Validation of the IOLF5C instrument for the efficacy of shooting on goal in football for the blind

El objetivo del estudio es diseñar y validar un instrumento de observación para conocer los Indicadores de Rendimiento Competitivo en Fútbol a 5 para personas ciegas a través de jueces expertos. La muestra se compuso por 12 entrenadores expertos en Fútbol a 5. Tras la realización de un estudio preliminar, el IOLF5C quedó estructurado en dos partes: acciones básicas durante el lanzamiento a portería en situaciones de juego, y durante el penalti. La validez de contenido se realizó a través de la V de Aiken y sus intervalos de confianza. Para comprobar la consistencia interna del instrumento se empleó α de Cronbach. Los resultados indicaron que el IOLF5C dispone de niveles óptimos de validez obteniendo valores superiores a 0,875 en todos los ítems durante el juego y 0,96 en penalti. La consistencia del instrumento fue de 0,894. Por tanto, el IOLF5C es un instrumento válido y fiableThe aim of this study was to design and validate an observational instrument to identify essential competitive performance indicators in Football 5-a-Side for blind and partially sighted players through the assistance of expert evaluators. The sample was comprised of twelve Football 5-a-Side expert coaches. After a preliminary study, the OLF5C instrument was structured to include two groups of actions: basic actions during shots on goal in game situations and shooting actions penalty situations. Aiken's V statistic and confidence interval values were used to assess the content validity and Cronbach' value was used to assess the internal consistency of the instrument. Results indicated that the IOLF5C has good validity indices with obtained values reaching .875 in all items during game situations and 0.96 on penalty shot actions. The overall level of instrument consistency was .894. The IOLF5C is considered to be a valid and reliable instrumen

Muscle activation patterns in shoulder impingement patients

Introduction: Shoulder impingement is one of the most common presentations of shoulder joint problems 1. It appears to be caused by a reduction in the sub-acromial space as the humerus abducts between 60o -120o – the 'painful arc'. Structures between the humeral head and the acromion are thus pinched causing pain and further pathology 2. Shoulder muscle activity can influence this joint space but it is unclear whether this is a cause or effect in impingement patients. This study aimed to observe muscle activation patterns in normal and impingement shoulder patients and determine if there were any significant differences. Method: 19 adult subjects were asked to perform shoulder abduction in their symptomatic arm and non-symptomatic. 10 of these subjects (age 47.9 ± 11.2) were screened for shoulder impingement, and 9 subjects (age 38.9 ± 14.3) had no history of shoulder pathology. Surface EMG was used to collect data for 6 shoulder muscles (Upper, middle and lower trapezius, serratus anterior, infraspinatus, middle deltoids) which was then filtered and fully rectified. Subjects performed 3 smooth unilateral abduction movements at a cadence of 16 beats of a metronome set at 60bpm, and the mean of their results was recorded. T-tests were used to indicate any statistical significance in the data sets. Significance was set at P<0.05. Results: There was a significant difference in muscle activation with serratus anterior in particular showing a very low level of activation throughout the range when compared to normal shoulder activation patterns (<30%). Middle deltoid recruitment was significantly reduced between 60-90o in the impingement group (30:58%).Trends were noted in other muscles with upper trapezius and infraspinatus activating more rapidly and erratically (63:25%; 60:27% respectively), and lower trapezius with less recruitment (13:30%) in the patient group, although these did not quite reach significance. Conclusion: There appears to be some interesting alterations in muscle recruitment patterns in impingement shoulder patients when compared against their own unaffected shoulders and the control group. In particular changes in scapula control (serratus anterior and trapezius) and lateral rotation (infraspinatus), which have direct influence on the sub-acromial space, should be noted. It is still not clear whether these alterations are causative or reactionary, but this finding gives a clear indication to the importance of addressing muscle reeducation as part of a rehabilitation programme in shoulder impingement patients

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Acta kinesiologiae Universitatis Tartuensis. 9

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1227224*es

Biomecânica do chute: fatores que melhoram a performance do chute em jogadores de futebol

The football being the most popular sport in the world and each year attracts more and more practitioners and spectators, so athletes are increasingly required to maintain a high level of performance in the field. Several studies point kick as a yardstick to measure the performance of the athlete, but the kick is a very complex movement involving many biomechanical factors of the upper limbs, lower limbs and trunk. So understanding the biomechanics of soccer players kick is essential for sports physiotherapist, because this knowledge will be useful in planning interventions on performance, prevention and rehabilitation of athletes. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this literature review was to identify interference in the performance of the biomechanical factors kick in soccer players. METHODS: We performed a literature review of studies on the biomechanics of kicking in soccer players, who address different types of intervention. The search was performed in Medline, Lilacs and SciELO. We used the following keywords: Soccer Kick and biomechanics, without restriction on publication date. RESULTS: We selected a total of 13 articles that focused on the biomechanics of kicking in soccer players. CONCLUSION: The major biomechanical factors responsible for increasing the speed of the ball were good skill level, good muscle strength in the lower limbs, not fatigued muscle, kick accomplished with dorsal part of the foot, dynamic stretching prior training and gestural. Thus the understanding of biomechanics is essential for sports physiotherapist, since it is useful in understanding performance interventions, prevention and rehabilitation.O futebol é o esporte mais popular do mundo e a cada ano atrai, cada vez mais, praticantes e espectadores, assim os atletas são exigidos cada vez mais a manter um alto nível de desempenho em campo. Vários estudos apontam o chute como um parâmetro para medir a performance do atleta, porém o chute é um movimento muito complexo que envolve diversos fatores biomecânicos de membros superiores , membros inferiores e tronco. Assim o entendimento da biomecânica do chute de jogadores de futebol é fundamental para o fisioterapeuta esportivo, pois esse conhecimento será útil no processo de planejamento de intervenções na performance, na prevenção e reabilitação dos atletas. OBJETIVO: o objetivo desta revisão bibliográfica foi identificar interferências de fatores biomecânicos na performance do chute em jogadores de futebol. METODOLOGIA: Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica de estudos sobre a biomecânica do chute em jogadores de futebol, que abordaram diferentes tipos de intervenção. A busca foi realizada nas bases de dados Medline, Scielo e Lilacs. Foram utilizadas as seguintes palavras-chaves: Kick and Soccer biomechanics, sem restrição da data de publicação. RESULTADOS: Foram selecionados um total de 13 artigos que abordaram o tema da biomecânica no chute de jogadores de futebol. CONCLUSÃO: Os principais fatores biomecânicos responsáveis em aumentar a velocidade da bola foram: bom nível de habilidade, boa força muscular de membros inferiores, músculo não fadigado, chute realizado com a parte dorsal do pé, alongamento dinâmico prévio e treinamento gestual. Assim a compreensão da biomecânica é essencial para o fisioterapeuta esportivo, já que o entendimento será útil nas intervenções de performance, prevenção e reabilitação

Ballistic differences in professional soccer players with and without visual impairment

Vision is considered the most important sensory input modality for sport performance (1). Recent studies have shown the existence of developmental delays in motor and sport skills in individuals with visual impairment (2). The purpose of the current study is to examine the kinematic and ballistic differences during football match between professional players with visual impairment and players without visual impairment. During athletic preseason, all soccer players of Delfino Pescara 1936 were evaluated on the basis of visual and orthotic parameters. The sample was composed of 18 professional players including 8 with visual impairment (age -yrs- 23.5 ± 2,50 SD; height -cm- 181.75 ± 9.08 SD ; mass -kg- 78 ± 8.58 SD)and 10 with no visual impairment (age -yrs- 26.6 ± 5.29 SD; height -cm- 177.1 ± 5.95 SD; mass -kg-74.3 ± 6.78 SD). All players were subjected to Natural and Corrected Visual Acuity, Refractive Examination during Miosis and Cycloplegia, Intraocular Pressure (IOP), Extrinsic Ocular Motility, Examination of Convergence and Cover Tests. During all regular season (September 2015/ May 2016, 42 matches, 3780 minutes) for each player it was reported the number of passing under 10 meters, errors of passing under 10 meters (expressed in centimeters), number of passing over 10 meters, errors of passing over 10 meters (expressed in centimeters) and shots in the target and out the target. The results suggest that the players with visually impairment miss passing with a higher percentage than in the control group in both conditions (under the 10 meters and over 10 meters). No significance emerged on the parameter shots on target in both groups. Results showed that the vision is a fundamental proprioceptive channel for the performance in elite soccer players but the small samples analyzed and the lack of prior research studies on the topic subject suggest that further studies will be needed