The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Flemish Sports Compass (FSC), a non-sport-specific generic testing battery. It was hypothesised that a set of 22 tests would have sufficient discriminant power to allocate athletes to their own sport based on a unique combination of test scores. First, discriminant analyses were applied to the 22 tests of anthropometry, physical fitness and motor coordination in 141 boys under age 18 (16.1 ± 0.8 years) and post age at peak height velocity (maturity offset = 2.674 ± 0.926) from Flemish Top Sport Academies for badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, judo, soccer, table tennis, triathlon and volleyball. Second, nine sequential discriminant analyses were used to assess the ability of a set of relevant performance characteristics classifying participants and non-participants for the respective sports. Discriminant analyses resulted in a 96.4% correct classification of all participants for the nine different sports. When focusing on relevant performance characteristics, 80.1% to 97.2% of the total test sample was classified correctly within their respective disciplines. The discriminating characteristics were briefly the following: flexibility in gymnastics, explosive lower-limb strength in badminton and volleyball, speed and agility in badminton, judo, soccer and volleyball, upper-body strength in badminton, basketball and gymnastics, cardiorespiratory endurance in triathletes, dribbling skills in handball, basketball and soccer and overhead-throwing skills in badminton and volleyball. The generic talent characteristics of the FSC enable the distinction of adolescent boys according to their particular sport. Implications for talent programmes are discussed.
The ability to perform fast cutting manoeuvres is essential in soccer and requires sufficient traction between shoe and surface. Artificial turf (AT) surfaces are widely used in soccer and among others turf moisture and shoe studs can influence traction. The aim of this study was to quantify the influence of moisture (DRY and WET AT), for three realistic shoe stud characteristics sets [Turf Field (TF), Artificial Grass (AG) and Firm Ground (FG)], on cutting performance, executed traction and perception of the players. Twelve experienced soccer players performed 10 × 5 m shuttle run tests. Ground reaction forces of the open stance phase of the 180° turns were measured and required traction was calculated. Players' perception was also measured. A two-way 2×3 analysis of variance (ANOVA) Repeated Measures with Bonferroni correction was conducted. On dry AT no performance differences between the three tested shoe stud characteristics sets could be measured. On wet AT the AG and FG designs performed evenly well but when wearing the TF shoe, equipped with 74 short studs, significant surface x shoe interaction effects indicated decreased performance and traction on the wet surface. The experienced players perceived shoe x surface evoked differences in performance and traction very well
To compare the visual attention of multiple subjects in a sports situation, an identical stimulus has to be presented, which is often only possible by using video stimuli. Therefore, reacting on video clips, projected on a large screen, seems to approach a real-life situation the most. Reacting while watching a projection screen implies that a Head-mounted Eye-tracking Device (HED) has to be used, implicating time consuming data analysis. When participants only have to watch the video, a Remote Eye-tracking Device (RED) can be used. With these devices, automated data analysis ensures less time loss. However, gaze behavior while watching videos on a computer screen might differ from gaze behavior when reacting on them on a life-sized projection screen. In current experiment gaze behavior of elite fencers was examined in three different conditions.
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