International Journal of Sport Studies for Health
Volume:1 Issue: 2, Apr 2018

To identify possible key factors that help in predicting success over time in futsal, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the talent identification process in Iranian futsal players.

74 subjects including 6 national team coaches, 54 junior coaches of Tehran premier league, 14 university professors participated the study. Data was collected in a standardized form as self-administered questionnaire. Friedman’s Test was used to analyze the data.

It was found that there was a significant difference between effective factors of talent identification in Iranian futsal players. Psychological factors, physical fitness and skill levels were of utmost importance in identifying the talents in futsal. In addition, it was shown that, anthropometric traits, skill levels, physical and motor fitness, social-psychological factors had a significant different priorities in the process of talent identification. The most important factors were respectively: fat percent (of 5 selected anthropometric indices), dribbling skills (of 7 selected skill-based indices), muscular endurance (of 8 selected physical fitness indices), fair play (of 5 selected sociological indices), and anxiety control (of 10 selected psychological indices).

Given the nature and requirements of the games, futsal players need the specific characteristics of psychological factors, physical fitness and skill levels which predominantly improve their overall play to achieve peak performance leading to success in various competitions.

Squat is known as a common and functional exercise for strengthening the lower limb muscles. However, researchers put it in the category of exercises with high risk of injury. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of three different techniques of squat on electromyographic response of trunk and lower limb muscles in athletes and non-athletes.

Twenty subjects including 10 amateurs and 10 professional athletes ranging from 22 to 27 years old participated in the study. Three different techniques of squat were analyzed using electromyography (EMG) assessment. EMG was recorded from vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, semitendinosus, biceps femoris, adductor longus, transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles during squatting. Independent-Samples t-test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analysis the data.

The finding indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups in all of the muscles activities (P ≤ 0.05). During lunge squat, the semitendinosus had more muscle activity in comparison with two other techniques (P = 0.023). However, the transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles revealed a less significant muscle activity during lunge squat (P = 0.001).

Given the results of this study indicating that lunge squat is more suitable for strengthening the semitendinosus muscle and the parallel and plie squat technique seem to be better suited to strengthen the transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles, it can be argued that these movements can be used to strengthen the hamstring and spinal muscles respectively.

Considering attention capacity along with cognitive and emotional problems of autistic children has been of utmost interest among researchers in recent years. Hence, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between executive functions, emotional recognition and sensory processing in autistic children.

The study was correlational. 82 children with autism spectrum disorder with ages ranging from 6 - 11 years were chosen based on convenience sampling in Tehran. The modified Benton face recognition test, short sensory profile and executive functions questionnaires (Brief) of parent form were administered in order to measure the variables. Pearson correlation and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data at a significance level of P ≤ 0.05.

The results suggested that there was a positive relationship between the executive functions and emotional recognition, while a negative relationship was found between the sensory processing and emotional recognition in autistic children. Regression analyses revealed that emotional recognition could be predicted through the components of executive functioning and sensory processing.

It was concluded that, emotional functions and sensory processing modification can help reducing emotional problems and emotional recognition of children with autism spectrum.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that using an external focus of attention significantly enhances motor skill performance. However, limited research has been carried out on increasing the distance of an external focus of attention. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to determine whether learning tracking task is affected by different attentional focuses.

A sample of 42 participants, after taking a pre-test, were divided randomly into three groups, including distal external group (DEG), proximal external group (PEG), and control group (COG). Proximal external focus group received instructions concerning near body movements; distal external focus group received instructions on the effect of movements in the environment, and control group did not receive any instructions. The participants practiced the tracking task in four blocks of four trials under their own condition of attention. Then, after 48 hours, they participated in a delay retention test under secondary task condition (auditory).

The results indicated that distal external focus group learned the tracking task better than proximal external focus group (P > 0.05), however, control group learned the tracking task less effectively than the other groups.

These findings suggest that increasing the distance of an external focus of attention improves tracking task learning, especially under secondary task, because secondary task condition enhances attention resources and shifts focus of attention to the external environment.

Exercise is non-medical treatment and low-risk strategy for people with hypertension. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of peripheral heart action (PHA) on body composition and blood pressure in women with high blood pressure.

Twenty women (age = 38 - 46 years, BMI = 21 - 31 kg/m2) who had high blood pressure (135/88 mm Hg) volunteered to participate. Ten were randomly selected and submitted to 32 PHA exercise sessions. The remaining 10 participants served as a non-exercise control group. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), skinfold, and 1RM tests of maximum strength were determined before and after 36 exercise sessions.

SBP and DBP were decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the PHA group but not in the non-exercise control group. Furthermore, the training group made significant improvements in test of one-repetition maximum and body composition compared to the control group (P < 0.05).

Resistance exercises using the PHA approach can be considered as a low-risk treatment for people with high blood pressure in order to improve blood pressure, increase muscular strength, and enhance overall fitness.

Postural deformities are disabling complications emerging at the early years of life. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to study the frequency of scoliosis condition in guidance schools of the city of Kashan and compare their anthropometric characteristics with the normal counterparts.

This was cross-sectional study including 604 females at guidance-school to determine the frequency of scoliosis in the city of Kashan. Adam's forward bend test was employed to identify the cases of disorder. Descriptive statistics and Independent t-test were used to analyze the data.

The result of examining 604 guidance school females showed that 108 (17.9%) female students had scoliosis deformity and 496 (82.1%) were normal. The result suggested that there was a significant difference between the height, weight, waist, waist/hip ratio (WHR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) of normal females compared to the scoliotic female student (P ≤ 0.05).

It was concluded that a considerable proportion of females were suffering from scoliosis deformity and their anthropometric factors were in poorer condition compared to normal individuals. Therefore, early identification of scoliosis may significantly improve the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation.