Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Background In sport, competitive athletes are required to perform to the best of their ability, with some athletes seeking the use of chiropractic treatment to improve performance. For example, hockey players are required to perform at peak physical function whilst executing a drag flick. The action of a drag flick involves a player hunched over low down in front of the ball and the hook of the hockey stick makes contact with the ball, which is then ball is pushed along the ground with the ball moving slightly up the shaft of the stick. The player then performs ‘slinging’ action, which means they ‘flick’ the ball towards the goal posts. The drag flick is an explosive sequential movement involving the player’s pelvis, trunk and upper limbs, requiring the use of the spine to generate the speed of the stick and ball. As a result any decreased spinal movement could reduce performance. Therefore this study attempted to assess the use of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) in improving the drag flicking performance of hockey players. SMT has been shown to be a safe and effective way of increasing spinal joint mobility Objectives To determine and compare the effect of placebo and spinal manipulative therapy in terms of subjective and objective measurements on drag flicking performance of premier league field hockey players. Methods A comparative, experimental study of forty asymptomatic premier league hockey drag flickers were divided into two groups of twenty each. Group A received SMT of fixated joints of the spine (cervical, thoracic and lumbar) as determined by motion palpation by an experienced qualified chiropractor. Group B received sham manipulation. Pre and post intervention ROM of the spine and drag flicking speed where measured using CROM, Inclinometer, BROM II and Speed TracX Speed Sport Radar. The subject’s perception of a change in drag flicking speed post intervention was also recorded. SPSS version 21 was used to analyse the data. A p value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Significant differences in ROM were noticed in the inter-group analysis in cervical: extension; LLF; RR PA, thoracic: extension; LLF, RLF, lumbar: extension, LLF, RLF. There was a significant increase in drag flicking speed post SMT, but between the SMT and sham manipulation groups were not significantly different. A significant correlation was seen between subjects’ perception of change in drag flicking speed post intervention and the objective results obtained. Conclusion The immediate effect of SMT on drag flicking performance of hockey players was inconclusive. The outcomes of this study suggests that SMT results in an increase in the average speed of drag flicking, however further larger studies are required to confirm this. / M

Dans le domaine du sport de haut niveau, les athlètes sont parfois confrontés à des contextes d’adversité où de nombreux obstacles sont présents sur leur parcours. Plusieurs individus cèdent et abandonnent face à des situations d’adversité, tandis que d’autres réussissent à les surmonter. Alors que certains athlètes sont incapables de réagir de façon adéquate au stress, d’autres font preuve de résilience et trouvent ainsi la capacité de surmonter un tel contexte. L’objectif de l’étude vise à identifier les facteurs psychologiques de la résilience auxquels les joueurs de hockey de niveau universitaire ont eu recours pour surmonter les contextes d’adversité et persévérer afin de terminer leurs années d’éligibilité. Les résultats ont permis de mettre en lumière les 5 facteurs psychologiques de la résilience auxquels ont eu recours les participants de l’étude préalablement identifiés par Fletcher et Sarkar (2012), soit la concentration, la confiance, la motivation, la perception d’un support social, et la personnalité positive. Cette étude a également fait émerger trois nouveaux facteurs non présents dans le modèle de Fletcher et Sarkar (2012), soit le sentiment d’appartenance, la capacité à lâcher-prise, et la préservation de l’identité sociale. À partir d’entrevues auprès de 12 joueurs de hockey universitaires, l’étude fait état de la manifestation de ces 8 caractéristiques psychologiques de la résilience au sein de leur contexte d’adversité afin de les surmonter.

The teaching of organized physical education for girls in our schools is rather new in comparison to the number of years schools have existed. In some states physical education is not part of the curriculum but in others, such as California, it is required by law. When one realizes that physical education in the schools is in its infancy one becomes aware of the fact that source materials must therefore be inadequate. Hockey, although an ancient sport, is one of the comparatively newest field sports in the curriculum of the physical education program in the United States. As a result there is still a dearth of printed information available for the teacher. The lack of adequate source materials is felt especially by those who teach the advanced students of hockey. It may be assumed then, that there is a great need today for printed matter which would be used as source materials by the many teachers of hockey.

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Den här uppsatsen efterforskar vilken funktion och användning supportramsor och deninspelade musiken har i hockeysammanhang och för fem unga vuxna i Sverige med intresse förÖrebro hockey, som uppsatsen är avgränsad till. Studien undersöker även om musiken ellersupportramsorna kan ha en roll som identitetskonstruktörer för publiken. Arbetet utgår frånföljande huvudfrågeställningar, Vilken funktion och användning har musiken som spelas iarenan och hur upplever publiken den ur ett individuellt som kollektivt perspektiv? Hur användssupportramsor vid lagsportevenemanget hockey? Har musiken och supportramsorna enfunktion som identitetskonstruktör för publiken, och i sådana fall hur? För att undersöka dettahar jag genomfört fem semi-strukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Detta för att lyfta fram varjeinformants erfarenheter och personliga åsikter om ämnet. Studien tar teoretisk utgångspunkt iStuart Hall och Paul du Gays definition av begreppet identitet (Hall & du Gay, 1996) sominnebär att identitet inte är något statiskt utan det formas i ett samspel med omgivningen ochLars Lilliestams resonemang om musikens betydelse för människan, hur den ger reaktioner ikroppen samt hur musik kan reglera vårt humör.Det finns lite tidigare forskning om musikens funktion i hockeysammanhang. Denna uppsatsbidrar med kompletterande perspektiv till de få studier som har gjorts (Ahlsved 2014, 2017).Uppsatsen visar i likhet med tidigare forskning hur musiken har specifika funktioner under enhockeymatch samt hur supportramsorna är ett tecken på samhörighet och gemenskap. Dennagemenskap visar även hur supportramsorna och musiken fungerar som identitetsmarkörer förpubliken. På grund av att det inte finns mycket tidigare forskning om just musik och hockey såutgår detta arbete från mina informanters perspektiv. Resultatet för uppsatsen avser inte att varaheltäckande utan det är en fallstudie utav en grupp supportrar om deras upplevelser, tankar ochidéer om musiken och supportramsorna.

Ice hockey helmet standards are employed to test ice hockey helmets to ensure that they mitigate the risk of traumatic brain injuries. These standards primarily reflect adult ice hockey players' anthropometrics and play styles; however, they may not address youth ice hockey players anthropometrics and play styles. This study created a youth helmet test protocol using head impact characteristics specific to the Learn to Play (5-8 years old) youth ice hockey age group environment. The youth helmet test protocol was compared to a general helmet test protocol with the head mass, shoulder mass, and impacting velocities modified to reflect real-world conditions. The dependent variables used in the study included peak resultant linear acceleration, peak resultant rotational velocity, peak resultant rotational acceleration, and maximal principal strain (MPS). Two-way ANOVA identified significant interactions between the test protocols and two helmets tested in this study. This was followed by ANOVA to test for significance across the levels of the independent variables followed by paired t-tests to identify significant differences between the test protocols for each dependent variable for the head to boards and shoulder to head condition (p<0.05). The only significant difference identified between the test protocols for the head to ice condition was linear acceleration. The paired t-tests identified significant differences between the two helmets for all dependent variables for the head to ice and head to boards conditions (p<0.05). The results from this study revealed that youth are being exposed to similar amounts of brain trauma when compared to adults for the head to ice event. The head to ice condition is one of the most common types of impact events in the Learn to Play age group supporting the need to consider a youth specific ice hockey helmet standard test. This study demonstrated that the CCM FL 500 provided better protection for youth ice hockey players, and helmet companies could employ similar technologies to better protect youth from the risk of brain injuries.

In youth hockey the act of bodychecking is used to separate the opponent from possession of the puck by contacting the body. In one form or another bodychecking has been an integral part of hockey, especially competitive hockey. Bodychecking is associated with a high risk for concussion symptoms with a number of studies reporting a significant decrease in concussion symptom presentation when bodychecking is removed from the game (Black et al., 2016). To decrease the incidence of concussion symptom presentation and maintain body checking in the game, some leagues have introduced modified body contact rules. This study compared the brain trauma profiles, characterized by frequency and magnitude, of players playing with modified body contact rules to a standard bodychecking hockey league. U15 AAA adhered to standard bodychecking, while M15 minor only allowed shoulder-to-shoulder contact while keeping sticks on the ice and travelling in the same direction along the boards. 16 U15 AAA and 16 M15 minor hockey games were analyzed documenting head impacts, and head impact conditions that were reconstructed to examine the differences by comparing frequency and magnitudes of head impact events. There were 76 and 101 impacts in AAA and M15 minor, respectively. Most common events in AAA were head-to-glass, shoulder, and other; and in M15 minor were head-to-shoulder, head, and other. Magnitudes were grouped into very low, low, medium, high, and very high. The only magnitude levels that were significantly different when comparing total head impacts were more very low magnitude head impacts in M15 minor. Most common frequencies of magnitude levels for events in AAA were low glass, and in M15 minor were very low head, and low shoulder events. Changing the body contact rules increased the frequency of very low magnitude events and did not change the frequency of individual events between the medium and very high magnitude events. The low magnitude displayed a shift from head-to-glass to shoulder-to-head events when body contact rules were modified. These findings suggest that modifying body contact rules can result in differences in the frequencies and magnitudes of head impacts in U15 ice hockey. Changing body contact rules resulted in changes of most common events, though the frequency of magnitudes of brain trauma did not decrease with modified contact. It is important to understand the risks associated with the frequencies of events and magnitudes in both divisions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and potential abnormalities of biomarkers in female soccer and field hockey players by conducting a meta-analysis of previous studies. In this study, previous research on certain biomarkers (Creatine kinase, lactic acid, iron, hemoglobin, white blood cells, and cortisol) in collegiate, elite and national level female soccer and field hockey players was collected and evaluated. Studies on baseline measurements for these biomarkers in female soccer and field hockey athletes were collected and their group means were considered. These values were collectively put into individual forest plots, one for each biomarker, and were thereafter compared to a given normal laboratory blood value range for the general population. Whereas iron, white blood cell count and especially hemoglobin tended to lie either towards or beneath the lower limit of the reference range assigned to the general population, CK and cortisol have a tendency to be higher in athletes compared to the general population. The findings for lactic acid did not have a significant tendency in either direction. The findings made throughout this study indicate the importance of proper nutrition for the athletes. Furthermore, the findings reiterate and remind coaches and health professionals of the importance on not only the education on proper nutrition for athletes, including sufficient iron intake and possible iron and vitamin supplementation but also the importance of adequate rest and time for recovery to limit the risk of overtraining and high intensity exercise related illness and infection.

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