La gestion des équipements sportifs est un des piliers de la politique sportive élaborée par les élus, et ce, quelque soit la commune. La programmation, la réalisation et l’entretien d’infrastructures sportives permettent à une Direction des sports de réaliser diverses missions dans le domaine de l’éducation, l’animation sportive et le soutien aux associations dans l’organisation de manifestations sportives. Toutefois, ces initiatives publiques sont confrontées à un triptyque complexe : l’obsolescence du patrimoine sportif, l’identification des demandes sociales et les stratégies individuelles et collectives des acteurs du monde sportif.Ce champ d’étude soulève plusieurs questions : Comment concevoir une offre d’espaces sportifs pour une ville comme Rennes ? Quelles sont les logiques d’implantation du patrimoine sportif ? Quels sont les indicateurs inhérents aux pratiques sportives qu’un service des sports d’une collectivité locale doit intégrer pour concevoir une politique d'animation, de construction et de rénovation d'équipements sportifs ? L’approche sociohistorique permet d’appréhender l’articulation entre contexte local et national ainsi que les logiques de réseaux dans la prise de décision en matière de programmationd’équipements. Celle-ci s’appuie sur une étude de la construction des équipements sportifs à Rennes de la fin du 18ème siècle à nos jours. De plus, l’enquête auprès des acteurs du sport et des pratiquants à Rennes, ainsi qu’une étude comparative des méthodologies de programmation des équipements dans neuf villes de France, apportent des éléments de réponse et dessinent les perspectives en matière d’aide à la décision dans la programmation des espaces sportifs / Management of sports facilities is one of the pillars of sports policy developed by elected officials, whatever the town. Planning, implementing and maintaining sports facilities allow a Sports Departments to carry out various tasks in the field of education, sports activities and supporting associations in the organization of sport events. However these public initiatives are facing a complex triptych: the obsolescence of sporting equipment, identifying the social demand and the individual and collective strategies of the players in the sports world. This study raises several questions: How to design the right offer of sport facilities for a city like Rennes? What should be the logic behind picking location of sport equipment? What indicators are inherent to sports that sports department of a local authority must track to develop a policy for utilization, construction and renovation of sports facilities? The sociohistorical approach allows understanding the relationship between local and national context and the logic of the networks of decision making for equipment planning. It is based on a study of the construction of sports facilities in Rennes from the late 18th century to today. In addition a survey of sport stakeholders and practitioners in Rennes, and a comparative study of programming methodologies facilities in nine cities of France, provide some answers to improve decision making in regards to planning sport facilities.

Title: Customer behavior and brand preferences in a snowboard shop Objectives: The main aim of this thesis is to find out what are customers during their purchase of winter sports clothes and equipment influenced by and what are their decisions based on. Another task is revealing what brands in the Snowboardel shop belong to the most known and preferred ones. Methods: In this thesis there is used the method of iterrogation and the method of analysis. The iterrogative method was used to collect the information essential for the research. Afterwards were these information analysed to find out the internal relations and its causes. Results: The research revealed that customers are during their purchase mainly influenced by the quality, design and price of the winter sports products. They also usually think their purchase thoroughly out. Among brands the big and well-known world snowboarding brands are usually most known and preferred. Keywords: Customer behavior, brand, winter sports equipment, customer preferences

This work describes the transportation of excess sports equipment by air travel in particular with regard to the liability of air carriers in case of destruction, loss, damage or delay. Increased attention is paid to transportation to specific surf destinations, e.g. Canary Islands and island of Bali in Indonesia. The aim is to confirm or refute the unsatisfactory situation in the field of transportation of excess sports equipment by air travel, own survey was carried out for this purpose.

With this project, I wish to question the processes of designing for normative, active bodies and create opportunities for more inclusive and democratic sports. It aims to render and re-engineer sports equipment as we know them.   The design thesis has been developed based on research and experiences of exclusion regarding accessible equipment for Parasports. From a norm-critical standpoint, my collaborator Ebba and I have therefore developed a new Paralympic seat and back support for the sport of rowing. As a norm-creative innovation, its design addresses the particularities of the individual body and its specific needs.  The project investigates the combination of co-creation, craft and norm-creative methods as a pragmatic and alternative approach to sports equipment. By 3D scanning Ebba’s body, digital and physical iterations were in combination with manual crafts, principles of the making. The result shows great potential as the equipment are fully functional, it consists of a sandwich construction with a (Nomex) core and layers of high modulus carbon fibre. The back support is adjustable in four axis points.  I state that if we want to engage in sustainable sports equipment, the notions of co-creation, norm-criticality and crafts have good potential in formulating inclusive and accessible outcomes that are both desirable, valuable and satisfying for people with disobedient bodies.

[pt] O iatismo é um esporte onde o Brasil constantemente alcança bons resultados em competições de nível mundial, e mesmo sendo um esporte de ponta possui pouco reconhecimento por parte do grande público. Os praticantes da vela muitas vezes carecem da falta de estudos especializados em esportes e principalmente no iatismo. A classe Snipe foi escolhida como alvo da pesquisa por se tratar de uma das mais tradicionais no meio, além de ser considerada por iatistas como a mais técnica. Praticamente todos os grandes velejadores passaram pela classe Snipe. Para a pesquisa, que procurou retratar os desconfortos causados pelo esporte e como é a relação do praticante com o seu equipamento, foram feitos testes como o REBA e uma adaptação do Corlett, além de entrevistas com velejadores. Apesar dos riscos apontados pelos testes e pelos próprios relatos dos praticantes, o design do barco, incluindo o layout do convés, foi pouco criticado, o que leva a crer que os velejadores estão bastante satisfeitos com o equipamento, incluindo aí suas possibilidades de variação no convés e suas limitações quanto a espaço e conforto. A conclusão é de que o velejador de Snipe pouco se importa com o desconforto causado pelo equipamento, considerando isso ínfimo se relacionado ao prazer proporcionado ao praticar o esporte, e ainda se coloca em posição privilegiada em relação à outras classes de vela, consideradas muito mais desconfortáveis. / [en] Yachting is a sport that Brazil had even constantly reach good results in world championships, but doesn`t have recognize for the major public. Crews often can`t find more specialized research studies about the theme. Snipe class was chosen once is one of the more traditional, and also because it is considered by the practitioners as the more technical one. For this research, it was tried to find out the discomfort caused by sailing and how is the relationship between practitioners and their equipment. It was carried out a field research, using tests and discomfort evaluation, and also questionnaires and interviews with the sailors. Although the results show risks, in the sailors´ opinion, boat design, including deck layout, had just few bad critics. This information means that sailors are satisfied with the equipment, including their possibilities of variation in the deck and its limitations concerning to space and comfort. Conclusion is that Snipe sailors don`t consider discomfort caused by equipment, affirming that it is not as important as the pleasure of sailing. Practitioners also comment that they consider themselves as privileged if compared to other sailing dinghy classes. Agreeing to the results in this research, equipment isn`t a cause of injuries if properly used.

Ice hockey is a contact sport played in a cold environment which leads to assumptions that players are not exposed to a thermal challenge. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the wearing of hockey protective equipment during an exercise protocol designed to simulate a hockey game would induce a thermal challenge and lead to decrements in performance. In order to test this hypothesis and qualify the physiological responses, subjects performed a standardized protocol performed on a stationary cycle ergometer in an environmental chamber set at typical (12ºC) ice hockey ambient conditions. The simulation was performed twice; once while wearing cotton undergarments only (NP), and once while wearing cotton undergarments and the typical protective equipment worn during a hockey game (P). Work intensity during each trial was held constant and was evaluated by examining mean power output, which was similar under both P and NP conditions (348.2 W vs 352.08 W, P > 0.05) P vs NP, respectively. Body (37.18 ºC vs 36.58 ºC) and skin temperatures (34.12 ºC vs 28.85 ºC) were elevated in P vs NP, respectively (P<0.05). Core temperatures (37.50 ºC vs 37.41ºC) displayed a trend towards being higher in P vs NP particularly during the third period of simulation (P = 0.053). Sweat loss as a percent of body mass was greater in P vs NP (2.57% vs 1.18%, respectively P<0.05), which led to an increase in plasma osmolality (287 vs 283 mosmol/kg H2O, respectively P<0.05) working heart rate (83.7% vs 78.8% of maximum heart rate), resting heart rate (63.4% and 55.9% of maximum heart rate), and urine specific gravity (1.026 vs 1.017) for P vs NP respectively (each P<0.05). The drop-off in power from pre to post simulated game was examined in both conditions by the use of five repeated maximal six second sprints interspersed with 24 seconds of recovery. The drop-off in both peak (12.0% vs 0.2%) and mean power (14.5% vs 2.7%) was greater in P versus NP (P<0.05). Plasma lactate concentration was higher following the simulated game in P vs NP (9.64 vs 5.96 mmol/L, P<0.05) as was plasma norepinephrine (2274.0 vs 1366.9 pg/ml, P<0.05). Rating of Perceived Exertion increased by 30-53% in the P condition (P<0.05) even though power outputs were equivalent. The elevated body temperature and increased water loss appeared to increase glycolytic flux, which when coupled with the consequences of thermal stress, reduced power output and led to the perception of elevated work intensities during the simulated game.

In the sports industry, the products currently being developed by design teams are degraded over time due to wear and tear. During the last decade, awareness about the global environmental crisis has increased and sports users are now more demanding about the environmental impact of products and services that they are using. Therefore, people are searching for companies that make durable and sustainable products and services. While the importance of durability regarding the development of a circular economy has been recognized, a concrete concept has not yet been specifically addressed in European product policies. Standards are missing and this research aims to develop a method, where companies from the water-sports industry could follow a step-by-step process to assess the normative lifespan of a product, especially in the early design stages of the product development process. The case study of OLAIAN, the DECATHLON surf brand, has made it possible to develop repeatable long-term quality test protocols on neoprene wetsuits and surfboards to characterize the ageing of these products. A product’s resistance is one of the durability factors that are tested in this method, by creating a database containing the number of uses a product has made and its evolution over time. This case study has allowed the testing of different protocols in co- creation with the surf organizations and explores further the study of a testing phase during the product development process. From these empirical findings, a 10-step method has been designed to estimate the normative lifespan of a product. Globally, the outcomes are intended for the design team, in order to know a product’s resistance over time and its weaknesses, thus being able to improve and further its lifespan. A second outcome is to fulfill information to complete studies on durability. Therefore, increase the reliability of Life Cycle Analysis and observe where is the biggest environmental impact in the product’s process (from inception to recycling) to take actions. This also helps to know more precisely the temporal warranty that companies can promise to their customers, and it completes studies on environmental indicators display to guide consumers to more sustainable choices. This study aims to allow in the future, sports organizations certified by Standardization organization for testing of products and the assessment of their durability. Further research on sensors or electronic devices, to more precisely follow the evolution of product during field- testing would be very relevant. As this thesis focused on field-testing for the reliability of products, based on these results further research in statistical models to support failures analysis in accelerated lab-testing must be implemented. Another opportunity is the emergence of platforms and product-service systems in the sports field. This could open up opportunities to have products used at a high frequency and in intense conditions to enable faster feedback on durability.

Background: In recent years, sudden improvements in long-distance running performance have been suggested to be due to the latest technological innovations in running footwear. However, inter-individual differences appear to be large in the performance enhancing effect these shoes elicit where some runners experience a decline in performance while others improve substantially. The reason for this is not yet fully understood but may be due to differences in anthropometric and neuromuscular characteristics between runners. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to investigate the association between individual anthropometrical and neuromuscular characteristics of runners with changes in running mechanics while wearing these new generation shoes. Method: Eight male endurance runners performed four different testing protocols during one single visit. These consisted of an anthropometrical protocol where measurements of height, weight, leg length and Achilles tendon moment arm length were determined; a jumping protocol where vertical stiffness and eccentric utilization ratio (EUR) were recorded using a force platform; a running protocol where contact time, step length, ankle propulsive power and knee absorption power were measured using a force platform and a 12-camera motion analysis system; and finally a force-velocity protocol where each participant performed calf raises and back squats with incremental loads in a smith machine while barbell velocity was simultaneously recorded. The collected data were then statistically analyzed using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. Results: Greater peak power in the back squat was associated with a greater reduction in peak knee absorption power (r = -0,905, p = 0,005) and less vertical stiffness during jumping was associated with longer step lengths with the advanced footwear technology (AFT) shoes (r = -0,738, p = 0,046). No associations were found between vertical stiffness during jumping and contact time, EUR with step length and contact time, peak power in the calf raise and Achilles tendon moment arm with peak ankle propulsive power. Conclusion: Runners with less vertical stiffness in the lower limb during jumping exhibited greater step length increase with AFT shoes. This may be due to the spring-like behavior the shoes possess. However, the larger step length increases the demands on lower limb strength and runners with less power in the lower limb may increase their knee absorption power during ground contact, leading to potentially less efficient running mechanics. Those with greater power in the lower limb may, on the other hand, run more efficiently by decreasing their knee absorption power leading to less muscular effort. / Bakgrund: De senaste årens förbättringar inom långdistanslöpning har föreslagits bero på de teknologiska framstegen som gjorts inom löparskokonstruktion. Det verkar emellertid finnas en skillnad i den prestationshöjande effekt som dessa skor framkallar, där vissa löpare upplever en försämring medan andra förbättras avsevärt. Orsaken till detta är fortsatt okänt men kan ha att göra med skillnader i antropometriska och neuromuskulära egenskaper mellan löpare. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka sambandet mellan individuella antropometriska och neuromuskulära egenskaper hos löpare med förändringar i löpmekanik som dessa nya generationens skor framkallar.Metod: Åtta manliga långdistanslöpare utförde fyra olika testprotokoll under ett enda besök. Dessa bestod av ett antropometriskt protokoll där längd, vikt, benlängd och momentarmslängd av Akillessenan mättes; ett hopprotokoll där vertikal styvhet och EUR registrerades med hjälp av en kraftplatta; ett löpprotokoll där kontakttid, steglängd, fotledskraft och knäledskraft mättes med hjälp av kraftplattor och ett rörelseanalyssystem med 12 kameror; och slutligen ett kraft-hastighetsprotokoll där varje deltagare utförde tåhävningar och knäböj med stigande belastning i en smith-maskin medan skivstångshastighet samtidigt registrerades. Den insamlade data analyserades därefter med Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test och Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. Resultat: Högre peak power i benböj var associerat med en större minskning av maximal knäabsorptions power (r = -0,905, p = 0,005) och mindre vertikal styvhet under vertikalhopp var associerad med längre steglängd med AFT-skorna (r = -0,738, p = 0,046). Inget samband hittades mellan vertikal styvhet under vertikalhopp och kontakttid, EUR med steglängd och kontakttid, maximal power i tåhävningar och hälsenans momentarm med maximal propulsionspower i fotleden. Konklusion: Löpare med mindre vertikal styvhet i de nedre extremiteten under vertikalhopp uppvisade större steglängdsökning med AFT-skor. Detta kan bero på det fjäderliknande beteende skorna har. Den längre steglängden ökar dock kraven på styrkan i den nedre extremiteten och löpare med mindre kraft, har potentiell ökad knäabsorptions power under markkontakt vilket kan resultera i en mindre effektiv löpmekanik. De med bättre kraftutveckling i de nedre extremiteten kan däremot potentiellt springa mer effektivt med dessa nya generationens skor genom en minskning i knäabsorptions power vilket i sin tur leder till mindre muskulär ansträngning.

Title: Personal sport equipment of FTVS UK students Objectives: Main objective of this diploma thesis to find out personal sports equipment of studentes by survey method. The goal is to analyze students sport equipment for their personal use and ownership, how much financial resorces students invests into sport and at the same time use analysis to determine which sports are prefered by students and which sport brands are the most popuplar. Methods: Main tool for obtaining necessary datas, which are used in our diploma thesis, is the questionare in online form. To evaluate obtaine datas from our respondents we have used statistical methods. In the introduction we have checked and classified, determined in the next step of research process (analysis of answers). This allowed us to research mutual relations between indvidual categories. Another methods that we used were for example: analysis and synthetis, scientific abstract, comparation method, mathematical and statistical methods. Results: From our research it is obvious that the students invest significant amont of their financial resorces into sports equipment. From the acquired answers we can claim, that personal sport equipment of students is rich and diverse. Students are dedicated to more classical sports promoted by schools in the past, like...

Sports engineering can be considered as the bridge between the knowledge of sports science and the principles of engineering and has an important role not only in improving the athletic performance, but also in increasing the safety of the athletes. Testing and optimization of sports equipment and athletic performance are essential for supporting athletes in their quest to reach the podium. However, most of the equipment used by world-class athletes is chosen based only on subjective tests and the athletes’ feelings. Consequently, one of the aims of this thesis was to combine mechanics and mathematics to develop new objective test methods for sports equipment. Another objective was to investigate the possibility to accurately track and analyse cross-country skiing performance by using a real-time locating system. A long term aim is the contribution to increased knowledge about objective test and analysis methods in sports. The main methodological advancements are the modification of established test methods for sports equipment and the implementation of spline-interpolated measured positioning data to evaluate cross-country skiing performance. The first two papers show that it is possible to design objective yet sport specific test methods for different sports equipment. New test devices and methodologies are proposed for alpine ski helmets and cross-country ski poles. The third paper gives suggestions for improved test setups and theoretical simulations are introduced for glide tests of skis. It is shown, it the fourth paper, that data from a real-time locating system in combination with a spline model offers considerable potential for performance analysis in cross-country sprint skiing. In the last paper, for the first time, propulsive power during a cross-country sprint skiing race is estimated by applying a power balance model to spline-interpolated measured positioning data, enabling in-depth analyses of power output and pacing strategies in cross-country skiing. Even though it has not been a first priority aim in this work, the results from the first two papers have been used by manufacturers to design new helmets with increased safety properties and cross-country ski poles with increased force transfer properties. In summary, the results of this thesis demonstrate the feasibility of using mechanics and mathematics to increase the objectiveness and relevance when analysing sports equipment and athletic performance. / <p>QC 20160927</p>