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, …

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, …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Performance Attributes Of Talented Schoolboy Australian Rules Football Players, Philip R. Badock

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between selected psychological characteristics and performance of a group of talented young Australian Rules football players. The study group consisted of 50 of the best identified schoolboy 15 year old Australian Rules football players in Western Australia. From this group 25 boys were selected to represent Western Australia at the Australian School Sports Council National Football Championships. The selected psychological characteristics were competitive anxiety (trait and state), competitive sport orientation (competitiveness, win and goal orientation) and sport confidence (trait and state). Performance was measured, first, by the selection or non …