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EXAMINATION OF SPORTS HABITS IN DISADVANTAGED SETTLEMENTS
Views:110The study aims to explore sporting habits and sporting opportunities among the young and middle-aged adult population living in disadvantaged settlements.
Method: As secondary research, we reviewed the literature related to the topic, studied the legislation on the classification of settlements, and analyzed the CSO data. As primary research, we conducted an online questionnaire survey among adults aged 18 to 60 living in 6 disadvantaged settlements. The questionnaire was shared in specific groups on a community site accessible to 870 people. One hundred sixty-one people completed the questionnaire.
Results: Our study found that most regular athletes perform intellectual work; however, they typically perform sports activities only once a week. Most traditional athletes have a high school diploma, and the proportion of university graduates is relatively low. The research results also revealed that most people living in disadvantaged settlements prefer individual sports over team sports; however, this shows a significant difference in gender breakdown between men and women. The proportion of women who like individual sports is significantly higher, while this is reversed in the case of team sports.
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EXAMINATION OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS AFFECTING SPORTS PERFORMANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF ATHLETE EXPERIENCE
Views:246Introduction: In our research, we investigated the components, executive functions, and cognitive abilities underlying decision-making in sports performance using a computer-based test system. To define the athlete experience, we classified athletes according to an exact, unambiguous definition following international terminology, based on their performance, achievement, playing age, and sport's popularity. We hypothesize that team athlete with significant athletic experience will perform better on the executive function test.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on team athletes N=52. The VTS-DT test was used to measure executive function. The classification of athlete experience was based on an internationally accepted taxonomy defined with scientific precision (SWANNN, 2015).
Results: When classified by athlete experience, the athletes we studied fell into amateur and elite categories. The DT/S2 scores of the two groups were compared based on each factor. We obtained trend-like correlations for the factors 'number of reactions', 'number of stimulations,' and 'number of good responses. Correlation analysis was performed between the factors on a group-by-group basis. When examining the relationship between reaction time, we found that there is a strong relationship with the number of stimulations (amateurs: r = -0.80; elite athletes: r = -0.87) since the faster someone is (i.e., the less reaction time), the more times they can respond to stimulations. Looking at the results for elite athletes, we also observe a moderately strong relationship between reaction time and the number of good responses (r = -0.68). We may suggest that experienced athletes could produce better responses faster than less professional athletes.
Conclusions: Our hypotheses were partially confirmed, as we found a trend-like correlation that elite athletes scored higher on the DT test, which examined athletes' executive functions in a complex, adaptive way. Our research demonstrates that, on the one hand, it is worthwhile for coaches to build on experienced athletes when assembling a team, in addition to the momentum of young athletes, and that the development of executive functions and cognitive skills can improve the performance of athletes.
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IMPORTANCE OF THE MENTAL PREPARATION FOR COMPETITION AMONG YOUNG ATHLETES
Views:691The mental preparation of athletes for competition has become more appreciated. In this paper, we asked young athletes in Hungarian team sports about their experiences and expectations in mental preparation. In the research, we used an online questionnaire where 165 valuable responses were received. Most of the respondents were women, between 15-24 years of age, high school and college graduates, with urban background. Almost 90% of respondents have been confronted an obstacle with a negative impact on performance in sports before. Most athletes know well the activities of sports psychologists, however, only 10% of them have been mentally trained so far, while 70% of them would need it. Those sports associations achieve more successful results in the talent management, where sports psychologist was involved in the assessment of young children. Based on these, sports organizations should use a sports psychologist, because it could help achieve better sports performance for players and teams.
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IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC SELECTION CRITERIA IN YOUNG BALL SPORT PLAYERS
Views:254Background: Our study aimed to analyze body composition and spiroergometric data of young (14-15 years) elite level ball sport players. We suggested three-ball sports (handball, soccer, and basketball) share common performance indicators, as rapid intermittent movements primarily characterize each ball sport.
Methods: We selected one-hundred and ten, handball (n=30), basketball (n=40), and soccer (n=40) players male and female from local clubs in Hungary. Seventy-nine males and thirty-one females participated in our study; their average age was 14.51 and 14.56, respectively.
They participated in laboratory testing; the protocol included a body composition analysis and spiroergometric tests. We measured body composition and physiological parameters utilizing an In Body 720 device and a standard Bruce treadmill protocol. Although we were aware of the Bruce protocol limitations in elite athletes, we choose this protocol as a safer alternative for younger inexperienced athletes.
Results and conclusions: We concluded that in young male soccer and basketball players, mean peak /load (W), peak/VE (l), peak/Vtex (l), peak/VO2 (ml/min), peak/VCO2 (ml/min), and peak/ O2 pulse (ml) data is a reliable indicator of the sport-specific performance. We may also suggest that in our male basketball and handball players' population, peak/Vtex (l) is the only variable, which is significantly different. Between groups of male handball and soccer players, peak/VO2/kg (ml/min) may be a valid performance indicator. Among female basketball and handball players, we found a significant difference in three performance variables: peak/Vtex (l), peak/VO2 (ml/min), and peak/ O2 pulse (ml).
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INVESTIGATION ON THE IMMUNOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Views:556Introduction: Effects of physical activity on immune functions may largely depend on the type of activity, its intensity and duration. However, little information is available regarding the immunological effects of sporting activities in older ages.
The aim of our study was to examine the changes in a wide spectrum of lymphocyte subtypes after a period of regular workout among healthy women of different ages.
Methods: In our study, we enrolled 16 elderly women (between ages of 60-75 years) formerly not engaged in regular physical activity, who took part in lightweight conditioning gymnastic exercise program. Eight young athletes and 26 young adults with sedentary lifestyle served as controls. The percentages of peripheral NK, NKT cells, T and B lymphocyte subtypes were determined by flow cytometry based on the staining of extracellular markers and intracellular cytokines.
Results: Lymphocyte subgroups did not differ between the groups of young athletes and young adults with sedentary lifestyle. However, in elderly women, levels of NKT cells were lower, while ratios of T helper / T cytotoxic cells were higher compared to younger individuals. At the end of exercise program, in elderly women, percentages of naive B cells decreased, while levels of switched-memory B cells increased. Furthermore, proportions of Th2 cells increased, while levels of immunosuppressive CD4+CD127-CD25bright Treg cells decreased as the result of regular exercise.
Conclusion: Differences observed after lightweight exercise programs reflect a presumably enhanced immunoreactivity and increased ability for immune responses in older ages.
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES STRESS TOLERANCE AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN NOVICE AND EXPERIENCED ATHLETES
Views:318Introduction: Cognitive skills are essential in team sports. Perception, decision-making (tactical thinking, learning, attention, thinking, emotions), stress tolerance, and even the level of motor and technical-tactical skills all affect performance.
Objective: We found a significant difference in stress tolerance of novice / young and experienced team sport players (BALOGH, DONKA 2020). Our results showed that experienced athletes have higher level of stress tolerance. However, as this was a descriptive study, we intended to support our statement involving more number of subjects, and an analysis of cognitive abilities.
Method: A cross-sectional experimental study was performed on 41 male and 13 female team sport (handball, volleyball and football) players. We used the VTS DT software package for cognitive abilities and the MDE Heidelberg StressHolter (gastro, HR, TH, GSR) for stress measurement. During the 35-minute measurement process, a state of rest was measured in the first stage, a response to a 10-minute stress situation (VTS-DT for the cognitive test) in the second stage, and a state of rest and latency in the third stage.
Results: We found a significant relationship between stress tolerance and the cognitive ability of female and male participants. Our results demonstrated that football players had a lower level of stress tolerance than other team sport players. They also tent to make more mistakes in the VTS-DT test.
Conclusions: The classification into novice and experienced categories need to be done more uniformly in the future. We are aware of it, that the unequal number of participants by sports, is one of the limitations of our study. However, it is encouraging that significant results demonstrate a strong relationship between stress tolerance and the number of appropriate decisions. These results reveal other areas of research for us.