Annals of Applied Sport Science
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Winter 2021

Anxiety plays a major role when it comes to sports performance, not only mentally, but physically as well.

The study aimed to examine the effect of a soccer tournament on baseline anxiety [Spielberger State-trait anxiety inventory questionnaire (STAI), mood [Incredible Short POMS questionnaire (ISP)] and cortisol (saliva sampling) states.

 Eight sportswomen’s (age: 23.1 ± 3.2 y, playing experience: 10.6 ± 5.6 y) data were collected an hour after waking, two weeks prior to, and each morning during, a five-day tournament.

Overall, a small relationship was seen between true cortisol values and presence of state-anxiety (r = 0.3, P = < 0.05). On mornings prior to a match lost, a significant relationship was seen between cortisol and the current- (r = 0.7, P = 0.005) and total trait-anxiety scores (r = 0.7, P = 0.008). Following multiple regression analysis, the TAI questionnaire was demonstrated to be adequate to predict possible cortisol surges (r2 = 0.3, P = 0.04). Measuring the innate anxiety characteristic can be a positive measure to anticipate both psychological (presence of anxiety, r2 = 0.88, P = 0.001) and physiological (cortisol surges, r2 = 0.4, P = 0.008) stress.

Therefore, an anxiety questionnaire might provide sensitive information regarding the unconscious physiological and psychological stress plausibly altering performance. It is recommended that a player’s state of anxiety (innate and current) be measured prior to a competition to adopt a strategy to overcome its negative consequences.

The cadets experienced particular difficulties in a pandemic period because due to isolation and faced a number of unanticipated challenges like stress, anxiety, and low learning outcomes.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sport and traditional games to improve cadets’ learning performance and motivation to learning activities and future service duties.

The pedagogical experiment was organized at the Military Academy (Odesa, Ukraine) during the 2020-2021 academic year. The research group, on the basis of empirical research, designed the leisure time activities program using five categories of exercises: classical sport team games, individual sports, well-known Ukrainian traditional games; unknown foreign traditional games, and martial arts.

During 20 weeks the researchers observed EG and CG groups conducting interviews, analyzing cadets’ behavior, monitoring their learning outcomes. The experiment findings revealed that the usage of sport and traditional games was an effective psychological and pedagogical technique to improve the learning process at the higher military educational establishment. On average, the technology effectiveness showed that qualitative changes by three points more. The largest increases were identified for high (3,6 points) and moderate degrees of effectiveness (7,8 points). At the same time, self-organized or poor-organized leisure leads to minor improvements in psychological condition and cognitive abilities among the cadets.

Consequently, the usage of sport and traditional games would be an effective instrument applied in a post-pandemic period at the higher military educational establishments. Also, the study presented the recommendations to implement the games during the learning process at the higher military educational establishments.

Instead of different measurements of physical performances such as postural control, strength, and flexibility, studies investigating many abilities such as the harmony between these abilities and body segments simultaneously with the test FMS results and different physical relationships were performed. Meaningful results and other relationships between COD, FMS, and PC have previously been reported.

To examine the relationships between soccer players' static, dynamic postural control (PC) and Functional movement screen (FMS) scores and 3 different change of direction (COD) running.

Seventeen male soccer players aged 18-30 and playing soccer in the regional amateur league participated in the study. PC measurements were performed as static and dynamic (dynamic measurements at 40-30-20 difficulty levels). The Deep Squat (Ds), hurdle step (Hs), in-line lunges (I-LL), trunk stability (Ts), and rotary stability (Rs) tests were used in the FMS measurements, and T-Running, Illinois running, and 505-running measurements were used in the COD measurements of the athletes. The significance levels between the data were accepted as P ≤ 0.05, and correlation analysis was used for statistical analysis.

Significant relationships were found between PC and FMS scores (P ≤ 0.05). However, the relationships between PC and COD skills have controversial results. Among the FMS scores, significant relationships were found between Hs-left and T-run (r = -0.049), I-LL-left and Illinois-run (r = -0.053), while no statistically significant correlations were found between other FMS scores and COD.

According to the results of this research; while athletes with good PC scores had higher FMS scores, complex movement tests Hs and I-LL scores obtained from FMS measurements revealed that the athletes had results on their COD performance.

It is observed that dance delivers a valuable contribution to the development of bodily motor functions.

To evaluate the static and dynamic balance in children with Down syndrome - DS enrolled in a Dance Workshop for people with disabilities.

Balance tests proposed by Oliveira (2009) were used on 14 children with DS aged between 8 and 12 (mean 9.36 ± 1.2 years.). Who has been practicing dance for not less than two years? A Control Group was formed with 14 children with DS who do not dance with the same age group (mean 9.43 ± 1.09 years).

While the maximum effect of the proposed tests is 12 points and 42.08% of the sample obtained a score below 5. It is considered relevant the percentage of 57.13% of the participants to have scored five, six, or seven. It can be stated that dance proved too significant a considerable means of stimulating balance development in children with DS. It was considering the results regarding the CG that pointed to 42.25% of the sample with a score of zero and 57.25% with a rating of 4, 3, or 2.

The constant and systematic dance practice can present a considerable development in the balance of children with DS. This favors their inclusion and permanence in physical exercise and sports programs.

Educational sport is one of the best tools to fashion motivational forces with respect to sports, which leads to desirable results in sports activities. Today, the path to success in elite and professional sports passes through the attention to educational sports.

Due to the importance of educational sports, this study aimed to study the challenges of educational sports in the country by reviewing previous studies.

Purposefully and based on the main objective of the research, we investigated papers in the field of educational sports and the findings on problems and limitations in the field along with highlighting keywords comprising educational sports, physical sports, school sports, educational sports challenges, limitations, and weaknesses of educational sports, health and physical education in schools from 2011 to 2020 in the country. In this study, related articles were searched by keywords and in specialized databases of Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SID, Magiran, Irandoc. The inclusion criteria for the selected articles were as follows: they need to be in Persian or Iranian articles, be published in prestigious domestic and foreign scientific research journals, and be in the field of educational sports and the examination of harms and weaknesses of it in the country. The results of the searches based on inclusion criteria eventually led to the identification of 26 articles field; by reviewing the articles that were outside the main purpose of this study, they were excluded from the analysis, and finally, 15 completely related and consistent articles were selected. These articles have been in the field of educational sports and their harms and limitations have been reviewed.

The findings showed that the weakness and problems involved in the country's educational sports can be of 7 dimensions: lack of sports facilities and equipment, educational weakness, managerial weakness, human resources weakness, lack of financial resources, contextual and individual factors.

In developed countries such as China, Japan, the United States, etc. the main basis for the development of sports in the country, as well as the development of elite and professional sports, is physical and educational sports which will necessitate us to get them started from the beginning in schools and universities. Therefore, there should be a fundamental revision of the country's management programs in the field of educational sports in schools and universities.

Increasingly, women are training and competing in mixed martial arts (MMA). Women are, however, hugely underrepresented in the research literature.

 The purpose of this brief report was to assess concussion knowledge, mental health and attention-related errors among female MMA competitors and factors that might affect data quality when doing a study during a competition.

Forty-one athletes participated at different stages (mean age 25.2±.5). Pre-fight, participants were asked about their concussion history, both before and after being given a definition. They answered questions about MMA background and completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21, the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool-5 (also completed post-fight), and the Sustained Attention Response Task. Two weeks later, competitors were asked to answer mental health questionnaires and the concussion symptom scale again.

Mean years in MMA were 7.3±5.5. Before reading a concussion definition, 16.7% reported a concussion history, 30.6% reported a concussion history after reading the definition. The error score on the attention response task was 12.12±6.55. Pre-fight, the SCAT5 score was 9.0±8.6, post-fight it was 9.1±6.8, and two weeks later, 7.3±11.2. Scores on mental health scales were between 3.9-5.9±3.7-4.6 pre-fight and between 4.3-6.1±5.9-10 two weeks later.

The change in concussion reporting indicates a lack of knowledge; scores on symptoms scales and attention test did not indicate problems. Factors affecting side-line evaluation included coaches' willingness to participate and the athletes' emotional state. Significant limitations of this study included possible language barriers. Therefore, results should be interpreted with caution.

Depression is one of the major public health concerns among older adults. Participation in preferred leisure activities has been found to be effective for reducing the symptoms of depression among this population.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of the association between leisure participation and depression.

A systematic review of PubMed, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar yielded 12 studies published between 2010 and 2020 (total participants = 10,681) that met the criteria for a meta-analysis. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software (CMA) was used to conduct the data analysis, and the correlation coefficient r was used as the effect size.

The average effect size across all 12 studies was -.221 (Fisher’s Z = -5.696, P < .001), indicating that participation in leisure activities had a significant negative effect on depression for the elderly. In addition, the Q-value (116.003, P < .001) and the I-squared value (90.517) proved substantial heterogeneity between the 12 studies in the meta-analysis. The symmetrical funnel plot produced by the CMA analysis demonstrated a possible absence of publication bias.

This meta-analytic study reinforced the effectiveness of leisure participation in reducing the symptoms of depression among older adults.

Band exercise can also reduce back pain by reducing unnecessary movement of the thoracic and cervical vertebrae adjacent to the lumbar spine. Looking at previous studies, activation of the deep lumbar muscles of the lumbar spine and restoration of mobility of the adjacent skeleton have a positive effect on pain relief.

This study was to investigate the effects of self-fascial relaxation, stretching, and spinal mobility exercises using foam rollers and elastic bands on elderly women's back pain, pain disability index, and spinal joint mobility.

This study was performed on elderly women (65-75years) who had no surgical experience within one year, had more than one clinical result due to back pain, and maintained pain for more than 6 months. The subjects who participated in the study were divided into groups, group exercising with foam rollers and elastic bands, group B exercising without foam rollers and elastic bands, and a control. To see the effects of pain-related exercise, we assessed the subjects with the visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), spinal flexion, and the range of spinal left and right joint rotation movement.

the decrease in VAS (F = 9.976, p = .001,η² = .487) and ODI(F = 4.978, p = .017,η² = .322) was observed in all groups participating in the experiment, and the value of experimental group A using foam roller and elastic band decreased the most. As can be seen from the results of Experimental Group A, where the bending and stiffness of the spine were statistically significantly increased.

According to the significant result of A, the use of elastic bands and foam rollers is considered to be effective in improving chronic back pain and mobility of the spine.

Considering the existence of FRDE (Fundamental Reform Document of Education) as a national guideline, there is a need to design strategies for physical education and sports in schools, so that due to the limited resources, reaching the desired targets and plans outlined in the FRDE become possible.

The purpose of this study is to strategically plan the physical education and sports of Iranian students using the QSPM matrix with a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) method.

The sample of the quantitative section was physical education staff members of the general departments and headquarters (deputy, director, and expert) which was a total of 120 people. The main search tools were as follows: 1- The questionnaire, In the qualitative part, the participants included thirteen professors and knowledgeable experts in the field of education who were interviewed to determine the main components of the questionnaire. 2- IFE, EFE, and SWOT matrices were used to determine the strategic position and strategy development and a quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) was used to prioritize the strategies.

The results showed that the strategic position of physical education and sports in Iranian schools is in an offensive position and has six strengths, six weaknesses, six opportunities, and six threats. Analyses determined Four SO strategies, two WO strategies, two ST strategies and one WT strategy, and a total of nine strategies.

It seems that based on the prioritization of strategies, the promotion of students' motor literacy, as well as a healthy and active lifestyle as the main targets in physical education and sports in schools, should be considered by policymakers in this field.

Execution of fitness testing in physical education classes is influenced by students’ motivation. Therefore, addressing new testing approaches seems necessary to more accurately measure student performance.

This study presents changes in fitness performance after applying a physical fitness tests battery (without external stimuli - WS) and with external stimuli (verbal encouragement - VE, performance feedback and goal-oriented) for university students.

The participants (432, BMI 24.72 ± 5.97, age 19.1 ± 2.1) were divided into non-physically active (NAS) and physically active students (PAS). They underwent a battery of fitness tests with and WS.

The results showed that NAS improved power in bench press (21.3W, 5.15%, P = 0.021) after performance feedback compared to attempts (WS). In 10m sprint, PAS decreased the time after a combination of VE and goal-oriented stimuli (COM) compared to WS (0.029s, 1.5%, P = 0.000) and in the 30m sprint (0.079s, 1.65%, P = 0.006) and after COM compared to VE in the 10m sprint test (0.024s, 1.24%, P = 0.001) and in the 30m sprint (0,089s, 1.86%, P = 0.000). NAS decreased the time after COM compared to VE in the 30m sprint test (0.053s, 1.06%, P = 0.006). NAS and PAS also improved in height after VE compared to WS in the height jump test (1.53cm, 6.39%, P = 0.000 resp. 1.24cm, 4.85%, P = 0.000), after COM compared to WS (2.11cm, 8.81%, P = 0.000 resp. 1.83cm, 7.16%, P = 0.000) and after COM compared to VE (0.58cm, 2.28%, P=0.013 and 0.59cm, 2.2%, P = 0.002).

These findings indicate that giving external stimuli is more effective for testing explosive strength, acceleration, and speed than WS and that PAS achieved better improvements in fitness tests after applying COM and NAS improved mainly after just one external stimulus.

The reactions of the whole organism that occur under the action of accelerations of rectilinear and rotational motion are factors that have a systemic effect on the cerebral blood flow. The use of hurdling performance in the structure of human physical activity can have a significant impact on the tone of the brain vessels, their elasticity and venous outflow in the development of fatigue caused by statokinetic stimuli.

The research purpose is to investigate the adaptive profile of cerebral blood flow in the implementation of statokinetic reactions in individuals engaged in hurdling performance.

108 university students took part in the study on a voluntary basis. All students were randomly divided into two groups. The adaptive profile of the cerebral blood flow was evaluated using rheoencephalography under the conditions of stabilometric testing at the beginning of the school year, after three and six months.

It is shown that a more perfect adaptation of the cerebral blood flow to vestibular irritation when barrier running exercises are included in the structure of physical activity is due to adequate stimulation of ampullary receptors caused by head tilts and contralateral synchronization of the muscles of the upper and lower extremities, which determine the kinematic structure of movements to overcome the barrier bar in conditions of rectilinear and nonlinear accelerations.

Our study revealed the process of developing stable compensatory reactions of cerebral blood flow in students during systematic hurdling performance.

At the present stage of the development of society, one of the priority tasks of the state is to improve the system of physical education for schoolchildren. Recently, the problem of reforming the school system of physical education has become extremely urgent.

The purpose of our study is to form a model for implementing the health care system for the formation of sports education among schoolchildren.

The basis of our methodology is the functional modeling system IDEF0, which allows us to form a model according to the goal set in the study.

Our research has brought an original result, which consists in the formation of a model for implementing a health care system for the formation of physical education among schoolchildren.

Further research will be aimed at analyzing the attitude of physical culture teachers to innovations that are declared in the curriculum based on the principle of variability, as well as the willingness of specialists to work according to modular programs.