The purpose of this study was to establish validity and reliability evidence for the medicine ball throw test for kindergarten students, an underrepresented group in the literature. The subjects were 105 students, 5-7 years old, BMI 17.44 +/- 3.17 kg x m(-2), 43% female and 57% male. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to examine reliability, and Pearson correlation coefficient...

In an overarm throw, as the hand opens and the ball rolls along the fingers, the ball exerts a back force on the fingers. Previous studies suggested that skilled throwers compensate for this back force by producing an appropriate finger flexor torque to oppose the back force, but it was unclear how this is controlled by the CNS. We investigated whether the increase in finger flexor torque is ti...

The jump throw is the most applied throwing technique in team- handball (Wagner et al., 2008); however, a comprehensive analysis of 3D-kinematics of the team-handball jump throw is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of our study was: 1) to measure differences in ball release speed in team- handball jump throw and anthropometric parameters between groups of different levels of performance and (2) t...

Static stretching has often been found to decrease performance in power and speed activities, but dynamic warm-ups usually increase performance. We examined the effects of a mini-band warm-up, a medicine ball warm-up, and static stretching on 10m and 20m sprint times, as well as overhead medicine ball throw performance. Twenty-four Division I female soccer players completed the three warm-ups a...

Our perception of an event is often modulated by our past experience and expectations [1,2]. Here we used a magic trick [3] to demonstrate how magicians can distort our subjective perception and we investigate the mechanisms behind this deception. We found that when a magician performed an illusion in which a ball was seen to vanish in the air, 63% of observers perceived the ball leave his hand...

In team-handball competition, the players utilize various throwing techniques that differ in the lower body movements (with and without run-up or jump). These different lower body movements influence changes in the upper body movements and thus also affect the performance. A comprehensive analysis of 3D-kinematics of team-handball throws that may explain these differences in performance is lack...

The goal of this study was to analyze whether 9-11 years old children can attain more free-throw accuracy and success by modifying the ball weight in basketball game. The participants were 54 children (age: mean=10.63, SD=0.55 years) from six basketball teams. The participants played four games with each of the following balls: (a) standard ball weight (485 g, 69-71 cm), (b) a lighter ball (440...

The aim of this study was to compare the kinematics in throwing with a regular weighted handball with 20% lighter and heavier balls in female experienced handball players. In total, eight joint movements during the throw were analyzed. The analysis consisted of maximal angles, angles at ball release, and maximal angular velocities of the joint movements and their timings during the throw. Resul...

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of upper extremity, trunk, and lower extremity movements in overarm throwing in team handball. In total, 11 joint movements during the throw were analyzed. The analysis consists of maximal angles, angles at ball release, and maximal angular velocities of the joint movements and their timing during the throw. Only the elbow angle (extensi...