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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of cognitive and game-based trainings (GBT) on dynamic balance (DB) and speed performance (SP) in healthy young soccer players. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine male soccer players were divided into three groups: cognitive-based neuromuscular training (CBNT; n  = 16; age = 16.93 ± 1.18 years; body mass index [BMI] = 21.37 ± 1.57 kg/m 2 ) group, GBT ( n  = 17; age = 17.05 ± 1.39 years; BMI = 21.10 ± 0.97 kg/m 2 ) group, and control group ( n  = 16; age = 16.75 ± 1.12 years; BMI = 21.95 ± 1.36 kg/m 2 ). The athletes in CBNT and GBT groups took part in one session lasting 1 hour. The Star Excursion Balance Test and the Speed Dribbling Test were used to evaluate DB and SP, respectively. The measurements were taken just before and after the trainings. Statistical analysis of the study was performed using SPSS 22.0 software (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, Inc., Chicago, IL). The Paired Student's t -test and Wilcoxon test were used. For in-group evaluation the ANOVA test was used for comparisons between the three groups. The Tukey's test was used for post hoc analysis. Results: DB significantly improved in all directions in the GBT group ( P  < 0.05). Also, significant improvements were observed in DB in all directions except anterior, anterolateral, and anteromedial in the CBNT group, and except anterior, medial, and anteromedial directons in the control group ( P  < 0.05). SP significantly developed just in the CBNT and GBT groups ( P  = 0.001, P  = 0.003, respectively). CBNT and GBT improved the DB of soccer players by 9.6% and 9.5%, respectively. Also, trainings improved the SP by 3.1% and 2.6%, respectively. Conclusion: CBNT and GBT are promising trainings that can improve DB and SP of healthy young soccer players. Trial number: NCT03739658 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier).

Context: The level of body awareness, performance emotional state (PES), and demographic characteristics in different sports are subjects to be investigated. It is important to examine the concepts of PES and body awareness to better understand the body-mind relationship in different sports., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of body awareness and PES of athletes., Design: In this cross-sectional study, the independent variables are groups (4 different sports), and the dependent variables are body awareness and PES., Participants: The study was conducted on 188 licensed athletes (85 footballers, 36 basketball players, 34 handball players, and 33 swimmers). The mean age of the participants was 14.64 (1.89) years, mean height was 172.44 (11.03) cm, and mean body weight was 62.35 (13.12) kg., Settings: Four sports clubs and 2 high schools were the intervention facilities., Intervention: Body Awareness Questionnaire and Continuous Optimal Performance Emotional Status Scale-2 were used for data collection. Sociodemographic information was recorded., Main Outcome Measures: One-way analysis of variance was used for analysis of normal distribution data in 4 different groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for the analysis of data that did not show normal distribution., Results: There was no difference in body awareness among the branches (P = .17). The PES of the footballers was better than that of other athletes (P = .01). The correlation between body awareness and PES was medium (r = .47, P < .01), and the correlations between body awareness and age, licensed year, and number of weekly training sessions were weak (r = .22, P < .01; r = .19, P < .01; r = .15, P = .03)., Conclusions: The body awareness of athletes may not differ among different sports, but PES is related to many factors such as mood, age, license years, and number of training sessions. In rehabilitation and training, body awareness and PES should be evaluated together.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between elite athletes' imagery abilities and their body awareness, plank stance duration, psychological and social skills. Material and Methods: The study included 53 healthy elite athletes (female:32, male:21). The imagery abilities of the athletes were evaluated using the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3. A Body Awareness Questionnaire was used for body awareness assessment. Plank stance duration, psychological and social skill levels were evaluated using Sport Specific Core Muscle Strength and Stability Plank Test, Athletic Psychological Skills Inventory and Social Skills Inventory, respectively. Results: External and kinesthetic imagery was found to correlate with body awareness (r=0.33, p=0.02; r=0.39, p<0.01). There was a relationship between these imagery abilities and the prediction of body responses (r=0.31, p=0.03; r=0.38, p<0.01) and sleep-wake cycle (r=0.38, p<0.01; r=0.37, p<0.01) subdimensions of body awareness. Kinesthetic imagery also was associated with changes in paying attention to changes and reactions in the body process (r=0.30, p=0.03) sub-dimension. There was no relationship between imagery and other parameters (p>0.05). Conclusion: The external and kinesthetic imagery ability of elite athletes is related to the body awareness level. It should be considered in terms of holistic approach in the performance and rehabilitation processes of the athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural features of the hamstring muscle group are important to prevent injury or to reduce the risk of re-injury. Besides, eccentric training is often used in the rehabilitation of hamstring injuries. The aim of this systematic review was to examine changes created by eccentric training in hamstring muscle architecture and to determine the minimal values of training duration and intensity to achieve required functional changes. The research was conducted on the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, COCHRANE, CINAHL, and Pedro databases. Full-text studies examining the effect of eccentric training on at least one parameter of the hamstring muscle architecture were included in the review. Studies on cadavers and animals, and studies involving different types of training combined with eccentric training were excluded. Twelve of the 7954 studies met the set criteria. According to the results, eccentric training undoubtedly increases fiber length. However, the pennation angle tends to decrease. On the other hand, muscle thickness and crosssectional area tends to increase depending on the eccentric training. Although the frequency, number of sets and number of repetitions in sets were similar in the examined studies, muscle architecture changes were different. We think that eccentric training duration and the number of repetitions in total or per training session seem to have an impact on muscle architecture. In order to determine the minimal eccentric training program that can create these changes, quality research is needed to examine the duration, intensity and methods of eccentric training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]