JOURNAL WATCH Journal Watch

Familiarisation and reliability of sprint test indices during laboratory and fitness assessment. Hopker JG, Coleman DA, et al. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 2009;8:528-532 (full article available)

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of sprint performance in both field and laboratory conditions. Twenty-one male (mean age 19, mean weight 77.6 kgs) and seventeen female team sport players (mean age 21, weight 62.7 kg) performed a maximal 20-metre sprint running test. Four trials were conducted on a non-motorised treadmill in the laboratory and four were conducted outdoors on a hard-court training surface. Trials were conducted in random order with no familiarisation prior to testing. There was a significant difference between times recorded during outdoor field trials (OFT) and indoor laboratory trials (ILT). During ILT, peak force, mean force, peak power and mean power, were measured. The results indicate that reliable data can be derived for single maximal sprint measures, using fixed distance protocols. However, significant differences in time/speed over 20 metres exist between field and laboratory conditions. This is primarily due to the frictional resistance in the non-motorised treadmill. Measures of force and power during ILT require at least three familiarisations to reduce variability in test scores.

sportEX comment

This might come under the heading of ‘obvious’ but for anyone involved in research it is nice to have evidence of test reliability and validity.

Effect of acupressure and trigger points in treating headache: a

randomized controlled trial. Hsieh LL, Liou HH et al. American Journal of Chinese Medicine 2010;38(1):1-14

Twenty-eight patients suffering chronic headache were randomly assigned to an acupressure group (n = 14) or to a group receiving muscle relaxant medication (n = 14). The outcome measures were self-appraised visual analogue scale pain scores (VAS) and ratings of how headaches affected life quality. Measurements were taken at the start, at one month and then at six months post treatment. Pain areas were recorded in order to establish trigger points. The results showed that mean scores on the VAS scale were significantly lower in the acupressure group than in the muscle relaxant medication group at the one and six month markers. The quality of life ratings related to headache showed similar differences. Trigger points BL2, GV20, GB20, TH21, and GB5 were used most commonly for etiological assessment.

sportEX comment The perfect manual therapy. No

drugs, non invasive, just hands on and successful!

Curling is the only sport in which the trajectory of the projectile can be influenced after it has been released by the athlete. This is achieved by sweeping the ice in front of the stone to change the stone- ice friction and thereby enable to stone to travel further, curl more or stay straight. It has been shown that the motion of a stone and the amount of curl is due to the thin liquid film between the stone and the ice. Sweeping the ice in front of the stone can change this stone-ice interface by two possible mechanisms; increasing the ice temperature momentarily and smoothing the ice by removing frost or debris. Different techniques of sweeping can also have different effects on the stone. A typical curling game lasts 2.43 hours. A player could theoretically sweep for up to 1.7km per game. Aggressive sweeping is high intensity. Hard sweeping for 20s can

www.sportEX.net

The sports science of curling: A practical review. Bradley LJ. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 2009;8:495-500

result in the generation of approximately 600- 1600kJ of work and produce a typical average heart rate of 170bpm. However this can result in up to 2500kJ of work and a heart rate of almost 200bpm in some individuals so there are strength and conditioning implications in addition to various theories as to why the sweeping affects the stone.

sportEX comment Curling is one of the fastest growing

winter sports and generally takes place indoors on artificial ice so it isn’t dependant on the weather to produce the playing surface. GB didn’t do as well as expected at the Olympics so maybe it’s time for a bit of ‘appliance of science’. If you are involved with curlers this excellent paper is your starting point. It offers a great deal of information about ice conditions, stone delivery, sweeping strategies and team tactics.

5