Comparing the seoi-nage skill of elite and non-elite judo athletes.

Seoi-nage performance requires a high level of skill and proficiency. The aim of this study was to compare the motor planning, regulation, and control skills of elite versus non-elite seoi-nage judo athletes. Twenty subjects (10 elites and 10 non-elite) performed the three-phase seoi-nage skills of unbalancing, positioning, and throwing while an optical motion capture 3D camera monitored their shoulder, pelvis, hip, and knee joint movements to calculate their force magnitude and direction. Elite athletes performed better than non-elite athletes in terms of the shoulder (247.4° vs. 208.3° in Event 4) and pelvic (235.4° vs. 194.4° in Event 4) rotation, tilt angle (15.13° vs. - 0.74° in Event 4) characteristics, as well as hip (136.1° vs. 125.0° in Event 4) and knee joint (124.0° vs. 120.8° in Event 3) flexion-extension angle. Compared to non-elite athletes, elite athletes also showed more controlled force and movement in all bodily areas. These results can help to guide the development of seoi-nage skills as judo athletes advance from the non-elite to the elite level.

Effect of External Feedback on Bimanual Coordination Control in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

Bimanual coordination control requires task-specific control of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the coupling of both upper limbs. The present study examined the effects of external feedback (i.e., auditory signal) on bimanual coordination movement during patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Twelve PD patients in advanced stages and 12 early stages of untreated PD patients, and 12 age-matched normal adults were instructed to perform bimanual coordination control using preference (1 Hz) and fast (1.75 Hz) speeds with metronome auditory cue. The results demonstrated that the advanced PD patients showed reduced synchronized bimanual coordination control during the anti-phase movement compared with other two groups. Moreover, the decreased movement accuracy was exhibited not only at the preference speed, but also more particularly at the fast speed with anti-phase rather than in-phase movement. This suggests that PD results in impairments in scaling the bimanual movement speed and amplitude of limb, and these deficits were more pronounced as a function of movement control speed. Overall, the current data provide evidence of the pathophysiology of the basal ganglia on the bimanual coordination movement.

A Feasibility Study of Kinematic Characteristics on the Upper Body According to the Shooting of Elite Disabled Archery Athletes.

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the kinematic characteristics of the upper limb segments during the archery shooting of Paralympic Wheelchair Class archers (ARW2-second wheelchair class-paraplegia or comparable disability) and Paralympic Standing Class archers (ARST-standing archery class-loss of 25 points in the upper limbs or lower limbs), where archers are classified according to their disability grade among elite disabled archers. The participants of this study were selected as seven elite athletes with disabilities by the ARW2 (n = 4) and ARST (n = 3). The analysis variables were (1) the time required for each phase, (2) the angle of inclination of the body center, (3) the change of trajectory of body center, and (4) the change of the movement trajectory of the bow center by phase when performing six shots in total. The ARW2 group (drawing phase; M = 2.228 s, p < 0.05, holding phase; M = 4.414 s, p < 0.05) showed a longer time than the ARST group (drawing phase; M = 0.985 s, holding phase; M = 3.042 s), and the angle of the body did not show a significant difference between the two groups. Additionally, in the direction of the anteroposterior axis in the drawing phase, the change in the movement trajectory of the body center showed a more significant amount of change in the ARW2 group than in the ARST group, and the change in the movement trajectory of the bow center did not show a significant difference between the two groups.

A Case Study on Curling Stone and Sweeping Effect According to Sweeping Conditions.

The purpose of this study was to use the same ice temperature and air temperature as the Pyeongchang Curling Stadium by using an Ice Chamber. Then, launch the stone at the same speed, and move according to the sweeping conditions (perpendicular to the axis of motion, along the axis of motion) of male and female elite curlers. The aim is to provide sports science information required for curling athletes by analyzing the distance of the stone, the change in the speed of a moved stone, the change in broom acceleration, and athletes' muscle activity. The results of experiments conducted on four male and four elite female curlers are as follows. Under gender, the stone's movement distance was long after the sweeping of male athletes, and the speed of the stone was not different according to the conditions. The broom's acceleration did not show a difference in both the sweeping condition and the athlete's gender condition, and the muscle activity did not show a significant difference in both the sweeping condition and the gender condition. In summary, it is thought that male athletes moved the stone farther by raising the ice surface temperature by vertical load than female athletes. Also, there was no statistically significant difference in muscle activity results, but it was found that there was a specific pattern of muscle activity in the pushing and pulling motions during the sweeping of male and female athletes. It is expected to be used as primary data.

Effects of dance-based movement therapy on balance, gait, and psychological functions in severe cerebellar ataxia: A case study.

Purpose: Individuals in the later stages of cerebellar ataxia usually experience serious balance and immobility problems. Currently, there is a lack of adequate rehabilitative programs for individuals with severe cerebellar ataxia that can help improve ataxia-related motor impairment. The purpose of the present study was to explore the potential physiotherapeutic benefits of partnered dance on balance, motor functions, and psychological well-being in an individual demonstrating severe cerebellar ataxia symptoms. Methods: The individual was a 39-year-old male diagnosed with cerebellar atrophy. He had the disease for more than 15 years prior to the study. The individual attended 24 intervention sessions over an 8-week period of dance-based movement training that aimed to improve his balance and postural stability by facilitating the perception and control of static and dynamic balance movements and body alignment. Results: The individual demonstrated improvements in independent standing balance, gait characteristics, and functional mobility. In addition, improvements in self-reported depression and quality of life scores were observed after completion of the intervention. Conclusion: Although interpreting the findings of this study is limited to a single participant, partnered dance could be a suitable alternative physiotherapeutic intervention method for people with severely impaired mobility due to cerebellar dysfunction.

A Teacher-Focused Intervention to Decrease PE Students' Amotivation by Increasing Need Satisfaction and Decreasing Need Frustration.

Intervention-induced gains in need satisfaction decrease PE students' amotivation. The present study adopted a dual-process model to test whether an intervention could also decrease need frustration and hence provide a second supplemental source to further decrease students' PE amotivation. Using an experimental, longitudinal research design, 19 experienced PE teachers (9 experimental, 10 control) and their 1,017 students participated in an intervention program to help teachers become both more autonomy supportive and less controlling. Multilevel repeated measures analyses showed that students of teachers in the experimental group reported greater T2, T3, and T4 perceived autonomy support, need satisfaction, and engagement and lesser T2, T3, and T4 perceived teacher control, need frustration, and amotivation than did students of teachers in the control group. Multilevel structural equation modeling analyses confirmed the hypothesized dual-process model in which both intervention-induced increases in need satisfaction and intervention-induced decreases need frustration decreased students' end-of-semester amotivation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this new finding on the dual antecedents of diminished amotivation.

Effects of task constraints on obstacle avoidance strategies in patients with cerebellar disease.

The present study examined the effects of cerebellar disease on the organization and execution of obstacle avoidance tasks. To this end, we characterized how variations in the execution demands of the subsequent obstacles in multiple obstacle crossing tasks influenced the stepping performance of the initial obstacle in patients with cerebellar degeneration (CD) by manipulating the height (6 cm and 16 cm) and distance (1 m and 2 m) of the second obstacle. Nine patients with bilateral cerebellar atrophy and nine age-matched normal controls were instructed to walk along an 8 m long pathway and step over two obstacles without contacting them. The primary finding indicated that CD patients exhibited an elevated foot clearance over the initial obstacle when the height demand of the second obstacle was increased. Such abnormal step-height adjustments in CD patients are considered as an adaptive avoidance strategy to diminish the execution demands of complex obstacle tasks and to enhance safe performance. These results suggest that the cerebellum is important for the implementation of optimal stepping strategies to be used during multiple obstacle crossings in which the obstacles have different execution demands.

Coordinative and limb-specific control of bimanual movements in patients with Parkinson's disease and cerebellar degeneration.

The present study examined the effects of basal ganglia and cerebellar pathology on bimanual coordination using patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cerebellar dysfunction (CD). Twenty patients with idiopathic PD (10 untreated early and 10 advanced PD), 10 patients with cerebellar degeneration, and 11 normal subjects were instructed to perform in-phase and anti-phase bimanual coordination movements. The results indicated that while the quality of coordinated bimanual movements in untreated early PD and CD patients was not significantly different from that of normal controls, advanced PD patients exhibited reduced synchronized coordination during the faster anti-phase mode. This suggests that the observed bimanual coordination abnormalities in PD are not an early sign of the pathophysiology of the disease, and cerebellar degeneration may have minimal consequences on synchronized coordination between the limbs. In terms of the parameterization of individual limb movements, CD patients showed a tendency for hypermetric impairments with more irregular movements, while PD patients exhibited relatively slower limb movements and lower amplitudes than normal controls. Overall, the current data provide evidence of the specific functions of different neural structures involved in the pathological process of PD and CD on bimanual coordination.