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<p>The aim of this narrative research was to explore the relationship between lifestyle and self-confidence within adolescent football players. The research questions were formulated as follow; (1) What sources let adolescent football players build self-confidence? (2) What issues characterize adolescent football player’s lifestyles? (3) How do adolescent football players perceive an association between lifestyle and self-confidence in sport? The results showed eight different sources for building self-confidence, where earlier performances and social support were considered as the strongest. Ten different lifestyle factors were observed. Football, social support, performance intent and good health were common factors for all the participants. The study showed three types of perceived associations between self-confidence and lifestyle. First of all, there is an overlap between the lifestyle issues and sources of self-confidence. Second lifestyle issues influence the degree to which sources of self-confidence work for the participant to build self-confidence. Third lifestyle pattern provides a balance (or misbalance) which influences particular sources of self-confidence and in the end self-confidence itself. The author discuss how the result can be interpreted in perspective of every single participant and in common for all the participants.</p>

The aim of this narrative research was to explore the relationship between lifestyle and self-confidence within adolescent football players. The research questions were formulated as follow; (1) What sources let adolescent football players build self-confidence? (2) What issues characterize adolescent football player’s lifestyles? (3) How do adolescent football players perceive an association between lifestyle and self-confidence in sport? The results showed eight different sources for building self-confidence, where earlier performances and social support were considered as the strongest. Ten different lifestyle factors were observed. Football, social support, performance intent and good health were common factors for all the participants. The study showed three types of perceived associations between self-confidence and lifestyle. First of all, there is an overlap between the lifestyle issues and sources of self-confidence. Second lifestyle issues influence the degree to which sources of self-confidence work for the participant to build self-confidence. Third lifestyle pattern provides a balance (or misbalance) which influences particular sources of self-confidence and in the end self-confidence itself. The author discuss how the result can be interpreted in perspective of every single participant and in common for all the participants.

College football is big business, earning slightly more than $1 billion in profit in the last few years. As a result of its popularity, fans of the game devour massive amounts of information about college teams and their players. Less known are the non-academic challenges college football players face, in addition to the typical concerns shared with their non-athletic peers. Along with academic and cognitive challenges, the ability to effectively navigate non-academic areas - such as personal, social and cultural - is critical to the development and holistic growth of today’s college football players. These factors can affect a student's ability to thrive or persist toward graduation. In this report, I explore the specific challenges of African American college football players at predominantly White institutions. Within this scope, I will examine the growth of college football in addition to the reach and impact it has on African American families. Within these communities, research shows a pervasive focus on playing professional football. Some players believe that college football is a mere stepping stone on the road to a professional career. The reality is that very few college football players are chosen to play professionally – actually less than .2%. This report explores some of the psychosocial issues that can impact the on and off the field success of African American college football players at predominantly White institutions The goal of this work is to lay a foundation and make an argument for counseling and therapeutic support targeted to, but not exclusively for African American college football players. As systems that seek to understand growth and change for optimum mental and physical well-being, the field of counseling and sports psychology present intervention models that can be useful for today’s African American college football players. / text

Fizinio krūvio metu organizmo funkcijų pokyčiai — sudėtingų, tarpusavy susijusių procesų virtinė (Žumbakytė, 2006). O fiziologinė sportininko organizmo adaptavimosi esmė — tai toks organizmo funkcionalumas, kurio būdingi požymiai yra geresnis fizinio krūvio toleravimas, didesnis disponuojamų energinių medžiagų kiekis, reguliavimo mechanizmų tobulėjimas (Huonker et al., 2002; Poderys, 2004). Seniai yra žinoma, kad sportiniai žaidimai – krepšinis ir futbolas, panašiai veikia sportininkų lėtąją adaptaciją. Nes daugelis sportinių žaidimų (pvz., krepšinis, futbolas, badmintonas ir kt.) yra intervalinės prigimties ir susideda iš trumpų (≤ šešių sekundžių trukmės) maksimalių/submaksimalių pastangų intervalų bei reliatyviai trumpų (≤ 60 sekundžių trukmės) vidutinio/žemo intensyvumo atsigavimo periodų (Glaister, 2005). Tačiau ar iš tikrųjų vienodas šių sporto šakų ilgalaikis poveikis sportininko organizmui, literatūroje duomenų neaptinkama. Darbo tikslas buvo nustatyti krepšininkų ir futbolininkų širdies susitraukimų dažnio ir jo kitimo greičio kaitos ypatybes veloergometrinio mėginio metu. Uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti krepšininkų (moterų ir vyrų) bei futbolininkų vyrų širdies susitraukimų dažnį priešstartinės būsenos sąlygomis. 2. Palyginti nesportuojančių (moterų, vyrų) ir krepšininkų (moterų, vyrų) bei futbolininkų vyrų širdies susitraukimų dažnio kaitą atliekant veloergometrinį tyrimą. 3. Palyginti nesportuojančių (moterų, vyrų) ir krepšininkų (moterų, vyrų) bei futbolininkų vyrų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Human body’s functional changes during physical load is a sequence of complex interrelated processes (Zumbakyte, 2006). The physiological essence of body adaptation is acquiring such functionality of the body that would distinguish itself by a greater tolerance to physical load, a greater amount of energy recourses at the disposal of the body and perfection of the regulatory mechanisms (Hyonker et al., 2002; Poderys, 2004). It is known for a long time that such sport games as basketball and football influences similarly the long adaptation of sportsmen. Most of sports games are of interval origin (for example basketball, football, badminton and other) and consists of short (≤ six seconds duration) maximum/submaximum attempt intervals and relatively short (≤ sixty seconds duration) medium/low intensity recovery periods (Glaister, 2005). However, there is no data in the literature if the long term influences on the sportsman organism acts similarly in every kind of sport. The aim of the work was to fix the peculiarities of alterations in heart rate and it speed changes of football and basketball players during the bicycle ergometry test. Tasks: 1. To evaluate heart rate, during pre start condition, of basketball players (men and women). 2. To compare heart rate changes during bicycle ergometry research while testing non–athletes (men and women) and basketball players (men and women) and football players (men). 3. To compare alterations in heart rate speed of changes during... [to full text]

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Physio.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2012.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

In the past two years, six National Football League players have died by suicide. Investigations into most of the deaths revealed that the players suffered from brain damage likely caused by repeated concussions. As is the case with many health issues, tragedy often precedes action; the suicides of these high profile football stars have catalyzed action on concussion policy and practice, as well as opened up the conversation about the overall mental health of athletes. This thesis joins the conversation around mental health and athletes, specifically Canadian varsity football players. Mental health problems and illnesses are presented as especially common, affecting about 1 in 5 Canadians. That is not to underestimate the severity of mental illnesses, which can deteriorate an individual’s quality of life, significantly impact friends and family and, in the most severe cases, also lead to death by suicide. That said, this thesis adopts a theoretical perspective that focuses on the promotion and protection of good mental health. This thesis is primarily concerned with investigating the social, political, and external factors that negatively impact how football players conceptualize mental health and mental illness, and also the recommended behaviour to seek professional help if needed. The growing body of research concerning the negative impact of mental illness stigma is compelling and leaves no doubt that stigma is a significant barrier to recovery. This thesis explores the stigma process as well as its social function in groups. Next, it investigates how the already powerful stigma around mental illness is further exacerbated by gender and more specifically, how traditional masculine ideology (i.e. men should be strong and powerful) conflicts with stereotypical beliefs about mentally ill people (i.e. weak and/or incompetent). Gender and health are further linked in terms of behaviour. In other words, rejecting health behaviours becomes a strategy some men utilize to project their masculinity, paradoxically contributing to the creation or worsening of many health problems. A health behaviour that is explored in detail is psychological help-seeking, and the psychosocial processes of help-seeking, which are also mainly regulated by masculinity. An overview of the most common mental health problems and illnesses found in male varsity athletes is provided. All of the above components are then applied to the unique context of varsity football players. The thesis draws on the literature as well as qualitative interview data that explores the experiences of 8 varsity football players at the University of Ottawa. Regarding mental health promotion, the findings show that football players may require adapted communication approaches. To that end, the thesis transitions into an early-stage health communication plan supported by the literature and the primary data. The plan proposes overall outcomes, short term/intermediate objectives, a communication strategy, and a tactical approach. Next, a web-based health resource is suggested as a primary communication vehicle and is outlined in detail. The plan then suggests potential partnerships for extending the strategic communication plan’s reach and credibility. This is followed by suggestions for evaluating both the short term/intermediate objectives as well as the strategic communication plan’s overall impact. This thesis concludes with a chapter exploring the contributions lifted from the eight qualitative interviews, as well as suggested directions for research, policy and practice.

The present thesis explored various applications of training specificity with regard to elite-level rugby union football players of various ages. A novel approach to metabolic conditioning employing skill-based conditioning games was investigated with elite-level senior professional players, during the course of a preseason training period. Training responses were assessed using a submaximal intermittent shuttle test performed at weekly intervals. Significant differences post-training (p<0.01) were observed for %HRmax reached during the final test stage and recovery of HR from the end of the final stage to the end of the final 1-minute rest period. The second study examined effectiveness of a circuit format for strength training in elite senior professional players during a preseason training period. Following the circuit based strength training, deadlift and bench pull I-RM strength scores were significantly improved both in comparison to pre-tests (p<0.01) and end season scores (p<0.01). Bench press scores were also significantly improved following the training period (p<0.01), and post-test bench press scores were improved relative to end season scores, albeit to a lesser extent (p<0.05). An Olympic lift training intervention was undertaken with Junior academy-level rugby union players. The effect of the application of these lifts on mean power output measured using test apparatus that simulated the ruck clean movement featured in rugby union football was examined. The considerably greater increases of the training group on this measure (28% vs 8%) were reflected in greater statistical significance (p<0.01) relative to the improvement for the control group (p<0.05). A significant interaction effect also indicated the training groups responded significantly differently on the test measure following training. A weighted ballistic push up training mode, incorporating a prototype shoulder harness, was investigated in a group of junior academy-level rugby football players. The training group recorded significant improvements in work output measured using a concentric-only push test (p<0.05), whereas countermovement push-up test scores approached significance (P=0.063). The final study employed an overweight ball complex training intervention. Following training the elite academy professional players who served as subjects showed significant improvements (p<0.05) in right-handed and left-handed mean and peak pass velocities.

The objective of this study was to examine goal-setting, perceived competence, goal orientation and psychological well-being in Swedish male football players. Further it was investigated if junior players differed when compared with senior players regarding the subjects mentioned above. This was a quantitative study using the following four instruments: Goal Setting in Sport Questionnaire, Harter’s Competence Scale, Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire. The participants consisted of 121 male subjects who played in junior or senior teams. Achievement goal theory and a working model made by the authors based on previous research represented the theoretical framework. One-way ANOVA was used to examine differences between juniors and seniors. Pearson’s correlation test was used to examine relationships between all the variables. The results indicated that the juniors had significantly higher ego orientation when compared to the seniors. Significant differences also emerged in the importance of competence, negative selfconfidence and anxiety, where the juniors showed higher results in all. Finally, significant correlations were demonstrated between goal setting and perceived competence, task orientation and goal setting, task and positive well-being, ego and perceived competence, perceived competence and positive well-being and anxiety and negative self-confidence in both juniors and seniors. The results were discussed in relation to the working model, the theoretical framework and earlier research.