The aim of this study was to determine the effect of five pedal crank arm lengths (110, 145, 180, 230 and 265 mm) on hip, knee and ankle angles and on the peak, mean and minimum power production of 11 males (26.6+/-3.8 years, 179+/-8 cm, 79.6+/-9.5 kg) during upright cycle ergometry. Computerized 30 s Wingate power tests were performed on a free weight Monark cycle ergometer against a resistance of 8.5% body weight. Joint angles were determined, with an Ariel Performance Analysis System, from videotape recorded at 100 Hz. Repeated-measures analysis of variance and contrast comparisons revealed that, with increasing crank arm lengths, there was a significant decrement in the minimum hip and knee angles, a significant increment in the ranges of motion of the joints, and a parabolic curve to describe power production. The largest peak and mean powers occurred with a crank arm length of 180 mm. We conclude that 35 mm changes in pedal crank arm length significantly alter both hip and knee joint angles and thus affect cycling performance.
The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and effect of certain highly patterned behaviours utilized prior to free-throw shooting in basketball. Ten female basketball players comprising the varsity squad of Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA served as subjects for this study. Subjects were filmed with a high-speed camera and monitored for heart rate during the performance of 10 free throws in each of two conditions: ritual and non-ritual. For the ritual condition, subjects were given unlimited time and freedom of movement prior to each free-throw attempt. For the non-ritual condition, subjects were not restricted by time, but were instructed to shoot the ball without utilizing any movements other than those required to project the ball to the goal. Dependent measures were characteristics of behaviours, physiological changes measured by heart rates, mechanical data (speed, height and angle of release), and number of successful attempts. Condition x trials analyses of variance and low standard deviation concerning characteristics of behaviours indicated that the idiosyncratic behaviours prior to free-throw shooting were rituals of the auto-communicative type. Results indicated no significant difference between conditions for free-throw success. However, partial correlation between dependent measures and successful free-throw attempts indicated that duration of behaviours was most crucial to free-throw shooting success.
Anthropometric measurements were obtained from 141 Nebraska State Tournament wrestlers in order to predict their ideal minimum wrestling weight via the Tipton-Tcheng predictim equation. An r of .93 was found between predicted weight and actual weight for 131 of the state tournament qualifiers (excluding heavy-weights). Data indicated that the winners more nearly approximated their predicted weight than did the losers. The mean percent difference between actual weight showed that the upper weight classes (138- 185) more closely approximated their predicted weight than the lower weight than the lower weight classes (98-132). The results indicate that a prediction equation can reliably predict a wrestlers ideal weight and could be used to eliminate unwise weight reduction practices.
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