Applied Sports Science newsletter – September 2, 2021

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for September 2, 2021

 

A’ja Wilson And Liz Cambage Are Elite On Their Own. This Season, They’re A Force Together.

FiveThirtyEight, Howard Megdal from

In 2019, the Las Vegas Aces excelled with the duo of Liz Cambage and A’ja Wilson, finishing 21-13 and advancing to the second round of the WNBA playoffs. But the team’s overall performance was better when playing through either Cambage or Wilson. Of the 25 two-person Vegas lineups with at least 200 minutes played, Wilson and Cambage ranked 22nd, with a net rating of 2.9. That came in below Vegas’s 4.1 overall team net rating, which itself was well behind the title-winning Washington Mystics, who finished at 14.8.

After a 2020 season with only Wilson on the floor, the two are playing together again, and their numbers together have changed significantly — and, with them, the championship hopes of Las Vegas. Still, to hear Cambage tell it, there’s been relatively little difference, in her view, in how the two superstars share the floor together.


High AQI: Is it Safe to Exercise Outside?

TrainingPeaks, Dr. Jeff Sankoff from

With wildfires raging and the UN reporting that climatic disruptions will likely continue to worsen, an end to this summer’s poor air quality is probably wishful thinking. For athletes who want to continue training outdoors in a healthy, sustainable manner, it’s important to understand the health risks of training when air quality is poor. Here are the answers to some of your most pressing questions — including when to exercise indoors.


Psychological skills training reduces negative thoughts and self-doubts among amateur marathon runners

PsyPost, Eric W. Dolan from

A cognitive behavioral intervention can help marathon runners manage their stress and negative thinking surrounding an upcoming race, according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology. The intervention involved a 7-week psychological skills training that taught associative attentional techniques, strategies for disrupting negative thoughts, and relaxation techniques.

A marathon is a long-distance race that covers an impressive 26.2 miles. Far from being reserved for elite athletes, marathons are frequently competed in by amateurs of all skill levels. In addition to being physically demanding, marathon running involves a strong mental component which has attracted the attention of sports psychologists.

But study authors Jose C. Jaenes and his team say that amateur marathoners often overlook the importance of psychological preparation. The researchers wanted to test whether this group of athletes would benefit from a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been widely endorsed by the sport psychology field — a therapy called psychological skills training (PST). The training teaches athletes skills to refocus their attention, relax under pressure, and channel their self-confidence.


Effect of lumbopelvic control on landing mechanics and lower extremity muscles’ activities in female professional athletes: implications for injury prevention

BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation journal from

Background

Lumbopelvic control (LPC) has recently been associated with function, kinesiology, and load distribution on the limb. However, poor LPC has not been studied as a risk factor for lower limb injury in sports requiring frequent jump landings. The present study investigated the effects of LPC on landing mechanics and lower limb muscle activity in professional athletes engaged in sport requiring frequent landing.
Methods

This study was conducted on 34 professional female athletes aged 18.29 ± 3.29 years with the height and body mass of 173.5 ± 7.23 cm and 66.79 ± 13.37 kg, respectively. The landing error scoring system (LESS) and ImageJ software were used to assess landing mechanics. Wireless electromyography was also used to record the activity of the gluteus medius (GMed), rectus femoris, and semitendinosus. Lumbopelvic control was evaluated using the knee lift abdominal test, bent knee fall-out, active straight leg raising, and the PRONE test using a pressure biofeedback unit. Based on the LPC tests results, the participants were divided into two groups of proper LPC (n = 17) and poor LPC (n = 17).
Results

There were significant differences between the groups with proper and poor LPC in terms of the LESS test scores (P = 0.0001), lateral trunk flexion (P = 0.0001), knee abduction (P = 0.0001), knee flexion (P = 0.001), trunk flexion (P = 0.01), and GMed muscle activity (P = 0.03). There were no significant differences in the activity of the rectus femoris and semitendinosus muscles, and ankle dorsiflexion (P > 0.05).
Conclusions

Poor lumbopelvic control affects the kinematics and activity of the lower limb muscles, and may be a risk factor for lower limb injuries, especially of the knee. [full text]


‘Smart’ shirt keeps tabs on the heart

Rice University, News & Media Relations from

There’s no need to don uncomfortable smartwatches or chest straps to monitor your heart if your comfy shirt can do a better job.

That’s the idea behind “smart clothing” developed by a Rice University lab, which employed its conductive nanotube thread to weave functionality into regular apparel.

The Brown School of Engineering lab of chemical and biomolecular engineer Matteo Pasquali reported in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters that it sewed nanotube fibers into athletic wear to monitor the heart rate and take a continual electrocardiogram (EKG) of the wearer.


Should We Regulate Direct-to-Consumer Health Apps?

Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, Sara Gerke from

According to one estimate, over 318,000 health apps are available in app stores, and over 200 health apps are added each day. Of these, only a fraction are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); those classified as “medical devices,” which typically pose a moderate to high risk to user safety.

In this final installment of our In Focus Series on Direct-to-Consumer Health Apps, we asked our respondents to reflect on this largely unregulated space in health tech.

Specifically, we asked: How can/should regulators deal with the assessment of health apps? For apps not currently regulated by the FDA, should they undergo any kind of review, such as whether they are helpful for consumers?


Canada coach on spying in CONCACAF: ‘It’s a tricky place’

Associated Press from

Honduras stopped a training session ahead of its World Cup qualifier against Canada after spotting a drone above the field, according to reports in Honduran media.

“I’d imagine there’s probably a lot of people in Canada that fly drones, I’m sure,” Canada coach John Herdman said Wednesday. “And when a big team like Honduras turn up I’m sure people are probably interested in what they’re doing when they come into our country. So I know for sure we won’t be heading into people’s countries too early because with drones these days, people can obviously capture footage. You’ve got to be really careful. So yeah, you got to be careful in CONCACAF. It’s a tricky place.”


How IBM is using AI to deliver insights and stats to US Open fans

TechRepublic, Brandon Vigliarolo from

… Along with the new capabilities added to Power Rankings and Match Insights, three new features were added that may be able to help tennis fans decide which matches to watch. Likelihood to Win is a new confidence value expressed as a percentage; Ones to Watch is a pre-tournament list of players whose IBM Power Ranking is five or more positions higher than their actual tour rank; and Upset Alerts will be applied to matches that IBM identifies as favoring the underdog.


Synthetic biology enables microbes to build synthetic muscle

Washington University of St. Louis, The Source from

Would you wear clothing made of muscle fibers? Use them to tie your shoes or even wear them as a belt? It may sound a bit odd, but if those fibers could endure more energy before breaking than cotton, silk, nylon, or even Kevlar, then why not?

Don’t worry, this muscle could be produced without harming a single animal.

Researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a synthetic chemistry approach to polymerize proteins inside of engineered microbes. This enabled the microbes to produce the high molecular weight muscle protein, titin, which was then spun into fibers.


Highly conductive and elastic nanomembrane for skin electronics

Science from

Skin electronics require stretchable conductors that satisfy metallike conductivity, high stretchability, ultrathin thickness, and facile patternability, but achieving these characteristics simultaneously is challenging. We present a float assembly method to fabricate a nanomembrane that meets all these requirements. The method enables a compact assembly of nanomaterials at the water–oil interface and their partial embedment in an ultrathin elastomer membrane, which can distribute the applied strain in the elastomer membrane and thus lead to a high elasticity even with the high loading of the nanomaterials. Furthermore, the structure allows cold welding and bilayer stacking, resulting in high conductivity. These properties are preserved even after high-resolution patterning by using photolithography. A multifunctional epidermal sensor array can be fabricated with the patterned nanomembranes.


The Poop About Your Gut Health and Personalized Nutrition

WIRED, Gear, Debby Waldman from

When the term “personalized nutrition” first appeared in the scientific literature, in 1999, the focus was on using computers to help educate people about their dietary needs. It wasn’t until 2004 that scientists began to think about the way genes affect how and what we eat, and how our bodies respond. Take coffee, for instance: Some people metabolize caffeine and the other nutrients in coffee in a productive, healthy way. Others don’t. Which camp you fall into depends on a host of factors including your genetics, age, environment, gender, and lifestyle.

More recently, researchers have been studying connections between the health of the gut microbiome and conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and depression. The gut microbiome, the body’s least well-known organ, consists of more than 1000 species of bacteria and other microbes. Weighing in at almost a pound, it produces hormones, digests food that the stomach can’t, and sends thousands of different diet-derived chemicals coursing through our bodies every day. In many respects the microbiome is key to understanding nutrition and is the basis of the growth in personalized nutrition.

Blood, urine, DNA, and stool tests are part of the personalized nutrition toolkit that researchers, nutritionists, and health care professionals use to measure the gut microbiome and the chemicals (known as metabolites) it produces. They use that data, sometimes in conjunction with self-reported data collected via surveys or interviews, as the basis for nutrition advice.


Soccer’s own-goal issue

US Soccer Players, Clement Lisi from

… Why does the frequency of own-goals seem to be increasing in recent years. Like everything else in soccer, there are many competing theories. One of them is tactical. As teams continue to rely on wingbacks to push up and deliver crosses, dumping the ball into the middle of the box has been more common. That gives defenders and goalkeepers more chances to bobble clearances, resulting in more own-goals.

FourFourTwo magazine examined some of the own-goals scored at the Euros, reporting that the “have come after cut-backs from, or near to, the byline. These kinds of balls are on the increase – as are percentage passes into the box, the type which can force defenders into split-second, evidently sometimes very costly decisions – and the dreaded corridor of uncertainty is fertile ground for diverting the ball past one’s own goalkeeper.”

That doesn’t tell the entire story. Enough own-goals happen when defenders try to play the ball back. Goalkeepers, often not so adept at using their feet, turns that into a defensive blunder. Passing out of the back seems to be an unavoidable temptation for a lot of clubs these days, even if it gets their efforts on YouTube for the wrong reasons. Since there are scant statistics to prove such a thesis, other factors could also be at play.


What’s More Important in NFL Quarterback Development: Nature or Nurture?

The Ringer, Danny Heifetz from

Highly drafted quarterbacks are often seen as saving graces in the NFL. But many of the league’s most successful passers weren’t taken all that high, or didn’t start right away. So what matters more for long-term success: a QB’s talent level or their situation?


Lionel Messi and the Plutocratic Takeover of European Football

The New Republic, Alex Shephard from

… Most of Europe’s older royalty are a shambles at the moment, the pandemic’s ravages compounding the ill effects of years of trying—and often failing—to keep up in a spending arms race being led by teams with bottomless resources. Over the last year, the bottom has fallen out. Barcelona is practically bankrupt. Juventus and Real Madrid, huge global brands and perennial title favorites in their respective countries, aren’t doing much better—though Madrid did find 180 million euros between the couch cushions at the Bernabeu to make an offer for Mbappe.

Manchester United and Liverpool haven’t fallen victim to this decline, but both play in the uberrich English Premier League—which has itself become an ersatz European Super League over the last few seasons. Manchester United may have spent heavily in the transfer window but still lack a competent central midfielder and don’t yet seem poised to challenge for a Champions League title; Liverpool, having tightened their belt due to pandemic losses, have barely spent in the transfer window at all and seem more intent on long-term stability than challenging for silverware. Instead, soccer is dominated by its nouveau riche: three clubs that were (relatively) minor until being bought with oil money.

This outcome was inevitable as soon as European soccer decided that allowing owners with dubious—at best—records was fine, so long as they had money to splash around.


Excel bolsters data and analytics offering with Block Six acquisition

SportsPro Media, Tom Bassam from

The move is designed to add a dedicated business intelligence function to Excel, integrating bespoke data and analytics solutions into the core of the agency’s work.

Over the past year, Excel has worked with B6A and the agency has now moved to seal a complete acquisition of the data specialist.

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