Aim: We qualitatively explored the Sport Drug Control Model (SDCM; Donovan, Egger, Kapernick, & Mendoza, 2002), in order to examine coaches' perceptions of adolescent athletes' attitudes and susceptibility towards doping.Methods: Eleven coaches (M = 10) from four countries, who worked in seven different sports (athletics, basketball, kayaking, racquetball, rowing, rugby league, and rugby union) were recruited to take part in semi-structured interviews. Transcribed interviews were analyzed via a three-stage inductive and deductive coding process, which allowed us to identify common themes among the participants. Results:The coaches believed that adolescents' attitudes towards doping were influenced by perceptions of threat and benefit appraisals, morality, self-esteem, legitimacy, and reference group opinion. We also identified additional factors, which included age/maturation, sport level, pressure, country of residence, and ethnicity. Conclusions:Our findings provide qualitative support for the SDCM, but also offer fresh insight into some of the nuances specific to adolescent athletes from different countries and cultures. Further research is required to test our proposed model with larger samples of adolescent athletes.
To advance our understanding of the hormonal contribution to athletic performance, we examined the temporal associations between individual changes in testosterone (T) and/or cortisol (C) concentrations, training motivation and physical performance in elite and non-elite trained men. Two male cohorts classified as elites (n = 12) and non-elites (n = 12) completed five testing sessions over a six-week period. The athletes were tested for salivary T, C, T/C ratio, self-perceived training motivation, countermovement jump (CMJ) height and isometric mid-thigh pull peak force (IMTP PF), after which an actual training workout was performed. The elite men reported higher motivation to train and they produced greater CMJ height overall, whereas the non-elites had higher pooled T levels (p < 0.05). No significant group differences in C concentrations, T/C ratio or IMTP PF were found. The individual changes in T levels were positively associated with training motivation in the elite men only (p = 0.033), but the hormonal and motivation measures did not predict CMJ height or IMTP PF in either group. The monitoring of elite and non-elite men across a short training block revealed differences in T levels, motivation and lower-body power, which may reflect training and competitive factors in each group. Despite having lower T levels, the elite athletes showed better linkage between pre-training T fluctuations and subsequent motivation to train. The nature of the performance tests (i.e. single repetition trials) could partly explain the lack of an association with the hormonal and motivational measures.
This study examined the reliability and usefulness of the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test (30-15(IFT)) within rugby league. Fifty-five young rugby league players participated in the study. These included representative players from Under 16s (n = 19; 15.6 ± 0.3 years; 78.1 ± 10.9 kg), Under 18s (n = 21; 17.4 ± 0.5 years; 86.9 ± 11.2 kg), and Under 20s (n = 15; 19.4 ± 0.5 years; 95.9 ± 8.7 kg) squads within a professional rugby league club. Players performed the 30-15(IFT) twice within 9 days of each other. Maximal intermittent running velocity (V(IFT)) and heart rate at exhaustion (HR(peak)) were collected for both tests. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for the "Combined" and Under 20s were very large (r > 0.7), whereas the ICCs for Under 16s and Under 18s were almost perfect (r > 0.9). Coefficients of variation were 1.9% (95% confidence interval, 1.6-2.4) for the combined test-retest of the 30-15(IFT) and 0.6% (0.5-1.0) for HR(peak). As the typical error of measurement (TE) (0.36 km·h⁻¹) was greater than the smallest worthwhile change (SWC) (0.21 km·h⁻¹) value, the usefulness of the V(IFT) was rated as "marginal." The TE for HR(peak) was similar to the SWC, rating the usefulness of this variable as "OK." Despite the usefulness of the 30-15(IFT) being deemed Marginal, a change as small as 0.5 km·h⁻¹ (1 stage) in V(IFT) could be considered substantial or "real." As a consequence, the 30-15(IFT) presents as both a reliable and useful field test in the assessment of intermittent fitness for rugby league players.
This study assessed the responses of salivary-free testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) concentrations across selected training workouts and their association with the subsequent competition outcomes in professional rugby league. Thirteen rugby league players were assessed for salivary-free T and C concentrations across 5 training workouts performed 3-4 days before a competitive game. The game outcomes included wins and losses and game-ranked performance (1-5) based on the number of points scored, the points differential, and a coach rating. Data were pooled across the winning (n = 3) and losing (n = 2) outcomes. Pooled free T concentrations (absolute and relative changes) were significantly (p < 0.01) elevated across those workouts that preceded winning games, but not the losses, and the relative (percent) T changes were significantly (p < 0.05) higher before winning (30.9%) than before losing (3.4%). Both outcomes were associated with workout decreases in pooled free C concentrations and the relative C changes were not significantly different between wins (-22.9%) and losses (-25.6%). In conclusion, the free T responses to selected training workouts showed some association with subsequent winning (being elevated) and losing (no change) during a limited number of competitive games in professional rugby league. Speculatively, the free T responses to a midweek workout might provide an early sign of team readiness to compete or to recovery state, thereby providing a novel format for implementing training or management strategies to improve the competition outcomes.
word count: 228Text-only word count: 3303 Number of tables: 2 Number of figures: 4 2 Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify contributing factors to the incidence of illness for professional team-sport athletes, utilizing training load (TL), self-reported illness and wellbeing data. Methods: Thirty-two professional rugby league players (26.0 ± 4.8 yr; 99.1 ± 9.6 kg; 1.84 ± 0.06 m) were recruited from the same club. Players participated in prescribed training and responded to a series of questionnaires to determine the presence of self-reported illness and markers of wellbeing. Internal-TL was determined using the session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) method. These data were collected over 29 weeks, across the preparatory and competition macrocycles. Results: The predictive models developed recognized increases in internal-TL (strain values of >2282 AU, weekly-TL >2786 AU and monotony >0.78 AU) to best predict when athletes are at increased risk of self-reported illness. In addition, a reduction in overall wellbeing (<7.25 AU) in the presence of increased internal-TL as previously stated, was highlighted as a contributor to self-reported illness occurrence. Conclusions: These results indicate that self-report data can be successfully utilized to provide a novel understanding of the interactions between competition-associated stressors experienced by professional team-sport athletes and their susceptibility to illness. This may assist coaching staff to more effectively monitor players during the season and to potentially implement preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of illnesses occurring.
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