Coaches, personal/athletic trainers

Biological maturity status significantly influences success in handball, impacting an athlete's performance and overall development. This study aimed to examine the anthropometric and physical performance variables concerning age and maturity status, establishing reference values for physical performance among Tunisian players. A total of 560 handball players (309 males and 251 females aged 13-19 years) were categorized based on maturity status: early ( n = 98), average ( n = 262), and late ( n = 200), determined through Mirwald and colleagues' equations...

Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) was first described as water intoxication by Noakes et al. in 1985 and has become an important topic linked to several pathological conditions. However, despite progressive research, neurological disorders and even deaths due to hyponatremic encephalopathy continue to occur. Therefore, and due to the growing popularity of exercise-associated hyponatremia, this topic is of great importance for marathon runners and all professionals involved in runners' training (e.g., coaches, medical staff, nutritionists, and trainers)...

The sporting season across post-secondary institutions was canceled in March 2020 due to COVID-19, and student-athletes had to maintain their training at home. It is unclear what personal and contextual factors facilitated student-athletes' ability to maintain their training routines at home when social distancing and lockdown (SD/L) policies were put in place. Our cross-sectional study of 433 student-athletes examined (a) how athletes adapted their training, (b) what training barriers they experienced, (c) whether motivational profiles were associated with differences in training behaviors and mental health, and (d) what variables predicted athletes' motivation to train during this prolonged offseason...

In combat sports, competitors are separated into weight divisions, to create equality between the athletes. Consequently, rapid weight loss (RWL) is a common practice in combat sports. Although the methods used to induce RWL are similar among athletes, currently, there are limited data concerning the RWL methodologies used by sambo athletes. Therefore, this study aimed at determining RWL procedures among female sambo athletes. Participants in the study were top-level athletes competing at the World Sambo Championship held in Novi Sad...

Compared with adult athletes, rather little is known about supplementation behavior in adolescent athletes. This study's aim was to determine elite adolescent athletes' supplement use and sources of information relating thereto. A total of 430 (87%) of 496 questioned athletes returned the anonymized questionnaire. Thereof, 84% consumed at least one weekly supplement and 97% indicated some supplement intake during the previous 4 weeks. On average, 13.3 supplement servings were consumed per week. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile was 4...

Creatine is classified as a "sports supplement", but it also has health benefits. The purpose of this study was to assess use of creatine as a dietary supplement in adult non-athletes. Three hundred ninety-nine adults (19-89 years) completed an online survey. Among the respondents, 77% ( n = 307) were regularly active, including participation in weightlifting (34%), running (34%), and cycling (21%). Twenty-eight percent ( n = 111) reported use of creatine with an average dose of 6.4 ± 4.5 g. Daily creatine use was reported by 45%, and 38% reported using creatine 2-6 times weekly...

Most coaches and instructors would like to teach more than just sport skills to their athletes and children. However, to promote athletes' or children's holistic development and teach them to take responsibility and lead, requires the coaches and instructors to first master the skills themselves. Therefore, feasible, high quality leadership training programs where coaches and physical activity instructors are taught to teach and share leadership are needed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the feasibility of a leadership training program to optimize it and to determine whether to proceed with its evaluation...

Research has shown a strong relationship between nutrition and mental health. Packed schedules and little rest time may make student-athletes more susceptible to mental health issues than the general population, but few athletes are fully aware of the effects that nutrition can have on their mental health. While collegiate athletic programs are beginning to recognize the individual contributions of nutrition and mental health to performance and are hiring sport dietitians and psychologists for their athletes, it is unclear whether these topics are ever discussed within the same context...

A balanced diet is a fundamental component of athletes' health, training, and performance. The majority of athletes choose adequate quantities of macronutrients but, at the same time, do not respect World Health Organization dietary guidelines, eating a lot of discretionary food and not drinking enough water. Athletes need more nutritional education to improve the quality of their food choice. By modifying their eating habits, they could also enhance their performance. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of nutritional intervention on eating habits in a group of Northern Italian athletes...

CONTEXT: Monitoring training loads and consequent fatigue responses are usually a result of personal trainers' experiences and an adaptation of methods used in sports for people without disabilities. Currently, there is little scientific evidence on the relationship between training load and fatigue resulting from training sessions in wheelchair sports. Analogous to the vertical jump, which has been associated with competitive performance and used to assess fatigue in Olympic sports, the medicine ball throw (MBT) is a fast, feasible, and accessible test that might be used to measure performance outcomes in Paralympic athletes...

OBJECTIVES: Transgender issues have become increasingly prominent in sports. However, knowledge of and experience with supporting transgender players across soccer team staff remain unclear. The objectives of this questionnaire-based study were to 1) clarify staff knowledge of transgender-related terminology; and 2) explore soccer team staff's awareness and experience with supporting transgender players. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to coaches, physicians, and physical trainers affiliated with soccer teams between 2018 and 2019 to capture 1) participant characteristics (e...

The interest and competitiveness in sports for persons with disabilities has increased significantly in the recent years, creating a demand for technological tools supporting practice. Wearable sensors offer non-invasive, portable and overall convenient ways to monitor sports practice. This systematic review aims at providing current evidence on the application of wearable sensors in sports for persons with disability. A search for articles published in English before May 2020 was performed on Scopus, Web-Of-Science, PubMed and EBSCO databases, searching titles, abstracts and keywords with a search string involving terms regarding wearable sensors, sports and disability...

In a time of instability caused by adolescence, sport may represent a resource to prevent future individual and social problems. Within the complex relationships developed in social sports contexts, the figure of the coach can be fundamental for the development of a beneficial environment. The objective of the research was to investigate the relationship between the teaching methods and leadership profile of the coach and outcomes on the perception of positive development of young people participating in an after school sports program...

CONTEXT: Many survey-based methods have been used to explore concussion-reporting behavior. However, because the decision to report or conceal a concussion is likely multifactorial, this may narrow the findings, as the surveys were largely designed by the researchers. OBJECTIVE: To explore student-athletes' perspectives regarding factors that may influence the reporting of sport-related concussion. DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTING: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletics...

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the development of a database and system for easily creating documents for educational guidance on a personal computer and to assess the efficacy of such a system. [Participants and Methods] Thirty-seven athletic trainers of students who belonged to an athletic department participated in the study. We used FileMaker Pro 17 Advanced for document creation, and data on independent exercises for athletic rehabilitation were used for database creation. The participants created educational documents for the athletic rehabilitation of ankle sprains using paper media and this system...

CONTEXT: A multidisciplinary approach is one of the many forms of professional practice that can be utilized by sports medicine professionals to provide care to injured athletes. While this approach has been empirically supported in the health care domain, studies supporting its utilization in the sport injury rehabilitation context-particularly at the high school level-are limited. OBJECTIVE: To investigate former high school athletes' experiences of a multidisciplinary model of care for sport injury rehabilitation...

BACKGROUND: The vertical drop jump (VDJ) test is widely used for clinical assessment of ACL injury risk, but it is not clear whether such assessments are valid. AIM: To examine if sports medicine professionals and coaches are able to identify players at risk of sustaining an ACL injury by visually assessing player performance during a VDJ test. METHODS: 102 video clips of elite female handball and football players performing a baseline VDJ test were randomly extracted from a 738-person prospective cohort study that tracked ACL injuries...

CONTEXT: Legislation has played a role in advancing the athletic training profession and improving the health and safety of student-athletes. However, few researchers have examined state legislators' perceptions and awareness of the skills and qualifications accompanying the athletic trainer (AT) role. OBJECTIVE: To explore state legislators' perceptions of the athletic training profession and knowledge related to qualifications and responsibilities of ATs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND: There is increasing focus on the number of concussions after which an athlete should discontinue participating in contact or collision sports. This is a clinically subjective and, in some cases, a preference-sensitive decision. PURPOSE: Our goal was to assess whether there is personal subjectivity in when athletic trainers (ATs) discuss the possibility of sport retirement post-concussion with athletes. METHODS: A national sample of ATs who provide clinical care to college athletes completed a questionnaire (n = 677, 34% response rate)...

Collazo García, CL, Rueda, J, Suárez Luginick, B, Navarro, E. Differences in the electromyographic activity of lower-body muscles in hip thrust variations. J Strength Cond Res 34(9): 2449-2455, 2020-Coaches often use variations of an exercise to train a specific muscle. The purpose of this study was to analyze motor patterns in 4 variations of one of the most popular strength training exercises for the lower body: the barbell hip thrust. Seven experienced personal trainers performed a series of 8 repetitions of each variation with a load of 40% one repetition maximum...