Softball bat inertial considerations and their effects on female softball swing mechanics and estimated bat performance

This paper discusses the role of the inertial properties in the design and selection of the softball bat, and their interrelated effects on female softball swing mechanics and bat performance. The study was performed using 14 collegiate subjects whose swings were analyzed via a computer model, which included methods for estimating post-impact ball velocity. The model was driven kinematically by subject swing recordings using two different trial bats with markedly different inertial properties. Using this method, the following information was determined: subjects altered their linear kinetic inputs while applying consistent angular kinetic inputs to maintain nearly consistent trajectories; subjects compensated for increased bat inertia by modification of the bat instantaneous center-of-rotation trajectory ( ICR); and swing trajectory influenced the bat’s inertial feel, actual, and ideal impact locations, and batted-ball velocity. Subsequently, the mass properties of 27 collegiate level bats were input into the model for each subject trial. Using this information, the relative changes in kinetic inputs were quantified and the performance of the bats was estimated. Results showed that bat inertial properties varied considerably, and independent manipulation of individual properties was evident. In addition, subject kinetic inputs and bat performance measures were most affected by changes in mass center (CG) location, mass, and CG inertia. A modified definition of IGRIP based upon the ICR was presented, and practical implications for designers and practitioners were offered based upon these findings.

Extending the Scholar Baller Model to Support and Cultivate the Development of Academically Gifted Black Male Student-Athletes

Professional athletes and entertainers are often identified as the source of emulation for young males, especially Black males. With far less romanticized career representations than those in the athletic arena, many Black families foster, knowingly and unknowingly, a polarized path to elusive goals of a professional athletic career. Explicitly focusing on academically gifted Black males who are also athletically talented, gifted education teachers have an opportunity to support and cultivate dual identity development complement both athletic and scholar identities, acknowledging the cultural significance sport and athletics play. This article seeks to provide gifted education teachers with a framework to fulfill these goals—the Scholar Baller Model. Through its integration into the curriculum, gifted education teachers can enrich the pre-college experiences of academically and athletically gifted Black males, resulting in more positive convergence of their academic and athletic identities that will, in turn, cultivate more positive educational outcomes and career options for collegiate-level Black athletes.

Towards critical benchmarks for Return-To-Sport following injury rehabilitation at collegiate level in Teachers Colleges of Zimbabwe

This study examined the critical benchmarks impacting on players’ return-to-sport following injury sustenance in selected Tertiary Institutions of Zimbabwe. The study was a descriptive, prospective cohort design anchored on quantitative approach. Its population was 453 with a sample of 228 participants that comprised coaches, fitness trainers, physiotherapists, psychologists, and handball players drawn from 10 selected Teachers Colleges in Zimbabwe. Male and female handball players were from original collegiate handball teams for the entire period of study. Questionnaires were used as data collection tools. All data were statistically performed using IBM SPSS Version 23 and presented on a multi-part graph and table. Emerging findings revealed absence of quality return-to-sport training modes for re-enacting players’ musculoskeletal deficits. Quality social support synergies for full resurgence of return-to-sport players’ physiological and socio-psychological tenets lacked among health service providers. The study recommends that co-opting multi-social-support synergies during rehabilitation and return-to-sport episodes could significantly address players’ socio-psychological and physiological tenets. Health service providers with amplified skill sets should fully re-orient athletes’ fractured return-to-sport hope pathways. Further appropriately designed, quality contemporary evidence-based multi-modal training batteries should resonate critical evaluative ‘viaducts’ and ‘mainstay’ of rehabilitation and return-to-sport transitions for enhancement of players’ socio-psychological and mitochondrial tenacity levels. Scientific monitoring approaches could further substantiate reduction of inherent injury tendencies through HIFT regimens.

A Look into Literature Courses in Pre-Service Teacher Training

This paper explored the load of literature courses in the teacher-training program at the collegiate level in Yemen. It dwells on teacher candidates’ perceptions of the current status quo of literature teaching based on the learner-centered approach and humanistic curriculum. Data were elicited through an opinion poll from a sample of senior prospective teachers (n=112) who have undertaken courses in verse, fiction, and prose embedded in the program. Findings ensued from this analysis show that the participants had a wealth of difficulties that hamper achieving the objectives of embedding literature in the program, and most of such difficulties stem from teaching inadequacies in the given context. The study brings to the foreground some insightful ideas into curriculum reform. It generally informs the curriculum designers to readdress the existing program with an eye on the underestimated literature courses. It recommends that the overhaul of the existing syllabus should be fashioned to a new purpose, a new footing and a new perspective in line with the worldwide, extemporized changes in terms of curriculum development. A balanced approach to literature instruction to link the school curriculum with what is taught at the tertiary level would be a stepping-point to an improved literature teaching scenario.

Savoring Sport: Connections with Athlete Passion and Burnout

Athletes can respond to positive experiences in sport by engaging in savoring – that is, by attempting to prolong or amplify their positive feelings (Bryant & Veroff, 2007). In this research, we tested if savoring was predicted by levels of harmonious or obsessive passion for sport, and if savoring was associated with symptoms of burnout. In Study 1 (n = 499) we found that savoring was positively associated with harmonious passion and negatively associated with obsessive passion. In addition, savoring predicted lower levels of burnout and played an indirect role in the relationship between both passion types and burnout. We replicated these findings in Study 2 (n = 298), with collegiate-level athletes prospectively over the course of a season. Overall, athletes with strong levels of harmonious passion appear to be most likely to engage in savoring, a response that may protect them from experiencing higher levels of burnout.

Examining the Potential Inclusion of Adaptive Sport in the NCAA

Executive Summary: The central research question of this study is to investigate if there is a case for the inclusion of adaptive sport in the NCAA. This study is important because of issues of equity, the sociocultural perceptions of disability and adaptive sport, the physical, social, psychological, and societal benefits of sport participation, and recent education and employment-population ratio statistics in the United States. Supporting this central question are five inquiries (the dependent variables of the study): What are the barriers and challenges for collegiate adaptive sport? What are the growth opportunities for collegiate adaptive sport? What are goals for the future of collegiate adaptive sport? What are integration strategies for collegiate adaptive sport in the NCAA? Is sport a major life activity? Based on the literature, four themes stand out regarding the advancement of collegiate adaptive sport. First, there are legal aspects such as Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act that shape the current landscape of collegiate adaptive sports. Second, the greatest momentum for change in the NCAA could come from institutions and conferences taking a leadership role in championing change and pressuring the interdependent network of the NCAA. Third, the experience of females in collegiate athletics could be used to understand some of the challenges for adaptive sport and the top-down initiatives that could help the growth of adaptive sport. Fourth, the advancement of adaptive sport will require change in the current system and the critical change factor model by Fay (1999) can be used as a framework to understand what change factors could be effective. The research question was examined through qualitative interviews with stakeholder groups affiliated with the landscape of collegiate adaptive sport. These groups included collegiate adaptive sport athletes (A), collegiate adaptive sport staff (B), athletic department staff (C), and external organizations (e.g. national governing sport bodies) (D). The interviews were thematically analyzed to yield key themes and recommendations as they pertained to the dependent variables. There were 38 participants in the study with 3, 21, 8, and 6 people from groups A through D respectively. NCAA status for adaptive sport was found to be a desirable goal for the future and there are frameworks that can make it possible (e.g. the ECAC Inclusive Sport model). However, there must be a critical mass of adaptive sport athletes, a growth of and greater concentration of programming at the collegiate level and more purposeful and effective support from the top-down. Recommendations for how stakeholders could collaborate to grow adaptive sport at the collegiate level include: • Invest in K to 12 adaptive sport programming • Educate senior leaders of institutions and organizations about disability and adaptive sport • Create a resource guide for NCAA institutions for adaptive athlete recruitment and training • Develop an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program in the NCAA • Create a Senior Disability or Inclusion Administrator designation for athletic departments • Expand on the ECAC Inclusive Sport Principles 1 through 3 to other conferences • Implement able-body inclusion and consider coed teams in collegiate wheelchair basketball Recommendations for future research include examining effects of K-12 programming on participation levels in adaptive sport, adaptive athlete perceptions of able-body participation in adaptive sport, the appropriate number of sponsors for an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program, the qualitative and quantitative impact that collegiate adaptive sports programs have on their institutions, further research on sport as a major life activity, adaptive athlete experiences on coed teams, and key leader perceptions (e.g. Athletic Directors) of disability and adaptive sport.

Examining the Potential Inclusion of Adaptive Sport in the NCAA

Executive Summary: The central research question of this study is to investigate if there is a case for the inclusion of adaptive sport in the NCAA. This study is important because of issues of equity, the sociocultural perceptions of disability and adaptive sport, the physical, social, psychological, and societal benefits of sport participation, and recent education and employment-population ratio statistics in the United States. Supporting this central question are five inquiries (the dependent variables of the study): What are the barriers and challenges for collegiate adaptive sport? What are the growth opportunities for collegiate adaptive sport? What are goals for the future of collegiate adaptive sport? What are integration strategies for collegiate adaptive sport in the NCAA? Is sport a major life activity? Based on the literature, four themes stand out regarding the advancement of collegiate adaptive sport. First, there are legal aspects such as Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act that shape the current landscape of collegiate adaptive sports. Second, the greatest momentum for change in the NCAA could come from institutions and conferences taking a leadership role in championing change and pressuring the interdependent network of the NCAA. Third, the experience of females in collegiate athletics could be used to understand some of the challenges for adaptive sport and the top-down initiatives that could help the growth of adaptive sport. Fourth, the advancement of adaptive sport will require change in the current system and the critical change factor model by Fay (1999) can be used as a framework to understand what change factors could be effective. The research question was examined through qualitative interviews with stakeholder groups affiliated with the landscape of collegiate adaptive sport. These groups included collegiate adaptive sport athletes (A), collegiate adaptive sport staff (B), athletic department staff (C), and external organizations (e.g. national governing sport bodies) (D). The interviews were thematically analyzed to yield key themes and recommendations as they pertained to the dependent variables. There were 38 participants in the study with 3, 21, 8, and 6 people from groups A through D respectively. NCAA status for adaptive sport was found to be a desirable goal for the future and there are frameworks that can make it possible (e.g. the ECAC Inclusive Sport model). However, there must be a critical mass of adaptive sport athletes, a growth of and greater concentration of programming at the collegiate level and more purposeful and effective support from the top-down. Recommendations for how stakeholders could collaborate to grow adaptive sport at the collegiate level include: • Invest in K to 12 adaptive sport programming • Educate senior leaders of institutions and organizations about disability and adaptive sport • Create a resource guide for NCAA institutions for adaptive athlete recruitment and training • Develop an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program in the NCAA • Create a Senior Disability or Inclusion Administrator designation for athletic departments • Expand on the ECAC Inclusive Sport Principles 1 through 3 to other conferences • Implement able-body inclusion and consider coed teams in collegiate wheelchair basketball Recommendations for future research include examining effects of K-12 programming on participation levels in adaptive sport, adaptive athlete perceptions of able-body participation in adaptive sport, the appropriate number of sponsors for an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program, the qualitative and quantitative impact that collegiate adaptive sports programs have on their institutions, further research on sport as a major life activity, adaptive athlete experiences on coed teams, and key leader perceptions (e.g. Athletic Directors) of disability and adaptive sport.

Epidemiology of Acute Extensor Mechanism Injuries in Collegiate-Level Athletes in the United States

Background: Extensor mechanism injuries involving the quadriceps tendon, patella, or patellar tendon can be a devastating setback for athletes. Despite the potential severity and relative frequency with which these injuries occur, large-scale epidemiological data on collegiate-level athletes are lacking. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: Knee extensor mechanism injuries across 16 sports among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men and women during the 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years were analyzed using the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP). Extensor mechanism injuries per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), operative rate, annual injury and reinjury rates, in-season status (pre-/regular/postseason), and time lost were compiled and calculated. Results: A total of 11,778,265 AEs were identified and included in the study. Overall, 1,748 extensor mechanism injuries were identified, with an injury rate (IR) of 14.84 (per 100,000 AEs). N = 114 (6.5%) injuries were classified as severe injuries with a relatively higher median time loss (44 days) and operative risk (18.42%). Male athletes had higher risk of season-ending injuries in both all (3.20% vs 0.89%, P < 0.01) and severe (41.54% vs 16.33%, P < 0.01) extensor mechanism injuries. Similarly, contact injuries were more frequently season-ending injuries (4.44% vs 1.69%, P = 0.01). Women’s soccer (IR = 2.59), women’s field hockey (IR = 2.15), and women’s cross country (IR = 2.14) were the sports with the highest rate of severe extensor mechanism injuries. Conclusion: Extensor mechanism injuries in collegiate athletes represent a significant set of injuries both in terms of volume and potentially to their athletic careers. Male athletes and contact injuries appear to have a greater risk of severe injuries. Injuries defined as severe had a higher risk of operative intervention and greater amount of missed playing time. Clinical Relevance: Knowledge of the epidemiology of extensor mechanism injuries may help clinicians guide their athlete patients in sports-related injury prevention and management.

Technology supporting green chemistry in chemical education

Changes in technology have affected the way we teach, the way students learn and the way chemical research is conducted. Rapid changes in technology have greatly improved laboratory instrumentation, data collection and treatment and have greatly enabled Green Chemistry. This chapter will trace the career of a 4-year college professor who began teaching as a high school teacher in the sixties and transcended to the collegiate level. She will describe how changes in technology changed the way we teach chemistry and how this has enabled us to introduce green chemistry at all levels to our students. This chapter will highlight changes in technology which have enabled educators both in teaching chemistry labs and conducting research to employ green chemistry.