Social structure remains an equivocal term in (sport) sociology. Our understandings of its constitution and role causally influencing behavior are arguably underdeveloped. Using a critical realist approach, this paper examined how structural entities reflexive agency combined to influence elite youth cricket context (e.g., athletes, coaches). A methodological bricolage was used generate data El...

BACKGROUND The reported prevalence of exercise induced asthma (EIA) in elite winter athletes ranges from 9% to 50%. Many elite winter athletes do not report symptoms of EIA. At present there is no gold standard test for EIA. OBJECTIVE To establish the efficacy of screening for EIA and examine the role of the eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) challenge and laboratory based and sport sp...

OBJECTIVE The objectives of the study were to examine the prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), anorexia athletica (AA), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (ED-NOS) in both male and female Norwegian elite athletes and a representative sample from the general Norwegian population. DESIGN A 2-step study including self-reported questionnaire and clinical interview....

Airway dysfunction is prevalent in elite endurance athletes and when left untreated may impact upon both health and performance. There is now concern that the intensity of hyperpnoea necessitated by exercise at an elite level may be detrimental for an athlete's respiratory health. This article addresses the evidence of causality in this context with the aim of specifically addressing whether ai...

BACKGROUND Limited research suggests elite athletes may differ from non-athletes in clinical tendon tap reflex responses. METHODS In this matched cohort study, 25 elite rugby league athletes were compared with 29 non-athletes to examine differences in tendon reflex responses. Relationships between reflex responses and lengths of players' careers were also examined. Biceps, triceps, patellar a...

BACKGROUND Adolescents and young adults experience a high level of mental disorders, yet tend not to seek help. Research indicates that there are many barriers and facilitators to help-seeking for young people in the general community. However there are limited data available for young elite athletes. This study aims to determine what young elite athletes perceive as the barriers and facilitato...

THIS STUDY TESTED TWO HYPOTHESES (1) compared with amateurs and young elite, expert table tennis players are characterized by enhanced cortical activation in the motor and fronto-parietal cortex during motor imagery in response to table tennis videos; (2) in elite athletes, world rank points are associated with stronger cortical activation. To this aim, electroencephalographic data were recorde...

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TWOFOLD (a) to examine if kinetic and kinematic parameters of the sprint start could differentiate elite from sub-elite sprinters and, (b) to investigate whether providing feedback (FB) about selected parameters could improve starting block performance of intermediate sprinters over a 6-week training period. Twelve male sprinters, assigned to an elite or a sub-elit...

The increase in competition demands in elite team sports over recent years has prompted much attention from researchers and practitioners to the monitoring of adaptation and fatigue in athletes. Monitoring fatigue and gaining an understanding of athlete status may also provide insights and beneficial information pertaining to player availability, injury, and illness risk. Traditional methods us...

The purpose of this study was to identify consistent features in the signals supplied by a single inertial measurement unit (IMU), or thereof derived, for the identification of foot-strike and foot-off instants of time and for the estimation of stance and stride duration during the maintenance phase of sprint running. Maximal sprint runs were performed on tartan tracks by five amateur and six e...