Changes in heart rate of pitchers during semi-hard baseball practices and matches.

High heart rate during competition is a response to both psychological and physiological stress, making it difficult to examine psychological stress in sport. The validity of a new method to extract psychological stress by subtracting heart rate during practice from that of competition was evaluated. The method was used in actual competition for eight pitchers. Most participants showed a "coasting phase," "increment phase," and "descent phase" for heart rate time-series data under both conditions. Heart rate in competitions was higher than during practice, and heart rate in both conditions showed a high correlation. Heart rate changes were significantly higher in situations in which two or three balls had already been thrown compared to zero balls thrown. Thus, psychological stress can be examined in various competition conditions using this method.

Cognitive strategies for goalkeeper responding to soccer penalty kick.

The main aim of the present study was to examine how a goalkeeper's response-initiation time influences the accuracy of the response to a soccer penalty kick. The participants were 24 university male students in two groups: 12 experienced soccer goalkeepers, and 12 experienced soccer field players. They were required to watch videos made by three different kickers preparing a penalty kick, then 12 ensuing moments, occluded 467 msec. before impact of the kicker's foot with the ball to 267 msec. after impact. There were three different kicks (instep, front of foot, inside of foot) directed at three different possible positions within the goal (left, right, center). As a response, participants were required to move their body to intercept the oncoming ball. Results showed that neither the goalkeepers' group nor the field players' group could use the advance visual cues to anticipate the direction of the ball when they initiated a response before the moment of impact during the penalty kick, but all groups were successful when the response was initiated after impact. The goalkeepers' group had a significantly faster response-initiation time than the field players' group. It was inferred that the goalkeepers were more likely to adopt a strategy of relying on situational probabilities in situations where the speed of response is critical.

Visual search strategies and decision making in baseball batting.

The goal was to examine the differences in visual search strategies between expert and nonexpert baseball batters during the preparatory phase of a pitcher's pitching and accuracy and timing of swing judgments during the ball's trajectory. 14 members of a college team (Expert group), and graduate and college students (Nonexpert group), were asked to observe 10 pitches thrown by a pitcher and respond by pushing a button attached to a bat when they thought the bat should be swung to meet the ball (swing judgment). Their eye movements, accuracy, and the timing of the swing judgment were measured. The Expert group shifted their point of observation from the proximal part of the body such as the head, chest, or trunk of the pitcher to the pitching arm and the release point before the pitcher released a ball, while the gaze point of the Nonexpert group visually focused on the head and the face. The accuracy in swing judgments of the Expert group was significantly higher, and the timing of their swing judgments was significantly earlier. Expert baseball batters used visual search strategies to gaze at specific cues (the pitching arm of the pitcher) and were more accurate and relatively quicker at decision making than Nonexpert batters.

Visual information processing under time pressure in high and low level soccer players.

The present study investigated differences in information processing rate of high and low level soccer players under three time-pressure conditions: High (0.5 sec.), Medium (1 sec.), and Low (2 sec.). No significant difference was found under Low time pressure, but under Medium time pressure the higher skilled group processed more visual information than the lower skilled group (p<.05).

Factors associated with helplessness among Japanese collegiate swimmers.

In this study the factors that lead to learned helplessness among Japanese collegiate swimmers were examined. Participants were 135 men and 72 women swimmers (ages 18 to 22 years). A Sports Attributional Style Scale measuring helplessness in performance and daily life was administered, and the participants were divided into two groups: those scoring high and low. Analysis indicated that (1) there was no significant correlation between helplessness scores and performance. (2) The group scoring high on learned helplessness reported a strong tendency towards helplessness not only in competitive life but also in daily life, which implied the generalization of helplessness. (3) The tendency to helplessness in performance was more closely related to the attributional style of positive events than negative events. In conclusion, some factors involved in helplessness among athletes can be explained by the theory of learned helplessness; however, some characteristics of athletes may be better described by attributional style in positive events.

Exploratory factor analysis of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire in a Japanese sport setting.

This study examined sport achievement orientation within the japanese sport setting. 1,836 male and 425 female athletes (M age = 18.6 yr.) from 47 sports completed the Japanese version of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (24 items), and 1,781 males and 421 females (M age = 18.6 yr.) from 47 sports completed that of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (14 items). While the original English versions of the questionnaires are composed of three and two factors, respectively, present exploratory factor analyses identified four factors in the Sport Orientation Questionnaire and three in the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire. In this study, two types of the SOQ Competitiveness and the TEOSQ Ego Orientation emerged even though the original versions included only one type. A one-way analysis of variance indicated that sex differences were significant for all subscales. Sex differences in the Sport Orientation Questionnaire of Japanese resembled those of Americans. The overall factor reliability and validity based on the sample suggested that the modified Japanese versions of the two questionnaires can be valuable in the investigation of sport achievement orientation in Japanese sport and exercise settings.

Soccer player's and closed-skill athletes' execution of a complex motor skill.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences in speed and accuracy of motor execution among female soccer players in an Expert Soccer group, a Novice Soccer group, and a Closed-skill Athlete group. There were two main findings. Firstly, both soccer groups performed better than the Closed-skill Athletes on speed and accuracy of motor execution. Secondly, there were no significant differences between Expert and Novice soccer players in the speed and accuracy of motor execution.

Development of the sport achievement orientation questionnaire for Japanese athletes by exploratory factor analysis.

In this study, a questionnaire to assess achievement orientation in sport for Japanese athletes was developed. We created the questionnaire by picking items from free descriptions of Japanese athletes and using factor analysis of the responses in a Japanese sport setting. The subjects were 2,415 athletes (M=16.7 yr., SD=2.7) in Japan. Factor analyses in this study identified three factors. Top Level Orientation, Demonstrating Ability Orientation, and Win Orientation, respectively. An examination of the intercorrelations among the three scores showed the subscales were related. There were no correlations between the new measure and the Japanese versions of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire except that the correlation of Win Orientation and the SOQ Athletic Success Orientation was low and negative. These results suggested that the three subscales appeared to be separate but related factors, and that it is an original measurement for only Japanese athletes. The overall factor reliability and validity based on the sample suggested that the Sport Achievement Orientation Questionnaire for Japanese Athletes can be valuable means for the investigation of achievement orientation in Japanese sport and exercise settings.

Perceived distance during golf putting.

This study examined the effect of anxiety states on the relationship between golf-putting distance and performance in an environment requiring high movement accuracy. Twenty-three amateur golfers attempted 15 putts at each of three putting distances, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75m, under conditions characterized by both control demands and pressure. All attempts were recorded, and kinematic features were analyzed. Under conditions involving an audience and a monetary reward, the mean score on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y-1 and the mean heart rate increased by 14 points and 11bpm, respectively. We grouped participants on an a posteriori basis using the median split. The backswing of high-anxiety performers shortened, the downswing speed declined, and the relative time to peak club-head velocity changed when putting under pressure from 1.25m. In contrast, no change in backswing or relative time to peak velocity was observed in low-anxiety performers, although impact velocity increased under this condition. These results indicate that the degree to which both low- and high-anxiety golfers were anxious about failure affected motor control at the 1.25-m distance, suggesting that a distortion in perceived distance may result from the interaction between putting distance and anxiety related to failure during golf putting.