1,722,592 research outputs found
Impact of scientific production of Italian scientists in exercises and sport sciences by measuring the author-weighted h-index
Full text linkThis study aimed to measure the consistency of the impact of scientific production, weighted by authorship, of Italian scientists in two academic disciplines (AD) of Exercise and Sports Sciences (ESS) from 2017 to 2022, with a specific focus on the subfield "Sport Sciences", using topic-specific keywords. Through the Scopus database, the scientific products of Italian ESS scientists associated with each keyword were identified. Subsequently, total and relative metric parameters from 2017 to 2022 were collected, including the total and relative number of citations. To evaluate the impact of the publications, the total and relative h-index were calculated, and weighted by considering different categories of authorship. Specific weights were attributed to each category: single author, first author, last author and co-author, following the classifications already in use on Scopus for each author. The trends of total and relative metrics, including citations and h-index, from 2017 to 2022 were analyzed using Spearman's correlation. Non-parametric linear regression analysis was used for the predictive analysis of these trends. Among the 83 identified ESS scientists, a detailed analysis revealed that 31.3% were full professors, 42.1% associate professors, and 26.6% researchers. Less than half of these scientists were directly affiliated with ESS. Despite minority representation, significant positive correlations emerge between total and relative citations from 2017 to 2022 (r = 0.687) and between the weighted total h-index and the weighted relative h-index (r = 0.965). Significant trends emerge in the metric parameters of the same scientists when analyzed separately by AD. The regression results indicate that variations in total citations and the weighted total and relative h-index can predict or explain the observed changes in 2017-2022 (p < 0.05). This result suggests that the production and impact of research in the field of ESS follow the same general trend as production and impact in the specific subfield
The effectiveness of the ecological-dynamic approach in teaching football to young players
No full textThis study aims to open a critical scenario on the current reference paradigm for teaching technical skills in football and define a methodological perspective closer to the theoretical reference framework of the ecological-dynamic approach. Thirty Under-14 amateur football players were divided into two groups. The experimental group (EXP; n = 12) performed a training protocol based on the framework of the ecological-dynamic approach. The control group (CON; n = 12) performed conventional training sessions based on the cognitive or prescriptive approach framework. The study consisted of a pre-test, two months of training intervention and a post-test. The players’ performance assessment was carried out with objectified observation sheets. The players in teams matched in an organised manner (according to rank scores) were evaluated in two games: competitors from the experimental groups against competitors from the control groups. Selected individual actions were analysed (goal shots, leading the ball, dribbling/feints, steals from the opponent) and actions in cooperation with a partner (passes, receptions, assuming position). Effective and ineffective measures were taken into account, which provided a basis for calculating reliability ratios. The experimental group showed significant improvement in all observation variables except leading the ball and receptions variables (P> 0.05). The CON group did not show significant improvement in any of the variables. A significant moment × group interaction was found in Goal Shot (P=0.04), Passes (P= 0.02) and Assuming position (P= 0.04); [d (95%CI) = 0.16 (-0.8; 0.41); 0.21 (0.002; 0.46) and 0.17 (0.02;0.42) respectively]. These results suggest that incorporating the ecological-dynamic approach as a paradigm into a training program for football players may positively impact their performance efficiency
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