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The aim of the current study was to evaluate the ELITE intervention as a method of increasing the perceived use of communication and organization skills in young people. The participants were three male field hockey players and two female tennis players from a British university. We used a series of single subject, multiple baselines, with minimal meaningful harm and benefit criteria and SMD_all effect sizes to evaluate the ELITE intervention. The results revealed no meaningful harm from participating in the program, and the tennis players showed meaningful benefits. SMD_all effect sizes all demonstrated that the intervention had a positive effect. Post intervention interviews indicated that participants valued the targeted life skills, and the program was enjoyable. Implications of this study suggest that scholars and practitioners can use the ELITE intervention to increase life skills in young people.

In recent years the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the institution responsible for the administration, organization, and management of the Paralympic Games, has reshaped the landscape of sport for the disabled. This article argues that the IPC has marginalized the practice community, notably the International Organizations of Sport for the Disabled. By wrestling away control of the classification systems developed by these organizations, the IPC has transformed them to such an extent that they fail to provide opportunities for equitable sporting practice and the result has been a threat to the ideology of Paralympism. We illustrate this by examining two classification systems that are currently used within Paralympic Sport: the integrated functional system employed in the sport of swimming and the disability-specific system used within athletics.

Context: Hip muscle strength has previously been evaluated in various sagittal plane testing positions. Altering the testing position appears to have an influence on hip muscle torque during hip extension, abduction, and external rotation. However, it is unknown how altering the testing position influences hip muscle activity during these commonly performed assessments. Objectives: To evaluate how hip sagittal plane position influences hip muscle activation and torque output. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 22 healthy females (age = 22.1 [1.4] y; mass = 63.4 [11.3] kg; height = 168.4 [6.2] cm) were recruited. Intervention: None. Main Outcome Measures: Participants completed isometric contractions with surface electromyography on the superior and inferior gluteus maximus; anterior, middle, and posterior gluteus medius; biceps femoris, semitendinosus, adductor longus, and tensor fascia latae. Extension and external rotation were tested in 0°, 45°, and 90° of hip flexion and abduction was tested in −5°, 0°, and 45° of hip flexion. Repeated-measures analysis of variances were used for statistical analysis (P ≤ .01). Results: Activation of gluteal (P < .007), semitendinosus (P = .002), and adductor longus (P = .001) muscles were lesser for extension at 90° versus less flexed positions. Adductor longus activity was greatest during 90° of hip flexion for external rotation torque testing (P < .001). Tensor fascia latae (P < .001) and gluteus maximus (P < .001) activities were greater in 45° of hip flexion. Significant differences in extension (P < .001) and abduction (P < .001) torque were found among positions. Conclusions: Position when assessing hip extension and abduction torque has an influence on both muscle activity and torque output but only muscle activity for hip external rotation torque. Clinicians should be aware of the influence of position on hip extension, abduction, and external rotation muscle testing and select a position most in line with their clinical goals.

Purpose: Running programs are designed to progress training loads by manipulating the duration, frequency, and/or intensity of running sessions. While some studies use journals to monitor training load, others have used wearable technology. The purpose of this study was to compare the validity of self-reported and global positioning system (GPS)–watch-derived measures of external and internal loads in high school cross-country runners. Methods: Twenty-two high school cross-country runners participated in the study during fall 2020. Participants recorded running sessions using a GPS watch and self-reported the running session using an electronic journal. External (distance and duration) and internal loads (session rating of perceived exertion [sRPE], average, and maximum heart rate) were retrieved from the GPS watch and electronic journal. Correlations compared relationships, and Bland–Altman plots compared agreements between GPS-watch-derived and self-reported measures of training loads. Results: We found moderate relationships between self-reported and GPS-watch-derived measures of external loads (distance: r = .76, moving duration: r = .74, and elapsed duration: r = .70) and poor relationships between internal loads (sRPE vs average heart rate: ρ = .11, sRPE vs maximal heart rate: ρ = .13). We found mean differences of −0.8 km (95% = –6.3 to +4.8 km) for distance, −4.5 minutes (95% = −27.8 to +33.2 min) for moving duration, and 2.7 minutes (95% = –27.8 min to +33.2 min) for elapsed duration. Conclusions: High school runners overreported running distance and duration using self-reports, and self-reported and GPS-watch-derived measures of internal loads demonstrated poor agreement. Coaches and clinicians should use caution when comparing results from studies using different methods of monitoring training loads.

Recently, an adaptation to the critical-power (CP) model was published, which permits the calculation of the balance of the work capacity available above the CP remaining (W′_bal) at any time during intermittent exercise. As the model is now in use in both amateur and elite sport, the purpose of this investigation was to assess the validity of the W′_bal model in the field. Data were collected from the bicycle power meters of 8 trained triathletes. W′_bal was calculated and compared between files where subjects reported becoming prematurely exhausted during training or competition and files where the athletes successfully completed a difficult assigned task or race without becoming exhausted. Calculated W′_bal was significantly different between the 2 conditions (P < .0001). The mean W′_bal at exhaustion was 0.5 ± 1.3 kJ (95% CI = 0–0.9 kJ), whereas the minimum W′_bal in the nonexhausted condition was 3.6 ± 2.0 kJ (95% CI = 2.1–4.0 kJ). Receiver-operator-characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that the W′_bal model is useful for identifying the point at which athletes are in danger of becoming exhausted (area under the ROC curve = .914, SE .05, 95% CI .82–1.0, P < .0001). The W′_bal model may therefore represent a useful new development in assessing athlete fatigue state during training and racing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of postcompetition positive reflection on attributions, emotions, and self-efficacy. Following a golf putting competition, participants (n = 80) were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. In the experimental group participants completed a modified version of the performance evaluation sheet (Holder, 1997). In the control group participants completed the concentration grid exercise (Harris & Harris, 1984). All participants subsequently completed measures of causal attribution, emotion, and self-efficacy. Findings showed that participants in the experimental condition made attributions that were significantly more internal and personally controllable than participants in the control group irrespective of competition outcome. No differences were observed between groups on measures of emotion and self-efficacy. This study suggests that reflecting back on positive elements of performance is a useful strategy for developing desirable attributions in sport performers, but may not necessarily promote self-efficacy or positive emotions.