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This study aimed to examine the effects of cold exposure, hypoxia, and fatigue on pistol marksmanship and target engagement in trained marksmen. Twelve healthy subjects (mean6SD age: 28.864.0 years) performed 3 testing visits under normal/normoxic [Norm21] (24° C; 21% FiO2), cold/normoxic [Cold21] (10° C; 21% FiO2), and cold/hypoxic [Cold14] (10° C; FiO2: 14.3) conditions. Pistol marksmanship and target engagement were assessed through draw time (DT) and shoot-no-shoot (SNS) courses of fire. The 2 protocols were performed before (TpreF) and immediately after (TpostF) a sandbag deadlift fatiguing protocol. Significance was set at p, 0.05. Significant condition 3 time interactions (p 5 0.01-0.03) were found for accuracy SNS (SNSacc), misses SNS (SNSmiss), and total shots SNS (SNStot). Follow-up analyses indicated that SNSacc increased by 14.3% (p 5 0.03), SNSmiss decreased by 34.7% (p 5 0.02), and SNStot decreased by 10.6% (p 5 0.04) from TpreF to TpostF during the Cold21 condition alone. No significance was found for these in the Norm21 (p50.08-0.22) or Cold14 (p50.18-0.47) conditions. Total time (SNST) to completion of the SNS (p50.09) and DT (p50.14) showed no significance across time or condition. Significant difference across time for Cold14 (p50.03-0.02) for reaction time was found. Exercise likely resulted in increased thermogenesis that improved tactically relevant motor skills including SNSacc, decreased SNSmiss, and SNStot in Cold21, but not Cold14. The additive effect of hypoxia coupled with exercise in the Cold14 condition did not improve tactical performance, suggesting multi-stressor environments result in competing physiological responses. Tactical strength and conditioning specialists as well as operators should aim to improve thermoregulation during Cold21 conditions, with exercise as a possible intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multivariate training programmes are widely recognised as an effective strategy for developing the skills necessary for good performance in the collective modalities addressed in physical education. The aim of this study was to verify the correlation between tactical performance and physical fitness levels in young secondary school students during the teaching of the didactic unit of basketball using a multivariate training programme. A group of fortyseven students from a Portuguese school volunteered to participate in the study. A correlational study was used to verify the association between tactical performance and physical fitness while teaching the Basketball Didactic Unit based on TGFU (i.e., 6 weeks) in two different moments. All subjects were randomly divided into two groups (control and experimental) and assessed at two different moments: before the teaching of the didactic unit (pre-test) and at the end of the teaching of the didactic unit (post-test). Tactical performance in basketball was assessed using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI), while physical fitness was assessed using some physical tests from the FitEscola battery. Overall, the multivariate training programme did not differentiate the magnitudes of the correlations between the variables analysed. However, it is confirmed that the multivariate training programme seems to emerge as a positive and differentiating pedagogical strategy that should be integrated into physical education classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Player interactions in Netball are critical during attacking phases of play to ensure possession is maintained and scoring opportunities are created. This study aims to analyse the characteristics of the passing networks of elite Netball teams and their association with performance outcomes (i.e., win/loss and final margin). Five network metrics used to represent the characteristics of teamwork were calculated for all team performances (n = 112) from one season of professional Netball in Australia. A two-way ANOVA and multiple linear modelling were used to compare characteristics between teams and match outcomes and to predict score margin, respectively. Pass density (F = 65.09, df = 102, p <.001) and pass centrality (F = 7.61, df = 102, p <.01) differed (were higher) in wins/losses. They were also statistically significant contributors (p ≤.005) to the linear model that predicted a score margin (R2 =.731). Key player centrality and mutual connectedness were different between teams but did not differ by match outcome. The results suggest that, ideally, Netball teams should maximise the number of connections between player pairings, while also relying on a subset of players to be heavily involved in passing sequences. Team cohesion (via passing) therefore appears to be an important measure of team success in elite Netball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between personality traits and tactical knowledge of field hockey players. The sample consisted of 53 Brazilian female field hockey athletes. The collection instruments were the Big Five Personality Factors Inventory, the Self-Assessment Inventory of Tactical Skills in Collective Sports Games, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The data were treated according to descriptive and correlational statistics. Percentage values were calculated when the variables showed significant differences. The normality and homogeneity of the data were verified by the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests, respectively. The partial correlation test, controlled by the position of the players, was used to analyze associations between the variables. A one-way ANOVA was applied to compare participants' age and practice time with their field positions. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the positions of the players. The value of p<.05 was adopted for statistical significance. As a result, a moderate positive correlation was obtained between practice time and age; a moderate negative correlation of Neuroticism with age and practice time; moderate positive correlations between practice time and declarative and procedural knowledge. The Openness exhibited moderate positive correlations with declarative and procedural knowledge. The midfield players had higher scores in Extraversion when compared to the defensive players. In Agreeableness, the midfield players had higher scores when compared to defense and attack. The study allowed concluding that Openness was associated with the tactical knowledge domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morris, CE, Arnett, SW, and Winchester, LJ. Comparing physical fitness in career vs. volunteer firefighters. J Strength Cond Res 36(5): 1304–1309, 2022—The purpose of this study was to assess the potential similarities and differences in health and physical fitness profiles between career firefighters (CFF) and volunteer firefighters (VFF). The research protocol consisted of a health and physical fitness assessment, testing the 5 components of health-related fitness using previously published and accepted protocols. The subject population consisted of a total of 138 firefighters, including 119 CFF and 19 VFF. Statistical significance was defined as a p level less than 0.05. An independent t test showed evidence of CFF having a significantly higher value/score for the following variables: height (p = 0.034), V̇ o 2max (p = 0.006), push-ups completed (p = 0.024), and plank time (p < 0.001). Volunteer firefighters had a significantly higher value for the following variables: fat mass (p = 0.002), body fat percentage (p < 0.001), and absolute grip strength (p = 0.029). There were no significant differences between groups for the following variables: age (p = 0.299), body mass (p = 0.166), fat-free mass (p = 0.281), body mass index (p = 0.057), flexibility (p = 0.106), or relative grip strength (p = 0.887). With regard to physical fitness testing, the VFF had a significantly worse fitness profile across a number of variables than the CFF. Practical applications: Despite the financial and commitment status of volunteer firefighting departments, their members perform an equally dangerous and important job as do firefighters of professional/career firefighting departments, and more attention should be directed toward developing the fitness and performance of these firefighters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to identify the impact of a training program based on games on the tactical performance of football players. The researcher used the experimental method. The sample consisted of 15 players from the team of Bordj Bou Arreridj and 15 players of the team of El Eulma U. 19. The training program was applied during 15 weeks and included 48 tactical situations in the form of games. The results confirmed that training program based on games had a positive impact on the tactical performance of members of the experimental group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of load carriage (LC) and LC plus respirator use (LC + self-contained breathing apparatus [SCBA]) on firefighters' work capacity to enhance our understanding of occupational demands. Twenty-one male structural firefighter recruits (age: 28.664.3 years; height: 178.667.2 cm; body mass: 94.1615.4 kg; body fat: 22.966.1%) participated. Occupational performance was assessed by time to complete a simulated fire ground test (SFGT). After 2 familiarization trials, recruits performed the following SFGT conditions in a randomized order: PT (physical training clothes), LC only, and LC + SCBA. To describe within-group differences between SFGT conditions, relative difference scores were calculated as follows:%difference5([experimental trial outcome2PT trial outcome]/PT trial outcome) 3 100. Statistical differences between conditions were assessed with repeated-measures analysis of variance. The level of significance was set p < 0.01. Time to complete the LC + SCBA trial (345.9 ± 43.7 seconds; p < 0.001) and LC-only trial (331.2 ± 39.3 seconds; p, 0.001) were significantly greater than the PT trial (241.0 ± 33.3 seconds). Post-SFGT rating of perceived exertion was higher in the LC + SCBA trial (6.7 ± 1.7) and LC trial (6.4 ± 1.5) compared with the PT trial (4.7 ± 1.8; p, 0.001). Heart rate and lactate measures were similar across conditions (p = 0.488; p = 0.287). Personal protective equipment (PPE) significantly decreases the work capacity and increases the perceived effort of occupational tasks. Thus, these findings describe the additional physical demands produced by PPE and indicate that performance of firefighting tasks in an unloaded condition does not reflect work capacity in a bona fide condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the association between inhibitory control and tactical performance of under-15 soccer players. Data from 166 under-15 soccer players were analyzed. The tactical performance and the inhibitory control were assessed by the System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer (FUT-SAT) and by Conners Continuous Performance Test 2nd version (CPT-II), respectively. The scores of the tactical performance achieved by players in FUT-SAT were separated into three levels: low, intermediate and high. Values of Number of Commission Errors, Number of Omission Errors and Hit Reaction Time of CPT-II achieved by the players from low and high groups in tactical performance were compared by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Results revealed that players with high scores in tactical performance presented lower values of Hit Reaction Time (Z = - 2.569; p = 0.010; r = -0.35). These results suggest that players with better tactical performance presented a better ability to respond faster in an inhibitory control task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper examines tactical performance – a creative and humorous form of protest - as a form of alter-geopolitical intervention that poses counter-hegemonic challenges in society. This paper extends the writing on humour in political geography through a consideration of the spatial use of humour in political protest. My analysis is informed by a scholar activist methodology rooted in collaboration with resisting others and an ethic of solidarity. The paper argues that the practice of tactical performance requires a narrative that is attentive to an 'action logic' that mobilises humour and requires both emotional and spatial registers understood as sites of intervention that articulate alternative geopolitical narratives and practices from below through various forms of material action. This approach to alter-geopolitical action is grounded in an empirical case study in which the author participated, namely the Dawn of the Debt zombie action during the 2004 May Day protests in Glasgow, Scotland. Drawing upon disposition theories of humour, and a Marxist understanding of the figure of the zombie in contemporary capitalism, the paper argues that while in engaging with particular action logics and sites of intervention, the use of humour in political protest remained ambiguous in its results. This poses challenges to the deployment of humour and tactical performance as forms of alter-geopolitics while at the same time opening up new avenues to activist engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how varying the number of creative opponents affects youth players' performance during football small-sided games (SSGs). Initially, 60 players from 3 different age groups with n = 20 in each (under-9, U9; under-11, U11; and under-13, U13) were tested during SSGs to rank them according to their creative potential. Based on these rankings, four players shown to possess with a medium creative potential were assigned to the intermediate team for each age group. This team competed against a team on which players with high creative potential were progressively included (from one to finally all four players, 1C to 4C) during a 4-a-side plus goalkeeper SSG. The results showed that U9 players increased the individual space explored when facing more creative opponents (p = .012), while the U11 (p = .026) and U13 (p < .001) only increased when facing 2C and 3C. Playing against more creative opponents induced more variability in the distance to own (p = .046) and the opponent team's centroid (p = .046) in the U9, regularity in the U11 (team centroid, p < .001; opponents' centroid, p = .001) and lower regularity in the U13 (team centroid, p = .013 opponents' centroid, p = .009). These distinct movement patterns seemed to reflect the differences in players' perceptual and motor skills. A higher creative score was found against 1C (vs 2C and 4C, p = .006) and 3C (vs 4C, p = .006) in the U9. The results from the effect sizes indicated higher values on the players' attempts, fluency and versatility when facing 1C to 3C, whereas a clear decrease was observed against 4C for all age groups. Hence, moderate and high demanding scenarios prompt the emergence of new behaviours while extremely high demanding scenarios (i.e. 4C) seem to constrain all the creativity components. Overall, adding creative players mostly impacts the team's collective behaviour rather than the players' creativity-related skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to examine the influence of tactical performance over the final score of small-sided soccer matches. The sample comprised 32 U-13 level final scores, divided into: 12 wins, 12 defeats and 8 draws. In order to obtain players' tactical performance, 5004 tactical actions were analyzed. FUT-SAT was used for data collection and analysis. The Komolgorov-Smirnov test was used to analyze data distribution and One-Way ANOVA was applied to compare the obtained results, with a significance level of 0.05. Significant differences were found between "Draw" over "Defeat" and "Win". The lower value of Mobility and Offensive Unity may have determined "Win". It is concluded that tactical performance influenced the final scores of "Draw" and "Win". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to compare the tactical performance of soccer players in three different playing surfaces (artificial grass, natural grass and gravel), as well as to check for differences between offensive and defensive tactical performance. The sample comprised 3,999 tactical actions performed by 84 U-13 players, being 1,136 actions on natural grass field, 2,183 on artificial grass field and 680 on gravel field. The instrument used for data collection and analysis was FUT-SAT, which assesses the tactical performance of players. In order to check for differences between variables, one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis were run. Tactical performance was not different between playing surfaces. However, in general, the defensive tactical performance proved to be poorer than the offensive one (p<0.001). Therefore, it is concluded that the playing surface had no influence on the tactical performance and players evidenced better offensive tactical performance rather than a defensive one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay looks at an international performance phenomenon, which I refer to as tactical carnival, that has developed as a tactic in the toolbox of the burgeoning global justice movement. This movement has been more accurately described as a 'movement of movements' due to its great diversity in geography, identity, and ideology ('One no, many yeses' is one of its main slogans). As connections and coalitions are forged between Bolivian miners, American anti-corporate activists, Polish organic farmers, etc., organizers have begun to coordinate a celebratory form of protest that involves unpermitted street parties/processions that occupy public space, both to assert movement identity and importance and often to disrupt state or corporate events/daily business. Movement organizers and writers use the term 'carnival' to label these explicitly oppositional events, at which flamboyant costumes, dance, puppets, tricksterism, samba bands and other musical groupings can all be seen. They also seem to refer to ideas about 'carnival' that may, to some scholars, seem romantic or overly idealist: nevertheless, these activists are attempting to deploy the ideal of carnival in a practical, experimental way on the street, to create a new, twenty-first century kind of 'carnival' that is not calendrically nor spatially circumscribed or permitted by the state but declared and embodied by a movement that identifies itself as global, anti-corporate and anti-authoritarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]