Sports Sciences Commons^™

Best Practice Recommendations For Coaching Gymnasts To Avoid Burnout And Reframe Performance Anxiety, Clare A. Mccall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Gymnastics is deemed a psychologically demanding sport, with associated risk factors of burnout and performance anxiety. To date, relatively little research has explored the specific goal and perfectionistic processes of gymnasts, despite these risks. This body of work identified the specific goal-related constructs and perfectionistic orientation of young athletes and examined how these associated with burnout and performance anxiety. It comprised of two studies with a mixed methods design. The first study aimed to systematically review literature investigating how goal-related constructs and perfectionism associate with burnout and performance anxiety in young athletes. This review focused on summer and winter Olympic …

An Examination Of Kinanthropometric And Physical Injury Risk Factors In Elite Australian Football, Callum J. Mccaskie

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Kinanthropometric assessment is an integral part of understanding an athlete’s physical profile and readiness for competition. This typically includes a variety of different assessments which serve to quantify body shape, proportion, and composition in a bid to understand human physiology. Common assessments include stature, body mass, limb ratios, body circumferences, body mass index, skinfold testing, body composition testing, and musculoskeletal morphological evaluations. Specifically, kinanthropometric evaluations have involved the characterisation of athletes according to sport, sex, competition level and playing position. While this has provided researchers and practitioners with greater insight into athletic phenotypes, more purposeful kinanthropometric assessments which focus on …

The Assessment Of Movement Demands And Neuromuscular Fatigue In Female Softball Players, Kathryn Cardwell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Softball has experienced an increase in worldwide popularity over the last 15 years, and it is expected to rise following the reinstatement of softball as an Olympic sport in 2021. Previous softball research has primarily focused on the biomechanical characteristics of its athletes. However, there is a current lack of research concerning the movement demands occurring in gameplay and the development of neuromuscular fatigue in softball players during sportspecific movements, training sessions, or in competition play. Prior research has demonstrated that a majority of power generated during a bat swing or overhand throw comes from the lower body, with the …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Exercise Medicine For Prostate Cancer, Kim Edmunds

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is associated with numerous adverse effects that impact on quality of life and contribute further to the cost burden of prostate cancer (PCa) via treatment and supportive care. Exercise medicine is effective in slowing PCa progression, reversing treatment adverse effects and improving quality of life and survival of patients, however, no economic analyses have been conducted to determine whether exercise is cost-effective in this population.

Objectives

Firstly, to examine the adverse effects of ADT for PCa and the evidence supporting the use of exercise medicine in their management. Secondly, to conduct the first economic evaluations …

The Coaches’ Eye: Exploring Coach Decision-Making During Talent Identification, Alexandra Hannah Roberts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

For decades, researchers and practitioners interested in talent identification have discussed the coaches’ eye: the elusive ability that allows some coaches to ‘see’ qualities in an athlete that point to their talent or future potential. While there is significant anecdotal evidence of coaches who possess this ability, there is little empirical research supporting the validity or reliability of the coaches’ eye. Guided by ecological dynamics, this thesis employs mixed methodologies to explore the decision-making that underpins how high-level coaches identify talent in Olympic combat sports. These four studies captured the processes of thirty- four coaches during the talent identification process, …

Development, Assessment And Application Of A Novel Algorithm To Automatically Detect Change Of Direction Movement And Quantify Its Associated Mechanical Load In Elite Australian Football, Aaron Balloch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The ability to change direction rapidly and efficiently is critical to team-sport performance, including Australian football (AF), where a player’s capacity to rapidly decelerate, move laterally and re-accelerate is critical when evading opponents, tackling, or reacting to the unpredictable bounce of the ball or movement of another player. The biomechanical loading requirements of change of direction (COD) movement are angle and velocity dependant. Cumulative COD movement can impart high levels of neuromuscular and metabolic fatigue which can adversely affect the efficiency of subsequent movement efforts. Despite widespread use of microtechnology devices (the vast majority containing a global navigation satellite system …

Gait Entrainment In Coupled Oscillator Systems: Clarifying The Role Of Energy Optimization In Human Walking, Ryan T. Schroeder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Empirical evidence suggests that parameters of human gait (e.g. step frequency, step length) tend to minimize energy expenditure. However, it is unclear if individuals can adapt to dynamic environments in real time, i.e. continuously optimize energy expenditure, and to what extent. Two coupled oscillator systems were used to test the learned interactions of individuals within dynamic environments: (1) experienced farmworkers carrying oscillating loads on a flexible bamboo pole and (2) individuals walking on a treadmill while strapped to a mechatronics oscillator system providing periodic forces to the body. Reductionist trajectory optimization models predicted energy-minimizing gait interactions within the coupled oscillator …

The Effects Of Environmental Temperature On High-Intensity Interval Training, Jason R. Boynton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Endurance athletes typically spend the large majority of training (> 70%) at low intensities (i.e. below lactate threshold) coupled with short and intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise or interval training (HIIT). Despite HIIT being a relatively small part of training in terms of duration, it has a substantial effect on the adaptations to endurance training. While it is well-established endurance exercise performance is affected in both hot and cold environmental conditions, the effect ambient temperature (TA; frequently referred to as environmental temperature) has on HIIT as performed by an endurance athlete population is not well understood. Therefore, the overall purpose …

Nutrition, Body Composition And Physical Activity In Malignant Pleural Disease: Associations With Patient Outcomes And Response To An Exercise Intervention, Emily Jeffery

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Patients with malignant pleural disease (MPD) have advanced cancer and high symptom burden. Goals of patient care are to optimise health-related quality-of-life (HR-QoL) and participation in daily physical activities. Supportive care interventions such as nutrition and exercise could offer benefit to patients. However, there is a lack of information on the prevalence of low muscle mass (i.e., pre-sarcopenia), malnutrition, inactivity and poor physical functioning in patients with MPD. Additionally, little is known about the factors associated with development of pre-sarcopenia and malnutrition or their associations with patient outcomes.

Purpose: The objectives were to: 1) characterise physical activity levels and …

Improving Sprint Performance In Road Cycling: The Forward Standing Sprint Position, Paul Franciscus Johannes Merkes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The majority of road cycling races finish with a sprint and as such sprints are a key determinant of success. Surprisingly, the scientific literature on this specific topic is scarce, with limited to few studies describing the characteristics of road cycling sprinters and the demands of road sprinting. Cyclists’ sprinting velocity, which is mostly influenced by power output and aerodynamic drag (CdA) is critical to performance outcomes. However, to date, there is very limited research specifically examining how to maximise road sprint velocity. Thus, the overall objective of the four studies outlined in this thesis was to manipulate CdA, physiology, …

Effects Of High-Intensity Position-Specific Drills On Physical And Technical-Skill Performance In Young Soccer Players, Cao Cuong Le

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Soccer is the most widely played sport in the world, and physical preparation for soccer players has been extensively researched over the years. As the average intensity of a soccer match is close to 80-90% of maximal heart rate (HRmax), it is necessary to train at or above this intensity. Thus, high-intensity interval running and small-sided games are often used to improve aerobic capacity and repeated sprint ability (RSA). However, neither of these approaches consider positional variations in the frequency and type of specific technical skills required in real match situations. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate …

Exercise And Nutrition Induced Weight Loss For Prostate Cancer Patients, Rebekah Louise Wilson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis encompasses six main chapters - two reviews and four experimental chapters, in addition to a general introduction and discussion.

Review 1 (Chapter 2) is a discussion of the negative impact of obesity on prostate cancer prognosis and common prostate cancer treatments.

Review 2 (Chapter 3) is an evaluation of the current literature examining prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and how exercise and nutrition interventions can be used to induce fat loss, while preserving or improving lean mass.

Study 1 (Chapter 4) is an examination of the efficacy of a weight loss program in altering body …

Injury Surveillance In Community Cricket And The Exploration Of Insurance Claims Systems, Geordie Mcleod

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aims of this industry funded PhD thesis were 1) To understand the injury causes, trends and burden in community cricket and 2) To examine the Cricket Australia National Club Risk Protection Program (NCRPP) insurance scheme for suitability as an injury surveillance tool for community cricket.

This thesis sought to identify and understand the injury profile of community cricketers through existing literature and injury datasets, being, Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) hospital data, Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and NCRPP insurance claims data. This thesis also undertook a novel assessment of data validity and completeness from various sources, against industry standards …

Mechanisms Underpinning An Improvement In Dynamic Muscle Force Production Following A High-Intensity Warm-Up, Cody J. Wilson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present research explored the mechanisms underpinning the enhancement of voluntary knee extensor torque after (1) extensive task-specific practice, and then (2) brief, intense warm-up exercise (conditioning activity; CA) as part of a complete warm-up routine. The same warm-up was completed in two Experiments (detailed below). In Experiment 1, voluntary (180⁰·s-1; T180) and electrically-evoked (isometric) knee extensor torques and electromyogram (EMG) and muscle temperature (Tm) data were recorded before and after (1) extensive task-specific practice where peak voluntary knee extensor performance was achieved, and (2) two isokinetic CAs matched for total concentric contraction time (CA60: 5 repetitions at 60⁰·s-1 vs. …

Analysis Of Perceptual-Motor Calibration Processes In Indoor Climbing, Andrew Stephen Walsh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research programme examines how people perceive maximal reach-and grasp-ness in climbing, and as such these questions will be limited to climbing.

Is experienced gained from performing daily submaximal reaching sufficient for the accurate perception of maximal horizontal reaching affordances in rock climbing?

How is perception of maximal horizontal boundary of reach-and grasp-ness affected by: hold size, body position, additional load, or fatigue.

How will inducing fatigue affect how a participant calibrates distance and their movement economy?

Velocity-Based Training: Monitoring, Implementation And Effects On Strength And Power, Henry G. Banyard

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Traditionally, resistance training has been prescribed using percent-based training (PBT) methods that use the loads relative to a maximal load lifted for one repetition (1RM). However, PBT does not take into account possible day-to-day fluctuations in performance that may occur from physical or psychological stressors. One approach to address this limitation is to monitor velocity changes during resistance training, based on research showing that declines in velocity are highly correlated with fatigue. Therefore, velocity-based training (VBT) methods are proposed to provide a more objective method to modify resistance training sessions based on individual differences in day-to-day performance and the rate …

The Manifestations Of Fatigue In Amateur Boxing Performance, Emily C. Dunn

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A subjective method of judgment, the “Ten Point Must-System” (TPMS), was introduced into amateur boxing in 2013. To be successful, boxers must deliver forceful punches and exert dominance over an opponent. There has been limited research examining the strategies used by boxers to win fights under the TPMS and whether these strategies induce fatigue that is sufficient to significantly affect punch force. The overall objective of the five studies contained in this thesis was to describe, in relation to fatigue, the performance characteristics of male amateur boxers under the TPMS, and improve our understanding of the physical characteristics associated with …

The Influence Of Barbell And Body Position On Force-Time Characteristics In The Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull, Stuart Nathan Guppy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Publication 1: The Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull: A Review and Methodology – Part 1 Isometric tests are commonly used to monitor physical qualities that underpin athletic performance. As single-joint laboratory-based tests display poor relationships to the multi-joint movements found in sport, multi-joint isometric tests like the isometric midthigh pull (IMTP) are commonly used instead. Force-time characteristics in these multijoint tests typically display stronger relationships to dynamic performance, particularly in the case of the isometric mid-thigh pull. As such this review focuses on the relationships between force-time characteristics in the IMTP and dynamic athletic performance.

Publication 2: The Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull: A …

The Application Of Maximal Mean And Critical Speed And Metabolic Powers For The Quantification Of External Load In Soccer, Cameron Nicholas Lord

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In Association football, often referred to as “soccer”, competitive match play is typically known to represent the greatest physical demand that players experience. The demands associated with match running performance may impact training outcomes and injury risk. As a result, practitioners evaluate these demands to ensure that performance is optimised. To assist in this process, global positioning systems (GPS) are typically used to quantify displacement variables and, more recently, the interaction between running speed and acceleration. However, traditional player monitoring methods tend to apply identical and somewhat arbitrary displacement, velocity and acceleration bands to describe movement “intensity”, and thus to …

The Mechanics Of Front Leg Loading During Cricket Fast Bowling: Delivery Variations, Spell Demands, And The Effects Of Strength Training, Samuel J. Callaghan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The goal of fast bowling in cricket is to dismiss a batsman for as few runs as possible. To assist this goal, fast bowlers will attempt to maximise ball release velocity (BRV) to decrease the decision-making and stroke execution time of the opposing batsmen. Fast bowlers will also employ various delivery lengths (i.e. short, good and full) to assist in affecting a batsman’s stroke execution.

Several issues remain to be addressed with regards to the biomechanical assessment of fast bowling. This is particularly evident when analysing fast bowling performance (i.e. BRV), the implications of front foot loading (i.e. vertical and …

Neuromuscular Factors Contributing To Reductions In Muscle Force After Repeated, High-Intensity Muscular Efforts, Benjamin J. C. Kirk

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fatigue can accumulate sufficiently to limit muscular force production during repeated, forceful muscle contractions, including those that occur in the occupational, clinical and athletic settings. Fatigue during such efforts is likely to result from disturbances to multiple processes in the nervous system and muscle. However, previous research examining the mechanisms underpinning fatigue have typically required subjects to perform low-level constant-force contractions or to repeat maximal efforts in a single set format. Such tasks do not translate well to occupational, daily living or athletic situations where high-intensity, yet submaximal, repeated efforts may be performed in work bouts (or sets) with brief …

The Influence Of A Simulated Olympic Distance Cycle Exercise On Subsequent Running Economy And Biomechanics In Triathletes, Chantelle Du Plessis

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The multidisciplinary sport of triathlon provides a good model for testing whether a secondary task can be negatively affected by a preceding task, especially when movement patterns are different. Research suggests that cycling exercise impairs subsequent running performance by altering a runner’s economy and various mechanics (or technique-related) parameters. However, this is not an unambiguous finding. Furthermore, movement patterns are self-optimised during cycling and running to minimise the energy cost, yet the relationship between running mechanics and economy are not clear when different locomotor tasks are performed in succession

Two research studies were conducted with the focus of describing and …

Assessment Of Joint Kinetics In Elite Sprint Cyclists, Lynne Munro

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Sprint cycling requires the production of explosive muscle power outputs up to very high pedalling rates. The ability to assess muscular function through the course of the sprint would aid training practices for high-level performers. Inverse dynamics provides a non-invasive means of estimating the net muscle actions acting across any joint contributing to movement. However, analysis of joint kinetics requires motion-capture techniques that present some unique challenges for cycling. This thesis presents three studies investigating the application of a custom-designed force pedal system to examine the joint kinetics of elite trained track sprint cyclists. To provide the basis for selecting …

Gender Differences In Physical Performance Characteristics Of Competitive Surfers, Joanna Parsonage

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Competitive surfing is judged on the performance and complexity of innovative and progressive manoeuvres. As such, surfers require the physical attributes of strength and power in both the upper and lower-body in order to facilitate performance. To date, there remains limited research pertaining to the physical performance characteristics of competitive female surfers, making it difficult to quantify the current gender gap in performance attributes. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was fivefold: (1) to describe and compare the gender differences in physical performance characteristics of competitive surfers; (2) to investigate the reliability and validity of the isometric push-up (IPU), dynamic …

A Profile Of Game Style, Physical, Technical And Tactical Skills, And The Pathways That Underpin Expertise In Australian Youth Soccer Players, Bradley Scott Keller

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The attainment of expertise has been the focus of research in many domains including music, chess and sport. This research has progressed with many theories detailing the best way to develop expertise and nurture talent in sport. Soccer is a multifaceted sport which requires a number of physical, technical and tactical skills to be successful, making it difficult to achieve expertise. Although Australia’s performance on the international stage is improving, there is a lack of evidence to inform the most effective development pathways to support the next wave of talented youth soccer players. Therefore, the aim of the thesis was …

Braking Ground Reaction Force During 90deg Sidestep Cut And Its Relationship To Leg Muscle Strength, Walter Yu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Previous studies on change of direction (COD) have reported that braking is an important factor for COD performance. However, previous studies have focused on the plant step and the penultimate step (PEN), thus little is known about deceleration before these steps. This study compared ground reaction forces (GRF) of two braking steps, the PEN and the step prior to PEN (PEN-1), the entry and exit velocity of the COD, and muscle function measures (leg press and leg curl one-repetition maximum, isometric and isokinetic strength, and drop jump performance) between faster and slower participants for a 90^o sidestep cut. This …

High-Intensity Interval Eccentric Cycling: Acute And Chronic Effects, Marcin Lipski

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Eccentric cycling training has been prescribed in continuous and low intensities protocols, based on concentric cycling parameters. While the lower metabolic demand of eccentric than concentric cycling is advantageous for clinical or ‘at-risk’ populations, it is a disadvantage for cardiovascular and pulmonary adaptations. High-intensity interval protocols may increase both, strength and endurance. Thus, this research project compared i) an incremental concentric and eccentric cycling test until exhaustion for the relationship between power output and physiological parameters <Study1>; ii) interval and continuous eccentric cycling protocols for oxygen consumption, perceived exertion and enjoyment <Study 2>; and iii) aerobic performance, muscle …

The Effect Of Maximal Isometric Training On Doublet-Induced Force Enhancement And Its Relationship With Changes In Voluntary Rate Of Force Development, David Vernon Murray

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Motor unit double discharges (i.e. doublets), which are excitatory potentials that occur at shorter-than-normal intervals (e.g. 5-10 ms) during normal muscle activation, are known to cause muscle force to exceed that predicted from a standard, linear summation of twitch forces. However, although a marked increase in the occurrence of motor unit doublets at the onset of a contraction has been observed after explosive-type exercise training, and has been correlated with changes in RFD (Van Cutsem et al., 1998), little is known about the influence of strength training on the physiological and biomechanical benefits derived from the phenomenon. The present research …

Effects Of Long-Term Participation In Tennis On Cognitive Function In Elderly Individuals, Scott Culpin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many studies have reported the relationship between exercise and cognition with conflicting results. This may be due to differences in intervention durations, session lengths, intensities, and type of exercise. It has been suggested that exercises requiring greater cognitive demand such as football, basketball and racquet sports, are protective against cognitive decline, compared to less cognitively demanding exercises such as swimming, cycling and running, however, research concerning exercise types are currently limited. The present study tested the hypothesis that elderly individuals who had been regularly playing tennis more than 10 years, would have greater cognitive function than those who had been …

An Investigation Into The Creation Of Goal Scoring Opportunities In Women’S International Football; And A Comparison To Men’S International Football, Mark Scanlan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Football is the most popular sport in the world, played in over two hundred countries and it is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), who host a World Cup every four year for both men and women. Women’s football is growing in terms of popularity, with this growth in popularity, research into the women’s game has begun to emerge. However, to date there is very little published research in women’s football that describes effective attacking strategies and the creation of goal scoring opportunities (GSO). Video of each match (52) from the Women’s World Cup (Canada 2015) was …