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School administrators represent key agents of socialization for teachers within their schools, including adapted physical educators who design and implement instruction for youth with disabilities, often across multiple school sites. The purpose of this study was to understand how adapted physical educators navigate and build relationships with administrators in the schools where they teach. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 24 adapted physical educators from the U.S. state of California and analyzed using a multiphase approach. Analysis suggested both the importance of and challenges with building effective relationships with administrators. Themes included the following: (a) Administrators do not understand adapted physical education, which impacts programs and students; (b) the importance of relationship building in cultivating principal support; and (c) relationship development requires intentionality, but results in trust and motivation. Results are discussed using role socialization theory, and recommendations for the preparation of both adapted physical educators and school principals are discussed.

This study aimed to investigate individual trial-to-trial performance in three tests to define adaptive regulation as a key feature of expertise in nine-ball. Thirty-one male players were assigned into the low-skilled (n = 11), intermediate (n = 10), or high-skilled groups (n = 10). The power control, cue alignment, and angle tests were selected to assess participants’ ability to control the power applied in shots, strike the ball straight, and understand the ball paths, respectively. Error distance and correction of error distance were identified for each shot using 2D video analysis. Results of one-way analysis of variance showed that the high-skilled group performed better in two out of the three tests than the other two groups (p = .010 for the cue alignment test; p = .002 for the angle test). However, the adaptation effect represented by the decreased error distances across trials was not observed. Pearson correlation revealed only a few significant correlations between the error distance and its correction within each participant in all tests (p < .05), and hence, the hypothesis that “low correction happened after small error and vice versa” is not supported.

Concussion screening among collegiate lacrosse athletes is a major safety priority. Although attention has been directed at concussion management following injury, less is known about the association between cognition and balance during preseason screening. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between balance and neurocognition among collegiate male lacrosse players and to examine predictive determinants of postural stability. Participants included a convenience sample of 49 male collegiate Division 3 lacrosse players who completed a demographic survey and performed the immediate postconcussion test (ImPACT) and instrumented Sensory Organization Test (SOT). There was a significant association between balance SOT performance and both verbal memory (r = .59, p < .01) and visual motor speed scores (r = .43, p < .05). Significant correlations between verbal memory and SOT Conditions 2, 5, and 6 were also noted (all p < .05). Verbal memory predicted 33% of the variance in the SOT composite balance score (p < .001). Our results indicate a significant relationship exists between postural stability and both verbal memory and visual processing speed among collegiate male lacrosse players and supports vestibulocortical associations. Findings warrant ongoing performance and executive function tracking and can serve as a conduit for integrated sensorimotor and dual-task training.

Research pertaining to the experiences and motives of Paralympic athletes who transfer between sports is scant. This study aimed to address this gap through semistructured interviews with Canadian Paralympic coaches (n = 35) and athletes (n = 12). Three higher-order themes of “alternative to retirement,” “career extension,” and “compatibility” were identified. The subthemes of “psychobehavioral” and “physical and physiological” (from the higher-order theme of alternative to retirement) captured reasons leading to transfer, which are similar to reasons athletes may consider retirement. The subthemes of career extension—“better opportunities” and “beneficial outcomes”—shed light on factors that contributed to the withdrawal of negative experiences and reinforcement of positive outcomes associated with transferring sports. Last, compatibility had three subthemes of “resources,” “sport-specific,” and “communication,” which encapsulated factors athletes should consider prior to their transfer. In conclusion, the participants highlighted the importance of transparent and effective communication between athletes and sports to align and establish realistic expectations for everyone involved.

This study investigated the process that contributes to the decay of short-term motor memory regarding force reproduction. Participants performed tonic flexion of the right index finger with the target force feedback (criterion phase) and reproduced this force level without feedback 3, 10, 30, or 60 s after the end of the criterion phase (recall phase). The constant error for force reproduction was significantly greater than zero, indicating that information about the somatosensation and/or motor command in the criterion phase is positively biased. Constant and absolute errors were not influenced by the retention interval, indicating that neither bias nor error represents the decay of short-term motor memory over time. Variable error, defined as SD of bias (force in the recall phase minus that in the criterion phase), increased as the retention interval increased. This indicates that the decay of short-term motor memory is represented by the increase in inconsistency of memory bias among the trials. The correlation coefficient of the force between the criterion and recall phases with 3-s retention interval was greater than that with longer intervals. This is explained by the view that the contribution of the information of the practiced force to the force reproduction process is great within 3 s after the end of the practice, but the additional contribution of the noise information becomes greater after this time, causing lesser relative contribution of the information of the practiced force to the force reproduction process.

Lack of disability awareness of fitness professionals is a well-established barrier to exercise participation among people with disabilities that is likely related to the lack of disability awareness training for group fitness instructors. The purposes of this study were to develop, implement, and evaluate a disability awareness training for group fitness instructors. A 90-min video training and resource manual were developed. We recruited 10 group fitness instructors from one recreation center to participate. Participants completed baseline, posttraining, and 2-month follow-up testing on survey-based outcomes including disability attitudes, confidence in exercise adaptations, and training satisfaction. Participants’ confidence to adapt fitness classes was significantly improved; however, disability attitudes were high in the pretest and not significantly different posttraining. Semistructured interviews were conducted posttraining and revealed three themes: Formal disability training is needed, Managing inclusive class dynamics, and Training suggestions and satisfaction. This training demonstrated a feasible intervention for increasing disability awareness among community-based group fitness instructors.

The prevalence of phone use has become a major concern for pedestrian safety. Using smartphones while walking reduces pedestrians’ ability to perceive the environment by increasing their cognitive, manual, and visual demands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of common phone tasks (i.e., reading, tapping, gaming) on walking behaviors during outdoor walking. Nineteen young adults were instructed to complete four walking conditions (walking only, walking–reading, walking–tapping, and walking–gaming) along an open corridor. Results showed that all three phone tasks increased participants’ neck flexion (i.e., neck kyphosis) during walking. Meanwhile, the reading task showed a greater influence on the temporal aspect during the early phases of a gait cycle. The tapping task lowered the flexion angles of the middle and lower back (i.e., torso lordosis) and induced a longer terminal double support. And the gaming task resulted in a decrease in middle back flexion, a shorter stride length, and a longer terminal double support while walking. Findings from the study confirmed our hypothesis that phone tasks changed pedestrians’ physical responses to smartphone distraction while walking. To avoid potential risks caused by the observed posture and gait adaptations, safety precautions (e.g., roadside/electronic warning signals) might be imposed depending on the workload expected by different phone tasks.

The goal of the study is to analyze the kinematics and provide an EMG analysis of the support limb during an instep kick in adolescent players. We set a video camera, two torque transducers on the knee, and EMG sensors. A sample of 16 adolescent soccer players between 10 and 12 years old performed kicks. The kinematics shows a p = .039 on frontal plane (dominant 15.4 ± 1.8, nondominant 18.8 ± 1.7); the EMG analysis shows a p = .04 on muscular activation timing for the vastus medialis. A difference between the legs on the frontal plane emerges. Moreover, a huge difference on sagittal plane between the adolescent pattern and adult pattern exists (15° in adolescent population, 40° in adult population). The result shows a greater activation of the vastus medialis in the nondominant leg; probably, in this immature pattern, the adolescents use this muscle more than necessary.

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of specific sprint and vertical jump training interventions on transfer of speed–power parameters. The data search was carried out in three electronic databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, and SPORTDiscus), and 28 articles were selected (13 on vertical jump training and 15 on sprint training). We followed the PRISMA criteria for the construction of this systematic review and used the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale to assess the quality of all studies. It included studies with a male population (athletes and nonathletes, n = 512) from 18 to 30 years old who performed a vertical jump or sprint training intervention. The effect size was calculated from the values of means and SDs pre- and posttraining intervention. The percentage changes and transfer of training effect were calculated for vertical jump training and sprint training through measures of vertical jump and sprint performance. The results indicated that both training interventions (vertical jump training and sprint training) induced improvements in vertical jump and linear sprint performance as well as transfer of training to speed–power performance. However, vertical jump training produced greater specific and training transfer effects on linear sprint than sprint training (untrained skill). It was concluded that vertical jump training and sprint training were effective in increasing specific actions of vertical jump and linear sprint performance, respectively; however, vertical jump training was shown to be a superior alternative due to the higher transfer rate.