scholarly journals More Sleep Is a Slam Dunk

2019 ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Ralph Downey III ◽  
Madeleine Grigg-Damberger ◽  
Charles Bae
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Sleep Loss ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Basketball Player ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Free Throw ◽  
Team Success ◽  
Sleep Extension ◽  
Elite Sports

Sleep loss may impair athletic performance. Sleep extension may improve performance in sleep-deprived athletes. In elite sports, where the slightest edge can make a difference in individual and team success, ways to improve performance are of great interest to athletes and teams. In the presented case, a male basketball player sought to improve his free throw shooting accuracy. With a disciplined approach to sleeping longer periods of time each night over a 12-week period, there was a substantial improvement in free throw percentage, sleepiness, and self-reported confidence in making free throws. This result is consistent with an extensive literature showing that improving sleep can improve athletic performance.

scholarly journals The DIRECT algorithm: 25 years Later

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Jones ◽  
Joaquim R. R. A. Martins
Keyword(s):  
Global Optimum ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Global Search ◽  
Test Functions ◽  
Lower And Upper Bounds ◽  
Global Optimization Algorithm ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Tuning Parameters ◽  
Low Dimensional ◽  
Fine Tune

Abstract Introduced in 1993, the DIRECT global optimization algorithm provided a fresh approach to minimizing a black-box function subject to lower and upper bounds on the variables. In contrast to the plethora of nature-inspired heuristics, DIRECT was deterministic and had only one hyperparameter (the desired accuracy). Moreover, the algorithm was simple, easy to implement, and usually performed well on low-dimensional problems (up to six variables). Most importantly, DIRECT balanced local and global search (exploitation vs. exploration) in a unique way: in each iteration, several points were sampled, some for global and some for local search. This approach eliminated the need for “tuning parameters” that set the balance between local and global search. However, the very same features that made DIRECT simple and conceptually attractive also created weaknesses. For example, it was commonly observed that, while DIRECT is often fast to find the basin of the global optimum, it can be slow to fine-tune the solution to high accuracy. In this paper, we identify several such weaknesses and survey the work of various researchers to extend DIRECT so that it performs better. All of the extensions show substantial improvement over DIRECT on various test functions. An outstanding challenge is to improve performance robustly across problems of different degrees of difficulty, ranging from simple (unimodal, few variables) to very hard (multimodal, sharply peaked, many variables). Opportunities for further improvement may lie in combining the best features of the different extensions.

Sleep Extension before Sleep Loss

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1595-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
PIERRICK J. ARNAL ◽  
THOMAS LAPOLE ◽  
MÉGANE ERBLANG ◽  
MATHIAS GUILLARD ◽  
CYPRIEN BOURRILHON ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Loss ◽  
Sleep Extension

scholarly journals Short- and long-term effects of using shooting straps on free-throw accuracy of young female basketball players

Kinesiology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel-Ángel Gómez ◽  
Jaime Sampaio
Keyword(s):  
Basketball Player ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Basketball Players ◽  
Intervention Training ◽  
Free Throw ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
One Year ◽  
Experimental Group

This study identified the short- and long-term effects of using a shooting strap on the accuracy of freethrows performed by U15 female basketball players during training and competition. Thirty six female<br>basketball player volunteers (aged 14.3±0.5 years) from the Lithuanian Schoolchildren Basketball League were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. The experimental group used a shooting strap that immobilized movements of the supporting hand while shooting. The control group performed freethrows without any training aid. Learning and transfer of performance was assessed before and after the intervention training sessions (4-week intervention program applied 4 times per week), and on a retention test after one year. Results showed that: (a) free-throw accuracy was higher after one month and after one year of intervention than before the intervention training program in both practice and competition; (b) the experimental group scored better in practice and competition than the control group after one month and one year of the intervention; and (c) free-throw accuracy was higher during training sessions than during&nbsp;competition. The identified short-term and long-term improvements in free-throw shooting accuracy support the usage of shooting straps. The use of shooting straps and external assisting devices might allow adjusting programs of training to provide fluent free-throw accuracy progresses from youth to senior categories.

scholarly journals Shaq is Not Alone: Free-Throws in the Final Moments of a Basketball Game

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel-Ángel Gómez ◽  
Simcha Avugos ◽  
Miguel-Ángel Oñoro ◽  
Alberto Lorenzo ◽  
Michael Bar-Eli
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Predictor Variables ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Distinctive Pattern ◽  
Professional Basketball ◽  
Free Throw ◽  
Crisis Theory ◽  
Basketball Game ◽  
Stage Game

Abstract It has been previously observed that basketball free-throw (FT) shooting efficiency decreases towards the end of the game. The aim of the current study was to explore possible determinants for this distinctive pattern during close games (point differential of equal or under 2 points during the final minute of the game). A sample of shots attempted by 92 players in the Spanish professional basketball league (ACB) was collected. Several personal (age, experience, playing position and career FT percentage) and contextual (team ability, competition stage, game location, seconds remaining and score differential) variables were considered for the analysis of the data. The effects of the predictor variables on the players’ performance were analyzed according to two game contexts (FT attempted during the final minute or the last pair of FTs) using binomial logistic regression analysis. The results showed that during the final minute the only statistically significant variable was being in the center playing position (OR = 1.58), which decreased the FT shooting percentage compared to forwards and guards. In addition, the results during the last pair of FTs showed that the playing position of guards (OR = 1.70) and centers (OR = 2.22) was significant (a decrease in their FT percentage). Conversely, the score differential when tied (OR = -1.17) or losing (OR = -2.43) was significant, reflecting a lower probability of missing the shot. The results were interpreted and discussed from the viewpoints of crisis theory and the literature on choking in athletic performance.

The Digital Ecology of Elite Sports

Sport 2.0 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Miah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
The World ◽  
Elite Sports ◽  
Ubiquitous Presence

This chapter considers how digital technology has altered the world of elite athletic performance and what this means for the future of sports. It explores how digital technology has become a pervasive—and legal—form of performance enhancement, along with having become a ubiquitous presence in an athlete’s life. It discusses how digital technologies have altered training methods and how they transform the fairness of sports, while also considering how this has influenced the work of those officials who oversee the smooth running of sports. Moreover, it discusses how knowledge arising from digitization is shaping an athlete’s experience of sport, which includes their presence within social media. The chapter also argues for the virtualization of physicality within a range of sport forms, both elite and non-elite.

March Calendar

1998 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-233
Keyword(s):  
Basketball Player ◽  
Free Throw ◽  
Probability Of Success ◽  
Zero Points

A basketball player attempts a free throw. If successful, she gets to attempt a second free throw. If p is her probability of success and if her probability of making zero points is equal to that of making two points, what is p. (Round the answer to the nearest thousandth.)

scholarly journals He Dies, He Scores: Evidence That Reminders of Death Motivate Improved Performance in Basketball

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 470-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin A. Zestcott ◽  
Uri Lifshin ◽  
Peter Helm ◽  
Jeff Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Basketball Game ◽  
The World ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Basketball Shooting

This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety. Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve performance in sport. In Study 1, a mortality salience induction led to improved performance in a “one-on-one” basketball game. In Study 2, a subtle death prime led to higher scores on a basketball shooting task, which was associated with increased task-related self-esteem. These results may promote our understanding of sport and provide a novel potential way to improve athletic performance.

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