Recent changes in women’s Olympic shooting and effects in performance

In 2018, the Olympic shooting regulations were modified to increase the number of women’s shots from 40 to 60, equaling the number given to men. This research presented in this paper addresses two research issues: (1) has the performance of women’s shooting changed as a result of this increase in the number of shots? and (2) with the equalized number of shots in place, do women and men perform differently? This study included 292 shooters who competed in the 2016 and/or 2018 European Championships who all obtained top-50 results. Our sample included balanced quotas for sports (50% pistol and 50% rifle) and by category (50% women and 50% men). Both championships were held in the same facilities and in the same month of the season, but with the difference that in 2016, women had 40 shots and in 2018 they had 60 shots. We observed that women’s performances did not diminish for the pistol or the rifle category when their number of shots were increased. Men and women shot equally well with rifles, although the men’s performance with pistols was higher than that of women. We concluded that sports in which physical strength is a minor factor, as in the case of shooting, should revise their regulations in the interest of greater gender equality in sport

Prevalidation of body sway shooting test without the use of weapons

El principal objetivo de este estudio es realizar un estudio previo a la validación de un test de medición del equilibrio en tiro olímpico sin el uso de la pistola. Para ello, se han comparado los resultados del análisis del movimiento del centro de presiones (CP) de dos pruebas de equilibrio estático: en la primera prueba se usó una mancuerna para simular la acción de disparo, mientras que en la segunda se usó la pistola. Se encontró una fuerte correlación entre los dos test en todas las variables del CP y una correlación lineal inversa entre el peso corporal y los movimientos del CP. No se encontró relación alguna entre los movimientos del CP y el rendimiento deportivo. El estudio concluye que el test con mancuerna puede ser válido para la medición del equilibrio específico en tiro olímpico y se recomienda profundizar en el estudio con una muestra de mayor tamañoThe main objective of the present work is the pre-validation of a test able to provide reliable body sway measurements in Olympic shooting, without the use of a pistol. For this reason the results of the analysis of the body sway data of two static bipodal balance tests have been compared: during the first a dumbbell was used to simulate shooting, while for the second test a pistol was used. A strong correlation between the two tests regarding all variables was found. A statistically significant inverse linear correlation was also found between body weight and the movements of the COP (centre of pressure). No statistically significant relations were found between the movements of the COP and performance. The study concludes that dumbbell tests could be perfectly reliable for measuring specific body sway on Olympic shooting. Future studies on the validation of the same test with larger sample size are recommende

Resilience in Sports: Sport Type, Gender, Age and Sport Level Differences.

There seems to be a broad consensus that there is a positive correlation between resilience and sport performance. However, different studies show divergent results on the role played by certain variables in this relationship. This study aimed to analyze the possible relationships between resilience levels and the practiced sport according to gender, age, and competitive level of the athletes in 1047 competitive athletes from five different sports (handball, basketball, volleyball, athletics, and judo). Resilience was assessed with the Spanish version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Results of independent samples t-tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no significant differences on the level of resilience according to the practiced sport or the competitive level. However, the analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that they were related to the gender and age of the athletes, being higher in males than in females, and there was a positive correlation with age. These results seem to suggest the convenience of using differentiated strategies, according to gender and age, when working on all those protective factors that could allow the athlete to perform better when facing adversity in the competitive environmentpost-print384 K

Elite coaches’ approach to quantifying technical actions and relative participation in volleyball players’ performance

This study sought to identify elite coaches’ perception of the importance of technical actions and the consideration of relative participation to measure individual volleyball players’ performance. An instrument was elaborated to gather the opinions of elite coaches on the importance of technical actions reported by the data volley (excluding setting), as well as considering relative participation. Twenty elite coaches with at least three years of experience in national teams or top leagues participated in the study. Variables considered in the study were analysed using descriptive statistics and reliability was measured with Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s Omega coefficients (> .70). The results assessed the importance of scoring actions, which received values of (1 point). All errors (terminal and continuity) were scored with (−1). Non-scoring actions were given values [.00, .80], except for poor attack (−.35), poor serve (−.60), free freeball (−.60) and reception free (−.50). Relative participation was considered according to the percentage of points and/or contacts played by each athlete. We concluded that for the player’s points and/or contacts, priority is given to actions that win points directly or are excellent, followed by those that contribute to building comfortable attacks, while penalising errors

Connection between performance and body sway/morphology in juvenile Olympic shooters

The objective of the study was to examine, via use of a simple specific test, the correlation between body sway and performance in Juvenile Olympic shooters, to compare the differences in body morphology between different shooting modalities and to know if the anthropometric profile of a shooter influences performance. 38 national level juvenile shooters (24 pistol and 14 rifle) who competed at a pistol and air rifle Young Promises Spanish Championship participated in the study. Body sway (measured in terms of movements of the Centre of Pressure (COP): maximum displacements, maximum and minimum average velocities, rotation angles and total areas) and anthropometric data (age, height and weight) were recorded under competition conditions during shooting simulations. Performance was measured in terms of average points per shot. The variables of stress and experience before competition were also considered. The study was observational and descriptive following a cross-sectional design. The results showed that, in the juvenile category, rifle shooters perform better than pistol shooters, but pistol shooters have less body sway. Performance was found to be statistically related to COP displacements, only in pistol shooters. Body weight was found to be related to body sway but not with performance. Body height was found to be related neither with body sway, nor with performance No anthropometric differences have been found to exist between the different modalities (pistol and rifle)

Emotional Intelligence in Physical Activity, Sports and Judo: A Global Approach.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been studied in relation to health and physical activity (PA) or in a sport-specific approach. EI is related to sports performance; however, combat sports seem to show characteristics of their own that involve better control of emotions than other sports. This study aimed to analyse whether there are differences in EI dimensions between those who do not achieve World Health Organization (WHO) PA recommendations, those who meet WHO PA recommendations, those who meet WHO PA recommendations practising sports, and judokas of different levels. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample comprised 2938 undergraduate students from Madrid and 487 active Spanish judokas. PA was measured by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). EI was assessed by the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24). Three different one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA (controlling for gender and age) were conducted to compare the effect of type of group studied on the EI dimensions. Significant differences in EI dimensions were found between those who do not meet PA recommendations, those who meet PA recommendations, those who meet PA recommendations practising sports, and judo athletes of different levels. However, when controlling for gender and age, these differences remained specifically in emotional attention and in emotional repair. Judo athletes and high-performance judo athletes showed better EI than the rest of the studied groups.post-print375 K

Validation of a Dumbbell Body Sway Test in Olympic Air Pistol Shooting

We present and validate a test able to provide reliable body sway measurements in air pistol shooting, without the use of a gun. 46 senior male pistol shooters who participated in Spanish air pistol championships participated in the study. Body sway data of two static bipodal balance tests have been compared: during the first test, shooting was simulated by use of a dumbbell, while during the second test the shooters own pistol was used. Both tests were performed the day previous to the competition, during the official training time and at the training stands to simulate competition conditions. The participants performance was determined as the total score of 60 shots at competition. Apart from the commonly used variables that refer to movements of the shooters centre of pressure (COP), such as COP displacements on the X and Y axes, maximum and average COP velocities and total COP area, the present analysis also included variables that provide information regarding the axes of the COP ellipse (length and angle in respect to X). A strong statistically significant correlation between the two tests was found (with an interclass correlation varying between 0.59 and 0.92). A statistically significant inverse linear correlation was also found between performance and COP movements. The study concludes that dumbbell tests are perfectly valid for measuring body sway by simulating pistol shooting

Psychological States and Training Habits during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Spanish Basketball Athletes.

post-print408 K

Exploring spatial patterns of vulnerability using linked health data

Introduction & Background The types of challenges police and ambulance services deal with often overlap, for instance supporting those who suffer from mental ill-health. Research has shown that emergency service problems often concentrate, but also that some individuals who come to the attention of one service may not be as visible to another despite their overlap in roles. Objectives & Approach This study explored how routinely collected 999 data may reveal insights into how these services support potentially vulnerable populations. We argue that better understanding the nature and distribution of vulnerability-related calls may help to inform future preventative or harm reduction-based interventions. We analysed administrative data provided by Yorkshire Ambulance Service for the Bradford region through the Connected Bradford research database, posing the following questions: (1) can 999 call data provide insights into vulnerability-related incidents attended by ambulances?; (2) where and when are these incidents most prevalent?; and (3) what are the spatial patterns of calls and patient home locations associated with them? Relevance to Digital Footprints We first select calls associated with nine callout reasons indicative of vulnerability. Patients can choose to share their data with each healthcare service they use, so we harnessed this digital footprint to analyse the spatial distribution of call locations (at postcode sector level) and patient home location (at MSOA level). Results Results indicate substantial concentrations of vulnerability-related calls in multiple postcode sectors including the City Centre (where we estimate 18% of calls may be vulnerability-related) and several other areas which are associated with deprivation. Exploring flows of people from their home location to incident location we also see substantial spatial variation in the locations in which patients involved in these types of incidents reside. Conclusions & Implications These analyses represent initial efforts to better understand how vulnerable groups are supported by public services, and have the potential to inform future resource allocation and targeting of upstream interventions

Model predictive current control based on a generalised adjacent voltage vectors approach for multilevel inverters

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163810/1/pel2bf01679.pd