Issue 31 Spring 2012 - Bases

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Research and practice in sport – inseparable bedfellows? Applied sport scientists often face the challenge of delivering evidence-based practice when there is at times a lack of relevant evidence! This in itself drives the need for research, though this isn’t always easy to achieve in the competitive sport environment. BASES experts provide their views and experiences of how research and practice may be integrated. Dr Chris Harwood FBASES considers challenges and opportunities for psychologists: As a practitioner conducting applied research in psychology, you are likely to be ‘serving’ your coaches, athletes and parents in one role, yet wanting to collect data from them that may relate to intervention effectiveness. It is important to identify and manage any such dual-role ethical issues and of course gain appropriate informed consent. Performance-impacting applied research is of clear benefit to these stakeholders and self-serving researchers will struggle to recruit coaches if they are not willing to be generous in providing appropriate feedback and education. The ‘marriage’ between applied research and practice is best held in the ‘Church of Single Case Design Interventions’ or the ‘Chapel of Qualitative Research’. Single case research designs focus on evidence of meaningful, tangible improvements in a psychological or performance-related factor. This intervention work could include direct observations in the field and be related to coaching and athlete factors (e.g., mastery-oriented coaching behaviours). These ‘facts’ generally motivate coaches, encouraging the value of sport psychology and informing coaches of the specific needs of their athletes. Applied qualitative research may seek to understand the experiences and characteristics of a particular population group, the results of which may then inform your applied practice. For example, recent work conducted on parental stress in tennis and soccer helped to inform my applied work with parents, coaches and relevant organisational bodies. Dr Chris Harwood is a Reader in Applied Sport Psychology at Loughborough University. He holds BASES High Performance Sport Accreditation and serves as the lead sport psychologist for the Lawn Tennis Association. Mike Bourne provides a performance analysis and skill acquisition perspective: Most applied practitioners are grounded in paradigms from their education but research in performance analysis and skill acquisition moves on so quickly it is imperative we continually recalibrate our theoretical grounding. The practical benefits of being current with your discipline theories cannot be underestimated. For example, the use of advanced statistical methods in performance analysis is expanding at present with mathematicians and economists applying their knowledge to sports problems. Performance analysts should look to stay informed by subscribing to alerts from online research databases. If you are short on time then focus on meta-analyses summarising current positions. Support work should be managed like mini-research projects, ensuring a clear question and development of a robust theoretical framework. The interventions need not be ‘research proven’ but should have scientific grounding. Critiquing the outcomes of applied work is of course critical and partnering with local universities to undertake small-scale research within projects will provide mutual benefit through expertise and resource. Michael Bourne is the England and Wales Cricket Board National Lead for Performance Analysis and has over 10 years of experience in the industry in biomechanics, performance analysis and skill acquisition. Chris Barnes examines the environment of team sports: We have a unique opportunity in team sports to develop our understanding of factors that influence competitive performance through better understanding of the myriad of data we collect on a day-to-day basis. Most of this data is collected ‘passively’, as part of daily routines for the primary purpose of feedback to athletes and coaches. Unfortunately, we rarely have the time to devote to deeper analysis of such information so establishing a solid network of professional contacts in universities and external bodies is of paramount importance, and offers the potential for tremendous mutual benefits. Through well-structured intern schemes and collaborative postgraduate projects, all parties benefit, both immediately through enhanced knowledge and understanding, and in the future through enhanced reputation. This enables academics to retain an applied context for their academic pursuits, and for fieldbased practitioners to have a point of focus for questions regarding existing and future practice, and to retain an academic profile. Chris Barnes works as an independent sport and exercise scientist providing physiological support for Premiership and Championship soccer teams, Rugby League and a range of individual sportsmen including National Hunt Jockeys. Dr Vicky Tolfrey FBASES tackles the question in Paralympic sport: Our research group at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport have recently been investigating the use of immunological markers and their relation with upper respiratory symptoms (URS) in wheelchair athletes. Members of the GB wheelchair rugby squad were initially apprehensive since previous applied support had involved highly invasive laboratory based protocols. However, once the current procedures had been described with particular emphasis on the likely performance impact, the collection of saliva samples was seen as painless and easy. Evidence provided to the wheelchair athletes highlighted that whilst immunological markers can be used for the early detection of upcoming URS in able-bodied athletes, little is known about the impact of disability on immune response in tetraplegic athletes. The athletes were receptive since this is a medical complaint quite commonly noted during travelling and competition. Most importantly, the results can be fed back to athletes and coaches within a few days, providing time to react to depressions of immunological markers, should their link to URS be confirmed. Potential counter-measures include reduced contact to others with URS, reduction of training load or intake of supplements fortifying the immune system. It also became apparent that the monitoring of training load lacked accuracy and this has now led to the development of innovative tools using wheelchair tracking devices. Dr Vicky Tolfrey FBASES is a BASES accredited sport and exercise scientist and has provided applied sport science support to Paralympic athletes since 1994. She attended the Atlanta and Sydney Paralympic Games. 18 The Sport and Exercise Scientist n Issue 31 n Spring 2012 n www.bases.org.uk
POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES IN SPORT AND EXERCISE St Mary’s University College Twickenham London School of Human Sciences www.port.ac.uk MSc courses available in: • Sports Performance • Clinical Exercise Science • Sport and Exercise Psychology (pending BPS accreditation) We have world class facilities enabling teaching and research excellence within sport and exercise. All of the programmes have an applied vocational focus and are delivered by expert staff. Previous graduates from our postgraduate programmes have gone on to a range of successful careers including: sports science support roles, professional sports coach, strength and conditioning coach, university lecturer, college lecturer, PhD researcher, research fellow, cardiologist, scientific technician, personal trainer, health adviser. For programme specific information please contact: t: 023 9284 5154 e: sports.science@port.ac.uk w: www.port.ac.uk/mscsportscience MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Physiology Be seen above the rest The increase in professional sport combined with the drive to promote an active and healthy lifestyle in the UK has led to an increased demand for applied sport and exercise physiologists. With this in mind, the MSc / PG Diploma in Applied Sport & Exercise Physiology has been developed to address this demand by providing students with an opportunity to expand their current knowledge and to develop the skills required to work in the field. The programme has been designed around a range of specialist modules to develop core knowledge and applied skills in the area of sport and exercise physiology. Individuals can study on either a fulltime or part-time basis, completing the M.Sc. part-time in two years. Staff involved in the programme are all highly experienced in their field. All are research active and/or involved in consultancy in their discipline. In addition the School employs a number of specialist visiting lecturers in order to enrich the programme and ensure that lectures are underpinned by cutting edge developments in the field. The MSc/PG Diploma programme focuses on disciplines pertinent to the field of applied sport and exercise physiology. These disciplines are developed to provide a programme that reflects the needs of today’s students, within the context of the workforce in general, the social and political environment, and national and regional sporting and exercise priorities. A Masters course advert in The Sport and Exercise Scientist will target students committed to careers in sport and exercise science We’ll get your Masters course seen above the rest To fi nd out about attention-grabbing advertising opportunities in The Sport and Exercise Scientist – the offi cial publication of BASES - visit www.bases.org.uk/SES-Advertisers For further details or to request an application form, contact: Dr Mark Glaister, Programme Director Email: glaistem@smuc.ac.uk Tel: 020 8240 4012 Registry Admissions: Email pgadmit@smuc.ac.uk Tel 020 8240 4027 or www.smuc.ac.uk/postgraduate/charity-management Overseas (non-EU) students should contact International Office: Tel: +44 (0) 20 8240 2307 Email: international@smuc.ac.uk St Mary’s University College Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham TW1 4SX www.smuc.ac.uk
Page 1 and 2: The Sport and Exercise Scientist Th
Page 3 and 4: Contents On the Cover 6 The interdi
Page 5 and 6: Russ Coppack MBE and Prof Celia Bra
Page 7 and 8: Additional input Psychological inpu
Page 9 and 10: Two companies merge to provide Gold
Page 11 and 12: Table 1. Cardiorespiratory fitness
Page 13 and 14: The dynamometer moment can also be
Page 15 and 16: Left: Eero Mantyranta, multiple Oly
Page 17: finding that girls’ BMI did not c
Page 21 and 22: Fast track your sports science rese
Page 23 and 24: televised elite sport is a totally
Page 25 and 26: Nanette’s notes Prof Nanette Mutr
Page 27 and 28: HK REWARDS Great News! Save 35% For
Page 29 and 30: Accidents Accidents are common in m
Page 31 and 32: Final word with Prof Ian G. Campbel

Issue 31 Spring 2012 - Bases

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?