future of work are discussed.
The day sports went dark has turned into the year sports went dark. Early March 2020, usually the time for track, baseball, and lacrosse, instead ushered in a year of loss. The games and competitions that marked adolescence, offered identity, formed friendships, and led to an understanding of what it means to be on a team were gone.
This study investigated the effects of custom-fitted compression garments (CG) worn during recovery over a multi-day training camp in elite judo players (judoka). A single blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out in 11 elite judoka, using a two-way crossover design. Two three-day training camps were completed in CG and placebo conditions in a random order. Changes in performance and physiological markers were compared between conditions. Judoka were assessed before training for (maximal) isometric knee extension and grip strength, countermovement jump performance and bench-press velocity, alongside soreness, limb circumferences, plasma creatine kinase activity (CK) and perceived bruising. Measurements were repeated after 12, 36 and 43 h of training, whereupon judoka rated the effectiveness of each intervention. Knee extension and bench-press performance demonstrated significant familiarization (p < 0.001), and were excluded from subsequent analysis. Jump performance was unaffected by training (p > 0.05). Grip strength declined throughout training (p < 0.001), with peak decrements of −9.7% indicating mild muscle damage. Increases in bruising, CK and soreness demonstrated highly variable, if significant (p < 0.001) responses. Although CG were perceived as significantly more effective than placebo for recovery (p = 0.046), no effects were observed for any other outcome (p > 0.05). Compression conferred no statistically significant impact upon recovery markers in elite judoka throughout training. Muscle damage responses were inconsistent in this population. Individual athletes would be advised to monitor habitually-used performance measures while using CG to ascertain whether perceptual benefits translate into enhanced recovery.
The Guardian, The Audio Long Read, A Mark Williams and Tim Wigmore from
What makes an elite sports star suddenly unable to do the very thing they have been practising for years? And is there anything they can do about it? [audio, 26:51]
Chalmers University (Sweden), Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from
Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now presents a thread made of conductive cellulose, which offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles.
Determination of lactate threshold (LT) is an important variable in improving cardiovascular endurance and performance. Unfortunately, monitoring LT during exercise uses a costly, invasive blood analysis. Recently, electromyography (EMG) has been deemed a potential method of monitoring exercise intensity and may provide a noninvasive technique to monitor lactate during exercise. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if wearable surface EMG technology, acquired from specialized compression shorts, could estimate the LT work rate during incremental cycling. Thirteen men (n = 9) and women (n = 4) completed a maximal exercise test on a cycle ergometer. Blood lactate was measured every minute, whereas EMG was recorded throughout at the site of the vastus lateralis. Lactate and EMG thresholds were calculated using the Dmax method and compared using a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test. Results demonstrated no significant differences between lactate and EMG thresholds in regards to work output (p = 0.83), percent maximal heart rate (p = 0.13; Cohen’s d = 0.43), or percent peak oxygen consumption (p = 0.64; Cohen’s d = 0.09). This confirms that both lactate and EMG exhibit similar properties (i.e., increasing exponential values) during incremental exercise. A possible mechanism includes the rise in blood lactate concentration, which increases motor unit recruitment in an attempt to maintain proper cadence and force output during incremental exercise. Thus, a coincidental, exponential increase in EMG amplitude may occur. Therefore, wearable EMG compression gear may provide a viable field tool for monitoring training intensity and predicting LT work rates.
… Top-flight Spanish soccer club Valencia are seeking as many as eight startups to participate in the second edition of their innovation hub, a joint project with non-profit organisation Startup Valencia.
The La Liga side are inviting companies with ‘innovative solutions’ in the sports, medical, smart stadium and fan engagement areas to participate in the initiative, with registrations due to close on 30th April.
Athletes Unlimited announced today the key provisions of its athlete-centered policy related to pregnancy and parental leave that will be incorporated into all athlete contracts.
In all Athletes Unlimited player contracts, the league unambiguously states that it will support and accommodate players who are pregnant or breastfeeding. To reaffirm players’ rights to make their own decisions, pregnant players can decide on their own accord whether to notify the league or the team doctor about their pregnancies, and they can choose whether to continue to play under their contract, with no penalty.
Pregnant players who need to take leave, whether for a pregnancy-related condition or to give birth, can take as much time off as they need during the season with pay.
Dr. Alecia Gende, a sports medicine and emergency medicine physician at Mayo Clinic Health System, cared for athletes at the FIS Nordic World Championships for the second time.
The 42nd FIS Nordic World Championships were held from February 22 to March 7 this year in Oberstdorf, Germany. Dr. Gende traveled with the U.S. team last year but this year was different she said.
“COVID changed a lot of things for us and kind of affected the event itself. There were no spectators there this year whereas typically I believe this would draw 40,000 or more spectators,” said Dr. Gende. “There were no concessions and they had fake fans in the stands.”
… Today I’m sharing an interview I conducted for Choiceology with University of Chicago Booth School of Business Professor Oleg Urminsky. Oleg is an expert on goals and motivation. In this Q&A, we talk about his research on the goal gradient hypothesis, or why being close to the finish line matters.
Me: First, can you explain what the goal gradient hypothesis is?
Oleg: The basic idea is that the closer we get to completing a goal, the more motivated we are to continue working on it and achieve that goal.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Xingyu Li, Miaozhe Han, Geoffrey L. Cohen, Hazel Rose Markus from
In three large-scale datasets representing adolescents from 59 societies across the globe, we find evidence of a systematic cultural variation in the relationship between passion and achievement. In individualistic societies, passion better predicts achievement and explains more variance in achievement outcomes. In collectivistic societies, passion still positively predicts achievement, but it is a much less powerful predictor. There, parents’ support predicts achievement as much as passion. One implication of these findings is that if admission officers, recruiters, and managers rely on only one model of motivation, a Western independent one, they may risk passing over and mismanaging talented students and employees who increasingly come from sociocultural contexts where a more interdependent model of motivation is common and effective.