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The effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to examine the effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical markers of talent identification in 11- to 14-year-old academy soccer players. Using a repeated measures design, 92 players were bio-banded using percentage of estimated adult stature attainment (week 1), maturity-offset (week 2) and a mixed-maturity method (week 3). All players contested five maturity (mis)matched small-sided games with technical and tactical variables measured. Data were analysed using a series of Bayesian hierarchical models, fitted with different response distributions and different random and fixed effect structures. Despite differences during maturity-matched bio-banding for post-peak height velocity players, very few tactical differences were evident during the remaining maturity-matched and mis-matched fixtures for both banding methods. In fact, the results showed no consistent differences across both banding methods for practitioner and video analysis-derived technical performance characteristics during maturity matched and mis-matched fixtures. Both bio-banding methods explained similar levels of variance across the measured variables. Maturity-matched bio-banding had some effect on both technical and tactical characteristics of players during maturity-matched bio-banded formats. That said, this trend remained during maturity mis-matched bio-banded formats which restricts the conclusions that can be made regarding the effectiveness of bio-banding to manipulate technical and tactical measures in academy soccer players
Imperial Collapse and Christianization in Patristic Scholarship during the Final Decades of Colonial Algeria, 1930–1962
Get PDFThe work of H.-I. Marrou is important in historiographic accounts of the development of patristic studies and late antiquity. From the 1930s onwards, Marrou and his peers made use of material evidence from North Africa produced by the rapidly professionalizing discipline of archaeology. Archaeological engagement with the past was determined by the wider colonial context in which these excavations took place and this shaped the representation of late ancient Christianity, particularly the life and work of Augustine of Hippo. At the same time, however, Augustine’s work gave Marrou the means to challenge France’s prosecution of the Algerian War
Does Resisted Sled Towing Improve the Physical Qualities of Elite Youth Soccer Players of Differing Maturity Status?
Get PDFPurpose: Sled towing has been shown to be an effective method to enhance the physical qualities in youth athletes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a 6-week sled towing intervention on muscular strength, speed and power in elite youth soccer players of differing maturity status.
Method: Seventy-three male elite youth soccer players aged 12–18 years (Pre-Peak Height Velocity [PHV] n=25; Circa-PHV n=24; Post-PHV n=24) participated in this study from one professional soccer academy. Sprint assessments (10 and 30 m), countermovement jump and isometric mid-thigh pull were undertaken before (T1) and after (T2) a 6-week intervention. The training intervention consisted of 6 weeks (2 x per week, 10 sprints over 20 m distance) of resisted sled towing (linear progression 10 to 30% of body mass) during the competitive season. Bayesian regression models analysed differences between T1 and T2 within each maturity group.
Results: There were minimal changes in strength, speed and power (p=0.35-0.80) for each maturity group across the 6-week intervention. Where there were changes with greater certainty, they are unlikely to represent real effect due to higher regression to the mean (RTM).
Conclusion: It appears that a 6-week sled towing training programme with loadings of 10-30% body mass only maintains physical qualities in elite youth soccer players Pre-, Circa-, and Post-PHV. Further research is required to determine the effectiveness of this training method in long-term athletic development programmes
Treaty-text Loyalists’ Burden with Subsequent State Practice
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The role of subsequent state practice in the procedural law of treaties, and in the determination of consent in the implementation of treaties have become the subject of much scholarly debate in recent times. The UN International Law Commission has devoted copious amounts of study time into these issues under the distinguished guidance of Georg Nolte as Special Rapporteur. Ph.D. theses and research monographs, journal articles and commentaries have appeared on the matter, but the debate persists. At one end of this debate are treaty-text loyalists that reject the potential of subsequent state practice to modify what they regard as ‘solemn oaths’ taken by states when they conclude and adopt a treaty. That ‘temporal declaration of consent’ by states to be bound by a treaty regime is for them sacrosanct. At the other end are analytical jurisprudence scholars who appear to insist upon a purpose test approach to the matter. This article evaluates treaty-text loyalists’ arguments under current state practice on treaty implementation across a number of disciplines. It shows that the view that ‘temporal consent’ supremely prohibits the modification of treaties through subsequent state practice is exaggerated. Moreover, the ‘solemn oaths’ perception of treaties is not supported by recent examples of treaty implementation
Progression from youth to professional soccer: A longitudinal study of successful and unsuccessful academy graduates
Get PDFTo optimise use of available resources, professional academies develop strategies to assess, monitor, and evaluate players as they progress through adolescence towards adulthood. However, few published reports exist using longitudinal study designs to examine performance throughout adolescence, and the transition from youth to professional soccer. We examined differences in the age of player recruitment alongside longitudinal performance differences on field-based fitness tests of successful vs. unsuccessful graduates across the entire age spectrum recruited by a professional soccer academy. Altogether, 537 youth soccer players volunteered to participate. We recorded the age of recruitment, biannual fitness test performance, and subsequent success in attaining a senior professional contract at the club across a period of 12 years. Only 53 (10%) of players were successful in obtaining a professional contract, with 68% of players who became professional being recruited at 12 years of age or older. Individuals recruited at an earlier age did not display a higher probability of success in attaining a professional contract. Bayesian regression models reported a consistent interaction between age and group for data on all performance measures. Moreover, “successful” academy graduates only physically outperformed their “unsuccessful” counterparts from age ~13-14 years onward, with either no differences in performance, or, performance on physical fitness tests favouring “unsuccessful” players prior to this age. Findings suggest that high achievers during childhood and early-adolescence may not develop into successful senior professionals, raising concerns about the predictive utility of talent identification models
Predictors of children’s physical activity in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Get PDFThe physical activity (PA) of young children is critical to their future activity, health and development, however, little is known about how the organisation of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) settings impacts upon children’s PA. This study aimed to measure the PA of children in Nursery and Reception classes and to explore their PA according to learning context. Participants were 191 EYFS children (boys =89; girls 102; Mean age M = 4.6, SD = 0.7 years) from six schools in the West Midlands, UK. Systematic observation was used to record children’s PA, learning context, adult interaction and location throughout the EYFS day. A total of 8740 observed intervals occurred. Children spent two thirds of their time being stationary (65.8% and 69.8% for Nursery and Reception respectively). Results of beta regression revealed the strongest predictors of vigorous PA (VPA) to be the learning contexts of ‘role play’, ‘physical’, ‘construction’ and being ‘outside’. Adult interaction had a negative association with moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), and girls have 16.36% lower odds of engaging in VPA and 19.4% higher odds of engaging in stationary behaviour than boys. In order to support children’s learning and development, teaching strategies and the organisation of the EYFS environment should be adapted to increase children’s, especially girls’, active learning and to reduce sedentary time
Barriers to Physical Activity: A Comparison of Afghans Living in the UK and Afghanistan
Get PDFIt is important to understand barriers to Physical Activity (PA), particularly
for under researched populations. While a lack of PA has been acknowledged
as an important issue for those living in Afghanistan, there have been no published
studies exploring barriers to PA within this population. Therefore, the
purpose of this study was to explore barriers to PA for Afghans and how
these differ depending on where they reside: UK or Afghanistan. 930 participants,
578 (291 males; 287 females) were recruited from Afghanistan and 352
(267 males; 85 females) from the UK. A culturally nuanced questionnaire exploring
barriers to PA was developed and used to collect data via an online
survey software programme. Bayesian ordinal models explored differences
between population groups, with results suggesting some barriers are shared
across populations but others more pertinent for a particular group. Lack of
time and being too tired were barriers for both populations, but were rated
higher by those living in Afghanistan; as was a lack of confidence and being
uncomfortable with exercise clothing. Afghan females perceived a lack of single-
sex facilities, not being able to participate in PA with males, and having to
be fully covered outside of the home as important barriers to their PA, but
these were more of a barrier for those residing in the UK. The findings highligh
The Relationship between Training Load Measures and Next-Day Well-Being in Rugby Union Players
Get PDFThe aim of this study is to identify the relationship between different internal and external load measures and next day subjective wellbeing. With institutional ethics approval, ten academy rugby union players (Five forwards, and five backs) with a local National League One club agreed to participate in the study (aged; 18.4 ± 1.0 years, height; 181.3 ± 5.9 cm, body mass 85.9 ± 13.0 kg, VO2max 56.2 ± 6.8 mL·kg−1·min−1). Before the 6-week in-season data collection period, participants completed an incremental treadmill test to determine lactate thresholds at 2 mmol·L−1 (LT) and 4 mmol·L−1 and the heart rate blood lactate (HR-BLa) profile for individualized training impulse (iTRIMP) calculations. Internal training load was quantified using Banister’s TRIMP, Edward’s TRIMP, Lucia’s TRIMP, individualised TRIMP and session-RPE. External training load was reported using total distance, PlayerLoadTM, high-speed distances (HSD) > 18 km∙h−1 and >15 km∙h−1, and individualized high-speed distance (iHSD) based on each player’s velocity at OBLA. On arrival and prior to all training sessions players completed a well-being questionnaire (WB). Bayesian linear mixed model analysis identified that a range of internal and external load measures explained between 30% and 37% of next-day total wellbeing and between 65% and 67% of next-day perceived stress. All other internal and external load measures demonstrated very weak to moderate relationships (R2 = 0.08 to 0.39) with all other wellbeing components. Internal sRPE, iTRIMP and bTRIMP loads alongside external HSD loads provide coaches with the most practical measures to influence players’ perceived wellbeing
Discerning excellence from mediocrity in swimming: new insights using Bayesian quantile regression
Get PDFPrevious research has captured point estimates for population means of somatic variables associated with swimming speed across strokes, but have not determined if predictors of swimming speed operate the same at the upper tails of the distribution (τ =0.9) as they do at the median levels (τ =0.5) and lower levels (τ =0.1). Method: Three hundred sixty-three competitive-level swimmers (male [n=202]; female [n=161]) participated in the study. To identify key somatic variables associated with 100-m swimming across and between strokes controlling for age, we used a Bayesian allometric quantile regression model, refined using Bayes Factors and Leave-one-out cross validation. Results: High probabilities (>99%) were found for arm-span, seated-height and shoulder-breadth being the strongest somatic predictors across strokes. For individual strokes, Bayesian quantile regression demonstrated that the relative importance of predictors differs across quantiles. For swimmers in the 0.9 quartile, shoulder-breadth is a more important than height for front-crawl, wide shoulders are important for breaststroke swimmers but can be detrimental when combined with narrow hips, seated-height and hip-width are important for backstroke swimming speed, and calf girth for butterfly. Conclusion: These results highlight the importance of considering key somatic variables for talent identification in swimming and ensure young swimmers focus on strokes compatible with their somatic structure. The most important new insight is that predictors differ for the best swimmers compared to average or poorer swimmers. This has implications beyond swimming, pointing to the importance of considering the upper tails of distributions in performance and talent identification contexts
Perspective-taking and social competence in adults
Get PDFTheory of mind (ToM) research assumes an idealized ability in adults (Begeer et al., 2010). Links between ToM and social skills are often presupposed and some researchers argue that claims about the relationship between the two are often broad and unjustified (Hughes & Leekam, 2004; Liddle & Nettle, 2006). Perspective-taking (PT) has been heavily implicated in social cognition (Ruby & Decety, 2004) and is commonly placed under the title of ToM (Baron-Cohen, 2000). However, it is suggested that ToM and PT are not the same skills and may in fact be two distinct forms of social cognition (Cutting & Dunn, 1999). The current study explored the relationship between PT and social skills within a typically developed adult population. Eighty participants completed the Social Skills Inventory (SSI, Riggio & Carney, 2003) in addition to a computerised PT task. Greater PT ability was associated with greater social ability. Expressivity and control scores were predicted by PT ability, indicating that greater PT ability is predictive of greater control skills and expressivity skills in individuals and vice versa. Greater emotional intelligence has been associated with superior PT ability and higher expressivity in individuals (Goleman, 1995; Schutte et al., 2001). We suggest that emotional intelligence could be contributing to the relationship between expressivity and PT. Additionally, as both control behaviors and PT abilities place a demand on cognitive resources (Richards & Gross, 2000; Surtees et al., 2016), we argue that the same executive processes are utilized in both abilities