Listen to the ball! - sonification-based sport games for people with visual impairment

Höner O, Hermann T. Listen to the ball! - sonification-based sport games for people with visual impairment. In: A.P.A.: a discipline, a profession, an attitude (Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium Adapted Physical Activity). Verona, Italy: IFAPA; 2005

Theorien in Sportlehrerbildung und Sportunterricht

Theorien in Sportlehrerbildung und Sportunterrich

Talententwicklung & Coaching im Sport : 53. Jahrestagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sportpsychologie (asp) : Tübingen (online, 13.-15.05.2021)

Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sportpsychologie (asp) und der Arbeitsbereich Sportpsychologie und Methodenlehre des Instituts für Sportwissenschaft der Universität Tübingen veranstalteten die 53. asp-Jahrestagung „Talententwicklung & Coaching“, die vom 13.05. - 15.05.2021 aufgrund der Corona-Pandemie online stattfand. Das Thema Talententwicklung nahm die – sowohl für die Forschung als auch für die Praxis relevante – Identifizierung und Entwicklung von talentierten Athlet*innen sowie Trainer*innen in den Blick. Dies geschah vor dem Hintergrund eines weiten, dynamischen Talentbegriffs, der neben personalen auch Umweltfaktoren berücksichtigt. Dem Thema Coaching wurde ein Ver-ständnis zugrunde gelegt, bei dem die Beziehung zwischen Trainer*in und Athlet*in das Kern-stück darstellt – unabhängig davon, ob es sich um die Ebene des Breiten-, Nachwuchs- oder Leistungssports handelt. Ziel der Tagung war es, neueste wissenschaftliche und praxisbezogene Erkenntnisse zusam-menzutragen und auszutauschen. Über Kooperationen mit Sportverbänden wurde auch die Sportpraxis (Trainer*innen, Athlet*innen) verstärkt eingebunden, um die Übertragbarkeit sport-psychologischer Forschungsergebnisse in die Sportpraxis vermehrt zu reflektieren. Die Tagung richtete sich somit an alle, die in der Forschung und/oder Anwendung der Sport-psychologie tätig sind, aber auch an Kolleg*innen aus anderen sportwissenschaftlichen Dis-ziplinen sowie an Trainer*innen, Sportler*innen und weitere in der Praxis aktive Personen mit Interesse an sportpsychologischen Themen

Biological Maturity Status in Elite Youth Soccer Players: A Comparison of Pragmatic Diagnostics With Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The influence of biological maturity status (BMS) on talent identification and development within elite youth soccer is critically debated. During adolescence, maturity-related performance differences within the same age group may cause greater chances of being selected for early maturing players. Therefore, coaches need to consider players' BMS. While standard methods for assessing BMS in adolescents are expensive and time-consuming imaging techniques (i.e., X-ray and MRI), there also exist more pragmatic procedures. This study aimed to evaluate commonly used methods to assess BMS within a highly selected sample of youth soccer players. A total of N = 63 elite male soccer players (U12 and U14) within the German Soccer Association's talent promotion program completed a test battery assessing BMS outcomes. Utilizing MRI diagnostics, players' skeletal age (SAMRI) was determined by radiologists and served as the reference method. Further commonly used methods included skeletal age measured by an ultrasound device (SAUS), the maturity offset (MOMIR), and the percentage of adult height (PAHKR). The relation of these alternative BMS outcomes to SAMRI was examined using different perspectives: performing bivariate correlation analyses (1), modeling BMS as a latent variable (BMSlat) based on the multiple alternative diagnostics (2), and investigating individual differences in agreement (3). (1) Correlations of SAMRI and the further BMS variables ranked from r = 0.80 to r = 0.84 for the total sample and were lower for U12 (0.56 ≤ r ≤ 0.66), and U14 (0.61 ≤ r ≤ 0.74) (2). The latent structural equation modeling (SEM) (R 2 = 51%) revealed a significant influence on BMSlat for MOMIR (β = 0.51, p <0.05). The additional contribution of PAHKR (β = 0.27, p = 0.06) and SAUS (β = -0.03, p = 0.90) was rather small (3). The investigation of individual differences between the reference method and alternative diagnostics indicated a significant bias for MOMIR (p <0.01). The results support the use of economical and time-efficient methods for assessing BMS within elite youth soccer. Bivariate correlation analyses as well as the multivariate latent variable approach highlight the measures' usefulness. However, the observed individual level differences for some of the utilized procedures led to the recommendation for practitioners to use at least two alternative assessment methods in order to receive more reliable information about players' BMS within the talent promotion process

Biological Maturity Status in Elite Youth Soccer Players: A Comparison of Pragmatic Diagnostics With Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The influence of biological maturity status (BMS) on talent identification and development within elite youth soccer is critically debated. During adolescence, maturity-related performance differences within the same age group may cause greater chances of being selected for early maturing players. Therefore, coaches need to consider players' BMS. While standard methods for assessing BMS in adolescents are expensive and time-consuming imaging techniques (i.e., X-ray and MRI), there also exist more pragmatic procedures. This study aimed to evaluate commonly used methods to assess BMS within a highly selected sample of youth soccer players. A total of N = 63 elite male soccer players (U12 and U14) within the German Soccer Association's talent promotion program completed a test battery assessing BMS outcomes. Utilizing MRI diagnostics, players' skeletal age (SAMRI) was determined by radiologists and served as the reference method. Further commonly used methods included skeletal age measured by an ultrasound device (SAUS), the maturity offset (MOMIR), and the percentage of adult height (PAHKR). The relation of these alternative BMS outcomes to SAMRI was examined using different perspectives: performing bivariate correlation analyses (1), modeling BMS as a latent variable (BMSlat) based on the multiple alternative diagnostics (2), and investigating individual differences in agreement (3). (1) Correlations of SAMRI and the further BMS variables ranked from r = 0.80 to r = 0.84 for the total sample and were lower for U12 (0.56 ≤ r ≤ 0.66), and U14 (0.61 ≤ r ≤ 0.74) (2). The latent structural equation modeling (SEM) (R 2 = 51%) revealed a significant influence on BMSlat for MOMIR (β = 0.51, p <0.05). The additional contribution of PAHKR (β = 0.27, p = 0.06) and SAUS (β = -0.03, p = 0.90) was rather small (3). The investigation of individual differences between the reference method and alternative diagnostics indicated a significant bias for MOMIR (p <0.01). The results support the use of economical and time-efficient methods for assessing BMS within elite youth soccer. Bivariate correlation analyses as well as the multivariate latent variable approach highlight the measures' usefulness. However, the observed individual level differences for some of the utilized procedures led to the recommendation for practitioners to use at least two alternative assessment methods in order to receive more reliable information about players' BMS within the talent promotion process

Promotion of physical activity-related health competence in physical education: A person-oriented approach for evaluating the GEKOS intervention within a cluster randomized controlled trial

A central goal of physical education (PE) is to empower students to be physically active in a health-enhancing way. Therefore, using a competence-based approach, the objective of the health- and fit-ness-related PE intervention ‘Promotion of physical activity-related health competence in PE’ (GEKOS) was to address practical and theoretical content regarding training, fitness, and health. The aim of this person-oriented study was to examine differential effects of the GEKOS intervention on control competence and related knowledge, skills, abilities, and motivation. A total of 860 ninth graders were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Intervention group students received six PE lessons that combined practica l and theoretical content regarding training, fitness, and health. Measurements were taken before, directly after, and with a follow-up after 8–12 weeks. Students completed a knowledge test and a fitness test, and filled out scales considering motivation and perceived control competence. Latent profile analysis and multinomial logistic regression were estimated. Five patterns of outcome measures were found. Intervention group students transitioned significantly more often to patterns with improved outcome values. The intervention was especially effective for a subgroup of students who initially had rather low outcome values. For a small propor- tion of students, the intervention entailed a loss of health-related motivation. The study indicated that students with low control competence and related knowledge, skills, abilities, and motivation can bene- fit from the GEKOS intervention. Future studies should investigate modes of actions and interventions that explicitly address motivation and vary the content and methods used in PE

Do you have a good all-around view? Evaluation of a decision-making skills diagnostic tool using 360° videos and head-mounted displays in elite youth soccer

Elite youth players’ decision-making skills are considered important predictors of adult performance in soccer. The presentation of 360° videos in head-mounted displays offers new potential for the diagnostic of these skills in talent development programs. This study evaluated a new diagnostic tool using soccer-specific 360° videos for assessing decision-making skills in youth academy (YA) players. The evaluation consisted of players' subjective feedback as well as the analysis of diagnostic and prognostic validity. It was hypothesized that high-level YA players achieve better diagnostic results than regional-level players, and U19 outperform U17 players. Moreover, YA players' diagnostic results should be positively associated with future adult performance level. During the 2018/19 season, N = 48 youth players participated in the diagnostic procedures (split-half reliability r = .78). Participants were shown 54 videos which terminated when the central midfielder received a teammate's pass. Participants were then asked how to best continue playing. The subjective evaluation explored YA players' experiences with the diagnostic tool via quantitative ratings (e.g., “How exciting was the task?”, “How involved did you feel in the game situation?”) and additional interviews. Diagnostic validity was examined in a balanced cross-sectional 2 × 2-design (performance level x age group) and prognostic validity in a 3-year prospective design. Sensitivity and case-by-case analyses completed the evaluation. The YA players provided positive quantitative ratings regarding their experienced immersion into the environment. Players’ qualitative feedback indicated general acceptance of the diagnostic tool as well as it offered recommendations for improvements. Confirming the diagnostic validity, ANOVA revealed significant main effects for performance level (p &lt; .001, η2 = .29) and age group (p &lt; .01, η2 = .14). Contributing to the prognostic validity, the diagnostic results discriminated between YA players achieving a higher and a lower adult performance level (“League 1–4” vs. “League 5 or below”) in adulthood (p &lt; .05; d = 0.80). A ROC curve and the AUC showed that the correct assignment to the adult performance levels is possible with a 71% probability. YA players with a high decision-making accuracy had a six times higher chance of playing in “League 1–4”. The results demonstrated empirical evidence for the new diagnostic tool in terms of YA players' acceptance and validity coefficients exceeding effect sizes of former studies. The technology provides opportunities to test soccer-specific situations demanding an all-around view that were not testable in former experimental settings. Further technological advancements will enable the realization of improvements recommended by the players. Nonetheless, case-by-case analyses suggest caution in using such a diagnostic as a selection tool in talent development programs

An Advanced Method to Assess the Diet of Free-Ranging Large Carnivores Based on Scats

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The diet of free-ranging carnivores is an important part of their ecology. It is often determined from prey remains in scats. In many cases, scat analyses are the most efficient method but they require correction for potential biases. When the diet is expressed as proportions of consumed mass of each prey species, the consumed prey mass to excrete one scat needs to be determined and corrected for prey body mass because the proportion of digestible to indigestible matter increases with prey body mass. Prey body mass can be corrected for by conducting feeding experiments using prey of various body masses and fitting a regression between consumed prey mass to excrete one scat and prey body mass (correction factor 1). When the diet is expressed as proportions of consumed individuals of each prey species and includes prey animals not completely consumed, the actual mass of each prey consumed by the carnivore needs to be controlled for (correction factor 2). No previous study controlled for this second bias.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>Here we use an extended series of feeding experiments on a large carnivore, the cheetah (<em>Acinonyx jubatus</em>), to establish both correction factors. In contrast to previous studies which fitted a linear regression for correction factor 1, we fitted a biologically more meaningful exponential regression model where the consumed prey mass to excrete one scat reaches an asymptote at large prey sizes. Using our protocol, we also derive correction factor 1 and 2 for other carnivore species and apply them to published studies. We show that the new method increases the number and proportion of consumed individuals in the diet for large prey animals compared to the conventional method.</p> <h3>Conclusion/Significance</h3><p>Our results have important implications for the interpretation of scat-based studies in feeding ecology and the resolution of human-wildlife conflicts for the conservation of large carnivores.</p> </div