Browsing by Subject "Athletic Performance"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
Fueling for Performance.
(Sports health, 2018-01) Bytomski, Jeffrey R
CONTEXT:Proper nutrition is crucial for an athlete to optimize his or her performance for training and competition. Athletes should be able to meet their dietary needs through eating a wide variety of whole food sources. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION:PubMed was searched for relevant articles published from 1980 to 2016. STUDY DESIGN:Clinical review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:Level 4. RESULTS:An athlete should have both daily and activity-specific goals for obtaining the fuel necessary for successful training. Depending on the timing of their season, athletes may be either trying to gain lean muscle mass, lose fat, or maintain their current weight. CONCLUSION:An athlete will have different macronutrient goals depending on sport, timing of exercise, and season status. There are no specific athletic micronutrient guidelines, but testing should be considered for athletes with deficiency or injury. Also, some athletes who eliminate certain whole food groups (eg, vegetarian) may need to supplement their diet to avoid deficiencies.
Open Access
Return to sport after open and microdiscectomy surgery versus conservative treatment for lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
(Br J Sports Med, 2016-02) Reiman, Michael P; Sylvain, Jonathan; Loudon, Janice K; Goode, Adam
BACKGROUND: Lumbar disc herniation has a prevalence of up to 58% in the athletic population. Lumbar discectomy is a common surgical procedure to alleviate pain and disability in athletes. We systematically reviewed the current clinical evidence regarding athlete return to sport (RTS) following lumbar discectomy compared to conservative treatment. METHODS: A computer-assisted literature search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PEDro, OVID and PubMed databases (from inception to August 2015) was utilised using keywords related to lumbar disc herniation and surgery. The design of this systematic review was developed using the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Methodological quality of individual studies was assessed using the Downs and Black scale (0-16 points). RESULTS: The search strategy revealed 14 articles. Downs and Black quality scores were generally low with no articles in this review earning a high-quality rating, only 5 articles earning a moderate quality rating and 9 of the 14 articles earning a low-quality rating. The pooled RTS for surgical intervention of all included studies was 81% (95% CI 76% to 86%) with significant heterogeneity (I(2)=63.4%, p<0.001) although pooled estimates report only 59% RTS at same level. Pooled analysis showed no difference in RTS rate between surgical (84% (95% CI 77% to 90%)) and conservative intervention (76% (95% CI 56% to 92%); p=0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Studies comparing surgical versus conservative treatment found no significant difference between groups regarding RTS. Not all athletes that RTS return at the level of participation they performed at prior to surgery. Owing to the heterogeneity and low methodological quality of included studies, rates of RTS cannot be accurately determined.
Open Access
Sensorimotor abilities predict on-field performance in professional baseball.
(Scientific reports, 2018-01-08) Burris, Kyle; Vittetoe, Kelly; Ramger, Benjamin; Suresh, Sunith; Tokdar, Surya T; Reiter, Jerome P; Appelbaum, L Gregory
Baseball players must be able to see and react in an instant, yet it is hotly debated whether superior performance is associated with superior sensorimotor abilities. In this study, we compare sensorimotor abilities, measured through 8 psychomotor tasks comprising the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery, and game statistics in a sample of 252 professional baseball players to evaluate the links between sensorimotor skills and on-field performance. For this purpose, we develop a series of Bayesian hierarchical latent variable models enabling us to compare statistics across professional baseball leagues. Within this framework, we find that sensorimotor abilities are significant predictors of on-base percentage, walk rate and strikeout rate, accounting for age, position, and league. We find no such relationship for either slugging percentage or fielder-independent pitching. The pattern of results suggests performance contributions from both visual-sensory and visual-motor abilities and indicates that sensorimotor screenings may be useful for player scouting.
Open Access
Visual abilities distinguish pitchers from hitters in professional baseball.
(Journal of sports sciences, 2018-01) Klemish, David; Ramger, Benjamin; Vittetoe, Kelly; Reiter, Jerome P; Tokdar, Surya T; Appelbaum, Lawrence Gregory
This study aimed to evaluate the possibility that differences in sensorimotor abilities exist between hitters and pitchers in a large cohort of baseball players of varying levels of experience. Secondary data analysis was performed on 9 sensorimotor tasks comprising the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Bayesian hierarchical regression modelling was applied to test for differences between pitchers and hitters in data from 566 baseball players (112 high school, 85 college, 369 professional) collected at 20 testing centres. Explanatory variables including height, handedness, eye dominance, concussion history, and player position were modelled along with age curves using basis regression splines. Regression analyses revealed better performance for hitters relative to pitchers at the professional level in the visual clarity and depth perception tasks, but these differences did not exist at the high school or college levels. No significant differences were observed in the other 7 measures of sensorimotor capabilities included in the test battery, and no systematic biases were found between the testing centres. These findings, indicating that professional-level hitters have better visual acuity and depth perception than professional-level pitchers, affirm the notion that highly experienced athletes have differing perceptual skills. Findings are discussed in relation to deliberate practice theory.
Open Access
Visual-motor expertise in athletes: Insights from semiparametric modelling of 2317 athletes tested on the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station.
(Journal of sports sciences, 2020-02) Burris, Kyle; Liu, Sicong; Appelbaum, Lawrence
Elite athletes not only run faster, hit harder, and jump higher, but also see and react better. However, the specific visual-motor skills that differentiate high-achieving athletes are still not well understood. In this paper we examine 2317 athletes (1871 male) tested on the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, a digital test battery measuring visual, perceptual and motor skills relevant for sports performance. We develop a multivariate Gaussian transformation model to robustly estimate visual-motor differences by level, gender, and sport type. Results demonstrate that visual-motor performance is superior for athletes at higher levels, with males faster at near-far eye movements and females faster at eye-hand reaction times. Interestingly, athletes who play interceptive sports such as baseball and tennis exhibit better measures of visual clarity, contrast sensitivity and simple reaction time, while athletes from strategic sports like soccer and basketball have higher measures of spatial working memory. These findings provide quantitative evidence of domain-specific visual expertise in athletes.