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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lower extremity flexibility values and vertical jump performance of elite soccer players. Twenty-six young elite male soccer players voluntarily participated in the study. Age, height, and weight of the participants were determined as descriptive statistics. Lower extremity flexibility (ROM) test and vertical jump (counter movement jump=CMJ) performance determination test were applied to the participants. A goniometer was used for lower extremity flexibility measurement and My Jump 2 application, which has proven its validity and reliability, was used for CMJ performances. Descriptive characteristics of the participants included in the study were mean age: 16.23 ±.51 years, height: 172.96 ±7.56 cm, body weight: 63,15±7,69 kg. The mean values of CMJ performance of the participants were: 37,54±5,51; the mean value of lower extremity flexibility angles (ROM) was 115±4,99°. According to the data obtained, a statistically significant relationship was observed between ROM and CMJ performance characteristics of elite soccer players (p=0.008) (p<0.05). According to the results obtained, a significant relationship was found between ROM and CMJ performances of soccer players. It can be said that teaching the importance of flexibility exercises to soccer players in soccer training programs and including them in training programs will positively affect the sudden power output performances of soccer players such as jumping.

Movement training is thought to be very important in terms of learning both basic motor skills and new techniques in sports branches. Rhythmic gymnastics apparatus technique applications, which is a widely used method in movement training; it aims to display predetermined choreography in harmony with various tools. In this context, the aim of this experimental study is to examine the effect of rhythmic gymnastics equipment technique, which is predicted to be a good tool to improve reaction performance for movement educators and athletes, on various hand and foot reaction parameters. A total of 42 female athletes, including 22 experimental group members who had not previously practiced rhythmic gymnastics and 20 control group members, were included in the study on voluntary basis. The reaction performances of the athletes were determined using the ÇAGIN Hand and Foot Reaction Test. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 package program using Repeated Measures-ANOVA and descriptive statistics. In the pretest-posttest results of the reaction time of the individuals, it was determined that the hand simple and discriminative reaction time and foot discriminative reaction time of the experimental group decreased significantly (p<0.05). In the pretest-posttest results regarding the individuals' correct reaction rates, it was determined that only the foot selective reaction correct rate of the experimental group increased significantly (p<0.05). As a result of the study, it was observed that the application of the apparatus technique generally positively affected the athletes' hand and foot reaction times and the accuracy of the reactions.

The integration of sports-related contexts into mathematics education, along with the inclusion of guest speakers in classroom settings, is a widely acknowledged pedagogical strategy. This study employs a descriptive research approach to analyze a didactic activity conducted with 86 third-year students pursuing a Degree in Primary Education at the University of the Basque Country. The chosen sport for this activity was Basque "pala," featuring a guest speaker renowned as one of the sport's all-time greats. This activity aimed to enhance the future primary school teachers' capacity to develop and select appropriate mathematical educational materials. Data for this research comprise the mathematical inquiries generated by students' post-guest lectures and responses gathered from a post-session survey. Findings reveal that student participants held a notably favorable perception regarding using Basque "pala" as a mathematical context within primary school education and as a component of their pedagogical training. The involvement of the guest speaker received exceptionally high acclaim. These outcomes remained consistent across two academic years and regardless of respondents' gender. In summary, when introduced by a distinguished practitioner, Basque "pala" proved to be a fertile ground for generating mathematical tasks and was a highly motivating factor for pre-service teachers.

Concussions are an important issue facing the short- and long-term health of athletes. News media play an important role in shaping public perceptions of concussions. However, such coverage often provides inaccurate information, disinformation, and/or trivializes concussions. To address the problem, the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) provides workshops to teach journalists to responsibly report about concussions during live and post-competition coverage. Spearheaded by journalism instructors, the present study tested the effectiveness of the workshops through an experiment with 90 college journalism students. Students who completed the training showed improvement in scores on a "concussion in sport" literacy exam. They also performed better on the examination than students in a control condition. Results suggest the training is effective and could be standardized for those studying to work in the field of sports journalism.

This article adopts the perspective of Sen's capability approach to examine elite athletes' environment and their capability to plan and prepare a career transition out of sport. Interviews were conducted with 14 elite athletes in Canada and results from the thematic analysis reveal that discrepancies exist in the athletes' environment. Three types of environments emerged from the findings: enabling, restricting, or hindering athletes' capabilities to plan and prepare their transition out of sport to a career they value. The difficulties reside more specifically in the possibilities they have to prepare an education path of their choice while being part of the national team. The results highlight that even though support from family and teammates is essential, it is not sufficient, as the support of coaching staff was shown to be crucial. The role of Game Plan advisors varies according to athletes' type of environment and underline the importance of going beyond their role of individual counseling in certain types of environments.

Special Olympics promotes the health of their athletes year-round and offers their athletes options to obtain free health screenings. Following screening events, athletes often have difficulties finding needed referral care. Obstacles to finding a healthcare provider (HCP) for a referral is what necessitates the need for a state-wide HCP referral list in South Dakota. Creation of a HCP referral list was done via an online two-part survey and sent to HCPs throughout the state of South Dakota. Currently, this is the only database of healthcare providers that is accessible to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) that are members of Special Olympics South Dakota (SOSD). While the created referral list offers increased opportunities to access HCPs in South Dakota, there are still limits to ensuring easy access to HCPs throughout the entire state.

Background: Virtual mindfulness may be helpful for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the context of COVID-related disruptions of in-person programming, such as Special Olympics (SO). This study examined the feasibility of a virtual mindfulness intervention for SO athletes and their caregivers. Method: SO athletes (n = 44) and their caregivers (n = 29) participated in a 6-week adapted virtual mindfulness intervention. Athletes completed mindfulness and well-being questionnaires prior to, immediately following, and 3-months post-intervention. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing their own stress, mindfulness, and well-being, as well as athlete mental health. Exit interviews were conducted immediately following the intervention. Results: The intervention was feasible in terms of demand, implementation, acceptability, and limited testing efficacy. There were significant improvements in athlete well-being and mental health, and caregiver stress and mindfulness post-intervention. Conclusions: Adapted virtual mindfulness groups may be an effective intervention in improving the well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers.

Background: This study aims to investigate the impact of neuromuscular training (NMT) on static and dynamic postural balance (PB) among high-level male runners with intellectual disability. Method: Twenty-seven runners were randomly assigned to a NMT group and a control group who maintained their conventional training. Static and dynamic PB were assessed using the centre of pressure (CoP) excursions (in bipedal and unipedal stances under open eyes (OE) and closed eyes (CE) conditions) and the star excursion balance test (SEBT), respectively, at pre-training and post-training. Results: The NMT group showed significantly (p < 0.05) decreased CoP values and increased SEBT scores at post-training compared to pre-training. The switch from OE to CE did not affect static PB in the bipedal stance, only in the NMT group. Conclusions: The NMT was effective in improving static and dynamic PB in runners with intellectual disability. The NMT could reduce visual dependency.

Aim: The aim of this research is to examine whether the sports status of high school students has any effect on their self-confidence and to examine them in terms of different variables. Material & Method: The population of the research consists of students studying in high schools located in Kilis. The sample of the study consists of 415 students, 210 male and 205 female, randomly selected from high schools in Kilis. A personal information form developed by the researchers was used to collect information about the independent variables. The "Self-Confidence Scale", developed by Akin (2007) as a data collection tool to measure students' self-confidence levels, was used to determine the existing self-confidence levels of individuals. While evaluating the study data, descriptive statistical methods were used. Independent sample T-Test and ANOVA Test were used in the analysis of the data. In the analyzes used, the level of significance was determined as p<0.05. Results: In the obtained findings, no statistical significance was found in terms of the variable of students' gender and active sports year. Statistically significant was observed in terms of grade variable, active sports involvement variable and sports type. Conclusion: It was concluded that high school students who do sports are more self-confident than those who do not. It was concluded that as the grade level of the student increased, the self-confidence also increased. It has been concluded that students who do team sports are more self-confident than those who do individual sports.

This paper presents a model that analyses the relationship between the coach's emotional competences and the training climate as predictors of the youngsters' emotional competences and psychological well-being. In the present study, 309 athletes and 17 coaches participated in the study. A general predictive model was estimated with path analysis and the maximum robust likelihood (MLR) estimation method. The results showed that the coach's emotional competences are associated with autonomy-supportive climates ([beta] = 0.15, p < 0.005). This climate is related to youth's emotional competences ([beta] = 0.30, p < 0.005) and lower emotional ([beta] = -0.27, p < 0.005), behavioural ([beta] = -0.51, p < 0.005), and social ([beta] = -0.33, p < 0.005) symptomatology. These results have important practical implications in designing interventions that promote coaches' emotional competences given its association with autonomy-supportive climates, which in turn are related to athletes' emotional competences and psychological well-being.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of core exercises on swimmers Functional Movement Screen (FMS) test scores and swimming performance. A total of 32 volunteer children aged 12-15 participated in this study. Participants were separated into 3 main groups: the control group (CG; N = 10) that did not perform any exercises, the swimming group that only performed swimming training (SG; N = 11), and the core exercise training group (TG; N = 11) that performed core exercises in addition to swimming training. The functional movement patterns of the children were determined by the FMS test, and their swimming performances of 50 meters and 100 meters were measured by means of a stopwatch. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was utilized to determine the ingroup difference between the pre-tests and post-tests of the children's FMS scores and swimming performances. According to the statistical analysis results, it was observed that swimming training increased FMS total score and active straight leg raising test score. Besides, core exercises significantly increased all FMS sub-tests and total score values in the post-test. At the end of the study, although there was no significant difference between pre and posttests in SG both 50m and 100m swimming performances, statistical results also proved that the 100m swimming performances of the TG increased significantly in the post-test (p < 0.05). As a result, it can be stated that the swimmers', who performs core exercises, swimming performance increased, and improved FMS test scores, which is a significant element regarding the decrease in sports injury.

The aim of the current study was to verify the internal and external validity of the construct of implicit beliefs concept in the sports context, the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability Questionnaire-2 (CNAAQ-2). The data of this study were collected from 322 adolescent football players by using CNAAQ-2 and MT (Mental Toughness) Questionnaires. The CFA was employed to examine internal validity (dimensionality), and the ANOVA with the K-means cluster analysis was conducted to examine external validity (discriminability). The results of the CFA supported convergent and discriminant validity of the specific factors (incremental / entity belief) but did not support the significance of the general factor (implicit beliefs). The results of clustering showed that implicit beliefs propensity is divided into three clusters. ANOVA, which set these clusters as an independent variable, showed significant differences for the MT. Based on these results, considerations in the utilization of CNAAQ-2 were discussed.

Free throw shooting percentage has averaged around 75% for nearly five decades. However, free throw percentages significantly increased to 79% during the 2020 spectator-less National Basketball Association season. The current study investigated if the elevated free throw shooting percentage observed during the spectator-less season has returned to the 50-year average now that spectators have returned to National Basketball Association arenas. Moreover, home and away free throw percentages were examined to determine if a potential home-field advantage contributed to this phenomenon. Analyses revealed that the free throw shooting percentage from the spectator-less season was significantly higher than the two spectator-filled seasons preceding and following the spectator-less season. Furthermore, the analyses found no differences in free throw percentages between home and away games. While the free throw shooting percentage increased to 79% during the spectator-less season, the free throw shooting percentage returned to the 50-year average (i.e., ~75%), following the spectator-less season. Additionally, it does not appear that a perceived home-field advantage influenced the increased free throw performance observed in the spectator-less season. Multiple factors likely contributed to this free throw phenomenon, including the environmental characteristics shaped by the lack of spectators.

In this paper, we present an example of how the selected texts (on the footballer Mo Salah) can potentially be discussed in the university EFL classroom especially (Critical) Discourse Analysis course using Freire's seminal work on Critical Pedagogy (CP). We do it by firstly introducing Freire's concept of CP which includes problem posing education and dialog as elaborated by Durakoglu et al. (2013). Then we move on to highlight the previous works conducted on CP in Indonesian EFL contexts and provide critical analysis of how the particular texts drawn from Anwar's (2020) unpublished thesis on Mo Salah's phenomenal career could be analyzed using Freire's concepts. Closing this reflection, we locate this paper within critical approaches to English Language Teaching such as post-method pedagogy and post-structural and post-colonially informed teaching.

This research was conducted to examine the relationship between the trait anxiety levels of national sailing athletes and their mental toughness levels and to investigate the effects of some variables on the athletes' trait anxiety and mental toughness levels. The research universe consists of national athletes competing in different disciplines affiliated with the sailing federation. The sample comprises 32 national athletes (Kitesurfing, windsurfing, and centerboard classes) who voluntarily participated in the research. In addition to the Demographic Information Form, the "Sports Mental Toughness Inventory" and "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory" were used in the research. As a result of the analysis of the data, it was seen that the confidence level of the male athletes was higher than the female athletes, the control levels of the female athletes were higher than the male athletes, and the confidence levels of the kitesurfing athletes were higher than centerboard and windsurfing athletes. In addition, there was a positive and moderate relationship between the age of the athletes and the duration of doing sports and competition. At the same time, there was a negative and moderate relationship between age and the control sub-dimension and between confidence and the control sub-dimension.

The aim of this study was to investigation of the relationship between knee and ankle angles and squat/countermovement jump heights at the age group of 15-17 swimmers. 10 girls (mean age 15.30±0.48yrs, mean height 165.00±5.33cm, mean mass 49.60±5.10kg) and 13 boys (mean age 16.00±1.00yrs, mean height 178.00±7.32cm, mean mass 64.31±7.35kg) were participated to this study as voluntarily. 10min dynamic dryland warming time were given and after that reflective markers were placed on the lower extremity joints. The wand calibration method was used for calibrated to the area. Fusion Sport Smart Jump matt was located in the area to calculated swimmers' jump heights. Swimmers performed three squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) trials which were recorded at a frequency of 120Hz using seven high-speed cameras (Oqus 7+). The results were analyzed by Qualisys Track Manager program. Both knee and ankle angles and jump heights relations were calculated. Pearson Correlation and Mann Whitney-U was used in SPSS 21.0 program for analysed. There were no significant relations between SJ and CMJ performances and angles (p>0.05). There were significant differences between boys and girls in both jump heights (p<0.05). For correct jump performance, it is recommended to position the joints according to the recommended optimal angular values. [Note: The publication year (2022) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year for this article is 2023.]

Athletic trainers are uniquely positioned to provide necessary psychosocial interventions and referral strategies as mental health concerns gain greater attention and prevalence in high school student-athletes. Athletic training education programs require athletic trainers to develop competence in several standards, including: recognizing, referring, and supporting student-athletes with behavioral and mental health concerns. Yet, even with training, many athletic trainers have a perceived lack of knowledge, confidence, and preparation related to the psychosocial content area. This study explored the experiences of certified athletic trainers' preparedness to address psychosocial concerns in high school student-athletes. Using a qualitative methodology, interviews were conducted with state-licensed and board-certified high school athletic trainers who had lived experiences addressing psychosocial concerns in student-athletes. In addition, a phenomenological approach was utilized to capture the essence of shared experiences by practicing athletic trainers relative to their academic and clinical experiences in identifying and managing mental health concerns. Six major themes and one subtheme emerged from the data: (1) "Interactions with Psychosocial Concerns," (1a) "Athletic Trainers' Perceptions of Experiences," (2) "Use of Psychosocial Strategies," (3) "Collaboration with the Interprofessional Team," (4) "Training and Preparation," (5) "Enhance Education and Exposure," and (6) "Knowledge of Psychosocial Techniques." This phenomenological study helped answer questions related to experiences of athletic trainers' preparedness to address psychosocial concerns in the secondary school setting and captured their views on training related to psychosocial educational standards. Results of this study can be used to inform athletic trainers and athletic training education program directors of ways to enhance the athletic training profession and educational training.

This research was carried out at the Sports Science Study Program, Faculty of Sports Science, Medan State University, and the Surrounding Medan Football Association (PSMS). The respondents in this study were ten athletes and four football coaches. The model that will be used is a Four-D (4D) model consisting of four (4) stages, namely, Define (defining), Design (design), Develop (development), and Disseminate (deployment). The results showed that most (> 95%) of respondents needed an E-Book on physical exercise and diet management for football athletes. They agreed that all physical training materials in the indicators mentioned must be in the E-book. The validation results of the material show that the material presented in the e-book is very suitable (3.67) with what is needed today and is ideal for use. The results of validation of the media show that this e-book media is included in the category of very suitable both for the completeness of presentation and the feasibility of graphics and can be used as an electronic medium for football sports. The readability test results received an average assessment of 3.75, meaning that the e-book can be declared very legible and suitable for use. The results of the different tests showed significant differences in the years before and after being given the intervention of physical training and diet E-books for Football Athletes. Athletes' knowledge has increased, with an average knowledge increase score of 19.4 points. Suggestions for future improvement and development of e-books are like adding more exciting images and multiplying case examples.

This research aims to examine the fair play behaviors of secondary school students who participate in school sports. The sample of the research consists of 495 secondary school students who continue their education in Nigde in the 2022-2023 academic year and are selected by criterion sampling from purposive sampling methods. "Frequency of Exhibiting Fair Play Behaviors Scale" was used as a data collection tool in the research. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA tests were performed in the analysis of the data, and a significance level of 0.05 was taken into account in the interpretation of the data. According to the research findings, the students who participated in school sports exhibited fair play behavior at a frequent level in the spectator dimension; at a very frequent level in team, negative behavior, opponent dimension, throughout the scale. Fair play behaviors of female students were higher than male students (p<0.03). According to the grade level, the scores of the 5th-grade students were found to be significantly higher than the 7th-grade students (p<0.01). While the fair play behaviors of the students playing football in the spectator dimension of the scale were higher than the athletes interested in individual branches (p<0.00), no significant difference was found in other dimensions (p>0.05). In the variable of sports age, the fair play behaviors of the students who do sports for 1-3 years were found to be higher than the students who did sports for less than 1 year (p<0.00). As a result of the research, it has been determined that secondary school students participating in school sports exhibit fair play behaviors very often and develop more positive attitudes towards their team. It is recommended that secondary school students participate in events such as games, competitions, and tournaments within the scope of school sports.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of individuals' motivation to participate in sports on their happiness level. This study is a descriptive survey study on the impact of Bayburt University students' attitudes about sports on their levels of happiness. This study is a descriptive survey study on the impact of Bayburt University sports sciences faculty students' participation motivation to sports on their levels of happiness. The population of this study, which examined the effect of motivation to participate in sports on happiness level, consisted of students studying at Bayburt University. The sample consisted of a total of 357 people, 129 of whom were female and 228 of whom were male, studying in different departments of the sports sciences faculty of the same university. "Personal Information Form", " Participation Motivation Questionnaire " and "Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form" were used as data collection tools. SPSS 25 package program was used for statistical analysis. Normality test, spearman correlation and simple linear regression analysis were used in the analysis of the data. When the effect of the participants' motivation to participate in sports on their happiness levels is investigated, it is seen that motivation to participate in sports has a significant effect on the happiness levels of university students. In conclusion, considering the findings obtained from the research, it is seen that there was a relationship between motivation to participate in sports and happiness in the study, and that motivation to participate in sports had an effect on the happiness levels of individuals.

The objective of this study was to examine muscular fitness using measurements of the right hand grip (RHG) and left hand grip (LHG), as well as the counter movement jump (CMJ) performance of both athlete and non-athlete school children. Additionally, the study aimed to compare these variables between genders. A total of 221 school children aged 11-13 participated in this study. The participants were categorized into four groups based on their characteristics: female athletes (n = 57), female non-athletes (n = 60), male athletes (n = 59), and male non-athletes (n = 45). The primary exclusion criteria included any musculoskeletal limitations that could potentially affect test performance. The strength of the RHG and LHG (kg) was assessed using the Takei-TKK-5101 device. CMJ heights (cm) were measured using the Smart-Speed device. For all variables, a mixed-design two-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to identify differences between and within groups. The findings of the present study indicated that the RHG, LHG, and CMJ values of athletes were significantly greater than those of non-athletes for both genders (p < 0.001). Moreover, the analyzed performance values exhibited significant differences between male athletes and male as well as female non-athletes, and also between female athletes and female as well as male non-athletes (p < 0.001). Engaging in sports is highly important for school children aged 11-13 to enhance their muscular fitness. It can be stated that the development of muscular fitness for both genders would be higher in children who participate in sports compared to those who do not engage in sports.

In this study, the effect of a training program developed for healthy nutrition, increasing physical activity and reducing technological addiction on the related behaviors and habits of young athletes was examined. In the study, which was carried out according to the pre-test post-test model with control group, the curriculum developed for the research variables in the experimental group was applied in 4 modules. In the study, no experimental application was applied to the participants in the control group. There were 30 young athletes in the experimental group and 30 young athletes in the control group. Young athletes in the experimental and control groups were equal to each other in terms of gender, age, eating habits and physical activity. 'Dutch Nutrition Behavior Scale', 'Technological Addiction Scale' and 'Physical Activity Questionnaire' were used as data collection tools in the study. According to the findings of the study, it was found that the negative nutritional behaviors and technological addiction of the athletes in the experimental group decreased, while their physical activity levels increased compared to their peers in the control group.

This paper contributes to international scholarship on racial literacy in teacher education. Specifically, we consider filmic counter stories as bodies that carry an affective charge with the potential to ignite dialogic and embodied/emotional learning. The football documentary The Final Quarter is our case study. This film traces the racially explosive final years of First Nations Australian, Adam Goodes' elite playing career. The film floodlights football as a site for public pedagogy where people learn racism, with the film offering means of developing racial literacy through examining its encounters. The paper describes racial literacy and establishes affect/embodiment as a contribution to the field. We analyse the film using an affective-discursive lens and genealogical methodology and consider implications for teacher education. We argue that language is insufficient for understanding racism and that the affective intensities activated by film may help to pedagogically illuminate the role of emotions in reproducing racism.

While youth sports can come with numerous mental health benefits, there can also be some risks. Understanding mental health in the context of youth sports involves recognizing the psychological pressures and challenges unique to this environment. This article describes a coaching model that coaches can use to teach coping strategies and motivational techniques.

Talent identification and development systems (TIDS) adopt a deterministic perspective (i.e. athletes' future state/performances can be predicted by observations of their initial state/performance), which encourages early identification and specialisation in sport. In this framework, the main aim of sport systems is to enhance predictability and reduce uncertainty, by investigating the causal relationship between entering a talent pathway and becoming an expert performer. Generally, athletes who display ideal body proportions and attain certain performance standards in early developmental stages are labelled as talented (i.e. they display the potential to succeed) and are selected by TIDS, which afford them a superior developmental opportunity (i.e. better training facilities, certified coaching staff, and higher competition levels), to realise their potential. A deterministic approach, thus, (a) sees talent as a fixed capacity, whereby future successful athletes can be identified early (i.e. early identification); and (b) considers entering at an earlier age in a talent pathway a pre-requisite for sporting success (i.e. early specialisation). Contrary to deterministic expectations, recent research has highlighted how being considered talented from the early stages does not guarantee a better likelihood of successfully achieve senior sporting success. In this paper, taking ideas from ecological anthropology, a new probabilistic approach is proposed which considers TIDS as a process (i.e. being talented is about remaining responsive to what you could become), dialogical (i.e. athlete selection and development are not done in isolation, but both influenced by sociocultural constraints), and open-ended (i.e. unpredictability related to future outcomes). If sport systems embrace the uncertainty of developmental pathways opportunities arise to participate in conversations across and within TIDS to support systemic change. We conclude by proposing four key foundations of any probabilistic TIDS: give sport back to kids, ethos of amateurism, delaying selection processes, and early diversification.

Despite concerted efforts, LGBTQ + inclusivity is not fostered across all sporting contexts. Interpersonal relationships with teammates and coaches are particularly significant when it comes to cultivating positive and inclusive LGBTQ + experiences within sport. Using online qualitative data collected from 741 LGBTQ + adults, this study examined how relationships with coaches, teammates and sport-related staff impacted sport experiences and participation. Participant responses were independently coded using reflexive thematic analysis. Data were used to develop a new visual model to understand different types of relationships LGBTQ + individuals experience in sport and how this impacted their sport experiences. Exclusive sport relationships were characterised by experiences of discrimination and were found to greatly influence how participants viewed sport and physical activity contexts as adults. Inert or neutral sport relationships were maintained through protective self-distancing techniques. Inclusive relationships with coaches and teammates were primarily based on acceptance and associated with viewing physical activity positively. Identity-concealment strategies and athletic ability were identified as factors that impacted LGBTQ + adults' relationships within sport. Our overall findings demonstrate how discrimination in the form of overt or subtle sexual and gender prejudice can thwart feelings of relatedness among LGBTQ + athletes.

Background: Female learning of movement in elite combat sports has not been studied enough to date. Literature on movement learning and teaching of complex skills has not, to date, focused on karate, and the scarce literature on the learning of elite karate practitioners mostly does not focus on women. Nevertheless, women fighters participated in karate as an Olympic sport, even if such status was temporary, limited to Tokyo 2020 (2021). Purpose: In an analogy with Iris Marion Young's (1980) publication 'throwing like a girl', our aim in this study was to investigate what it means to learn 'to fight like a "girl"' and if there is a feminine learned fighting style. Methods: We have carried out an ethnographic project focusing, due to the unexpected impact of COVID-19, mainly on interviewing the female Spanish karate team in preparation for the Olympic Games. We interviewed 14 women athletes of the team and their four male coaches twice each and analysed 28 videos of women athletes displaying their best athletic performances, according to themselves. In this article we are focusing on the analysis of 20 videos of the "kumite" modality, then reflecting on this analysis with data from interviews of the four coaches and ten of the athletes, the "kumite" athletes. We developed a series of criteria in order to carry out the task of observation and analysis of the gendered martial-sportive movement supported by the literature, coaches' perspectives and athletes' views. The main concepts derived from the video analysis were the "use of space, restricted movements; absence of melee work; and difficulty in carrying out projections/sweeps. kumite kumite use of space, restricted movements absence of melee work difficulty in carrying out projections/sweeps." Findings: Sports karate is still configured as a (hetero)normative environment, supported in tradition, be that of martial art with its pedagogy and of sport as a male preserve. This context leads to a view of women's learning to perform as inferior to men's, perpetually comparing them, in the hierarchical structure established within the field. Concepts of equality and equity are undermined, and by performing differently, or not matching the male model, women have their performance of some complex movements qualified as a "natural inability." Conclusion: We conclude that there is a feminine way of learning to fight, but only with generalized characteristics since there is a rich plurality of styles among these elite sporting women. For the field, to fight like a "girl" means inferior performance in comparison with men's performance, however, for us, it means really 'to fight', not just on the mat, and we see such comparison as untenable.

The word "talent" is used across many sport disciplines -- to describe an athlete's prowess (i.e. "he is talented"), as a term for what is sought after during assessment and selection (i.e. talent selection camps) or in reference to players to be developed (i.e. "a group of talents"). While the term has received research attention regarding its definition and criteria, its utility in practical settings is often debated. In this paper, we review several areas of concern researchers have raised for using the term "talent" and why this matters in the context of athlete development. While the notion of talent continues to resonate with coaches, scientists and practitioners, we suggest several areas for future research and recommendations for the use of this controversial term.

We investigated the associations and differences between dynamic strength index (DSI) calculated from different types of vertical jump (countermovement jump; CMJ and squat jump; SJ) and different isometric knee joint angles (30, 60 and 90[degrees]), and associations with force-velocity (FV) profile and its constituent variables (maximal theoretical force (V[subscript 0]), power (P[subscript max]) and velocity (V[subscript 0]) and the slope of the FV relationship (S[subscript fv]), on a sample of young athletes and active participants (n = 28). There were moderate associations between P[subscript max] and all DSI values (r = 0.42-0.69; p < 0.05), V[subscript 0] and all DSI values from CMJ and DSI[subscript 30] from SJ (r = 0.43-0.56; p < 0.05), while S[subscript fv] was associated only with DSI[subscript 30] and DSI[subscript 90] in CMJ (r = 0.40-0.43; p < 0.05). This suggests that DSI and FV methods provide similar information and can be used in a similar manner to direct an individual's training.

The Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey (AOSCS) is a valid and reliable measure of coaches' and Masters athletes' perspectives of how often adult-oriented coaching practices are used. However, Masters athletes' heterogenous traits have been acknowledged as barriers to generalizing research findings on coaching behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct invariance testing of the AOSCS across groups of Masters athletes based on age, gender, competition level, and sport grouping variables. A sample of 616 Masters athletes (61.9% female, 37.5% male; M[superscript age] = 54.47 years, SD = 10.82) completed the AOSCS-A (athlete version) and demographic questions. The results indicated the AOSCS-A demonstrates configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across Masters athletes that differed on age, gender, competition level, and sport. This evidence advances the AOSCS-A as an assessment tool by ensuring confidence in the measurement and interpretation of adult-oriented coaching practices reported by Masters athletes, irrespective of age, gender, competition level, and sport.

Highly successful athletes must learn how to optimize factors that facilitate flow and effectively manage factors that inhibit flow. This article explains what coaches can do to push the flow button and motivate athletes to have peak experiences and improved performance.

In sport, coaches often explicitly provide athletes with stable contextual information related to opponent action preferences to enhance anticipation performance. This information can be "dependent" on, or "independent" of, dynamic contextual information that only emerges during the sequence of play (e.g. opponent positioning). The interdependency between contextual information sources, and the associated cognitive demands of integrating information sources during anticipation, has not yet been systematically examined. We used a temporal occlusion paradigm to alter the reliability of contextual and kinematic information during the "early, mid- and final" phases of a two-versus-two soccer anticipation task. A dual-task paradigm was incorporated to investigate the impact of task load on skilled soccer players' ability to integrate information and update their judgements in each phase. Across conditions, participants received no contextual information (control) or stable contextual information (opponent preferences) that was "dependent" on, or "independent" of, dynamic contextual information (opponent positioning). As predicted, participants used reliable contextual and kinematic information to enhance anticipation. Further exploratory analysis suggested that increased task load detrimentally affected anticipation accuracy but only when both reliable contextual and kinematic information were available for integration in the final phase. This effect was observed irrespective of whether the stable contextual information was dependent on, or independent of, dynamic contextual information. Findings suggest that updating anticipatory judgements in the final phase of a sequence of play based on the integration of reliable contextual and kinematic information requires cognitive resources.

The objective of the present research is to examine the factor structure of the Interpersonal Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) and the Interpersonal Behavior Self Questionnaire (IBQ-Self) in the sport context. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance across sex and sports. For the IBQ, a sample of 813 Portuguese athletes aged between 15 and 32 years (M = 23.46; SD = 4.92) took part in this study. They had an average sports experience of approximately 7.62 ± 3.23 years. For the IBQ-Self, a sample of 606 Portuguese coaches aged between 20 and 73 years (M = 34.43; SD = 11.56) participated in this study. Both scales demonstrated good fit, achieved convergent and discriminant validity, exhibited acceptable internal consistency, and demonstrated invariance across sex and sports. Regarding the analysis of psychometric properties, the IBQ and IBQ-Self can be applied to Portuguese athletes and their coaches to measure perceived behaviors of others and self-reported behaviors.

Due to the significant growth of participants in sports around the world, this article aims to identify the effects of early specialization, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the professionals and people involved in athlete development, especially in the context of soccer. It describes the phases of Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) as a platform for youth sport coaches to encourage and support participants of all levels to reach their full potential and stay involved in the sport. The article provides strategies for soccer coaches to develop their activities and training sessions in alignment with the phases of the LTAD, along with an adequate pedagogical approach to avoid the negative effects of early sport specialization.

This article examines the interaction between physiological arousal, negative emotions, and the athlete's performance. It describes how heart rate, physiological arousal, emotions, the sympathetic nervous system, and performance are interconnected and explains how warm-ups prepare athletes for optimal training and competition. The article also provides coaches with strategies that can guide an athlete toward an appropriate level of physiological arousal for a successful performance and explains how to implement a growth mindset into day-to-day coaching so athletes have a positive attitude toward their training and can better manage situations that trigger negative emotions.

Every great shooter in the game of basketball has one thing in common: a routine. To help increase basketball shooting accuracy, this article presents a series of progressive drills that any aspiring middle school basketball player can use to develop their own routine and improve their game.

Under the current information technology development and social interaction digitalization, China shows an increasing interest in the possibilities of digital solutions improving the effectiveness of pedagogical processes when forming and developing sports competencies and skills in football players. The present article is devoted to the study of the influence of a digital game-based learning environment on the development of young football players' tactical thinking skills, football interest, and motivation to play it. The study offers an innovative football training model based upon the synergy of virtual (eFootball PES 2021 and SkillShare platforms) and real experiences. Testing of the developed model was carried out on the example of young football players (10-12 years) studying at the X sports school. The conducted educational experiment revealed the benefits of introducing game simulation in football training. The experiment results showed that game simulation and group participation in virtual football matches in eFootball PES 2021 helped master basic football techniques, facilitated the acquisition of competitive experience, fostered a culture of teamwork and camaraderie, and contributed to the rise of conscientiousness and self-discipline.

Concussion education is widely mandated and largely ineffective. Recent consensus guidance on concussion education asserts the importance of (1) theory-driven programming that targets the team as a system and (2) working with end users throughout the development process, and considering issues such as feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability. Consistent with this guidance, and in collaboration with youth sport stakeholders in two regions of the United States, we developed a novel approach to concussion education: Pre-game safety huddles. Safety huddles have the following two core components: (1) athletes, coaches, and other stakeholders come together before the start of each game and (2) opinion leaders (coaches, referees) affirm the importance of care seeking for suspected concussion. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the collaborative process through which we refined the safety huddle concept into an acceptable and feasible intervention with potential for sustainable implementation in diverse youth sports settings with minimal resource demands. In describing our process and discussing challenges and opportunities, we hope to provide an example for others seeking to develop and implement injury prevention interventions in youth sports settings.

Background: The participation of people with intellectual disabilities in Special Olympics sports and training opportunities offers numerous benefits for health and inclusion. However, little is known about the impact of such training on physical activity behaviour. Here, we evaluate the differences in physical activity volume and intensity of Special Olympics athletes between Unified and non-Unified football training. Method: Accelerometer data of 12 male athletes from eight standardised training sessions (four Unified, four non-Unified) were analysed. Results: While there was no statistically significant difference for the main part of the training, athletes showed higher levels of physical activity intensity (MVPA: M[subscript diff] = 11.74%; 95% CI = 5.50-17.97) and volume (average acceleration ENMO: M[subscript diff] = 112.82 mg; 95% CI = 24.73-200.90) in a Unified compared to non-Unified endurance-related exercise task. Conclusion: Understanding physical activity participation in different training types can help to design and implement future training programmes.

The basic timescales governing animal life are generally determined by body size. Pauses in naturally occurring human speech were investigated to determine if pause timescales are also sensitive to body size. Reported is an analysis of pause duration allometry in recorded interviews of 61 athletes. Pauses were divided into three classes based on whether they occurred during fluid speech or whether they preceded or followed a filled pause (i.e., "um"). Allometric laws relating body size to pause size were found for all three classes--larger people take longer pauses. The derived allometric exponents were used to evaluate a theory of how people experience the passage of time. The theory associates the experience of time passage with the distal flow of time through the mathematics of bounded exponential growth. Nonlinearities inherent in the theory are shown to predict, in detail, the way body size interacts with linguistic context in the deployment of pauses. The theory provides a meaningful framework for understanding how time is experienced as a felt quantity and how pauses are negotiated in everyday speech.

Background: Specific learning experiences are vital for athletes to continuously interact with developing "knowledge of" the performance environment, through the refined design of representative learning contexts (ecological paradigm), and appropriate didactical interventions (constructivist paradigm). Although there is a well-established relationship between tactical knowledge (TK) and tactical behaviours (TB), research has investigated the development of both separately. Thus, the inter-dependency between knowledge and behaviour has been inferred, but not contextually interpreted in a process-oriented analysis of performance. Purpose: Through an insider action-research (AR) design, and adopting a mix-methods approach, this study aimed to: (i) investigate in-depth the influence of a constructivist-ecological pedagogical intervention on developing players' TK and TB; (ii) explore effects of integrated tactical knowledge and behaviour on competitive performance. Participants and settings: Fifteen female volleyballers participated in this study. An "insider"-AR (first author assumed the dual role of coach and researcher) was conducted from September 2017 to June 2018. In total, four AR-cycles were completed. A mixed-method approach was used to obtain distinct, but complementary, data on the impact of a constructivist-ecological pedagogical intervention on development of players' TK and TB. Qualitative data were used to explore the development of TK, while TB was analysed through quantitative methods. Data collection: Qualitative data on the coach's perceptions were collected using a reflexive diary and field notes, while players' perceptions were recorded through four semi-structured focus-group interviews, one per AR-cycle. Quantitative data from four official competitive matches, one per AR-cycle, were analysed. Players' positional coordinates were used to calculate the synchronisation tendencies of lateral blocking and defensive lines through the cluster-phase method. Data analysis: Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis, in which inductive procedures deepened understanding of the development of the players' TK. A 4 (matches) x 1 (court direction) repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyse quantitatively the differences in the mean cluster-amplitude values of lateral blocking and defensive lines between matches. Main findings: The unique integration of constructivist and ecological principles scaffolded the development of players' TK and TB. Players evolved from an initial stage in which they verbally described competitive game scenarios (using "knowledge" about environment), to an endpoint where they revealed superior tactical understanding and action intentionality. Increments in tactical complexity favoured the development of TK and TB in a long-term analysis. However, over the short-term, TB was reduced. The development of players' TK (supported by interactions yielding "knowledge of" practice and performance environments) shaped a basis for the acquisition of co-adaptive TB during competitive performance. Practical implications: First, sport practitioners could benefit from combining strategies from different theoretical approaches so that they can satisfy the daily needs of athletes in practice. Second, we advise coaches to adopt didactical and representative learning designs, grounded on video analysis and the co-creation of game-plans. Third, the data imply that "time" and the continuous exposure of players to meaningful and representative practice tasks in learning environments are needed so that athletes can enrich their tactical behaviours, using "knowledge of" the performance environment to interact effectively its constraints.

Although the leadership styles of physical education teachers are important for increasing athlete satisfaction, choosing the most appropriate leadership styles is difficult for physical education teachers owing to the numerous leadership styles suggested by scholars and researchers. Therefore, this study attempts to answer the following questions: 1) What are the leadership styles of physical education teachers preferred by athletes? 2) Can the leadership styles of physical education teachers predict athlete satisfaction? A total of 136 athletes from 12 schools in Iraq are selected randomly, and the Revised Leadership Scale for Sport and Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire are used to measure the leadership styles of physical education teachers and athlete satisfaction, respectively. The data are analysed using SmatPLS 3.0, and results show that the democratic behaviour and training and instruction behaviour leadership styles positively affect athlete satisfaction, whereas the autocratic behaviour leadership style negatively affects athlete satisfaction. This study contributes to the expansion of theories on the leadership styles of physical education teachers in the context of the education sector in Iraq. To increase athlete satisfaction, this study recommends physical education teachers to employ the training and instruction behaviour and democratic behaviour leadership styles and refrain from using the autocratic behaviour leadership style.

Using the Wabash National Study on Liberal Arts Education and a latent class analysis of 28 outside-the-classroom activities and behaviors, we developed a typology of outside-the-classroom student engagement during the first year of college. We find ten classes of student involvement: academic artist, party athlete, serious athlete, conventional non-worker, disengaged, maximizer, moderate worker, detached partier, involved partier, and religious. Next, we examine the relationship between latent classes and students' characteristics through a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Students reporting as first-generation or racially minoritized are overrepresented in the disengaged and involved partier classes. We found an overrepresentation of White students across all party classes. Students reporting as female were likelier to be members of the religious, moderate worker, and disengaged classes and not to be members of the party classes. Federal grant recipients were likelier to be in the academic artist and moderate worker classes. We discuss other sociocultural, economic, and academic relationships in the paper. Next, we explore the relationship of latent class to academic and developmental outcomes. We find academic artists as the only class with a significant positive relationship across the seven dependent measures. Involved partier, moderate worker, and religious classes have positive relationships with at least five dependent measures. The detached partier and party athlete classes have the lowest first-year GPAs of all latent classes. Finally, we discuss the relationships of latent classes, related institutional policy implications, and directions for future research.

Thanks to the rapid change and development of technological opportunities in sports, training can be carried out in an electronic environment and with electronic tools. Among these tools, we can mention a desktop computer, a printer, a scanner, a projection device, a smart phone, a portable computer also called as laptop, glasses for simulation, and a wearable measuring device such as a polar clock. Through these tools, it is also easier to evaluate the educational activity performed. Digital sports can be defined as sports that are produced, performed and evaluated in an electronic environment. In this context, digital sports means changing and transforming all kinds of modern information about sports, scientific and philosophical views, theories and concepts related to technology. Digital sports, which contains more than one understanding of sports and technical narration about sports, questions the interaction of the sportsperson with his environment and technology, especially with himself. Therefore, a digital sport, as in every newly developing perspective on sports, is supported in a broad context by long-term studies that select multiple perspectives. One of these studies is mental training study in which the basic principles of cinema therapy are applied. Mental training is one of the trainings made using technological opportunities in sports. This training is carried out by making sports people, especially athletes, watch movies or scenes from movies, in line with the principles of cinema therapy, with the help of a computer and a projection device. The main purpose of this study is to consider cinema therapy in mental (psychosocial) training education as an example of digitalization in sports. As a data collection method, the data compiled were blended from sources in different fields such as digital technology, sociology, psychology, sports sociology, sports psychology and psychiatry. It is thought that this study, which is one of the rare studies on the subject, will be an example for similar studies in the future.