Journal of science and medicine in sport
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Entrepreneurial marketing of sport increases demands on sport development officers to identify talented individuals for specialist development at the youngest possible age. Talent identification results in the streamlining of resources to produce optimal returns from a sports investment. However, the process of talent identification for team sports is complex and success prediction is imperfect. ⋯ Genetic advances challenge the ethics of talent identification in adolescent sport. However, the environment remains a significant component of success prediction in sport. Considerations for supporting talented young male athletes are discussed.
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There has been an increase in the number of concussions sustained by players in the National Hockey League (NHL). While wearing a helmet is now required by the NHL, the face visor remains optional. It is unknown to what degree face visors influence concussion, other head injury and eye-injury rates at the professional level. ⋯ It was found that wearing a face visor did not significantly influence the prevalence of concussion. Visor protection did, however, minimise eye-injuries and other, non-concussion head injuries. These data suggest that, while a visor may prevent some head and eye-injuries, other measures may be necessary to reduce the number of concussions.
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Comparative Study
Prevalence of hot weather conditions related to sports participation guidelines: a South Australian investigation.
There is scant guidance in the literature on the most appropriate Australian measures of, and thresholds for, extreme heat regarding giving advice on safe sports participation in hot weather. The purpose of this paper is to present a process for investigating two common measures of heat (air temperature, wet bulb globe temperature (WGBT)) in one state in Australia (South Australia), regarding their usefulness in making decisions regarding sports participation in the heat. ⋯ In SA, dry air temperature is an appropriate and robust measure of extreme heat related to sports participation, this measure providing as much information as WBGT in identifying extremely hot periods of weather. Dry air temperature can be readily measured by sports participants or officials irrespective of the geographical location in SA. Three SA regions demonstrated distinct differences in prevalence of extremely hot conditions, suggesting the need for site-specific interpretation of heat participation guidelines to ensure sports safety in hot weather. Other states in Australia could use the approach outlined in this paper to identify the most appropriate measure of extreme heat relevant to local conditions, and to assist in interpreting heat limit guidelines in a local context.
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To determine if there is any decrease in playing performance of athletes following return to sport after recovery from hamstring muscle strain injury. ⋯ Following return to sport from hamstring injury, player performance as assessed by the team coach is reduced. This suggests that some athletes may return to sport prior to complete resolution of the injury.
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Appropriate management of scaphoid fractures is important because of the risk of long-term complications such as delayed or non-union, pain and disability. Up to 25% of scaphoid fractures are not visible on the initial radiographs. Consequently, all clinically suspected scaphoid fractures are treated as fractures with cast immobilisation until cause of the symptoms is clarified. ⋯ Furthermore, the scan may be performed as early as 2.8 days following an injury rather than 10 days later in the case of a bone scan. Although the cost of MRI is higher than other imaging modalities, it may be cost-effective in the overall management of patients with occult scaphoid fractures since it may prevent unnecessary cast immobilisation in active people. The most appropriate method of cast immobilisation is presently unclear but evidence exists for improved clinical outcomes in those that have both the thumb and elbow immobilised for the first six weeks.