The aim of this study was to provide an answer to the question whether and how age, body height, body mass, body mass index and results from fitness tests are related to sport skill level and gender ...of the participants of the Olympic volleyball tournament. Two-Way ANOVA was used to find the dependency of the variables on the factor of sport skill level (A--teams which took places 1 to 4, B--places from 5 to 8; C--places from 9 to 12) and gender (F--female; M--male). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The Bonferroni's adjustment was carried out for three p = 0.017 and fifteen p = 0.003 pairs of comparisons). The M and F athletes included in A-C groups (N = 48 in each group) were than compared to the classification in the neural network of Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN). A combined effect of the factors of sports level and gender on the height of attack jump (F = 4.13; p = 0.02) and block jump (F = 9.22; p < 0.001) was identified. The level of achievement was modified by the differences between the men and women. A significant advantage over the groups B and C was found for attack height and block height. In the group A, the differences between the results obtained for women and men in the ranges of attack and block with respect to the net height were not significant. Mean range of block jump did not match up to attack jump, particularly in women. The application of PNN network showed that age, BMI, relative attack jump and block jump are good predictors of sport results. The percentage of properly classified players in the group of men was lower than in women (42.4 vs. 56.3%). In this regard, big differences were found at the lower level of sport results: A (77.1 vs. 79.2%), B (25.0 vs. 25.0%) and C (25.0 vs. 64.6%). In conclusion, selection for national teams should take into consideration the players with long competitive experience with adequate weight/height ratios, who exhibit good training adaptations to jumping exercise.
This article deals with the information about special respiratory training supplementing the main means and methods of preparing cold-water swimmers. This training provides the effect of cold, ...hypoxia, and hypercapnia, which contributes to the gains in performance of swimmers of this category due to the improvement in indices of the body's functional systems. The target of the research is the instruction and training process for cold-water swimmers. The subject of the research was determined as procedures of training of cold-water swimmers combining the means and methods of preparation which are traditional for such sport and the respiratory training based on the effect of cold, hypoxia, and hypercapnia. The research is aimed at proving the efficiency of additional inclusion of respiratory training providing the effect of cold, hypoxia, and hypercapnia to the general training of cold-water swimmers. This article will be of interest to representatives of sport science and sportsmen who are mainly engaged in sports requiring breath holding and demonstration of endurance. Keywords Respiratory training; Diving response; Effect of cold, hypoxia, and hypercapnia; Cold-water swimming; Functional status indicators; Sport results
The aim of the study was to define the influence of the selected factors (gender, age, transportation time, riding distance and air temperature during the ride) on the cortisol secretion and finding ...a correlation between the hormone level and the horses' sport results (veterinary parameters and the ride route parameters). The research was performed on 38 Arabian pure breed horses taking part in the endurance rides. The cortisol level was measured with enzyme-immunological method in saliva samples, taken four times from each horse. In order to verify the differences between the mean results the repeated measures design was applied. The significance of the differences between the mean values was determined by the Tukey test. To evaluate the interrelations between the analysed attributes Pearson's correlation analysis was applied. The cortisol level at rest was not affected by any of the analysed factors. In case of other results, the most significant influence (P < or = 0.05) was related to the gender, as well as the ride distance and air temperature during the ride. Higher cortisol level was noted in mares, horses running the longest distances and at the highest temperatures. A significant increase in the cortisol level was noted when the ride distance was longer. There were no clear correlation between the adrenal cortex activity and the veterinary parameters at different riding speed. High cortisol concentration can negatively affect the heart rate (HR) by increasing it, but it can simultaneously stimulate the body to fight dehydration.
The aim of the study was to estimate changes in blood morphology caused by participation of record-seeking swimmers in a high altitude training camp at 2,300 m above sea level and to assess their ...performance during major competitions before and after the camp. Eight swimmers (two females and six males) - record-holders and medallists of the Polish National Championships, as well as finalists and medallists of the European and World Championships and the Olympic Games (including a two-time holder of the world record) - were recruited. During the 2006/2007 season the athletes attended a training camp organized according to the principle “live high and train high”. The camp lasted 23 days and consisted of three micro-cycles of training, each of them with specific training objectives. Before and after participation in the training camp erythrocyte (red blood cells; RBC) count, haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and haematocrit (Hct) were estimated at a hospital laboratory. Scores amassed by the examined athletes during major competitions were presented after their transformation into points based on the FINA (International Swimming Federation) tables for years 2005-2008. The best results (time for a distance) achieved during competitions organized before and after participation in the camp were regarded as reference points. Additionally, liquid balance of the body was monitored during 30 selected training units (15 in the morning and 15 in the evening). The response of the examined swimmers from the Polish Olympic Team to the high altitude training (at 2,300 m above sea level) was represented by an almost three-fold increase in blood reticulocyte count during the first micro-cycle of training as well as by an elevated erythrocyte count (by 14.4%), and haemoglobin (by 13.5%) and haematocrit (by 14.8%) levels estimated after completion of the training, as compared to the results obtained before the camp. Six out of eight subjects improved their performance in major competitions organized after the training camp, and four of them broke their personal bests.
The aim of this study was to provide an answer to the question whether and how age, body height, body mass, body mass index and results from fitness tests are related to sport skill level and gender ...of the participants of the Olympic volleyball tournament. Two-Way ANOVA was used to find the dependency of the variables on the factor of sport skill level (A – teams which took places 1 to 4, B – places from 5 to 8; C – places from 9 to 12) and gender (F – female; M - male). Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The Bonferroni’s adjustment was carried out for three p=0.017 and fifteen p=0.003 pairs of comparisons). The M and F athletes included in A-C groups (N=48 in each group) were than compared to the classification in the neural network of Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN). A combined effect of the factors of sports level and gender on the height of attack jump (F=4.13; p=0.02) and block jump (F=9.22; p<0.001) was identified. The level of achievement was modified by the differences between the men and women. A significant advantage over the groups B and C was found for attack height and block height. In the group A, the differences between the results obtained for women and men in the ranges of attack and block with respect to the net height were not significant. Mean range of block jump did not match up to attack jump, particularly in women. The application of PNN network showed that age, BMI, relative attack jump and block jump are good predictors of sport results. The percentage of properly classified players in the group of men was lower than in women (42.4 vs. 56.3%). In this regard, big differences were found at the lower level of sport results: A (77.1 vs. 79.2%), B (25.0 vs. 25.0%) and C (25.0 vs. 64.6%). In conclusion, selection for national teams should take into consideration the players with long competitive experience with adequate weight/height ratios, who exhibit good training adaptations to jumping exercise.
The biathlon is an Olympic sport discipline, which is a combination of two events, Nordic skiing and precision shooting. Combining events of such different psychophysical background creates great ...demands on the athlete and coach. The main objective of this paper was to determine which of these events has a greater impact on the final result considering the distance and sports level. The results of the World Cup and the Olympic Games in the 2001/02 season were analyzed statistically. The data indicates that the results of the run influence the final result to a higher degree than shooting does. This is especially true in the sprint and in relation to biathletes of higher sports level. At long distances, the level of shooting and the time of the run influence the final result to the same extent. The influence of the time of shooting on the final result is dependent on the distance of the run. Biathlon je olympijská disciplína spojující v sobě vlastně dvě sportovní disciplíny: lyžařský běh a střelbu ze sportovní pušky. Spojení těchto odlišných sportovních disciplín o různých psychofyzických požadavcích klade na závodníky i trenéry velmi vysoké požadavky. V práci se autoři snažili najít odpověď na otázku: která složka je důležitější pro dosažení konečného výsledku v závislosti na proběhnuté vzdálenosti, jakož i sportovní úrovni závodníků. Statistické analýze byly podrobeny výsledky vybraných závodů Světového poháru i olympijských her v sezóně 2001/02 v kategorii mužů. Analýze byl podroben čas běhu, přesnost střelby, čas střílení i sportovní výsledek. Na základě výsledků získaných z předmětné analýzy byl zjištěn větší význam běhové přípravy v sprintérském běhu u závodníků na vyšší sportovní úrovni vzhledem k vysoké vyrovnané úrovni střelby. V běhu na dlouhých tratích byl zjištěn přibližně stejný význam přesnosti střelby a času běhu. Vliv času střelby na konečný výsledek závisí na délce proběhnuté vzdálenosti.
Top form in sports is a dynamic adaptive state of an individual with a complex hierarchical structure. The issue of its criteria is debatable, but can be solved on the basis of the systematic ...approach and the theory of multidimensional spaces. From this point of view top form is regarded as an integral model of the preparedness of an athlete to realize his/her own potential in sport performance. The quantitative and qualitative parameters of that state can be presented as components of a variable vector, x(t) = {x1(t), x2(t), … xn(t)}
Hypothesis: In the n-dimensional space there is an area which, under definite conditions, is characterized by the least sum of the squares of the distances between the various components of motor activity (factors of sport performance) - x1, x2, …, xn. This optimized model of an athlete's specific work capacity is termed sports form. Object of study: wide range of elite athletes in track and field athletics, rowing, canoeing, wrestling, boxing and basketball over the period 1975-1997 (a total of 7835 cases). Subject of study: basic parameters of total functional capacity, VO2max, Wmax, etc. and the specific parameters of motor activity as well as the dynamics of sport results bin the annual cycles. All data were processed by the methods of multidimensional statistical analysis and are presented as natural values or as statistical quantities (ß-coefficients or normalized Z-values). The quantitative and logical analysis of the results of this study leads to the following major conclusions:
1. Top form is a state or condition which reflects a generalized process of biosocial adaptation, i.e. a transition from the lower determined levels to higher stochastic levels of behavior in the system-athlete;
- the first level is characterized by stable parameters of the athletic condition achieved by training (preparedness)as a natural basis of top form;
- the second level is characterized by a definite selectivity of the adaptation process - the development of the major functions building up to the so-called specialized basis of top form;
- the third level is characterized by much more mobile (operative) components of the specific work capacity.
2. Top form is a qualitatively new state of the athletic condition (preparedness) where all the factors of sport performance are optimally correlated to the so-called concordance which provides a maximum realization of the athlete's motor potential.
3. Top form is a non-standard state and behavior of a multi-dimensional and multi-variant biosocial system that exchanges matter, energy and information with its environment, and under defined conditions (most often stress) is spontaneously destabilized, ic. tends towards its entropy, similar to the so-called dissipate systems according to the theory of Nobel Prize winner Prigozhin (1977). This determines the phasic (cyclic) nature of top form, as confirmed by the sport performance of a number of world and Olympic champions: M. Ottey (100m and 200 m), P. Ereng (800 m), S. Kostadinova (high jump), N. Bukhalov (canoeing), etc.
4. An integral criterion of top form are the high and stable sport results, above the corresponding “criterial threshold",i.e. about 1.5 - 2.5% below the maximal (top) individual performance.
Machine learning (ML) is one of the intelligent methodologies that have shown promising results in the domains of classification and prediction. One of the expanding areas necessitating good ...predictive accuracy is sport prediction, due to the large monetary amounts involved in betting. In addition, club managers and owners are striving for classification models so that they can understand and formulate strategies needed to win matches. These models are based on numerous factors involved in the games, such as the results of historical matches, player performance indicators, and opposition information. This paper provides a critical analysis of the literature in ML, focusing on the application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to sport results prediction. In doing so, we identify the learning methodologies utilised, data sources, appropriate means of model evaluation, and specific challenges of predicting sport results. This then leads us to propose a novel sport prediction framework through which ML can be used asa learning strategy. Our research will hopefully be informative and of use to those performing future research in this application area.
Major sports events are watched by millions around the world and the prediction of event outcomes is a subject of interest to many stakeholders which underlines the relevance of continuous ...development and improvement of prediction models. This study uses a factorial design methodology to develop and test 18 Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models for the prediction of world championship boxing matches. The methodology was applied to evaluate the individual and collaborative effects of feature selection, ANN architecture and training data selection on the prediction performance of ANNs. Feature selection was found to be the most influential factor on prediction performance with a statistically significant Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) between the feature selection levels and the test accuracy (p-value of 0.012). The collaborative effect of training data selection and feature selection on prediction performance was found to be statistically significant with ANOVA p-value of 0.007. The best performing model achieved a test accuracy of 81.53% which is an improvement to current benchmarks for sports prediction. The findings of this study contribute to the development of future machine learning sports prediction models.
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