Sports Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of The Female Athlete Triad On Performance: Both Physiologically And Psychologically, Constance Darlington

Honors Theses

The female athlete triad is a condition that is composed of an interaction of three separate disorders: low energy intake due to the presence of an eating disorder or disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, such as, oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. Separately, each disorder can affect performance; however, when the disorders are combined, the consequences are magnified. The female triad has a profound effect on an athlete's performance both physiologically and psychologically. The female athlete triad can affect any female athlete; however, it is more prevalent among the athletes that specialize in aesthetic sports or sports that emphasize leanness, for example, …

Biochemical And Endocrine Responses To Impact And Collision During Elite Rugby League Match Play, Christopher Mclellan, Dale Lovell, Gregory Gass

Chris McLellan

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the prematch and short-term postmatch biochemical and endocrine responses to the intensity, number, and distribution of impacts associated with collisions during elite Rugby League match play. Seventeen elite male Rugby League players each provided blood and saliva samples 24 hours prematch, 30 minutes prematch, 30 minutes postmatch, and then at 24-hour intervals for a period of 5 days postmatch to determine plasma creatine kinase concentration ([CK]) and salivary cortisol concentration ([sCort]). The intensity, number, and distribution of impact forces experienced by players during match play were recorded using portable …

Do Tournaments Have Incentive Effects?, Ronald Ehrenberg, Michael Bognanno

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Much attention has been devoted to studying models of tournaments or situations in which an individual's payment depends only on his or her output or rank relative to that of other competitors. Academic interest derives from the fact that under certain sets of assumptions, tournaments have desirable normative properties because of the incentive structures they provide. Our paper uses nonexperimental data to test whether tournaments actually elicit effort responses. We focus on professional golf tournaments because information on the incentive structure (prize distribution) and measures of individual output (players' scores) are both available. We find strong support for the proposition …

Examination Of Preseason Hydration Strategy Of Ncaa Division I Men's Soccer Athletes, Lesley Willis

Master's Theses

Context: Dehydration can have negative effects on performance and mood during intense exercise.

Objective: To examine a soccer program to determine the effectiveness of their hydration protocol during preseason training.

Design: 9-day mixed methods study of preseason training sessions (97.3±21.3 min) and scrimmages (123±14.1 min) for men’s soccer athletes on an NCAA division I soccer team with post-hoc interviews of staff members.

Setting: Outdoor soccer field and indoor training facility.

Participants:21 male NCAA division I soccer athletes (age 20±1 years, height 187.5±2 cm).

Main Outcome Measures: Hydration (BML ,U_col­, USG, U_osmo), Mood (thirst, thermal, ESQ, POMS), …

Fueling Sport Performance: Increasing Awareness In Female Collegiate Vegetarian Athletes, Rachael Irene Marie Sofie

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Vegetarian diets, when well-planned out, have been shown to meet the needs of female athletes. Although the lifestyle provides many benefits, it does not come without risk. Women athletes, in particular, are of the greatest concern. Energy restriction is common among female collegiate athletes. Because athletes are already converting to and practicing a vegetarian lifestyle, it is necessary that athletes and related sport professionals become aware of the risks and benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. By increasing knowledge among related personnel, athletes can use vegetarianism as a performance enhancer. Outlining possible implications of the lifestyle will allow female collegiate athletes …

Effects Of Short-Term Training With Uncoupled Cranks In Trained Cyclists, Jack Burns, Jeremiah Peiffer, Chris Abbiss, Greig Watson, Angus Burnett, Paul Laursen

Research outputs 2012

Purpose: Manufacturers of uncoupled cycling cranks claim that their use will increase economy of motion and gross efficiency. Purportedly, this occurs by altering the muscle-recruitment patterns contributing to the resistive forces occurring during the recovery phase of the pedal stroke. Uncoupled cranks use an independentclutch design by which each leg cycles independently of the other (ie, the cranks are not fixed together). However, research examining the efficacy of training with uncoupled cranks is equivocal. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of short-term training with uncoupled cranks on the performance-related variables economy of motion, gross efficiency, maximal …

A Functional Agility Short-Term Fatigue Protocol Changes Lower Extremity Mechanics, Nelson Cortes, David Quammen, Shawn Lucci, Eric Greska, James Onate

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a functional agility fatigue protocol on lower extremity biomechanics between two unanticipated tasks (stop-jump and sidestep). The subjects consisted of fifteen female collegiate soccer athletes (19 ± 0.7 years, 1.67 ± 0.1 m, 61.7± 8 kg) free of lower extremity injury. Participants performed five trials of stop-jump and sidestep tasks. A functional short-term agility protocol was performed, and immediately following participants repeated the unanticipated running tasks. Lower extremity kinematic and kinetic values were obtained pre and post fatigue. Repeated measures analyses of variance were conducted for each dependent variable …

A Kinanthropometric Analysis Of Accurate And Inaccurate Kickers: Implications For Kicking Accuracy In Australian Football, Nicolas H. Hart

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A paucity of research exists investigating the potential relationship between the technical and temporal strategy of accurate and inaccurate kickers in response to physical parameters modifiable by athletic conditioning. While recent studies have produced improvements in performance when kicking for distance following structured resistance training interventions, no studies have examined the influence of such interventions on the enhancement of kicking accuracy. It was therefore the purpose of this thesis to extend scientific understanding of those mechanisms which might underpin accurate kicking performances through examining kinanthropometric, strength and muscularity profiles of accurate and inaccurate kickers in Australian Football using a series …