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Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a common occupational disease. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses is estimated at 65.1%-87.3%, with neck, shoulders, and lower back being most affected. Purpose: To explore the effectiveness of tennis ball massage therapy in alleviating muscle soreness and improving pain relief self-efficacy. Methods: In this quasi-experimental, single-group, pre- and post-test study, 216 nurses in regional teaching hospitals were screened for neck, shoulder, and back pain. Based on the unit attributes, systematic random sampling was employed to recruit 36 nurses to participate in a four-week "fighting pain" intervention program. The "Pain Visual Scale" and "Pain Relief Self-efficacy Scale" were used as the assessment tools. One-way and two-way repeated measure analysis of variance, a signed ranks test, and the Friedman test were used to assess longitudinal change in the data. Results: Shoulders were the most reported site of muscle pain (94.4%), followed by the neck (88.9%) and the upper back (55.6%). The locations of neck, shoulder, and back pain were interacted differently with the four measurement times (F = 2.69, p = .020). In the post hoc comparison, pain relief effectiveness was most significant in the third posttest, followed by the second. The pain relief was significantly different between the pre-test and the third posttest (t = 6.39, 8.68, 6.96, p < .001). There was a significant difference before and after the intervention of the pain relief self-efficacy (F = 53.49, p < .001). The post hoc comparison results revealed that self-efficacy was lowest at pretest and highest at the third posttest. Significant differences were observed between the pre-test and third post-test at the end of the intervention (t = -10.25, p < .001). Conclusions/ Implications for Practice: This study shows that tennis ball massage can improve neck, shoulder, and back pain in nurses and improve pain relief self-efficacy. Tennis ball massage is easy to implement, has no time and space restrictions, and requires no assistance to operate. This equipment can be used to effectively reduce muscle pain, improve the comfort of performing regular activities, and raise work efficiency, reducing the negative impact of muscle pain on work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the influence of ball speed, target size, and forehand-backhand on tennis groundstroke performance and action-specific effect on ball speed perception. Methods: Nineteen tennis players served as participants. They performed forehand and backhand ground stroke to return tennis balls to small and large targets. Tennis balls were shot by a ball machine in different speed. Ball-speed judgments were made verbally after every stroke. High-speed cameras were used to capture stroke movements and further analysis of movement initiation time (MIT), preparation initiation time (PIT), acceleration initiation time (AIT), racket-ball contact time, movement time (MT), preparation time (PT), and acceleration time (AT). We figured out what is the action-based measure for ball-speed perception in tennis ground strokes and compared ball-speed perceptions in success returns and faults. Results: 1. There was no significant difference among performances in different ball speed, target size, forehand and backhand. 2. AIT was significant earlier in higher ball speed. There was no significant difference between movement time of forehand and backhand, but AIT was earlier in forehand stroke. 3. Verbal ball-speed judgments were significant differed in different ball-speed. There were no significant effect of target size and forehand-backhand on ball-speed judgments. 4. AIT was regarded as action-based measures for ball-speed perception in tennis ground strokes. When compared success returns and faults, there was not difference in verbal judgments, but AIT occurred later in success returns in higher speed and small target size. Conclusion: 1. Tennis players had the same success rate in forehand and backhand stroke. The performance was not influenced by target size and ball-speed. 2. Responding to different ball-speed, players would maintain movement initiation time. But they would initiate acceleration earlier and shorten MT, PT, and AT. 3. Verbal ball-speed judgments were not influenced by target size and forehand-backhand, but player could identify difference among ball speeds. 4. Verbal ball-speed judgment in success returns was not different compared to faults. But action-based measures revealed that, in higher ball-speed and small target size conditions, players perceived slower ball speed in success returns. Our finding in action-based measures support action-specific effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate how female high school tennis players recognized their opponents' physical features and outfit, whether or not those features affected player performance, and the extent to which this recognition was related to the level of sports competition trait anxiety and competitive psychological ability. The study subjects were 64 female students (mean age 16.9±.72 yr) who belonged to a high school tennis club. We created 15 questions relating to the physical features and outfit of their opponents and asked the subjects to what extent they were concerned about each feature, and whether each feature had a negative, positive, or zero effect on their performance. In addition, for each subject, we applied the trait anxiety inventory for sports and the diagnostic inventory of competitive psychological ability for athletes. The results revealed that players with fewer years of competitive experience and those with less competitiveness tended to be more concerned about their opponent's physical features, such as their height, physique, and skin tan, as well as the characteristics of their outfit, such as the color and design of their uniform and their racket brand. They also considered whether such features had a negative effect on their performance. Players who showed high trait anxiety, as well as those who had lower psychological competitive ability, were particularly concerned about features of their opponent's outfit. It appeared that their impression of the opponent's physical ability and expertise was significantly affected by the opponent's outfit. Finally, we investigated the psychological skills required to avoid being negatively affected by the features of opponents, and defined a number of issues for future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The classifications of tennis players have been an ongoing and interesting topic. To understand the types of players and then develop appropriate sports measurements for them has long been a research topic for sports lovers. Inspired by the phenomenological method of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), this study attempts to analyze the essence of match players and practice players by taking the phenomenological path forged by scholars, such as Prof. I-Min Liu and Prof. Wei-Lun Lee, as the research method. Through a phenomenological description, the study shows different types of tennis players and reveals the essence of the two types of players by phenomenological suspension (epoché) and reduction. The participants in this research are domestic top-notch tennis players and coaches from New Taipei City, National Taiwan Normal University, and Chinese Taipei Tennis Association. The study attempts to take the context formed by the player's holistic experiences and horizon melting in their lives as the analysis and the materials, and then restores the subject to clear its original style of experience. The researchers found that the practice player was deeply disturbed by the three dimensions of technique, thinking, and system, and has the characteristics of mixture and uncertainty. In contrast, the match player has the basic characteristics of order, spontaneity, and subject, especially continuity and integrity. Finally, through the second reduction, the paper discovers, by the suspension of player classifications in the sports world, that players construct their own being in the sports world through the interactions between themselves and the outside world. They take winning or losing as the judgment and logic systems in the sports world. Meanwhile, through the conflict between the body and the inner world, the particular sense of space and time and body sense are formed. Also, a variety of sports experiences are formed in the dependence of vision and touch. Finally, athletes activate their feelings from the flow between themselves and their bodies, make their meanings in the back and forth between the inner and outer worlds, and form their richer and deeper sports worlds through their continuous interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Physical Education / Tiyu Xuekan is the property of Journal of Physical Education Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Physical Education / Tiyu Xuekan is the property of Journal of Physical Education Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective To investigate the effect of tennis playing on upper limb BMD in middle school students and the relationship between BMD asymmetry and age. Methods The subjects included middle school tennis players (sports group) and ordinary middle school students (ordinary group). Among them, 36 tennis players were in the sports group at the age of 13, 38 at the age of 14, 40 at the age of 15, 38 at the age of 16 and 36 at the age of 17. The ordinary group consisted of 40 students in each age group from 13 to 17 years. The number of subjects in each group was half male and half female. XR-600 dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure the BMD of the left and right upper limbs of the subjects. Absolute value of bone mineral density difference between left and right extremities was calculated by (FA). The experimental data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 13. 0 software. Results (1) Except for the 13 years old group, there were significant differences in BMD between different groups at the same side (P<0.05), especially at the right side (P<0.01). (2) There was no significant difference in BMD of upper limbs between the left and right sides in the ordinary group (P>0.05), but there was a significant difference in age groups other than 13 and 14 years in the sports group (P<0.05). (3) There was no significant difference in FA between 15 and 16 years old in sports group (P>0.05), but there were significant differences between 16 and 17 years old and 15 and 17 years old (P<0.05). Conclusion Long-term tennis playing can increase the BMD of upper limbs in middle school students, also cause asymmetry of upper limb BMD and this asymmetry has the tendency of increasing with age, which may be related to the accumulative effect of tennis playing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of synergy analysis in system science, the author explored the competitive advantage formation mechanism of Spanish men's tennis, and revealed the following findings: since the new century, the competitive advantages of Spanish men's tennis have been significant; nice tennis development environments, a lots of high caliber coach teams, scientific talent selection systems, such model functions of tennis celebrities as "helping, guiding and supporting", and a solid skill foundation built by clay court training, have formed the driving elements for competitive advantage formation; the synergy of development conditions and people education modes, the synergy of training and competition, the synergy between sports talents, and the synergy of clay court training and hard court training, are the main synergy paths for the obtaining and maintaining of competitive advantages of Spanish men's tennis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The isokinetic muscle strength test is mainly performed in adult tennis players, and the main tested parts are shoulder joint or single joint. There is a lack of large-sample report on the isokinetic muscle strength of the lower limb joints at different angular velocities in young male tennis players. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the properties of the muscle strength of lower limb joints in young tennis players, and to investigate the changes of the test data at different angular velocities. METHODS: Totally 162 young male tennis players were enrolled to perform isokinetic muscle strength test on bilateral hips, knee and ankle joints using IsoMed 2000: (60 (°)/s (absolute force), 5 times, and 240 (°)/s (explosive force), 25 times. The relative peak torque, the antagonistic/active muscle ratio, the heteronymous muscle strength ratio and the muscle endurance index of the left and right sides were analyzed using paired t test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The relative peak torque of left hip flexor burst was significantly higher than that of the right hip flexor burst (P < 0.05), and the right extensor explosive force was significantly higher than that of the left side (P < 0.01). The left knee flexion, absolute force and explosive force of flexor were significantly larger than those of the right side (P < 0.05). The left ankle flexor power was significantly higher than that of the right side (P < 0.05). The ratio of peak torque of the lower limb at different angular velocities: the hip, knee and ankle joint flexor force absolute ratio was 1.6 : 1.4 : 1. The ratio of the absolute force of the extensor was 10.8 : 7.4 : 1. The flexor force of the hip, knee and ankle joints was 1.3 : 1.2 : 1. The explosive force of the extensor was 9.2 : 8.2 : 1. Antagonistic/active muscle ratio: the hip, knee and ankle joints were 0.56, 0.73, and 3.86 in the absolute force test, respectively. The hip, knee and ankle joints were 0.65, 0.60 and 4.66, respectively in the explosive force test. There were significant differences in the explosive force between left and right sides of the hip and ankle joints (P < 0.05). The heteronymous muscle strength ratio: 10%-20% difference was in the flexor absolute force and knee hip and ankle extensor explosive force. The level of muscular endurance of the lower extremities: the tolerance of the extensor group showed significant difference between left and right knee joints (P < 0.05). The differences were significant in the flexion and extensor groups between left and right ankle joints (P < 0.01). These results indicate that with the angular velocity increasing, the relative peak torque of bilateral hip and knee and ankle flexor and extensor was reduced in young male tennis players. The order of lower limb flexion and extension muscle peak torque was hip > knee > ankle. Moreover, the explosive force changes of ankle at rapid extension were obvious than those of hip and knee joint. There are significant differences in the heteronymous muscle strength ratio in the hip and ankle joint flexion and extension explosive force, so it is recommended to strengthen the flexor explosive force of the right hip joint. The hip flexion and extension endurance in young male tennis players is relatively good, and therefore, the endurance exercise of ankle extensor and knee flexor should be trained more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wool Textile Journal is the property of National Wool Textile Science & Technology Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a common occupational disease. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses is estimated at 65.1%-87.3%, with neck, shoulders, and lower back being most affected., Purpose: To explore the effectiveness of tennis ball massage therapy in alleviating muscle soreness and improving pain relief self-efficacy., Methods: In this quasi-experimental, single-group, pre- and post-test study, 216 nurses in regional teaching hospitals were screened for neck, shoulder, and back pain. Based on the unit attributes, systematic random sampling was employed to recruit 36 nurses to participate in a four-week "fighting pain" intervention program. The "Pain Visual Scale" and "Pain Relief Self-efficacy Scale" were used as the assessment tools. One-way and two-way repeated measure analysis of variance, a signed ranks test, and the Friedman test were used to assess longitudinal change in the data., Results: Shoulders were the most reported site of muscle pain (94.4%), followed by the neck (88.9%) and the upper back (55.6%). The locations of neck, shoulder, and back pain were interacted differently with the four measurement times (F = 2.69, p = .020). In the post hoc comparison, pain relief effectiveness was most significant in the third posttest, followed by the second. The pain relief was significantly different between the pre-test and the third post-test (t = 6.39, 8.68, 6.96, p < .001). There was a significant difference before and after the intervention of the pain relief self-efficacy (F = 53.49, p < .001). The post hoc comparison results revealed that self-efficacy was lowest at pretest and highest at the third posttest. Significant differences were observed between the pre-test and third post-test at the end of the intervention (t = -10.25, p < .001)., Conclusions / Implications for Practice: This study shows that tennis ball massage can improve neck, shoulder, and back pain in nurses and improve pain relief self-efficacy. Tennis ball massage is easy to implement, has no time and space restrictions, and requires no assistance to operate. This equipment can be used to effectively reduce muscle pain, improve the comfort of performing regular activities, and raise work efficiency, reducing the negative impact of muscle pain on work.

The morphological characteristics of the abdominal muscles in the asymmetric sport athletes have not been identified. The aim of this study was to determine whether the collegiate tennis athletes have regional differences of the abdominal muscles' thickness because of the sport event-specific performance. Highly trained collegiate tennis athletes (n = 12) and untrained subjects (n = 12) were imaged in both eight sites of the rectus abdominis muscle (two-sides by four-segments) and two sites of the external oblique muscle, internal oblique muscle, transverse abdominal muscle (two-sides) in a supine position with relaxed state by using the ultrasonography. The tennis athletes have larger muscle thickness in the rectus abdominis muscle and oblique muscles than untrained subjects. Among the tennis athletes, the muscle thickness of the lower muscle belly in the rectus abdominis muscle was larger than that in the upper muscle belly, and the rectus abdominis muscle and oblique muscles' thickness of the non-dominant side were larger than those of the dominant side. These results suggested the physiological adaptation to the asymmetric stress induced by repetitive trunk rotation. Increased strain transferred through the abdominal muscles during the serving or stroking actions could lead to muscles hypertrophy of the non-dominant side. The sport specific performance characteristics would induce the regional differences or asymmetric characteristics of the abdominal muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]