Browse

In sports settings, it is important to understand and assess the effects of cognitive–motor interference on sport-specific tasks throughout strength and conditioning programs to better represent the athletic environment. This study used a low-cost movement assessment system, the Mizzou Point-of-care Assessment System, to measure the effects of visual and auditory cognitive–motor dual tasking on countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Thirty-one recreationally active adults (21.1 [1.9] y, 168.9 [11.8] cm, 69.1 [13.6] kg) participated. Participants performed 3 trials of CMJ under 3 conditions: control, audio dual tasking, and visual dual tasking. Tasks were assessed using a low-cost system comprising a custom force plate, depth camera, and interface board. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with post hoc t tests revealed significant decreases in several kinematic and kinetic outcome measures, including time in the concentric phase (in seconds; 95% CI mean difference audio–control = −0.045 to 0.0054; visual–control = −0.045 to 0.0054), time to takeoff (in seconds; audio–control = −0.026 to 0.086; visual–control = −0.026 to 0.086), jump height (in meters; audio–control = −0.0081 to 0.048; visual–control = −0.01 to 0.05), maximum knee flexion (in degrees) at jump (audio–control = 1.47 to 9.89; visual–control = −1.58 to 9.66), hip flexion (in degrees) at maximum knee flexion during jump (audio–control = 0.00 [0.00 to 0.00]; visual–control = 0.00 [0.00 to 0.00]), and several others for both dual tasking conditions compared with control but not between audio and visual conditions. Results indicate that both dual task conditions negatively impact CMJ performance and that their effects can be effectively quantified using a low-cost assessment tool.

Due to inadequate commercial availability of sports bras designed with adequate breast support for full-busted women (cup size D and above), breast discomfort can be a significant barrier to exercise. In this study, postural characteristics during dynamic physical activities were evaluated for 20 full-busted women in 3 different sports bra conditions, 2 of which were bras designed specifically for full-busted women. Participants performed quiet standing, walking, jumping jacks, high knees, and running tasks on a force plate treadmill in each condition to collect postural measures associated with center of pressure (COP). COP measures were also evaluated with respect to body composition, metabolic health markers, and sex hormone profiles. COP measures were larger in high knees and jumping tasks with respect to quiet standing. Across running speeds, conventional bras were associated with the largest COP metrics. Analysis of covariance analysis indicated increased anthropometry measures such as mass and body fat percentage resulted in decreased COP area and favored mediolateral orientation. Luteinizing hormone, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin were all found to impact statistical models, indicating the importance of incorporating a comprehensive hormone panel when considering the impact subject-level variations have on motor function.

The applied sport psychology field has created a niche for implementing services designed to enhance performance through mental skills training. Further, with the certification process of the Certified Mental Performance Consultant and the impending accreditation of graduate programs, the field is moving to increase systematic quality control. While minimum requirements have been established for didactic coursework, mentored experiences, and the qualifications of who can serve as an approved mentor, gaps exist in the theoretical and foundational grounding of professional mentorship. Many mentors may rely on consultation experience, experience as a mentee, or use intuition, or instinct to inform mentorship. The Association for Applied Sport Psychology had defined mentorship the same as supervision until a new definition was introduced in 2020, yet Association for Applied Sport Psychology’s language continues to borrow from the supervision literature to guide mentors with limited research on what mentors do in sessions and how they relate to mentees, provide feedback, and assess or evaluate competency. Further, there is no structured model of applied sport psychology mentorship that addresses the distinct differences between supervision and mentorship. This manuscript includes extensive literature on mentorship and supervision to create a unique model (Fluid Mentorship Model) to provide the infrastructure for the unique nature of the field of applied sport psychology and mental skills training. A sport, exercise, and performance psychology-specific mentorship model is proposed to serve as a foundation for educating mentors, practicing mentorship, and researching mentorship efficacy.

Context: Investigating parameters related to physical capacities, muscular imbalance between the limbs, and injury reports in judo athletes with vision impairments (VI) is something extremely relevant for competitive performance, especially considering the absence of vision, which can be a determining factor in these aspects. For this, this study aimed to explore the interlimb asymmetry and bilateral strength index in upper and lower limbs in judo athletes with VI and describe the injury reports and the association with the muscular imbalance. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: Eighteen judo athletes with VI participated in this cross-sectional study. Athletes performed the following physical tests: handgrip strength, countermovement jump, and medicine ball throw. All tests were performed unilaterally and bilaterally to calculate the interlimb asymmetry and the bilateral strength index. After this, an injury questionnaire was applied, considering injuries that occurred in the previous 6 months. Student t tests and chi-square tests were used to compare groups and test the associations between injury reports, adopting the level of 5%. Results: The results demonstrated that performance was higher for male compared with female athletes (P < .05) and asymmetry was influenced by sex (higher for male; P < .05) and the origin of the impairment (higher for acquired; P < .05). Furthermore, the bilateral strength deficit was more present in injured groups (mainly in medicine ball throw and countermovement jump). Finally, the most common mechanism of injury was direct contact with another athlete. Conclusion: Muscle imbalances were identified in male and female VI judo athletes and seem to be related to injury reports.

Background: Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with freezing of gait (FoG) exhibit difficulty with changes in sensory input, indicating a potential sensorimotor integration deficit. Understanding how levodopa impacts balance particularly in FoG, is critical. As traditional postural sway measures may not fully capture the complexity of balance control, rambling and trembling decomposition of the center of pressure allows a more detailed assessment of postural control by distinguishing between supraspinal and spinal contributions, offering insights into sensorimotor integration deficits. This study aims to analyze the effects of medication and FoG on rambling and trembling in quiet standing in individuals with PD. Methods: We analyzed 13 individuals with PD with FoG (PD freezers) and 19 individuals with PD without FoG (PD nonfreezers) while quiet standing on a rigid and malleable surface under (ON) and without (OFF) dopaminergic medication. Area, root mean square, and mean velocity were calculated for rambling and trembling trajectory. Results: For the rambling, all variables were significantly higher on the malleable compared with the rigid surface. For trembling, (a) all variables were higher on the malleable compared with the rigid surface (p < .001), and (b) area and medial–lateral root mean square were significantly higher ON compared with OFF medication for both groups of participants similarly. Conclusion: Our results strengthen the evidence that PD freezers have the same postural sway in quiet posture as PD nonfreezers, using similar mechanisms to control the posture. In addition, levodopa influences spinal mechanisms more than supraspinal ones in individuals with PD in quiet standing.

The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the risk of lower-extremity injury during landing, after catching a basketball in the air for a rebound or a steal. A total of 32 (15 females and 17 males) recreational basketball players were asked to perform 4 different arm-reaching movements during the flight phase: no reaching, left (LAR), right (RAR), and bilateral (BAR) arm reaching. Knee and hip flexion and abduction angles at initial ground contact, peak ground reaction force within 100 milliseconds after contact, and peak moments for the hip and knee joints were analyzed. LAR, RAR, and BAR showed significantly smaller peak hip and knee flexion angles, while LAR demonstrated a significant increase in the knee’s peak abduction angle. Furthermore, the peak abduction moments of LAR were significantly increased in both males and females. Aerial basketball catching movements resulted in stiffer leg joints and larger knee abduction during landing, which was a potential factor in increasing the risk of lower-limb injury upon landing. It is recommended to include a softer landing technique and implement a training program for enhancing knee joint stabilization in the frontal plane.

Task difficulty is a major factor that affects postural control and stability. However, there is little information about the effects of task difficulty on postural control during gait termination in combination with a manual task. The present study investigated postural control during combined gait termination and a manual task with different levels of manual task difficulty. Right-handed, healthy young adults (n = 15) performed five trials of combined gait termination with a manual fitting task for each of four different manual task conditions, varying target size (large and small) and distance (short and long). Average time-to-contact of the center of pressure and upper body (sternum) was assessed in three separate phases of the combined task: preparation, reaching, and stabilization phases. Longer reaching distance reduced time-to-contact not only in the reaching phase but also in both the preparation and stabilization phases. However, there were no effects of target size on time-to-contact. These results indicate that increasing manual task demands requires integration throughout gait termination and can impact postural stabilization after task completion even in young healthy adults.

Background: Increased sway within a stationary base of support (BoS) is often interpreted as worse postural control. However, larger persons may have larger feet, facilitating broader sway patterns within their wider/longer base. Time to boundary (TtB) incorporates foot placement dimensions into the calculation and, thus, may not be confounded by dissimilar anthropometric features. Methods: Ninety-seven healthy adults stood quietly on a force platform for 150 s with their feet together while barefoot. BoS characteristics, center of pressure motion, and TtB were calculated and correlated with body height for eyes open and closed conditions. Results: BoS width, length, and total area positively correlated with body height. Path length and sway area were positively correlated with height for both vision conditions, with stronger correlations observed with eyes closed. At the same time, TtB was not correlated with height in either visual condition. Consequently, the tallest 20 individuals in the sample displayed greater path length and sway areas but equal TtB as the shortest 20 persons. Conclusion: Observed differences in position-based center of pressure measures could be an artifact of body size inequality not postural (in)stability. Meanwhile, TtB is normalized to BoS and is, therefore, not confounded by anthropometric differences.

Context: Lack of sleep in collegiate student-athletes may lead to decreased athletic and academic performance and longer injury recovery time. Recent research has found a link between decreased mental health status and poor sleep habits in collegiate student-athletes. Purpose: The objective of the current study was to investigate the relationship between mental health scores measured via the General Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale and daytime sleep scores measured via the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in junior college student-athletes. Results: A total of 204 participants (115 females, 89 males) with a mean age of 19.2 ± 0.8 were included in final analysis. Average GAD-7 scores were 1.05 ± 2.7, and average ESS scores were 6.04 ± 3.5. Females scored significantly higher (p < .01) on the GAD-7 questionnaire than males, but no significant difference was found between sexes on the ESS questionnaire (p = .67). A weak positive correlation was found between GAD-7 and ESS scores (r = .23, p < .001). Conclusions: Female junior collegiate student-athletes had higher anxiety scores on the GAD-7 than their male counterparts. Daytime sleepiness measured did not differ based on sex. A weak positive relationship existed between junior collegiate student-athletes anxiety and daytime sleepiness scores.

Context: It is important to identify factors that increase injury risk among youth sport participants, as injury and the fear of injury can prompt athletes to dropout of sport. Several cross-sectional studies found that sport specialization is associated with increased injury rates, specifically overuse injury, among youth sport participants. However, there is a need to critically appraise high-quality pieces of prospective evidence linking sport specialization to injury to guide clinical recommendations for clinicians interacting with youth athletes. Clinical Question: Is sport specialization a risk factor for injury, specifically overuse injury, among youth athletes, based on evidence from studies using a prospective design? Clinical Bottom Line: Sport specialization appears to be a risk factor for overuse injuries among youth athletes across a variety of sports. Overuse injuries require more time to accurately diagnose and can result in lengthy and oftentimes recurring rehabilitation, ultimately placing more burden on the athlete and clinician. Athletic trainers are in a unique position that allows them to interact with youth sport stakeholders such as athletes, parents, and coaches, and may be the best candidate to provide education about safe youth sport participation behaviors.