Perceptual and motor skills
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Little is known about the effects of exercise on cognitive function, but in a biathlon it is known that intense skiing exercise decreases shooting performance. So the present study was designed to assess the cognitive origin of this decrease by examining the influence of skiing exercise on perceptual estimation and short-term verbal recall of shooting performance in a biathlon. 10 elite biathletes (6 men, 4 women) performed five trials of five shots in standing position in two conditions, at rest and after a standardised skiing exercise. At the end of each trial, the shooting performance was investigated by measuring the actual shooting performance and the perceptual estimation of the shooting performance. ⋯ Further, only .01% of the nonestimated shots after exercise missed the target, i.e., 3 out of 250. The results suggest that the perceptual estimation of the shooting is not significantly affected by skiing exercise and do not explain the decrease in shooting performance observed after intense exercise. However, intense exercise could increase the difficulty of recall shooting performance and may force biathletes to use their memory selectively.
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This study asked high school athletes what kinds of desirable traits or styles they would like to see in coaches when they provided correct feedback. High school athletes (M age=14.5 yr., SD=2.1), 43 girls and 70 boys, in both individual and team sports were recruited from 2 junior high and 2 senior high schools. ⋯ The survey covered several characteristics of feedback style: character, timing, frequency, precision, intent, informational style versus controlling style, descriptive versus prescriptive, and context. Analyses of variance, performed on responses to each question to assess the effects of sex, age, and sport, indicated high uniformity in responses to the qualities of feedback style, with no significant differences for sex, age, or sport.