Frontiers in Sports and Active Living最新文献

Background: Despite extensive efforts to pinpoint singular biomechanical risk factors for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, research findings are still inconclusive. By combining multiple biomechanical variables, cluster analyses could help us identify safe and risky cutting technique strategies.

Purpose: To identify common movement strategies during cutting maneuvers and to assess their association with ACL injury risk.

Methods: A total of 754 female elite handball and football players, including 59 with a history of ACL injury, performed a sport-specific cutting task while 3D biomechanics were recorded. Over an 8-year follow-up period, 43 of these players sustained a primary ACL injury and 13 players a secondary ACL injury. Cutting technique was described using 36 discrete kinematic variables. To identify different cutting techniques, we employed a K-means clustering algorithm on data subsets involving different numbers of kinematic variables (36, 13 and 5 variables) and different sports (handball, football, and both combined). To assess the impact of the identified cutting technique clusters on ACL injury risk, we compared the proportion of injured players between these clusters using the Fisher-Freeman-Halton Exact test and adjusted rand indices (ARI).

Results: We identified two distinguishable cutting technique clusters in the subset involving both sports and five kinematics variables (average silhouette score, ASS = 0.35). However, these clusters were formed based on sport- or task-related differences (Fisher's p < 0.001, ARI = 0.83) rather than injury-related differences (Fisher's p = 0.417, ARI = 0.00). We also found two cutting technique clusters in the handball (ASS = 0.23) and football (ASS = 0.30) subsets with five kinematic variables. However, none of these clusters appeared to be associated with ACL injury risk (Fisher's p > 0.05, ARI = 0.00).

Conclusion: No safe or risky cutting technique strategies could be discerned among female elite handball and football players. Cluster analysis of cutting technique, using a K-means algorithm, did not prove to be a valuable approach for assessing ACL injury risk in this dataset.

Introduction: The seated single-arm horizontal push test (SSAHPT) could be used to assess unilateral upper-extremity power. While superior performance of the dominant side compared to the nondominant one (LSI) is often observed, causes of this bilateral imbalance remain unclear. This study aimed to assess the influence of upper-extremity dominance on both inter-joint coordination and joint contribution in SSAHPT.

Methods: Twenty-five healthy male athletes were fitted with reflective markers and performed SSAHPT with the dominant and nondominant sides. Humerothoracic, elbow and wrist joint contributions to the horizontal medicine ball velocity were computed. The temporal occurrence of joint peak contribution was used to assess inter-joint coordination.

Results: The temporal occurrence of joint peak contribution occurred in a proximo-to-distal sequence at the dominant side, while at the nondominant side, joint peak contribution first occurred at shoulder, then simultaneously at elbow and wrist. The elbow joint contributed the most to the horizontal medicine ball velocity, but its relative contribution was significantly greater for the nondominant limb than the dominant one (p < 0.05).

Discussion: These findings highlight that SSAHPT bilateral asymmetry is explained by a change in motor patterns, as inter-joint coordination and contribution, between the dominant and nondominant sides. From a practical perspective, our findings suggest that for healthy athletes, firstly the LSI observed during SSAHPT may not be used as a good indicator of bilateral imbalance in upper-extremity power, and secondly SSAHPT performance reflects primarily elbow joint velocity capacities and then shoulder ones.

Background: Functional asymmetry and muscle imbalances are recognized as contributors to injury risk in athletes. Sports with repetitive unilateral movements such as baseball pitching can lead to adaptations in shoulder and scapular muscles. There is a lack of research on whether these movements result in neck muscle alterations. Understanding potential asymmetries in neck musculature could provide valuable insights into athletes' performance and injury prevention strategies.

Methods: A total of 14 collegiate baseball pitchers and 15 controls voluntarily participated in this study. Bilateral dorsal neck muscle thickness, stiffness, neck range of motion (ROM), neck repositioning error, and extensor strength were measured, and the asymmetry between the two groups was compared. Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging was used to assess muscle thickness and stiffness. An inclinometer and a dynamometer were utilized to evaluate neck ROM and strength, respectively.

Results: The mean age of the baseball pitchers and controls was 21.86 ± 1.6 and 25.87 ± 5.10 years, respectively. A significantly greater thickness of the splenius capitis on the non-dominant side was observed in baseball pitchers [p = 0.029, effect size (ES) = 0.857], whereas controls demonstrated symmetrical muscle thickness in all dorsal neck muscles. Pitchers exhibited higher neck extensor maximal voluntary contraction compared to controls (p = 0.017, ES = 0.926). Controls showed more bilateral differences in muscle stiffness in the splenius capitis and the semispinalis cervicis, although statistical asymmetry was not demonstrated.

Conclusion: The cervical multifidus muscles showed bilateral symmetry despite the unilateral throwing motion in baseball pitching. However, unilateral neck rotation toward the non-dominant side appears to contribute to greater thickness of the splenius capitis on the non-dominant side of pitchers.

Introduction: Sports fans' curiosity and impulsive buying tendencies are important topics in sports marketing, yet the mediating role of social media use intensity in linking these variables remains underexplored. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory, this study examines how social media use intensity mediates the relationship between sports fans' curiosity and impulsive buying behavior.

Methods: The study sampled 623 Taiwanese sports fans, including baseball and basketball enthusiasts, to investigate these relationships. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses, focusing on the mediating effect of social media use intensity.

Results: The results indicate that social media use intensity fully mediates the relationship between sports fans' curiosity and impulsive buying tendencies. This highlights the significant role of digital engagement in shaping consumer behavior among sports fans.

Discussion: These findings emphasize the importance of fostering social media engagement as a strategic tool in sports marketing. By transforming fans' curiosity into tangible purchasing behavior, this study provides valuable theoretical and practical contributions to understanding fan behavior and offers actionable recommendations for sports marketers seeking to enhance their marketing strategies in the digital era.

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computer Vision (CV) in sports has generated significant interest in enhancing viewer experience through graphical overlays and predictive analytics, as well as providing valuable insights to coaches. However, more efficient methods are needed that can be applied across different sports without incurring high data annotation or model training costs. A major limitation of training deep learning models on large datasets is the significant resource requirement for reproducing results. Transfer Learning and Zero-Shot Learning (ZSL) offer promising alternatives to this approach. For example, ZSL in player re-identification (a crucial step in more complex sports behavioral analysis) involves re-identifying players in sports videos without having seen examples of those players during the training phase. This study investigates the performance of various ZSL techniques in the context of Rugby League and Netball. We focus on ZSL and player re-identification models that use feature embeddings to measure similarity between players. To support our experiments, we created two comprehensive datasets of broadcast video clips: one with nearly 35,000 frames for Rugby League and another with close to 14,000 frames for Netball, each annotated with player IDs and actions. Our approach leverages pre-trained re-identification models to extract feature embeddings for ZSL evaluation under a challenging testing environmnet. Results demonstrate that models pre-trained on sports player re-identification data outperformed those pre-trained on general person re-identification datasets. Part-based models showed particular promise in handling the challenges of dynamic sports environments, while non-part-based models struggled due to background interference.

This study investigated the combined impact of family dynamics and school environments on physical activity levels in children aged 3-9 years across distinct segments of the school day. Conducted as part of the FAMIPASS project in the Czech Republic, the study collected data in 2022 and 2023 from 502 families affiliated with 36 preschools and primary schools. The device-based monitoring of movement behaviors in children and their parents was conducted over a one-week period using ActiGraph accelerometers, complemented by detailed family questionnaires. Regression analysis revealed that parental physical activity, BMI, and education level significantly influenced children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with educated parents more likely to raise active children. Active transport to school emerged as a key factor associated with higher child activity levels specifically in the time segment before school. This research underscores the role of family and school as critical arenas for promoting health and physical activity. These insights highlight the need for integrated family-school strategies to foster healthy activity habits in children, thereby laying the groundwork for a more active generation.

Introduction: Inactivity levels among children are climbing at alarming rates, leading to a lack of physical activities that produce muscular strength (MusS) development, which in turn creates effective neuromuscular control (NC) development. Developing appropriate MusS during childhood decreases the chances of physical injuries and many chronic diseases such as type II diabetes and cancer, which leads to healthier, active future adults. The purpose of this study was to utilize the physical education setting to examine MusS and NC factors in the Fall and Spring (Time 1 to Time 2) of one school year in a predominately Hispanic sample of second-grade children who received 60 min or 20 min of daily recess.

Methods: This quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test study administered four MusS tests and one NC test to District 1 (N = 59) which received 60 min of recess daily (intervention), and District 2 (N = 49) which received one 20 min daily recess (control). ANCOVAs were run for group differences at Time 2 while controlling for Time 1.

Results: Intervention children significantly outperformed control children on the single leg 3-hop muscular strength test F(1,105) = 13.1, p < .001, n ² = .05, and the neuromuscular control side-step test F(1,105) = 4.77, p = .03, n ² = .04. Between group ANCOVAs controlling for body fat percentages showed the single leg 3-hop test remained significant between groups F(1,91) = 23.5, p < .001, n ² = .09.

Discussion: Increased recess was shown to aid in improved lower body muscular strength and neuromuscular control among second grade children, even when controlling for body fat percentages. As 70% of American children are not participating in the recommended daily activity guidelines, and roughly 20% of American children are overweight, exploring movement opportunities for children and efficient means of monitoring MusS and NC is pivotal to future health and movement functions of children.

This paper reviews some mainstream meso-level policy analysis frameworks widely applied in sport. There is, however, an absence of consensus for an established framework for analysing sport policy in general and, instead, techniques emanating from other fields of study have been relied upon. The resultant approach to sport policy analysis is inconsistent, multidimensional, and lacks unanimity, leading to calls for a sport-specific framework. This research outlines how meso-level frameworks have been applied in sport policy and issues linked to sustainability from a grassroots policy perspective. A narrative literature review provides an overview of prevalent approaches, namely Institutional Analysis, the Multiple Streams Framework, Policy Network Theory, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Aspects of applying these models to sport policy-including some key advantages and disadvantages-are outlined, especially the issue of conventional top-policy processes, the impact on policy implementers at grassroots level, and the potential for bottom-up policy influence. The article examines the four frameworks in the context of praxes in sport, noting the overall importance of a meso-level approach to sport policy analysis and that arriving at an holistic and inclusive accord has merit.

This paper reviews the principles employed to identify team tactical formations in association football, covering over two decades of research based on event and tracking data. It first defines formations and discusses their history and importance. It then introduces the preprocessing and team/position-level principles. Preprocessing includes match segments and normalized locations followed by data representation using various options, such as average locations, hand-engineered features, and graphs for the team-level and relative locations, distributions, and images for the position-level approaches. Either of them is later followed by applying templates or clustering. Among the limitations for future research to address is the reliance on spatial rather than temporal aggregation, which bases formation identification on newly introduced coordinates that may not be available in raw tracking data. Assuming a fixed number of outfield players (e.g., 10) fails to address scenarios with fewer players due to red cards or injuries. Additionally, accounting for phases of play is crucial to provide more practical context and reduce noise by excluding irrelevant segments, such as set pieces. The existing formation templates do not support arrangments with more or fewer players in each horizontal line (e.g., 6-3-1). On the other hand, clustering forces new observations to be described with previously learned clusters, preventing the possibility of discovering emerging formations. Lastly, alternative evaluation methods should have been explored more rigorously, in the absence of ground truth labels. Overall, this study identifies assumptions, consequences, and drawbacks associated with formation identification principles to structure the body of knowledge and establish a foundation for the future.

This paper examines Qatar's 2022 World Cup through the lens of liminality, presenting the intricate interplay between tradition, modernity, and human rights. By introducing liminality as an analytical tool, the paper explores how Qatar navigates traditional norms amidst global scrutiny, particularly concerning human rights issues such as migrant labour practices and cultural contestations around human rights. Employing liminality as a conceptual framework, this analysis offers a nuanced understanding of Qatar's endeavour to balance cultural authenticity with international expectations. I reveal why Qatar utilised the transient phase to implement reforms to its social and legal systems, aligning with international human rights while ensuring changes were akin with its cultural identity. The paper highlights the transient nature of change during the liminal phase of sport mega-events, emphasising both the opportunities and challenges presented for changes in Qatar. The paper unpacks Qatar continued navigation in the global stage as an extension of the initial liminal phase, demonstrating its engagements with processes of change and adaptation. The World Cup is a prime example that exposes the dual nature of sport mega events, serving as a springboard for social change, while also revealing underlying cultural and structural tensions. I conclude that Qatar utilised this liminal phase as a rite of passage, enabling the nation to traverse the terrain of modernity while testing the permeability of its cultural boundaries.