Effectiveness of goalball athletes throwing in the Chilean National League

Goalball is a collective Paralympic sport with oppositional characteristics but without invasion by the athletes that, despite requiring great physical condition in offensive and defensive actions, is also identified as a tactical sport, where the administration of technique in the various game situations determines success in competition. The objective of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of the attack of the Chilean National Goalball League, according to type of shot and trajectory. Four Goalball matches of the final phase of a national tournament were filmed. For this, a digital camera was used behind an arch located in height. The matches were analyzed following the diagrams proposed by Morato et al. (2016) and Morato (2012). The front throw (FRO) was used the most (88.9%) with an effectiveness rate of 6.2%. Longer trajectories were made in short diagonals (SD) and parallel (PA) (31.3% and 23.2%, respectively). The FRO throw was directed in SD (34.5%) and PA (22.4%), while on the other hand, the spinning throws (SP) were directed preferably in PA (30.4%) and SD (29.1%). The FRO throw was more effective in PA (10.6%), whereas the SP throw was more effective in the middle diagonal (MD) (12.5%). The lateral positions execute throws, preferably FRO, but in defense the central positions are protagonists. Throws are most effective when they are directed in PA and SD.

Facilitadores en el deporte paralímpico: motivos de práctica deportiva en jugadores con discapacidad física y visual (Facilitators in Paralympic sport: motives for sports practice in players with physical and visual disabilities)

La motivación como un elemento propio de cada deportista es generadora de respuestas positivas en la práctica deportiva, por tanto, la evaluación de esta en los deportistas adaptados contribuye a generar propuestas que consideren las expectativas de los mismos. Objetivo: Identificar los motivos de la práctica deportiva en jugadores de tenis en silla de ruedas y goalball. Método: Quince deportistas: 5 de tenis en silla de ruedas y 10 de goalball, pertenecientes a diferentes clubes regionales, respondieron el Cuestionario “Participation Motivation Inventory”. Resultados: El 100% de los jugadores en tenis en silla de ruedas valoraron muy importante los ítems: “Me gusta ganar”, “Quiero estar en forma”, “Me gusta hacer ejercicio”, “Me gusta la acción”, “Me gusta la competición”, “Me gusta practicar deporte”, “Quiero estar físicamente bien”, y “Quiero alcanzar un status – elite”; mientras que en goalball fueron los ítems: “Quiero mejorar mis habilidades”, “Quiero aprender nuevas habilidades”, “Me gusta la competición”, “Me gusta practicar deporte”, “Quiero mejorar mi nivel”, “Quiero estar físicamente bien” y “Me gusta divertirme”. En ambas poblaciones los ítems: “Es por satisfacer a mis padres o amigos” y “Por influencia de los entrenadores o instructores” fueron valorados como nada importante por el 40% de los deportistas. Conclusiones: Los motivos más valorados por los jugadores de tenis en silla de ruedas y los jugadores de goalball están relacionados con el factor de superación y el factor personal respectivamente, mientras que el factor socio-deportivo es el menos importante en su motivación para la práctica deportiva. Abstract. Motivation as an element of each athlete generates positive responses in practice, therefore, its evaluation in adapted athletes contributes to generating proposals that consider their sporting expectations. Aims: To identify the motives for sports practice in wheelchair tennis and goalball players. Method: Fifteen athletes: 5 for wheelchair tennis and 10 for goalball, belonging to different clubs in the region, answered the Questionnaire “Participation Motivation Inventory”. Results: 100% of wheelchair tennis players rated the items as very important: "I like to win", "I want to be fit", "I like to exercise", "I like action", "I like the competition "," I like to practice sports "," I want to be physically well ", and" I want to achieve elite status "; while in goalball there were the items: "I want to improve my skills", "I want to learn new skills", "I like competition", "I like to practice sports", "I want to improve my level", "I want to be physically well" and "I like to have fun". In both populations the items: "It is to satisfy my parents or friends" and "Due to the influence of the coaches or instructors" were valued as not important by 40% of the athletes. Conclusions: The motives most valued by wheelchair tennis players and goalball players are related to the overcoming factor and the personal factor respectively, while the socio-sports factor is the least important in their motivation for sports practice.

How Can Biomechanics Improve Physical Preparation and Performance in Paralympic Athletes? A Narrative Review

Recent research in Paralympic biomechanics has offered opportunities for coaches, athletes, and sports practitioners to optimize training and performance, and recent systematic reviews have served to summarize the state of the evidence connecting biomechanics to Paralympic performance. This narrative review serves to provide a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the evidence related to biomechanics and Paralympic performance published since 2016. The main themes within this review focus on sport-specific body posture: the standing, sitting, and horizontal positions of current summer Paralympic sports. For standing sports, sprint and jump mechanics were assessed in athletes with cerebral palsy and in lower-limb amputee athletes using running-specific prostheses. Our findings suggest that running and jumping-specific prostheses should be ‘tuned’ to each athlete depending on specific event demands to optimize performance. Standing sports were also inclusive to athletes with visual impairments. Sitting sports comprise of athletes performing on a bike, in a wheelchair (WC), or in a boat. WC configuration is deemed an important consideration for injury prevention, mobility, and performance. Other sitting sports like hand-cycling, rowing, and canoeing/kayaking should focus on specific sitting positions (e.g., arm-crank position, grip, or seat configuration) and ways to reduce aero/hydrodynamic drag. Para-swimming practitioners should consider athlete-specific impairments, including asymmetrical anthropometrics, on the swim-start and free-swim velocities, with special considerations for drag factors. Taken together, we provide practitioners working in Paralympic sport with specific considerations on disability and event-specific training modalities and equipment configurations to optimize performance from a biomechanical perspective.

Practitioner perspectives of athlete recovery in paralympic sport

Athlete health and sport performance research for athletes with disabilities has increased substantially over the years as the level of competition and intensity in Paralympic sport has grown. However, relative to able-bodied sport, there remains some key areas of parasport research which are distinctly lacking. Athlete recovery, as a counterbalance to training stress and an important factor in preventing adverse health consequences such as illness and injury, is one of these understudied areas for elite para-athletes. Thus, the purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to understand factors impacting recovery among Paralympic athletes, based on practitioner perspectives, with the aim of providing insightful guidance for applied practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 North American sport practitioners who worked with elite para-athletes. Through thematic analysis, five main themes about optimizing athlete recovery in various populations of para-athletes were developed: a) prioritize the simple concepts, b) get to know the whole athlete, c) experience matters, d) musculoskeletal factors, and e) non-training load. Collectively, these results highlight how humanistic approaches to care, augmented by individual athlete expertise, extensive education, and a consideration of fundamental lifestyle factors is exceedingly important for para-athlete recovery. This study further describes that the approach to recovery among para-athletes, a diverse population, is uniquely complex from that of able-bodied sport and warrants scholarly attention.

Percepções de atletas paralímpicos sobre a inclusão social por meio do esporte (Paralympic athletes perceptions about social inclusion through sport)

A presente pesquisa objetivou analisar a percepção dos atletas de esporte paralímpico acerca da influência da prática esportiva para a inclusão social. Para isso, contou-se com a participação de 19 atletas das modalidades Bocha, Basquete em Cadeira de Rodas e Vôlei Sentado da cidade de Maringá-PR/Brasil. Como instrumento de pesquisa, optou-se pela entrevista não estruturada. Os dados coletados foram analisados com base nos pressupostos da análise de conteúdo e organizados com auxílio do software NVivo. Evidenciou-se que o esporte e seus desdobramentos, a partir da visão dos atletas paralímpicos, contribui significativamente com a qualidade de vida e convívio social entre os pares, o que pode gerar alguns indicativos para o processo de inclusão social. Nesse sentido, conclui-se que o envolvimento com o esporte paralímpico não contribui diretamente com a inclusão social dos sujeitos, uma vez que as relações interpessoais em sua maioria ainda permanecem restritas as pessoas com deficiência, porém, destaca-se que tal ação possibilita ganhos pessoais ímpares para a vida dos atletas. Abstract: The research aimed to analyze the perception of Paralympic sport athletes about the influence of sports practice for social inclusion. For this, 19 athletes from Bocce, Wheelchair Basketball and Sitting Volleyball from the city of Maringá-PR participated. As a research instrument, opted for the unstructured interview, with the data collected and analyzed based on the assumptions of the content analysis and organized with the aid of the N Vivo software. It was Evidenced that the sport and its unfolding contribute to the quality of life and inclusion of the people involved, however, the inclusion is carried out in certain spaces and among people with disabilities. It is concluded with this, that the involvement with the Paralympic sport does not contribute to the social inclusion of the subjects, even contributing to gains for the athletes' lives. Resumen: El estudio tuvo como obje the Paralympic sport does not contribute to the social inclusion otivo analizar la percepción de las personas con discapacidad involucradas en el deporte paralímpico sobre la influencia del deporte para la inclusión social. Para ello participaron 19 deportistas de Bochas, Baloncesto en Silla de Ruedas y Voleibol Sentado de la ciudad de Maringá-PR. Como instrumento de investigación se optó por la entrevista no estructurada, con los datos recolectados y analizados en base a los supuestos del análisis de contenido y organizados con la ayuda del software N Vivo. Se hizo evidente que el deporte y sus consecuencias contribuyen a la calidad de vida e inclusión de las personas involucradas, sin embargo, la inclusión se realiza en determinados espacios y entre personas con discapacidad. Se concluye con esto, que la implicación con el deporte Paralímpico no contribuye a la inclusión social de los sujetos, contribuyendo incluso a ganancias para la vida de los deportistas.

O contato com o esporte paralímpico como um meio para a mudança de percepção de crianças em relação às pessoas com deficiência (Contact with Paralympic sport as a means to change children's perception of people with disabilities)

O objetivo deste estudo, de cunho qualitativo e exploratório, foi o de verificar se o contato indireto com pessoas com deficiência (PCD), através de materiais midiáticos relacionados ao esporte paralímpico, pode mudar a percepção de crianças a respeito destas pessoas. Entrevistamos 18 crianças de 6 a 12 anos, sendo que 13 foram entrevistadas em um grupo focal e 5 individualmente. Primeiramente solicitamos que as crianças escrevessem em um papel as primeiras cinco palavras que viessem à sua mente quando ouviam a expressão “pessoa com deficiência”. Em seguida conduzimos uma entrevista semiestruturada visando explorar com mais profundidade o que elas haviam escrito. Depois, mostramos dois vídeos que continham imagens de PCD realizando com sucesso atividades cotidianas, profissionais, artísticas, e principalmente, esportivas. Na sequência, repetimos a dinâmica das cinco palavras e realizamos uma nova entrevista a fim de verificar se houveram mudanças na percepção das crianças. Antes dos vídeos, todos os entrevistados, exceto dois, manifestaram uma visão focada nas deficiências e/ou nas tecnologias assistivas utilizadas pelas PCD. Eles expressaram uma percepção baseada em três estigmas usualmente associadas com estas pessoas: de que elas são “deficientes”, “incapazes” e “coitadinhas”. Depois dos vídeos, todos expressaram um entendimento mais positivo a respeito das PCD, com um foco maior nas capacidades do que as supostas limitações delas. Este estudo indica que produções tais como os que mostramos às crianças podem ser utilizados como recursos pedagógicos para problematizar preconceitos e estigmas normalmente relacionados às PCD, promovendo uma percepção mais positiva das mesmas. Abstrat. The objective of this study, of a qualitative and exploratory nature, was to verify whether an indirect contact with people with disabilities (PWD), through media materials related to Paralympic sport, can change children's perception of these people. We interviewed 18 children from six to 12 years old, 13 of whom were interviewed in a focus group and 5 individually. First, we asked the children to write on a sheet of paper the first five words that came to mind when they heard the expression “person with a disability”. Aftwerwards, we conducted a semi-structured interview in order to explore more deeply what they had written. Subsequently, we showed two videos that contained images of PWD successfully carrying out daily, professional, artistic, and mainly, sporting activities. Then, we repeated the five words dynamicand conducted a new interview in order to check if there were changes in the children's perception. Before the videos, all interviewees, except for two, expressed a vision focused on the deficiencies and / or assistive technologies used by PWD. They also expressed a perception based on three stigmas usually associated with these people: that they are "disabled", "incapable" and "poor things". After the videos, all of them expressed a more positive understanding of PWD, with a greater focus on their capabilities than on their supposed limitations. This study indicates that materials such as the ones we showed children can be used as pedagogical resources to problematize prejudices and stigmas normally related to PWD, so that we can promote a more positive perception of them.