COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE TAKEOFF IN POLE VAULT AND LONG JUMP BASED ON TIME-CONTINUOUS DATA

A pattern recognition approach based on time-continuous kinematic data was applied to analyze movement patterns of the pole vault and the long jump during takeoff. Altogether, 24 trials of pole vaulters, long jumpers and decathletes were analyzed using a combination of cluster analysis and discriminant analysis methods. Concerning the jumping movement of the legs structural differences between pole vault and long jump patterns as well as individual movement behaviour were identified. The movements of the jumping leg played an important role for the different TO performances

Reconstructive Habits: Dewey on Human Functioning

The academic strife to parse, investigate and adjust human functioning establishes varieties of at least three key concepts: behavior, action, activity. Depending on the general approach chosen, human functioning is therefore defined in a certain way and in a certain understanding of freedom. Within this paper, the pragmatist considerations of John Dewey (1859-1952) offer a sophisticatedly formulated theory of human functioning that, undoubtedly, takes action-theoretical paths but formulates underlying assumptions in a significantly unusual way. The main focus is to outline the theory in such a way that clearly shows the unusual as part of the usual and the usual as part of the unusual. For this purpose, the first section defines action as the basic category of Deweyan human functioning where sensory stimuli, registering elements and motor responses play a leading role, but according to Dewey questions the today still popular model of behaviorist psychology, that positions isolated and a-cultural stimulus-responseprocedures in the human organism. The second section affirms the theoretical inclusion of deliberative elements that constitute human action, but according to Dewey witnesses their substantial and rather sporadic significance in a predominantly habitual human functioning. The conclusive section outlines the possibilities and limits of transforming habitually inured patterns of human conduct by means of reconstructive habits

Dewey and Sports: An Overview of Sport in His Work

From beginning to end, John Dewey’s oeuvre is filled with philosophical discussions and political comments on the significance de jure and de facto of a wide range of distinct social spaces. In contrast to subjects he addresses regularly and others that he focuses on occasionally, his work does not systematically address sport. Nonetheless, sport is expressly recognized as a noteworthy environment and integrated into lines of argumentation in no small number of areas as an example. This paper provides an overview of the statements he made on this subject and their context, organizing them on the basis of their social, pedagogical, and aesthetic implications in order to make a supplementary contribution to social spaces in his work. It shall be demonstrated that Dewey assumes a number of positive possibilities in and through sport, but that these are not anchored naturally in or through sport. What sport and movement cultures finally are or should be remains pragmatically dependent on the intentions and consequences that serve as the basis for each specific sporting situation

TIME CONTINUOUS VS. TIME DISCRETE ANALYSIS OF THE TAKE OFF TECHNIQUE IN LONG JUMP

Long jump trials of specialist long jumpers, decathlete and sports students were filmed two-dimensional with one high speed camera. Performance during Take-Off (TO) was analyzed based on time continuous data. All trials were compared for similarity and classified by cluster analysis (Schöllhorn, 1999). Additional cluster analyses considered time discrete variables only. For both data sets, no classification according to jumping performance was found. The results indicate that different TO strategies may result in comparable jumping performance. Consequences on the analysis and training of sports techniques are discussed

INT,ERDISCIPlINARY ANALYSIS OF BIOMECHANICAL MOVEMENT PATTERNS AND MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE VOLLEYBALL SPIKE

An approach for an integrative analysis of biomechanic and psychologic data is presented. Kinematic movement patterns as well as mental representation of the spike of male volleyball players have been studied to analyze structural interrelationships of cognitive and biomechanical measures. A high congruence of the results of cognitive and biomechanical analysis can be stated. Future research will focus on adaptations of mental representation and performance following practical and mental training, respectively

TEMPORAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT ATTACK TECHNIQUES IN VOLLEYBALL

A process oriented approach was chosen to identify attack techniques in volleyball. Male subjects were filmed with two high speed video cameras while they performed three attack techniques. Subject's movement was described by the time courses of angles and angular velocities of the main joints and analyzed by a procedure including distance measures and cluster analysis. Cluster analysis classified movement pattems of spikes, and top spin shots, by individual while patterns of lobs were mainly grouped by technique criteria. Except for the quick attacker, lobs are identified if only variables are considered that describes the movement of the arm during take off. From a practical view, the results suggest that a defender should focus on the arm of the attacker dUring take off to recognize the attackers intention early

BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE JUMP SMASH OF GERMAN ELITE BADMINTON PLAYERS

The smash is one of the key techniques to gain success in Badminton. For elite athletes, ball velocities up to 68m/s have been reported for the jump smash (Tsai & Chang, 1998). Differences between the jump smash and the smash without jumping where up to 5m/s. In earlier analyses of German badminton players (Kollath, Bochow, & Westermann, 1986), no differences between both techniques according to ball velocities have been reported. Compared to the international elite players, German Badminton players were ranked in midfield or on even lower positions during the last years, but especially for the female athlete increased performance can be stated in recent championships. To analyze the smashing technique of these athletes, jump smashes of female as well as male Badminton players were analyzed

ANALYSIS OF BADMINTON SMASH WITH A MOBILE MEASURE DEVICE BASED ON ACCELEROMETRY

A mobile measure device has been developed to measure acceleration of the upper and lower arm segment as well as of the racket. The system consists of three 2D miniature sensors and a PDA that was used to store and transfer data via WLAN. Accelerometric and kinematic data of Badminton smashs of international and national elite Badminton players were collected. The resultant acceleration of the racket showed high correlation with the ball velocity (r=.897). Differences between international and national players can be observed primarily in the mean values and standard deviation of the racket acceleration as well as in the negative acceleration of the lower arm. It is suggested that an abrupt stopping of the lower arm supports the development of high racket acceleration

Krise und Protest auf dem Balkan: Von sozialer Emanzipation bis National-Chauvinismus am Beispiel von Kroatien und Bosnien-Herzegowina

The article examines the recent protest movements in Bosnia (especially in spring 2014) and Croatia („For the family“) and tries to draw conclusions on societal development in the Balkans since the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Whereas in Bosnia the protesters were committed to democratic principles and represented an alternative to the official political system, in Croatia direct democratic means are more frequently used by right forces in order to discriminate minorities (such as homosexuals or the ethnic Serbs). Furthermore the article describes how these different types of protest in the given countries could emerge and asks for the limits and possibilities of the protest movements