Annals of Applied Sport Science
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Summer 2023

The importance of physical activity (PA) for maintaining and improving health status increases with each passing day.

The present study aimed to examine the effects of PA and nutritional education programs applied to 12th-grade students on body mass index (BMI), PA level, and eating habits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One hundred fifty-nine 12th grade students were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG) (n=87, 42 male and 45 female) and control group (CG) (n=72, 39 male and 33 female). At first, physical characteristics, PA level, and eating habit questionnaires were completed by students. Then, EG received a single session face-to-face PA and healthy nutrition-themed programs. After an 8-week follow-up, questionnaires were completed by students again. Also, the number of daily steps of EG was recorded during the 8-week follow-up. Differences between pre and post-BMI, PA level, and eating habits of the groups were analyzed using the mixed model ANOVA test.

Results showed that educational programs had a positive effect on BMI, PA level, and eating habits of EG (p<.05). There was no improvement in CG (p>0.05). Qualitative findings of EG revealed that the educational program is a beneficial process not only for a short period but also for a lifelong learning structure.

In conclusion, PA and healthy nutrition-themed educations are effective methods to improve youths’ awareness to be more active and healthier in their daily life, including during the pandemic processes.

Possession of motor skills from an early age by interacting with the outdoor environment has a long-term effect on physical activity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a restriction to interacting directly with it especially kindergarten students when doing online learning or learning from home due to pandemic health measures. There is a series of literature that reviews the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several aspects of human life, but a lack of attention remains on the impact of the disease on motor skills development for kindergarten students.

To reveal the extent to which the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the motor skills of these kids. Methods. The method used in this research is described with a quantitative approach. 80 kindergarten students were included in the sample, consisting of 45 boys and 35 girl students in the city of Padang, Indonesia with an age range of 4 to 5 years. A motor skills test was conducted using TGMD-2.

After dealing with all data, findings showcased that the level of motor skills of these students was reduced during the pandemic when compared to before the outbreak. While before the pandemic, such a level of motor skills was in the average category whereas during the pandemic it shifted to the poor category.

This study provides the actual state of the impact of the pandemic COVID-19 on kindergarten students on their motor skills development.

Basketball has become one of the most popular sports in the world because it is an intermittent team sport with frequent transitions between activities performed at low, medium, and high intensity.

The aim of this research was to identify the effects of vibration training on certain physical and skill variables of basketball players at King Faisal University.

The researchers used the experimental method on a sample of 20 basketball players from King Faisal University. All of them were male volunteers. They were randomly divided into two groups, one experimental and the other controlling, consisting of 12 players. In the research variables, the proposed vibration training program was applied for ten weeks at the rate of three weekly training units for 30 - 45 minutes in each training unit of the group experimental, excluding the control. The group, who trained traditionally. The follow-up measurement was performed in the control and experimental groups in the same type of cardiac measurement.

The most important results were that the proposed training program positively influenced the physical variables and skill variables, where the percentage of the physical variables ranged between (5% to 42%) and an improvement in the skill variables under study, where the percentage ranged between (21% to 81%). In the percentage of improvement between the experimental and control group in the physical and skill variables under study, where the differences in the percentage of improvement of the physical variables ranged between (3% to 27%) and improvement in the skill variables under research, where the percentage ranged between (9% to 36%) in favor of the experimental group (p<0.001).

The researchers concluded from the findings that vibration training should be included in the players' training program components as a basis for developing fitness and basketball skills, as it has positive effects on fitness and performance.

  Kinesiotape (K-tape) application can attenuate postural malalignment. However, the effects of K-tape on the changes in the respiratory system in postural problems remain unclear. Objectives. This study investigated the effects of 6-week functional correction with the K-tape on the forward shoulder posture (FSP) and respiratory function.

  A randomized clinical trial was performed in the study. Thirty-one young female volunteers with FSP, aged 18 to 25, were randomly divided into control (n = 16) and intervention groups, the latter receiving two parts of 50% tension K-tape for each side of the shoulder for six weeks to decrease posture misalignment (n = 15). Then, the participants were subjected to an evaluation of the pectoral muscle length using a vernier caliper, chest expansion using a measuring tape, and respiratory muscle strength using a respiratory pressure meter. A two-way ANOVA was used to compare the differences within and between the two groups.

After six weeks of intervention, the K-tape group showed significant improvement in shoulder alignment (p = 0.001) and an increase in pectoralis minor index (PMI) (p = 0.019) compared to baseline and those in the control group. The magnitude of the chest expansion meant higher mobility (p < 0.001) and maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) (p = 0.026) in the K-tape group compared to baseline.

The 6-week postural K-taping can improve the PMI and attenuate the FSP, with the effects remaining for two weeks. Furthermore, correcting shoulder posture with the 50% tension K-tape can enhance the malaligned shoulder’s chest expansion and inspiratory muscle strength.

Affective responses (pleasure or displeasure feelings) to high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) are dependent on the intensity of the work-interval phases, but current evidence is limited to the prescribed-based HIIE protocol (P-HIIE) in overweight and obese adults. The influence of the self-paced HIIE protocol (S-HIIE) on perceptual responses (affective, enjoyment, and perceived exertion) is currently unclear.

This study examined perceptual responses to S-HIIE and P-HIIE in adults overweight and with obesity.

Twenty-four overweight and obese men and women (8 men and 16 women; mean ± SD: age = 26.7 ± 0.3 years; body mass index= 26.9 ± 3.7 kg.m-2) were randomized to P-HIIE (n=12; 6×1-min work-intervals at 90% of maximal aerobic speed) or S-HIIE (n=12; 6×1-min work-intervals at self-paced intensity) groups. P-HIIE and S-HIIE work intervals were separated by 75 s recovery. Perceptual responses were recorded before (affective), during (affective and perceived exertion), and after (enjoyment) all conditions.

S-HIIE elicited greater affect responses across all work intervals compared to P-HIIE (all P < 0.03, all effect size (ES) > 0.66), but no post-enjoyment differences were evident in both conditions (P=0.42, ES=0.40). Perceived exertion was significantly greater during P-HIIE compared to S-HIIE at work intervals 1 to 3 (all P < 0.04, all ES > 0.58).

Despite a similar post-enjoyment in both HIIE conditions, S-HIIE could offer superiority to the P-HIIE, which brings significantly greater affective responses for the entire work interval phase, suggesting the viability of this protocol for health strategy promotion in overweight and obese adults.

Training in any sport aims to maximize athletes’ physical capacity.

This study aimed to determine the effects of two training programs, functional training, and weight training, on the physical capacity of university baseball players.

The participants included 10 university baseball players, divided into the functional training group (FTG, n=5) and the weight training group (WTG, n=5). The training was performed for 1 hour per session, three sessions per week, for 6 weeks. The dependent variables related to the two groups’ physical fitness, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, were measured before training and 6 weeks after training.

The FTG showed significant improvements in right-hand grip strength and plank, and the WTG showed significant improvements in right-hand grip strength, left-hand grip strength, and plank. The FTG showed a significant improvement in side-step, and the WTG showed significant improvements in sit-up and side-step. For anaerobic capacity, the FTG showed significant improvements in pitching and batting speeds, and the WTG showed a significant improvement in batting speed.

Both training programs led to significant improvements in the physical factors associated with increased athletic performance in baseball players, and the two programs’ effects were complementary. Thus, training programs targeting specific areas that require improvement will increase baseball players’ performance.

Although the educational program for teaching basketball shooting has been discussed, the mental visualization of teaching shooting skills for beginners has not been discussed yet.

The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of mental visualization in teaching some types of basketball shooting skills.

The experimental method was chosen for its suitability for the nature of the research problem. The sample consisted of thirty (12-13-year-old) beginner players divided into two groups: experimental and control. The educational curriculum consists of twelve educational units distributed over six weeks.

The results showed a positive effect of the educational program in teaching some types of shooting but there were statistically significant differences between the two groups under study and in favor of the experimental group.

The need to use mental visualization during educational units, which has an effective impact in teaching some types of shooting in basketball, as well as conducting research and studies similar to the current study on the skills and other games, and circulating the findings to the relevant union, as well as training courses and workshops for trainers in the basketball game on mental visualization and its effect on sports training.

Archery is a precision sport that requires high levels of consistency and reproducibility in the shooting movement to achieve the highest score.

This study aimed to compare and correlate the shooting time characteristics and shooting posture on the archery shooting performance of high- and low-performance archers.

Terengganu state team and Malaysia Pahang Sports School archers (n = 16; male: 11 and female: 5; Mean age: 16.19 ± 1.55 years) participated in this study. They were divided into high-performance archers (HPA) and low-performance archers (LPA) based on the total score of 36 arrows shot from 70 meters distance obtained at the beginning of the study. The shooting movements were recorded with a video camera and were then divided into four phases. The duration of each phase was analyzed against the performance of archers. The deviation angle of the right elbow away from the draw force line during anchoring and releasing were measured as the shooting posture.

The Mann-Whitney test showed that the shooting time of phases 3, phase 4 and the total shooting time were significantly different between the groups (P<0.001). Spearman correlation showed that phase 4 and the deviation angle of the elbow during release were significantly correlated with scores (r= -0.11, -0.08).

This study showed that HPA and LPA have the same shooting posture with different shooting time characteristics. Archers with a shorter duration in phase 4 and a smaller angle of deviation during release recorded a better result. This finding helps coaches and athletes to improve their shooting techniques.

The effect of the long-term yoga program on young children has not been examined in Vietnam, especially the preschoolers who participated in Physical education (PE) courses.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a twelve-week yoga practice program on 4-5-year-old preschoolers’ balance, agility, flexibility, and core strength development. Then, an investigation of the randomly selected participants from the experimental group’s ideas of the yoga program was explored.

Sixty-one children ranging from 4 to 5 years old were conveniently sampled and divided into two groups: an experimental group (17 males and 13 females) and a control group (17 males and 14 females) which received regular physical exercises provided in their PE course. The experimental group practiced twenty-six yogic asanas (postures) and a dynamic exercise (Sun Salutation) three times a week, with each lesson lasting 30 minutes.

The yoga training significantly improved balance (assessed by one leg balance standing test, F = 15.562, P = 0.000), flexibility (using shoulder flexibility, F = 65.952, P = 0.000 and sit and reach tests to measure, F = 48.937, P = 0.000), and muscular strength (sit-ups test was used, F = 47.918, P = 0.000 and standing long jump test, F = 113.792, P = 0.000) when comparing the yoga group (experimental group) with the control group. Nevertheless, the findings reveal that the agility of the two groups was not found to be significantly different (the 4x5m shuttle run test, F = 2.726, P = 0.104).

The twelve-week yoga program could be employed as a form of practice that could help improve the physical fitness components of children in their early childhood.

Unusual gaze behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was reported very early in the literature.

The current study examined gaze behavior in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children while performing an active balance task on the Wii balance board.

8 children (male) diagnosed with high-functioning ASD and 9 TD children (3 female, 6 male) were recruited for the study. Eye movements were recorded at 60 Hz during the soccer game on Wii balance board.

There was no significant difference in the game scores between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, evidence indicates differences in gaze behavior, particularly total fixation durations on the main area of interest (center AOI) (p < 0.05). While performing the active balance task, children with ASD spent less time looking at the center of the screen than typically developing children. Shorter fixation durations in ASD compared to the TD group could indicate how our ASD group had enhanced perceptual processing. The second possibility for shorter total fixation duration in ASD is that they are more scattered in their fixations.

Shorter fixation durations in children with ASD while performing the active balance task could be because of enhanced perceptual processing or a deficiency in their ability to plan. However, no advantage or disadvantage was observed in the Wii-fit game’s performance.

Effective kick-topspin serving in tennis requires power to transfer mechanical energy through a kinematic chain from different parts of the body that is directly related to the kinetics of the joints. Energy flow analysis is a powerful tool for observing the mechanical energy transfer through the body parts.

This research aimed to study the correlation and predictive ability of the independent variables affecting the energy flow in a topspin kick serve.

Ten male tennis players aged 19 - 25 were recruited by purposive sampling and consisted of elite and amateur tennis players. The movement patterns of the kinetic chain mechanism and the energy flow in kick topspin tennis serve were recorded with six motion cameras with a force platform and motion analysis program to analyze their 3D motion. The relationship and comparison with the independent variables affecting the dependent variable at seven joints were investigated using Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Stepwise multiple regression analysis for the predicted equation (p<0.05).

The results showed no significant differences in the seven body joints in both groups. The correlation and predictability revealed that the variables were used to transfer and release mechanical energy differently in three distinct phases.

The effective kinetic chain and energy flow lead the mechanical energy to the segment of the body to achieve proper position and energy transfer; smooth coordination leads to greater speed in the acceleration phase to the follow-through phase in the tennis serve.