Competitive artistic gymnastics and coaches' philosophy

The current study is a piece from the original project entitled "Diagnosis of the Artistic Gymnastics Development Program in Brazil". Among others issues, the coaching philosophy of coaches who are developing gymnasts that may be representative of the national team was a matter of analysis. We interviewed 46 coaches from 29 sports institutions in Brazil. As data collection we used a semi-structured interview and for data treatment we adopted the content analysis method of Bardin (2010). We have found out that there is an inconsistent philosophical basis, and in many institutions this has been mixed up with the objectives of the training program or just doesn't exist. This fact needs consideration and criticism, but we know that the coaching philosophy is not developed during the coaching education courses.

Personality Factors of Women Participating in College Athletics

There exists some discrepancy considering the overall health and well-being of young women in sports and performance domains. The current study aimed to examine self-reported levels of perfectionism, body esteem, and social support among college women participating in organized sports and dance. A total of 103 participants completeda series of questionnaires intended to capture these major variables of interest. Results upheld one of three major hypotheses, specifically in regards to between-group differences for lean and non-lean sport athletes. One of the most important findings wasthat among lean sport participants the relationship between body esteem and social support was statistically significant and positive, and among non-lean sport participants this same relationship was nonsignificant and negative. The applied implication of thisfinal finding is discussed, with particular emphasis on potential strategies for upholding the positive relationship between body esteem and social support among lean sport athletes.

Women's Athletics at Mansfield University in Historical Perspective

Mansfield University, founded on January 7, 1857 as Mansfield Classical Seminary, has an overwhelming history of persistence. Along with the institution, the women’s athletic programs also have a strong past. This paper outlines the history of women’s athletics at Mansfield from the establishment of the school in 1857, to the first women’s athletic program starting in 1900, and through the present day. It is organized according to the eras the institution went through and the athletic opportunities given to the women at that time. The focus of each chapter reflects the major accomplishments of both the institution and the women’s athletic programs, events, and issues that transpired during each time period. Research was conducted by reviewing yearbooks, memorandums, and reports in the Mansfield University archives, school newspaper articles, and the university website, along with several other supplemental materials. Personal interviews also accompanied the documentary research to give a first-hand historical viewpoint of several eras. It was concluded that the women at Mansfield University have fought for, and created athletic opportunities for over 100 years. In comparison to other Pennsylvania state universities, women’s athletics at Mansfield are under-funded and on the low end of receiving athletic scholarship monies. The future of women’s athletics at Mansfield is uncertain due to budgetary factors that are unknown at this time.

Influence of water immersion, water gymnastics and swimming on cardiac output in patients with heart failure

Background Whole-body water immersion leads to a significant shift of blood from the periphery into the intra-thoracic circulation, followed by an increase in central venous pressure and heart volume. In patients with severely reduced left ventricular function, this hydrostatically in-duced volume shift might overstrain the cardiovascular adaptive mechanisms and lead to cardiac decompensation. The aim of this study is to assess the hemodynamic response to water immer-sion, gymnastics and swimming in patients with heart failure (CHF). Methods We examined 10 patients with compensated CHF (62.9 +/- 6.3 years, EF 31.5 +/- 4.1%, peak VO2 19.4 +/- 2.8 ml/kg/min.), 10 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) but preserved left ventricular function (57.2 +/- 5.6 years, EF 63.9 +/- 5.5%, peak VO2 28.0 +/- 6.3 ml/kg/min.) and 10 healthy subjects (32.8 +/- 7.2 years, peak VO2 45.6 +/- 6.0 ml/kg/min.). Hemodynamic response to thermo-neutral (32 degrees C) water immersion and exercise was measured using a non-invasive foreign gas rebreathing method during stepwise water immersion, water gymnastics and swimming. Results Water immersion up to the chest increased cardiac index by 19% in healthy subjects, by 21% in CAD patients and 16% in CHF patients. While some CHF patients showed a decrease of stroke volume during immersion, all subjects were able to increase cardiac index (by 87% in healthy subjects, 77% in CAD patients and 53% in CHF patients). Oxygen uptake during swim-ming was 9.7 +/- 3.3 ml/kg/min. in CHF patients, 12.4 +/- 3.5 ml/kg/min. in CAD patients and 13.9 +/- 4.0 ml/kg/min. in healthy subjects. Conclusions Patients with severely reduced left ventricular function but stable clinical conditions and a minimal peak VO2 of at least 15 ml/kg/min. during a symptom-limited exercise stress test tolerate water immersion and swimming in thermo-neutral water well. Although cardiac in-dex and oxygen uptake are lower compared with CAD patients with preserved left ventricular function and healthy controls, these patients are able to increase cardiac index adequately during water immersion and swimming.

Accounting for Athletics: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

The Balanced Scorecard is a managerial accounting system designed for internal use in order to align four different facets of a business with its overall vision and strategy. It emphasizes that an organization should not be judged on financial performance alone, but also on a variety of non-financial metrics. Using the Balanced Scorecard, the Athletic Department at the University of Connecticut has been analyzed as to which metrics are the most important in terms of fulfilling their mission statement.

Quantification of impacts in artistic gymnastics with accelerometry: an approximation

Intensity and volume of training in Artisti Gymnastics are increasing as the sooner athlete's age of incorporation creating some disturbance in them.

An Evaluation of Sport Psychology Service Delivery in Collegiate Athletics

Sport and Performance Psychology is an ever-evolving specialty. While its development continues, it has not been without its challenges. Sport and performance psychologists work in a variety of settings and often come from similar, yet inherently different, training backgrounds. Individuals from both sport sciences and psychology have made compelling arguments as to which approach provides quality services to their respective clients. The question that remains, however, is what are these quality services? Who are the clients and what do they need from professionals in the field?Collegiate student athletes inherently face a number of typical issues related to their age and development. They also face a number of atypical difficulties as a result of their status as student athletes. As such, they provide an adequate sample of potential presenting issues for sport and performance psychologists. This current study utilized a qualitative, exploratory method to evaluate the presenting issues that brought clients to seek services from professionals.This paper seeks to establish a foundation for the development of a theoretical basis of the psychology of human performance, including both performance and general mental health concerns, and how sport and performance psychologists can most effectively intervene in this process. This paper is based on an analysis of seven years of service delivery within a NCAA Division I athletic department.Results indicate that collegiate student athletes seek services related to performance enhancement and general mental health at relative equal frequency. As such, training and service delivery in both areas would be most beneficial and best serve this population.  

The Experience of Minority Female Coaches within Intercollegiate Athletics

It has been suggested that the United States has shown an increase of acceptance and positive attitudes toward diverse cultures and populations. However, there continues to be a drought in research that examines the experience of minority women. In addition, few studies have focused on minority female coaches within athletic environments, which have been known to be both heterosexist and homonegative (Griffin, 1992; Griffin, 1998; Krane, 1996; Krane & Barber, 2003; Krane & Barber, 2005; Roper & Halloran, 2007; Schreibstein, 2010). A person who holds a minority identity has been defined by this paper as belonging to an underrepresented group, including: race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, religion, and/or sexual orientation. This study, in particular, focused on three specific minority groups: race, gender, and sexual orientation. The proposed study assessed the experiences, challenges, and strategies to overcome obstacles of female coaches who hold minority statuses within National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic departments.

Characteristics of Expert Development in Rhythmic Gymnastics: A Retrospective Study

The development of expertise for two groups of rhythmic gymnasts was studied where a group of elite (Olympic) gymnasts was compared to a group of sub‐elite (International) gymnasts. Structured interviews were used to collect retrospective information about the gymnasts’ health, training resources, level and ranking, and hours spent in training activities. The gymnasts rated practice activities during the last period of their development (age 16 and older) with respect to their perceived physical effort, mental concentration, and fun. The Olympic gymnasts were involved in significantly fewer activities and sports throughout their development compared to the International gymnasts. All gymnasts reported engaging in five practice activities of warm‐up, ballet, technique training, routines, and conditioning in their rhythmic gymnastics training. Olympic gymnasts allocated substantially more time to the practice activities of ballet, technique, routines, and conditioning, compared to the International gymnasts. Olympic gymnasts also rated their health as lower than the International gymnasts. All gymnasts reported that the practice activities of technique and routine training required more physical effort and mental concentration than warm‐up, ballet, and conditioning. The Olympic gymnasts reported experiencing less fun in their participation overall. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive description of early activity involvement, training activities, training resources, and health and injury ratings of expert level rhythmic gymnasts and help to further the understanding of how to assess sport expertise development

Formación corporal motora. Una noción que se construye con los sujetos de enseñanza en Educación Física

Según el Plan de estudios 435/03 del Profesorado en Educación Física que se dicta en el Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche dependiente de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue existe, en los trayectos formativos de primer, segundo y tercer año, una asignatura cuya denominación es Formación Corporal Motora en adelante (FCM). En la misma se ha intentado, durante estos años, articular disciplinas deportivas como el Atletismo, la Gimnasia y la Natación. En esta comunicación se trata el encuadrede conocimiento que se desarrolla en la asignatura FCM3 del tercer nivel de la formación, planteando un espacio diferente respecto a la construcción de corporeidad y motricidad del sujeto. Se plantea como alternativa a las perspectivas gimnástica- higienista y físico-deportiva en la formación de profesionales de la Educación Física.Entonces ¿cómo se visibiliza la formación corporal motora del sujeto desde la enseñanza de las destrezas en las diversas propuestas pedagógicas? En este sentido, nada de lo que se lleve adelante en la enseñanza es ni neutral ni inocente,está teñido de sentido, de significado, de poder y de utopía. Siguiendo a Zerbino el reto es preguntarse ¿"qué estamos sosteniendo con aquello que hacemos"?