Birgit Keller

The Relative Age Effect among Female Brazilian Youth Volleyball Players.

In sports, the relative age effect (RAE) refers to performance disadvantages of children born late in the competition year compared to those with birthdays soon after the cutoff date. This effect is derived from age grouping, a strategy commonly used in youth sport programs. The purpose of age grouping is to decrease possible cognitive, physical, and emotional differences among sport participants. In spite of the efforts to equate playing conditions, youth athletes born early in the competitive age group are selected to be part of squads more often than late-born athletes, even within the same 1-year category. Most RAE studies have been conducted on professional male athletes, including hockey (Boucher & Mutimer, 1994), soccer (Helsen, Starkes, & Winckel, 1998), baseball (Grondin & Koren, 2000), and tennis (Edwards, 1994). Skewed distributions favoring athletes born early in the selection year were also found in youth sports. Several studies investigating soccer (Helsen et al., 1998; Helsen, Winckel, & Williams, 2005; Glamser & Vincent, 2004), hockey (Barnsley & Thompson, 1988), and basketball (Delorme & Raspaud, 2008) demonstrated a strong RAE among young male athletes. Not as many studies focused on female athletes. In fact, to our knowledge no studies have been conducted on adult female athletes and only a few on young female athletes. Among these studies, only one significant RAE was found (Delorme & Raspaud, 2008), in which youth basketball players ranging from 7 to 17 years of age participated. Although significant due to its large sample size (n = 107,101), differences in actual proportions of players born in different quarters of the year were small (Q1 = 26.1%, Q2 = 27.4%, Q3 = 24.6%, Q4 = 21.9%). In fact, the difference between the proportion of players born in the first and last 6 months of the year is probably not meaningful in applied settings. Nevertheless, it is the only indication in the literature of RAE among young female players. Helsen et al. (2005) did not find a significant RAE among female soccer players under the age of 18 years who were selected from national teams of 10 European countries. Although not statistically significant, a larger percentage of players were born early in the competition year. Approximately 31% were born in the first quarter compared to 17% in the last quarter, and 67% were born in the first 6 months of the competitive year. While 44 young female athletes took part in the experiment, it is possible a slightly larger sample size would have produced significant results. Vincent and Glamser (2006) also demonstrated a lack of an RAE for female athletes. Female soccer players, ages 17 and 18 years, participating in the youth U.S. Olympic program participated in this study. Their physical development and social expectations were strongly credited for the results. The authors stated that postpubescent girls generally have shorter legs and wider hips, a larger body mass index, and a more endomorphic body type; all of which are considered to be highly disadvantageous to perThe Relative Age Effect Among Female Brazilian Youth Volleyball Players

IMAGERY INTERVENTION IN OPEN AND CLOSED TENNIS MOTOR SKILL PERFORMANCE

To assess use of imagery intervention in performance of two tennis motor skills the quasi-experimental design included a pre- and posttest and a control group. The tennis service shot and service receiving skill were selected as representative of open and closed skills, respectively. 48 subjects, male tennis players, whose ages ranged from 16 to 18 yr. (M = 17.2), were divided into two groups: (1) Technical practice only which was used as control group and (2) Imagery group who received both imagery and technical practice. Analysis of covariance showed a significant main effect for the imagery intervention on the closed skill (p = .002). Findings suggest that imaging a positive outcome may be more powerful in improving performance of closed skill movements than of open skill movements.

Effect of pre- and postcompetition emotional state on salivary cortisol in top-ranking wrestlers.

The purpose was three-fold: (1) to investigate the effect of baseline, precompetition, and postcompetition stress on salivary cortisol levels in top-ranking Brazilian wrestlers (N = 17) participating in a national competition; (2) to estimate correlations among three stress measures (perceived stress, salivary cortisol, and physiological stress reaction); and (3) to compare cortisol concentrations between losers and winners. Salivary cortisol was collected at baseline, pre-, and postcompetition. Physiological stress reaction and perceived stress scores were measured just before warm-up for the competition. Analysis showed a significant main effect for testing time. Correlations among the stress measures were not significant. Analysis of covariance between the winners (n = 10) and the losers (n = 7) was also not significant. Salivary cortisol concentrations increased after the intense exercise of competition. The wrestlers did not perceive any physiological effects.

Use of Multimodal Imagery with Precompetitive Anxiety and Stress of Elite Tennis Players

The effect of multimodal imagery on anxiety and perceived stress was investigated in 46 male tennis players (16 to 18 yr.; M = 17.0, SD = 0.8). There were two groups, a multimodal imagery group and a control imagery group. The quasi-experimental design included pre- and post-treatment administrations of the 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory to assess anxiety and the Perceived Stress Scale to assess stress. Analysis showed a statistically significant multivariate difference between the multimodal imagery and control groups on measures of cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, and perceived stress. Imagery plays a role in handling some specific types of anxiety and stress.

Relação entre a personalidade e lesões musculares em atletas de tênis de campo

INTRODUCTION: The personality of an individual is the result of a complex network of influences of various independent factors such as biological and psychological constitution, beyond the influences of social, environmental and cultural aspects where he/she live. It is the integration of these parts that when interacting, make the whole. OBJECTIVE: To verify whether there is a cause-effect relationship among personality traits, gender and injury in sports. METHOD: The sample consisted of 60 athletes with mean age of 15.6 (SD = 1.5) years old, being 35 male athletes and 25 female athletes from the children and youth category, participating in field tennis tournaments of the Federation of Santa Catarina and Parana. Data were collected with the application of the Factor Personality Inventory - FPI. MANOVA and ANOVA at a level of p < 0.05 were used for data processing. RESULTS: Were significant to the variable damage with aggression (p = 0.01) and heterosexuality (p = 0.00). Concerning gender, there were significant differences with intraception (p = 0.02); succorance (p = 0.02), dominance (p = 0.004), autonomy (p = 0.03) and heterosexuality (p = 0.00). CONCLUSION: That aggressiveness is an important personality trait to be considered to control, prevent and reduce the incidence of injuries in tennis athletes.

Functional capacity and physical activity level in failed back surgery syndrome patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Failed back surgery syndrome refers to a condition in which a patient has undergone back surgery with a poor outcome. This syndrome leads to losses in daily living activities and hinders the return to physical exercise. The objective of this study was to analyze the relation between chronic low back pain and functional capacity and the physical activity level of these patients. METHODS: Cross-sectional study comprising 57 patients, mean age 51.07±12.93 years, who underwent low back surgery. These patients were divided into two groups, according to the presence of chronic low back pain. All patients filled in a questionnaire that covered demographic data, visual analog scale for pain, Rolland-Morris Questionnaire to evaluate functional incapacity and International Physical Activity Questionnaire to measure physical activity level. RESULTS: The following predominated: women (77%), obese (49%), surgery for spinal disc herniation (80%), underwent one low back surgery (52%). Patients with chronic low back pain refer a greater perception of disability and 81% of this group showed an average of 3.53±3.51 points in Roland-Morris. Chronic low back pain had no influence on the different levels of physical activity demonstrated in patients with chronic low back pain and results of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire showed no significant difference between the groups (p=0.54). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that there were other factors beyond chronic pain interfering with the physical activity level in these groups and further studies to explore lifestyle, physical exercise adherence and other dimensions of pain are still needed. Results contribute to the understanding and management of patients with chronic low back pain.