Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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?

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise And Cognition In Children With Typical Development And Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Beron Wei Zhong Tan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project sought to investigate the relationship between physical exercise and cognition in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. To achieve this aim, three approaches were undertaken to explore the exercise and cognition relationship. The first approach sought to understand the efficacy of exercise interventions on cognition in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The second approach was to understand the effectiveness of an exercise activity when compared to a cognitively-engaging tablet game activity on measures of implicit learning and attention in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. The third approach was to investigate if psychophysiological measures could …

Accuracy In The Badminton Short Serve: A Methodological And Kinematic Study, Shayne Marc Vial

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In sports, accuracy is an essential component of actions such passing, shooting, and aiming. Executing a movement or action that requires a high degree of accuracy is a critical determinant of success in many individual and team sports. Each sport has different methods for evaluating accuracy, however an overarching goal is to determine whether an object hits its target, or assess the distance by which it misses. However, in some sports accuracy is not readily measureable because an object might not reach a target, i.e. the object is intercepted, or it collides with another object or a person, or an …

The Development Of An Objective Multi-Dimensional Approach To Talent Identification In Junior Australian Football, Carl T C Woods

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Talent identification (TID) is a pertinent component of the sports science discipline given the considerable influence it may have within the pursuit of excellence. Thus, research has attempted to identify the determinants of a talented performance through the use of objective testing procedures. However, many of these ‘traditional’ approaches have been operationalised by mono-dimensional objective physical performance tests that do not inherently account for the multi-dimensional requisites of game-play, particularly within a team sporting context. This is problematic when attempting to identify talent, as a successful performance in team sports is often the combination of physical, technical and tactical elements. …

Teachers' Experiences With Disengagement In Physical Education Classes At Secondary School Level In The Perth Metropolitan Area, Nuno Matos Oliveira

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Students’ disengagement from school has been one of the major concerns in educational research (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). According to researchers (Alexander et al., 1997; Finn & National Center for Education Statistics, 1993; Finn & Rock, 1997; Finn & Voelkl, 1993; Fredricks & Blumenfeld et al., 2004) the more disengaged the students are, the more likely they will be to fail academically and ultimately drop out. Although researchers have already identified several risk factors that can influence students’ engagement (Fulton, 2007; Lee & Burkam, 2003; Newmann, 1992), very few studies have explored teachers’ views of this educational issue. The …

An Investigation Of Technique And Equipment Factors Associated With Clubhead Speed In Golf, Christopher Joyce

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

If golfers achieve long hitting distances whilst maintaining their accuracy they will gain a competitive advantage. To increase hitting distance, faster clubhead speed is required and this can potentially be achieved through a number of factors. Firstly, anthropometric factors such as height and physical factors such as trunk rotational power have been previously considered to be of importance. However, biomechanical factors such as; the X-factor (separation of the trunk-pelvis alignment when viewed in the transverse plane), have been a major focus of recent research. Further, the interaction of the golfer with the implement they hit with i.e. the golf club …

The Effect Of Motivation, Social Support, Stress And Resilience On The Development Of Burnout Symptoms In Elite Athletes, Blythe Gooden

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this review was to provide an overall view of some of the identified determinants of burnout when it occurs in elite athletes. A total of 66 published articles were used to develop an understanding of burnout, its contributors and the combined effects of the contributors. An explanation of the psychological concept of burnout is discussed, followed by a discussion of the implications of burnout in athletes. Current literature in the area is reviewed followed by an overview of three of the identified determinants of athletic burnout: 1. Stress based on theoretic concepts developed by Lazarus and Folkman …

From Junior To Senior Sport: Do Athletes Differ In Their Transitional Experiences?, Glen Ewen

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether athletes at the beginning (BTG) of their transition from junior to senior sport, had different transitional experiences to those in the middle (MTG). One hundred and forty eight male and female elite athletes aged between 14 and 18 years, from a variety of sports in both city and country locations of Western Australia, were surveyed. Two test instruments were used; the newly developed Swedish, Transitional Monitoring Survey (TMS), and the Athletic Identity Measurement Scales (AIMS). Univariate descriptive statistics, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and reliability measures were used to analyse …

A Comparative Study Of National Government Elite Sport Systems In Australia And Taiwan: A Model For Olympic Success, Hui-Yuan M. Tang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study was prompted by the stagnation facing the Taiwanese Government in promoting elite sport and pursuing sporting achievement at the Olympic Games. The main purpose of the study was to explore and compare the national government elite sports systems (NGESS) of Australia and Taiwan and make recommendations for Taiwan to improve its elite sports development and performances at future Olympics. To accomplish this purpose, the present study examined the similarities and differences between Australia and Taiwan in terms of stakeholders' viewpoints on the definition of Olympic success; the profiles of the current national government elite sport agencies; the mechanisms …

The Importance Of Gross Motor Coordination In Adolescent Boys Self-Perceptions And Level Of Physical Activity, Nick Sloan

Theses : Honours

To date there has been limited research addressing the psychosocial consequences of poor coordination in Australian adolescent boys. The implications of failing to meet the expected physical standards of their peers, teachers and parents, can result in low self-esteem and subsequent withdrawal from participation (Lintunen, 1995). According to Harter's (1981) Theory of Competence Motivation, low motor competence is likely to lead to low self-perceptions in the athletic domain. Research with children (Rose, Larkin & Berger, 1997) has demonstrated that poor coordination is more pervasive, influencing many aspects of children's self-esteem. However limited research has addressed the pervasiveness of poor motor …

'Reading The Play' Situational Awareness And Performance Of Australian Football League Players, Craig Harms

Theses : Honours

Many high-performing Australian Football (AF) players appear to be better at 'reading the play' than other AF players. One cognitive capacity that appears to be similar in nature to 'reading the play', and that has been associated with the performance of elite pilots, is Situational Awareness (SA). The principal focus of this study was to examine the extent to which individual differences in an AF -specific measure of SA and the PC-based WOMBAT^TM test of SA were associated with individual differences in AF player performance, within the context of physiological and psychomotor capacities, using Multiple Regression Analysis. The results …

Girls Playing Netball : Factors Influencing Participation In Community Sport During A Transition Phase, Suzanne Sharp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study describes the influences on continued sporting participation in netball for a group of adolescent girls as they make the transition from primary to secondary school and between sub-junior and junior sporting structures. A qualitative research design using one to one and semi structured focus group interviews was applied. The research describes how these meanings and identities both influence decisions about ongoing sporting participation and are influenced by situations, events and people as the participants move from primary to secondary school. Individual and focus group interview and survey data, indicate that for this group of young adolescent girls a …

Managing Mountain Bike Impacts In The South West Of Western Australia : Combining Biophysical Impact Studies With Rider Preferences For Better Trail Design, Ute Goeft

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines the environmental impacts of mountain bikes on trails in the southwest of Western Australia and the preferences, perceptions, trail use and demographics of mountain bike riders in that region. This information is important for resource managers and trail developers to ensure that the trails that are provided and planned for mountain bike use in the region are environmentally appropriate and acceptable to users. The environmental impacts were examined through biophysical studies, which investigated soil loss, soil compaction and vegetation damage on and adjacent to mountain bike trails over a period of six months. A mountain bike racing …

Urban Aboriginal Children In Sport: Experiences, Perceptions And Sense Of Self, Cheryl S. Kickett-Tucker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to describe the sense of self for a group of urban Western Australian Aboriginal children through analysing their perspectives and experiences in school sport and physical education. A symbolic interaction inquiry paradigm complemented with qualitative data collection methods was utilised. Informal conversational interviews and nonparticipant observations were employed. Interviews were conducted with participants and those whom they reported as their significant others. Participants were also observed in the school sport setting during physical education classes and intra and inter school sport competitions. Eight Western Australian Aboriginal children who resided in an urban suburb of …

Team Cohesion, Performance Outcome And Player Satisfaction In State League Netball, Angelique Jane Wilson

Theses : Honours

Team cohesion repeatedly has been emphasised as important in the development of performance success. This research examined the importance of team cohesion as a multidimensional construct through three inter-related studies with elite netball players. The first study examined differences between successful and unsuccessful teams on (a) overall team cohesion. (b) overall task cohesion including attraction to group-task (ATG-T) and group integration-task (GI-T) components, and (c) social cohesion including attraction to group-social (ATG-S ), and group integration-social (GI-S) components. The second study examined the multidimensional nature of cohesion in relation to player satisfaction. Finally, study investigated the relationship between pcrfom1ancc outcome …

Factors Influencing Continuation And Withdrawal From Coaching Youth Football In Metropolitan Western Australia, James T. K. Milne

Theses : Honours

It is inevitable that at some stage of his career. a coach will withdraw. This qualitative study explored the various reasons why coaches of youth football (between the ages of 13 and 17 years) choose to continue or withdraw their involvement with the sport. It was the first part of a two phase larger study into this topic involving: (a) in depth interviews with current and former youth football coaches: and (b) the uses of themes from the interview data to develop a questionnaire for distribution to a larger sample of youth football coaches at a later stage. Perceptions and …

The Relationship Between Enjoyment And Ongoing Participation In A Grade Dancesport, Diana Jonas-Dwyer

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

To date no studies have considered enjoyment in Dancesport. Scanlan, Stein and Ravizza, (1989a, 1989b & 1991) have extensively studied enjoyment and recommended further studies be conducted in individual sports. Past research has tended to identity enjoyment as a one off momentary experience termed 'peak performance' (Cohn, 1991) and 'flow' (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Kimiecik & Stein, 1992). Many thousands of people participate in Dancesport, the competitive arm of ballroom dancing, both nationally and internationally. Determining the predictors of enjoyment for Dancesport could provide a base upon which to plan activity programs to increase lifelong participation and health. A qualitative approach was …

A Comparison Of Participation Motives Of Competitive And Non-Competitive Youth Age Swimmers, Shane T. Harris

Theses : Honours

Understanding the participation motives of youth athletes is vital if their needs are to be met and their sport involvement enhanced. The purpose of this study was to examine the participation motives of a squad of competitive and non-competitive, youth-age, male and female swimmers. A qualitative interview technique was employed to identify the participation motives of 12 youth-age swimmers. The interview schedule was based on theories describing participation motivation, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Data was deductively analysed, with statements classified into the motivation categories described by Passer (1981). Consistent with previous studies on participation motives in youth sport, the …

A Comparison Of Disabled And Able-Bodied Athletes In Wheelchair Basketball, Kym Hoonhout

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons for participation and the benefits that the able-bodied and disabled subjects obtain from participation in the integrated sport of wheelchair basketball. A qualitative interview technique was employed to explore the athletes decision to participate and their reactions to the sport. Data was inductively analysed into categories which focused on the research questions. Consistent with other studies the subjects cited several reasons for participation with fun and enjoyment the most common response and challenge and the socialisation ranking next The disabled were more competitive with winning being an important reason for …

Non-Selection As A Factor Contributing To Retirement From Australian Sport, Maree B. Fish

Theses : Honours

Retirement from sport is inevitable and will occur at some stage in every athlete's career. Retirement may be voluntary or involuntary and signifies a lifestyle change that may be a major impact for many athletes. Involuntary retirement may occur in relation to chronological ageing, injury or non-selection. This study undertook an in-depth examination of one type of involuntary exit from sport, that of non-selection. The purpose of this study was to explore, in-depth, the reactions and experiences of Australian athletes who were subject to non-selection from their sport. Supporting this main investigation were three sub questions which focused on factors …

Bone Density And Muscle Development Problems In Female Lightweight Rowers Trying To Make-Weight, Carmel A. Shipway

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to determine whether high intensity exercise, combined with restriction of diet, is counter-productive to the normal health and development of the competitor. The study investigated the effects of high intensity exercise on body composition (fat, muscle and bone); bone density; and physical performance (aerobic capacity, rowing performance, quadricep strength, power and fatiguability) in twelve lightweight female rowers (age range 17- 25yrs), training for the State and National lightweight championships. Six of the rowers completed the testing, which consisted of test1 (pre-training) and test2 (post-training) after a 12 weeks training regime.

Skinfold measurements were lower …