Journal of Sport Behavior

An Examination of Hierarchical Leisure Constraint Effects on Sport Participation and Sport Preference from Adolescence into Early Adulthood

Crystal Fields, Gregory Rich, Jody Langdon — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

The aim of this study was to understand how hierarchical leisure constraints prohibited sport participation and influenced sport preferences during individuals’ adolescent years, and how these constraint effects may change during their early twenties. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was employed to (1) identify general changes in constraint effects on participation (i.e., quantitative) and then (2) better understand how sport preferences may be impacted by these constraint effects on participation (i.e., qualitative). A sample (n=117) of female (n=36) and male (n=81) Georgia residents between the ages of 20-25 representing various ethnicities, backgrounds, and income levels participated in the study. Twelve of the participants were interviewed following their completion of the online questionnaire. Online questionnaire data capturing past and present sport participation constraints were analyzed using two-tailed dependent sample t-tests, while the twelve semi-structured interviews were analyzed through a reflective thematic analysis. Findings from analyses of perceived leisure constraints suggests that interpersonal and structural constraints are likely to become slightly more difficult to negotiate as individuals transition from adolescence into young adulthood and that their sport participation choices and overall sport preferences are unlikely to change significantly. In situations where sport preference and participation changes occur, individuals’ changes often reflect their ability to relate to their new sport or sports through prior skills or knowledge that could be carried over from their adolescent sport participation. Another key driver for participating in new sports as a young adult involves influences from new or existing social groups (e.g., friends, family).

The Current Landscape and Contribution of Isolated Practice in European Professional and Academy Football:

Matt Bridge, Nick — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Isolated practices (IP) are defined as isolating the skill and practice in a ‘drill’ format in which players progress from basic to complex motor skill patterns, focusing on learning the ‘correct’ technique (Pill, 2013). Coach education and academic research suggests that IP has no long-lasting effects for athletes (McLean et al., 2019), but it is still part of the practice design in a lot of successful European Academies (Bate, 2020). To better understand the use of IP in player development in European professional football settings twenty existing and openly available interviews of professional coach were analysed using the six thematic steps of Braun and Clarke (2006). Two key themes emerged from the data; ball mastery and 1v1 and 2v2. A sub-theme of ball mastery was coaches' defence of IP. Ball mastery sessions (practicing a specific set of skills) are used in professional football academy sessions and the idea of ball mastery was found to act as a philosophy for development in the coaches. This activity was used to prepare players for 1v1 and 2v2 situations. It is proposed that isolated football practice activities are termed ball mastery sessions and that further work is needed to understand the practical progression from these sessions to 1v1 and 2v2 practice.

Houston Professional Sport Team Response to Hurricane Harvey:

Chris Hanna, Robert Thompson, James Morton — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Hurricane Harvey killed 68 people including 36 from the Houston metro area primarily due to flooding caused by the heavy rainfall that accompanied the hurricane (Whittal, 2018). Hurricane Harvey provided the most rainfall of any tropical system as it pounded Texas and Louisiana communities and did $125 billion in damage, which would tie Katrina as America’s costliest cyclone (Whittal, 2018). This study provides a Twitter content analysis that examined tweets from Houston’s six professional sport teams to see how they handled communicating with fans before, during and after the impact of Hurricane Harvey. Previous studies have documented the importance of team involvement in disaster recovery—with teams providing emotional and social well-being benefits (Inoue, et al., 2015) as well as informational benefits (Devine, et al., 2017). Bonding and information proved to be the most commonly utilized codes among the six professional teams. The Houston professional sport team tweets focused more strongly on emotional support codes than tangible support codes as described in Inoue & Havard (2015).

The Role of Team Identification and Self-Construal on Attitudes Toward Player Resting

Skyler King, Ismail Karabas — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Purposely resting athletes during competitive games has become commonplace in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite this phenomenon, little research has investigated fan attitudes and behavioral intentions concerning the act of NBA teams purposely resting players. This study utilized Prolific Academic crowdsourcing service to recruit a national sample of NBA fans to participate in this research. Participants provided data concerning their attitudes toward the practice of player resting as well as their strength of team identification and self-construal level. Results indicate that those who are low on both team identification and an interdependent self-construal should be expected to respond negatively to resting. If fans are strong on either team identification, interdependent self-construal, or both, they are less likely to respond negatively to player resting.

Effects of Training Environment on Muscle Dysmorphia Symptomatology in Men and Women

Mark Schafer , Jason Crandall, Rick Grieve , Kathryn Dispennette , Jana Michalik — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a condition characterized by an excessive preoccupation with muscularity. The environment in which a person resistance trains may have an impact on the clinical features of MD. The aim of this study was to compare MD symptomatology between individuals who train in traditional fitness centers (TFC) and those who train in high-intensity functional training environments (HIFT). Method: Volunteers were recruited from both TFC and HIFT facilities. Participants (N=376) completed an online (Qualtrics) demographics survey and Muscle Dysmorphia Questionnaire (MDQ). A two-way ANOVA compared the effect of training environment on MDQ scores among HIFT and TFC men and women. Results: Training environment significantly affected MDQ [F (4, 345) = 3.765, p = .005, d = 0.737]. The mean score for TFC (M = 111.73, SD = 20.39, [107.78, 115.68]) was significantly higher than HIFT (M = 102.20, SD = 19.59, [99.17, 105.23]). Discussion: Participants with greater MD symptoms may prefer training in TFC, thus potentially facilitating and perpetuating MD symptomatology. The results of the present study may provide insight into creating optimal treatment programs for individuals with clinical MD.