How Do the Children Play? The Influence of Playground Type on Children’s Play Styles

Using a mixed-method design, the aims of the current study were to develop an in-depth understanding of (1) children’s social play behaviors on school and community playgrounds, (2) the duration with which children play within varying social play categories, and (3) assessing children’s perspectives of playground activities, their peer relationships, and recommendations for new playgrounds. Six participants were observed for five 30-min observations on a school playground and for five 30-min observations on a community playground. Participants were also interviewed about their experiences and preferences on school and community playgrounds. The direct observation results support and extend previous work, indicating that children’s play skill competence varies by setting. Children demonstrated higher levels of associative and cooperative play on the school playground, but higher levels of solitary and parallel play on the community playground. This difference in play styles by playground appears to be a function of available play partners and is explained by the interview data, which found that children are not comfortable playing with children they do not know.

The Performance Evolution of Match Play Styles in the Spanish Professional Basketball League

The aim of this study is to analyse the performance evolution of all, and the dominant, team’s performances throughout an eight-season period within the Spanish professional basketball league. Match-related statistics were gathered from all regular season matches (n = 2426) played during the period 2009–2010 to 2016–2017. The non-metric multidimensional scaling model was used to examine the team’s profiles across seasons and for the most successful (playoff) teams. The main results showed that: 3-point field goals made (effect size, d = 0.61; 90% confidence interval, CI = 0.23; 1.37) and missed (d = 0.72; 90% CI = 0.35; 1.46), and assists (d = 1.27; 90% CI = 0.82; 1.86) presented a positive trend with an increased number of actions across the seasons; 2-point field goals made (d = 0.21; 90% CI = −1.25; 2.02) and missed (d = 0.27; 90% CI = −0.52; 0.92) were decreased; free throws made and missed, rebounds, fouls, blocks, steals and turnovers showed a relatively stable performance. The matrix solution (stress = 0.22, rmse (root mean squared error) = 7.9 × 104, maximum residual = 5.8 × 103) indicated minimal season-to-season evolution with the ordination plot and convex hulls overlapping. The two most dominant teams exhibited unique match patterns with the most successful team’s pattern, a potential benchmark for others who exhibited more dynamic evolutions (and less success). The current findings identified the different performances of teams within the Spanish professional basketball league over eight seasons with further statistical modelling of match play performances useful to identify temporal trends and support coaches with training and competition preparations.

The Regional Differences in Game-Play Styles Considering Playing Position in the FIBA Female Continental Basketball Competitions

The aim of this study was to identify regional differences based on playing position in terms of the technical performances among FIBA Female Continental Basketball Championships by controlling the influence of situational variables including the game outcome, game type, teams and opponent quality. The samples comprised of 9208 performance records from 471 games in the America, Africa, Asia and Europe Championships during 2013–2017 and were collected and analyzed by generalized mixed linear modeling. Our study highlighted that, although positional differences were clear among different continental championships, it is worth noting that African guards, forwards, and centers made more turnovers (TOV) compared with the corresponding positional players from other continental championships. In addition, European guards presented the lowest number of steals (STL) compared with African (ES = 0.28), Asian (ES = 0.21), and American guards (ES = 0.24). The results provide coaches to have a better understanding of game-play styles among FIBA Female Continental Basketball Competitions, which could optimize the development of female basketball and the selection and recruitment of female players at the international level.

Modelling the Relationship between Match Outcome and Match Performances during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup: A Quantile Regression Analysis

The FIBA Basketball World Cup is one of the most prominent sporting competitions for men’s basketball, with coaches interested in key performance indicators (KPIs) that give a better understanding of basketball competitions. The aims of the study were to (1) examine the relationship between match KPIs and outcome in elite men’s basketball; and (2) identify the most suitable analysis (multiple linear regression (MLR) vs. quantile regression (QR)) to model this relationship during the men’s basketball tournament. A total of 184 performance records from 92 games were selected and analyzed via MLR and QR, using 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th quantiles. Several offensive (Paint Score, Mid-Range Score, Three-Point Score, Offensive Rebounds and Turnovers) and defensive (Defensive Rebounds, Steals and Personal Fouls) KPIs were associated with match outcome. The QR model identified additional KPIs that influenced match outcome than the MLR model, with these being Mid-Range Score at the 10th quantile and Offensive Rebounds at the 90th quantile. In terms of contextual variables, the quality of opponent had no impact on match outcome across the entire range of quantiles. Our results highlight QR modelling as a potentially superior tool for performance analysts and coaches to design and monitor technical–tactical plans during match-play. Our study has identified the KPIs contributing to match success at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup with QR modelling assisting with a more detailed performance analysis, to support coaches with the optimization of training and match-play styles.

A Study on Changes to the Form of Children’s Playgrounds in Japan by Analyzing the JILA Selected Works of Landscape Architecture

The aim of this study is to present the varieties of changes to children’s playgrounds over the past 26 years, depicting the stages of the design process in designing playgrounds based on an adult perspective to encourage children to play more in today’s changing society. Fourteen Japanese selected works from 1992 (first issue) to 2018 (the latest issue) were chosen for analysis. By analyzing the titles, descriptions, ichnographies, photos, and critical design reviews, the form of and changes to children’s playgrounds are revealed in this paper. Results show the quantitative trends and qualitative changing patterns related to children’s play. Daily physical playing was considered crucial in the first decade of the 1900s. In the 2000s, natural education activities were given more importance, while in recent years exercise play and variety of play have been given more attention. According to the results, we have to consider not only the richness of daily playing facilities, but also the broader aspect of playability, more than just including natural elements into designs, or increasing the variety of play styles. The different ways children enjoy play and the future design trends are also discussed in the last part of the article. Changes corresponding to the improvement of technology should be made to make playgrounds more attractive for children. This study could serve as a design reference for professionals.

Categorizing Play Styles in Competitive Gaming

This article addresses the concept of play style, which has been insufficiently explored in research on video game players despite the diversity of empirically observable play styles in competitive gaming. The main proposition of this article is that play style is a pattern that predicts players' behavior, their perceptions and their interactions. A qualitative analysis was conducted to better understand the term “style” in gamer culture based on an extensive examination of players' texts and interviews with professional gamers and commentators. The results identify categories corresponding to seven general styles that relate to gamer terminology and play theory. The results also suggest a richness, dynamic interrelatedness and changeability of styles. Furthermore, there may be similarities among different play styles with regard to their activity components despite the different intentional patterns that direct players' behaviors.