Brain plasticity studies have shown functional reorganization in participants with outstanding motor expertise. Little is known about neural plasticity associated with exceptionally long motor training or of its predictive value for motor performance excellence. The present study utilised resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in a unique sample of world-class athletes: O...

The purpose of the current study was to determine the validity and reliability of an inertial sensor for assessing speed specific to athletes competing in the wheelchair court sports (basketball, rugby, and tennis). A wireless inertial sensor was attached to the axle of a sports wheelchair. Over two separate sessions, the sensor was tested across a range of treadmill speeds reflective of the co...

Despite a growing body of literature demonstrating a positive relationship between sleep and optimal performance, athletes often have low sleep quality and quantity. Insufficient sleep among athletes may be due to scheduling constraints and the low priority of sleep relative to other training demands, as well as a lack of awareness of the role of sleep in optimizing athletic performance. Domain...

Glazier's suggestion for the constraints-led approach as a GUT for sport performance is a worthy proposal. What is missing from these preliminary insights is a principled basis, in the form of pillars, for understanding the cornerstones of the sports medicine profession, and this lack of an overarching theoretical framework is also somewhat of a limitation in Glazier's initial ideas, as we argu...

Acoustic stimuli, like music and metronomes, are often used in sports. Adjusting movement tempo to acoustic stimuli (i.e., auditory-motor synchronization) may be beneficial for sports performance. However, music also possesses motivational qualities that may further enhance performance. Our objective was to examine the relative effects of auditory-motor synchronization and the motivational impa...

Sports psychologists have long believed that high levels of competitive state anxiety during competition are harmful, worsening performance and even leading to dropout. The instrument used for the study comprised of a 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 and The Psychological Performance Inventory which had been distributed during sport between universities competition. The sample cons...

BACKGROUND Tarsometatarsal (Lisfranc) joint injuries commonly occur in National Football League (NFL) competition; however, the career effect of these injuries is unknown. PURPOSE To define the time to return to competition for NFL players who sustained Lisfranc injuries and to quantify the effect on athletic performance. STUDY DESIGN Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS Data...

The role of the mastery metamotivational state and the antecedents of the confidence frame have, until now, been poorly defined in reversal theory (RT) research. The purpose of this theoretical manuscript is to provide an elaboration of RT’s mastery state and more clearly define its relationship with protective confidence frames, its interaction with other metamotivational states, and its antec...

“Cupping Therapy” is the topic chosen for the fourth editorial of this newly launched journal. The aim of this editorial is to deepen this interesting topic, little analyzed in the present literature, in order to explain the technique and deal with the evidence of the effects of cupping therapy in musculoskeletal disorders, and some possible relation to sports performance.

The relation between nationality and selected indicators of psychological performance in rugby league football was examined. Mental toughness was assessed using the alternative Psychological Performance Inventory (PPI-A) and hardiness using the Personal Views Survey III-R (PVS III-R). Participants (N = 49, M age = 21.7 yr., SD = 2.3) were male elite-level university rugby league footballers rep...