Purpose: In the United States, 15 states maintain policies and 25 states represent some level of edTPA affiliation. This study investigated how the edTPA was integrated and aligned into different physical education teacher education (PETE) programs in New Jersey. It also sought to understand teacher educators’ perceptions and experiences in preparing teacher candidates for the edTPA. Methods: This study utilized three data sources: semistructured interviews (n = 4), one focus group interview (n = 1), and documents (n = 17). Data analysis reflected a conventional approach toward qualitative content analysis. Results: In analyzing the data, four themes were established: (a) benefits and drawbacks of edTPA in PETE, (b) goals and success of edTPA in PETE, (c) integrating edTPA into PETE—macro- and microperspectives, and (d) analytic insights into edTPA and future recommendations. Discussion/Conclusion: In states requiring the edTPA, early exposure, scaffolding, curriculum mapping, and a shared mission and vision are critical. In states not requiring the edTPA, programs may want to consider indicators of performance, such as artifacts, reports, elements of the edTPA, university-based assessments, or a portfolio. Regardless of the type of assessment, “a” performance-based assessment may help to determine teacher candidates’ ability to plan, instruct, assess, and reflect.
Integrating edTPA into Physical Education Teacher Education: Teacher Educators’ Perceptions and Experiences in Preparing Teacher Candidates
Edward B. Olsen, James D. Wyant, Emi Tsuda, Michael K. Laughlin, and Deborah S. Baxter
Is It Possible to Improve Performance in Competition After an Adductor Longus Injury in Professional Football Players?
José Luis Estévez-Rodríguez, Jesús Rivilla-García, and Sergio Jiménez-Rubio
Context: Adductor longus muscle strains are one of the most common injuries occurring in intermittent sports such as soccer. Objective: The purpose of this study was to know the effect of a specific rehabilitation and reconditioning program, which was previously validated, after adductor longus injury in professional soccer players. Methods: A specific rehabilitation and reconditioning program was applied to 11 injured male professional soccer players. Participants: Eleven male professional soccer players (age = 29.18 [4.45] y; height = 179.64 [4.97] cm; mass = 75.33 [3.84] kg). Interventions: In the first place, the days taken to return to full team training and to return to competition (RTP) was analyzed; second, the most important performance parameters were analyzed and compared in the preinjury match (PRE) and after the return to competition at 2 different points in time (RTP1–RTP2). Results: The return to full team training recorded was 11.91 (1.92) days and the RTP was 15.36 (3.04) days. Match performance parameters showed significant improvements after injury. Significant improvements were observed during RTP2, in the variables of high-speed running (P = .002), very high-speed running (P = .006), acceleration (>3 m/s2; P = .048), and high metabolic load distance (P = .009). Conclusion: The results allow us to conclude that this program was very effective, as it allowed the players to obtain similar and/or higher performance values in a reduced period of time after the injury.
Predicting Basketball Shot Outcome From Visuomotor Control Data Using Explainable Machine Learning
Nikki Aitcheson-Huehn, Ryan MacPherson, Derek Panchuk, and Adam W. Kiefer
Quiet eye (QE), the visual fixation on a target before initiation of a critical action, is associated with improved performance. While QE is trainable, it is unclear whether QE can directly predict performance, which has implications for training interventions. This study predicted basketball shot outcome (make or miss) from visuomotor control variables using a decision tree classification approach. Twelve basketball athletes completed 200 shots from six on-court locations while wearing mobile eye-tracking glasses. Training and testing data sets were used for modeling eight predictors (shot location, arm extension time, and absolute and relative QE onset, offset, and duration) via standard and conditional inference decision trees and random forests. On average, the trees predicted over 66% of makes and over 50% of misses. The main predictor, relative QE duration, indicated success for durations over 18.4% (range: 14.5%–22.0%). Training to prolong QE duration beyond 18% may enhance shot success.
Pride Body: Racialized Gay and Queer Men’s Physique Preparation for Canadian Pride Events
Daniel Uy
This research explores why racialized queer and gay men work out prior to Pride events in Pride Toronto and Fierté Montréal. The findings show that muscular aesthetics are a type of gay social capital, and participants acknowledge that this may also increase undesired attention and limitations because of their racialized bodies. Participants voice the paradox of the “unspoken rule,” which derives from ideas of authenticity and superficiality. To be one’s most genuine self, racialized queer and gay men must achieve a high physical bodily aesthetic but may lose identity and agency. Yet, they transform their bodies as a daily dedication to their own well-being. Most seem to be aware of the contradictions and tensions in developing a muscled body, which is a personal journey each of them went through to find their own understanding and meaning.
The Retest Reliability of Common Tests to Assess Physical Qualities in Adolescent Rugby League Players
Michael A. Carron, Aaron T. Scanlan, and Thomas M. Doering
Purpose: Rigorous evidence concerning the reliability of physical tests among young athletes is lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively determine the retest reliability of the most commonly used tests to assess physical qualities in adolescent rugby league players, and to provide the standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change for each test to support objective athlete monitoring. Method: A repeated-measures design was employed with 50 adolescent, schoolboy rugby league players (16.2 [1.3] y) completing the same testing battery across 2 consecutive weeks. Within each week, stature, body mass, and ∑4 skinfold thickness assessments, as well as countermovement jump, medicine ball throw, and 1-repetition maximum bench press, back squat, and prone row tests were conducted on the first testing day. Forty-eight hours later, a second testing day contained the 10- and 20-m linear sprints, 505-Agility Test, L-run Test, and Multistage Fitness Test. Results: Nonsignificant (P > .05), trivial differences (d av = 0.00–0.16) were evident between trials in all tests. The coefficient of variation ranged from 0.05% to 4.02% across tests. The intraclass correlation ranged from .704 to .999. All tests presented relatively low standard error of measurement, with accompanying minimal detectable change provided. Conclusion: These data can help inform decision making among end-users when implementing tests in a repeated manner and interpreting testing data.
Self-Paced Field Running Test in Monitoring Fatigue and Training Adaptations in Recreational Runners
Olli-Pekka Nuuttila, Arja Uusitalo, Veli-Pekka Kokkonen, and Heikki Kyröläinen
Purpose: To examine the reproducibility and sensitivity of a self-paced field running test (SFT) in monitoring positive and negative changes in endurance performance. Methods: A total of 27 (11 women) recreational runners participated in a 6-week training intervention. The intervention was divided into a 3-week baseline period, a 2-week overload period, and a 1-week recovery period. An incremental treadmill test was performed before the baseline period and a 3000-m running test before and after all periods (T1–T4). In addition, the participants performed once a week an SFT (SFT1–6), which consisted of submaximal (6 + 6 + 3-min test at perceived exertion of 9/20, 13/20, and 17/20) and maximal sections (6 × 3-min intervals at maximum sustainable effort). The associations between the incremental treadmill test and the SFT1 performance were examined with the Pearson correlation, and the intraclass correlation was analyzed for the parameters of SFT1 to SFT3 sessions during the baseline period. The repeated-measures correlation was calculated for the 3000-m speed at T1 to T4 and the corresponding speeds at SFT. Results: Significant associations (r = .68–.93; P < .001) were found between the speeds of the SFT and the peak and lactate threshold speeds of the incremental treadmill test. Intraclass correlations varied between .77 and .96, being the highest for the average speed of 6 × 3-minute intervals. Repeated-measures correlation was significant (P < .05) for the 9/20 (r = .24), 13/20 (r = .24), and 6 × 3-minute intervals (r = .29). Conclusions: The SFT seemed a reproducible method to estimate endurance performance in recreational runners. The sensitivity to track short-term and small-magnitude changes in performance seems more limited and might require more standardized conditions.
Skeletal Loading: Lean and Bone Mass Development in Young Elite Male Gymnasts, Swimmers, and Nonathletes Aged 6–24 Years
Lisa Gannon and Karen Hind
Background: Exercise optimizes peak bone mass accrual, particularly if the loading is high magnitude and distributed in abnormal directions. Little is known about the influence of early intense training in sport during peak bone mass accrual, especially in boys. Methods: Ninety-eight males aged 6–24 years (gymnasts, swimmers, and controls) completed the bone-specific physical activity questionnaire and a 7-day exercise diary. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry determined bone mineral properties of the total body (less head) and lumbar spine (LS, L1–L4) and total lean mass. Subgroup analyses were conducted for juniors (prepubescent), adolescents (11–16 y), and seniors (17–24 y). Results: Lean mass was positively associated with total body less head and LS bone outcomes in all 3 age groups (R 2 = .632–.770, P < .05), and bone-specific physical activity questionnaire scores were associated with LS bone mineral density in adolescents and seniors (R 2 = .440 and .591, P < .05). Senior gymnasts had significantly higher LS bone mineral density (in grams per square centimeter) and Z-scores than swimmers (P = .004) and controls (P = .012). Conclusions: Elite gymnastics is associated with superior peak bone mass accrual in young males. The benefits appear more pronounced during young adulthood compared with prepuberty, potentially reflecting an extended time course for bone adaptation.
“What Is Lost so That Other Things Can Be Sustained?”: The Climate Crisis, Loss, and the Afterlife of Golf
Brad Millington and Brian Wilson
This article introduces sociological conceptions of loss to literature on sport to assess the “life” and “death” of golf courses—as well as the “afterlife” of golf terrain once golf courses close. As indicated by the quotation from Rebecca Elliott’s writing (2018) in our title, a loss framing differs from the concept of sustainability by considering practices that might be discarded to serve better environmental futures. We consider loss vis-à-vis three golf industry “outlooks”: (1) strategic and gradual loss, where loss serves an industry-friendly view of sustainability; (2) permanent loss, where courses “die,” potentially toward greener “afterlives”; and (3) transformational loss, where golf courses remain but are substantially changed. We conclude with reflections on loss and the study of sport beyond golf.
APAQ at Forty: Publication Trends
Jeffrey J. Martin
The purpose of the present study was to analyze Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly (APAQ) publications over the journal’s fourth decade (2014–2023) and compare them with previous documentary analyses of the first 3 decades. Consistent with prior documentary analyses, publications were coded and analyzed based on the use of theory, research participants, topic, whether the study was an intervention, first-author country affiliation, and research method. The total number of published research papers increased substantially (n = 61) from the third to the fourth decade. Similar to prior documentary analyses, most of the research was quantitative (n = 140; 57.5%), followed by qualitative research (n = 96; 39.5%). There were far more qualitative-research publications in the fourth decade compared with the third decade (n = 34). This may reflect the continued acceptance and growth of qualitative research compared with 10–20 years ago. It may also reflect the value of rich in-depth exploratory research using small samples. Additional trends included more review papers and meta-analyses, possibly reflecting the increased knowledge base in particular areas requiring synthesis. The diversity of topics also increased, with papers on dignity, classification, coaching, and the Paralympics playing more prominent roles. The number of international publications also grew substantially. In brief, the current paper outlines both similarities and differences in APAQ’s published research over the 4 decades of its existence.
The Effect of a Newly Developed Hand Rim on Mobility Performance and Propulsion Technique in Wheelchair Tennis Players
Thomas Rietveld, Rowie J.F. Janssen, Lucas H.V. van der Woude, Riemer J.K. Vegter, and Sonja de Groot
Purpose: To investigate the effect of a newly developed hand rim in wheelchair tennis players from a lab and field perspective. Methods: Nine wheelchair tennis players performed a set of field and lab tests with the new rim (NR) and regular rim on the racket side. Each player had a 60- to 120-minute regular training session with the NR. Three wheelchair tennis field tests (20-m sprint, Illinois, spider) were completed on a hard court using inertial measurement units. The inertial measurement units enabled analysis of linear/rotational velocity and acceleration. In the lab, two 4-minute submaximal tests (at 1.5 and 2 m/s, 0.2 W/kg), followed directly by a 5-second sprint, on a wheelchair ergometer were completed. Force and velocity were measured continuously throughout all tests. Mixed linear models investigated the effect between the 2 hand rims. Results: During the spider test, mean rotational velocity to the racket side (−2%, P = .005) was lower in the NR, and end times were similar between hand-rim conditions. No differences were observed in the 20-m sprint and Illinois field tests. In the lab, contact angle (+6%, P = .04), cycle time (+12%, P = .007), and work per push (+13%, P = .005) were higher in the NR during submaximal propulsion. Work per push (+13%, P = .007), peak velocity (+3%, P < .001), and distance covered (+4%, P = .02) were higher with the NR during the 5-second sprint test. Conclusions: The NR seems slightly favorable compared with the regular rim during performance testing on a wheelchair ergometer in wheelchair tennis players. A longer practice time might show more insights between the hand-rim types.