Development of a Smart Cricket Ball for Advanced Performance Analysis of Bowling

AbstractCricket bowling requires high level of skills in many ways (e.g. physically and mentally). The ball delivery technique is one of these important skills which can be optimised with advanced training methods. These training methods hinge on advanced performance parameters. Development of a low cost smart cricket ball will address the shortcomings of the existing systems and discover and explore cricket bowling kinematics and dynamics. In the past cricket bowling kinematics has not been properly studied using instrumented balls due to technical limitations of sensor system and electronics design. The aim of the project was to develop a highly portable instrumented cricket ball for recording the ball's kinematics and calculating dynamic performance parameters from kinematic data. The ball is designed in such a way that it exactly feels and looks (i.e. mass and material) as a real cricket ball. The ball is constructed from leather hemispheres, an impact proof Nylon6/6 nutshell, a shock damping foam material, and miniaturized electronics circuit

Which preventive control measure initiated the “flattening of the curve”

BACKGROUND: When a country introduces different COVID-19 control measures over time, it is important to identify the specific measure that was effective and therefore responsible for “flattening the curve”. This information helps policymakers find the right decision and saves the economy by avoiding severe yet ineffective measures. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to fill the literature gap by investigating two regions that introduced two or three consecutive measures during the second COVID-19 wave, namely Austria and Victoria. METHOD: We calculated the first derivative (acceleration) of the filtered daily case data and identified the date of the start and end of the acceleration’s major downturn (effective phase) relative to the date when the control measures were introduced (Austria: soft/hard lockdowns; Victoria: stages 3/4 lockdowns, mask order). RESULTS: In Austria, the effective phase started 5 days after the introduction of the soft lockdown and ended at the start of the hard lockdown. In Victoria, the effective phase started 19 days after the introduction of the stage 3 lockdown, 5 days after the introduction of the mask order, and ended 6 days after the start of the stage 4 lockdown. CONCLUSION: Considering that the effect of control measures is expected the earliest one serial interval after their introduction, the control measure responsible for “flattening the curve” was the soft lockdown in Austria and the mask mandate in Victoria. The severe lockdowns in both regions were ineffective

ANALYSIS OF LEFT ARM SEGMENTAL CONTRIBUTION IN GOLF SWING

The object of this study is to examine the segmental movement of the left arm in a golf swing and determine its contribution to the final club head speed. In order to examine this movement, a procedure for quantifying joint movement was developed. Electrogoniometers (Biometrics, UK) with frequency of 1000 Hz were attached to the subjects during the execution of the swing to obtain the joint angles throughout the motion. The velocities of the segment rotation can be computed with dual velocity analysis. A zero handicapper was tested with the method. The method uncovers the importance of longitudinal segmental rotations in his swing. These rotations are often neglected in 2-dimensional approaches

FINGER AND THUMB FORCES DURING BOWLING SHOTS

The purpose of this study was to measure the forces exerted to a bowling ball by thumb and fingers during two different shots. For this task, an instrumented bowling ball was designed and produced, which allowed for force measurement and display of vector diagrams. The highest force is applied by the thumb (up to 120N), followed by middle and the ring finger. The overall moment applied to the ball by thumb and fingers during twisting of the ball reaches 3 Nm

Comparative grading scales, statistical analyses, climber descriptors and ability grouping: International Rock Climbing Research Association position statement

The research base for rock climbing has expanded substantially in the past 3 decades as worldwide interest in the sport has grown. An important trigger for the increasing research attention has been the transition of the sport to a competitive as well as recreational activity and the potential inclusion of sport climbing in the Olympic schedule. The International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA) was formed in 2011 to bring together climbers, coaches and researchers to share knowledge and promote collaboration. This position statement was developed during and after the 2nd IRCRA Congress which was held in Pontresina, in September 2014. The aim of the position statement is to bring greater uniformity to the descriptive and statistical methods used in reporting rock climbing research findings. To date there is a wide variation in the information provided by researchers regarding the climbers’ characteristics and also in the approaches employed to convert from climbing grading scales to a numeric scale suitable for statistical analysis. Our paper presents details of recommended standards of reporting that should be used for reporting climber characteristics and provides a universal scale for the conversion of climbing grades to a number system for statistical analysis