Sport Science and Studies in Asia

The following sections are included:

• FOREWORD

• PREFACE

• LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

• CONTENTS

The conveniences of modern living for work and for play pose serious challenges for young people in school and outside of school, to be physically active on a daily basis. Physical play offers many benefits for the holistic development-cognitive, physical, psychomotor and affective domains- of young people. Physical activity guidelines for young persons and youths reveal that they should be accumulate at least 90 minutes or more of at least moderate intensity activity on a daily basis for health benefits to accrue in terms of having a positive metabolic profile. Girls should accumulate at least 12 000 steps or 120 minutes and boys, 15 000 steps or 150 minutes of physical activity daily. These guidelines are established for cohorts that are from the West and should be tested and validated against cohorts from the East. Physical activity and physical inactivity behaviours is complex and are resistant to simplistic explanations such as hours of computer use and/or television viewing. Instead clusters of cohorts, with different characteristics, such as venerability to being overweight and physically inactive and should be identified. No singular factor strongly predicts either behaviour; rather the behaviours are based upon a basket of factors and the interplay among the factors of the physically active or physically inactive person. Intervention programmes that target the holistic development of young people can be successful and sustainable when there is whole school acceptance of the programme, a strong trust between the school management, stakeholders (school, parents, and MOE) and the researchers, when the interventions are multifaceted- before, during and after school programmes, active recess, an extended recess, tuck-shop or canteen nutritional programme, the availability of safe equipment and facilities, parental involvement, school events and school partnerships with the community. The use of electronic gadgets such as PDAs, mobile phones and new technology monitors, coupled with youth-friendly software programs can help increase awareness of the need for a healthy lifestyle among youths in Singapore.

The purpose of the study was to examine the validity and reliability of the OMRON HJ-005 pedometer in quantifying pupils' physical activity (PA) under ecological school settings. One hundred and twenty-five Primary 2 and 6 children from a primary school in Singapore participated in the study. In the first part of the study, 15 boys and 19 girls were recruited and were randomly allocated to a validity or a reliability group, All subjects were instructed to perform slow walking (4 km/h), brisk walking (6 km/h) and slow jogging (8km/h) on a 240-m athletic track. In the second part of the study, all 125 subjects were randomly assigned to a validity group or a reliability group and physical activity (PA) during a 30-min school physical education (PE) and 30-min recess was evaluated. The validity of the Omron HJ-005 was examined using Pearson correlation, R between pedometer step counts and GT1M ActiGraph accelerometer outcomes. The reliability of the pedometer was calculated by computing intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) between the two units worn at the waist, on the left and right sides of the body. Pearson correlation, R from the study was 0.850, 0.829 and 0.685, respectively, under 4km/h, 6km/h and 8km/h speed-controlled conditions, 0.819 during PE and 0.703 during recess (all p<.05). Reliability ICC was 0.918, 0.812, and 0.876, individually, under 4km/h, 6km/h and 8km/h controlled speed, 0.923 during PE and 0.936 during recess (all p<.05). The OMRON HJ-005 pedometer demonstrated promise as a reliable and valid measurement tool for assessing school-based PA in Singaporean children.

Many studies show how physical activities can affect fundamental motor skills as well as how fundamental motor performance can also influence the participation of sports and physical activities. Parents' and/or guardians' perception of motor skills development is equally important for the interest and participation in sports and physical activities by young children. This chapter provides an overview of the development of motor skills of young children in the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on recent research in Singapore. A portion of the paper addresses research on preference and performance, and how these affect young children's motor performance. The importance of outdoor physical experiences and the constraints of space, and the implications for children's sports and physical experiences in Singapore are discussed.

Research in motor learning and pedagogy has advanced tremendously over the last two decades. However, there seems to be very little synergy in the transfer of knowledge between the two disciplines. It would be sensible and even necessary for researchers in motor learning and pedagogy to work collaboratively to explore and advance knowledge on how game skills can be acquired. Certainly, the area of motor learning, with strong theoretical grounding from motor control, can augment critical pedagogical approaches in the applied setting for practitioners to improve teaching and learning of game skills. Specifically, a discussion on a pedagogical approach based on concepts from nonlinear dynamics in motor learning is shared in this chapter to explore how pedagogical practices can be refined and adapted to more effectively engage learners. With increasing wealth and economic development in the East over the last decade, sport and health awareness as well as physical education have also gained greater prominence among populations in these countries. Undoubtedly, there is a greater need to understand and develop sound pedagogical practices to help equip the population with the relevant game skills to be effectively involved in playing games that will reap critical health, emotional and social benefits. The introduction focuses on some of the historical background on motor learning and its contributions to pedagogy research. Subsequently, key concepts pertaining to how movement behaviors self-organize as a consequence of dynamic interactions among constraints (performer, task and environment) from a systems perspective is shared. Key discussions are undertaken to highlight the relevance of an embodied approach to understand learning. The role of perception-action coupling is also presented to emphasize how movement solutions can continuously be adjusted in realtime with little influence by conscious cognitive processing. Movement variability, often seen as a phenomenon that is undesirable can have a positive role in assisting learners to transit from one movement behavior to a new functional movement behavior. Empirical work from the motor learning and control literature is shared to provide evidence of these theoretical principles that underlie the ideas for a nonlinear pedagogical approach. Such an approach emphasizes the role of the teacher or coach as a facilitator, who manipulates the relevant constraints in learning contexts, to channel learners to search for functional movement solutions within the myriad of movement possibilities. Practical implications relating to how these key nonlinear concepts can inform the teaching and learning are discussed. Such practical implications can have positive effect on how physical education is structured in our schools to allow for a more explorative and facilitative approach to learn game skills that may be less prevalent at the moment in our Eastern societies.

Exercise improves bone development especially in young children, because it provides mechanical stress to bones. Exercise increases bone mass and bone size, both of which are thought as important factors for persevering bone strength against bending and torsion stresses. In young adults or aged women, the positive effects of previous sport activities during youth, especially before adolescence, on bone size are retained, according to research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thus, exercise in childhood is very important for a life-long bone health. These results are also demonstrated in animal studies where high-impact, low-repetition and low-frequency mechanical stress was effective for bone development. The details of two studies are presented.

The measurement of blood lactate in sporting activities provides useful information to athletes, coaches and sports scientists for individualizing training programs and also for evaluating the effectiveness of the training programs. The chapter provides an overview of the how blood lactate measurements are conducted and applied in soccer, synchronized swimming, alpine skiing and in swimming in a sports science laboratory in Japan.

Body composition is a term used to categorise the different components in the human body, which collectively make up an individual's body weight. The human body consists of a variety of components such as metabolically active tissue like fat-free mass or lean mass, which includes muscle, bone and organs and non- metabolically active tissue such as fat. With modernisation, health professionals and researchers are focusing on accurate measurements of body composition. An accurate evaluation of body composition is indispensable in identifying body fat and fat-free mass which are used to categorise individuals in exercise and clinical settings, and are used as scaling factors to normalize physiologic variables such as metabolic rate, physical activity, and physical fitness. There are different types of body composition assessment models and these are commonly divided into the two compartment model; fat mass and fat-free mass, which may be measured accurately by total body potassium, total body water and under water weighing techniques. The underwater weighing technique was considered as the gold standard in measurement of body composition until recent advancements in technology where new sophisticated methods have made this technique outdated. This chapter focuses on recent advancements in body composition assessment and discusses the limitations and advantages of the various techniques of body composition available.

Exercise duration, intra-session rest interval and exercise repetitions contribute to the recovery of power output from short-term high intensity intermittent exertions. There are inconsistent results in studies reported in the literature for the same work-to-rest ratio (WR). The aim of the study was to compare recovery capabilities of untrained male and female adults from short-term high intensity intermittent exercise using different WRs. Ten untrained male and ten untrained female subjects (mean age 25.4 ± 4.7 yrs, body mass 59.7 ± 11.0 kg) volunteered for the research. Three test sessions were organised. During each session, the subjects performed four 10-s maximal sprints on specially instrumented non motorised treadmill (NMT). The rest duration (60-s, 90-s and 120-s) between each sprint was randomly assigned, corresponding to a WR of 1:6, 1:9 and 1:12. Paired-sample T-tests were used to determine if there were significant differences (p<.05) in the composite fatigue index (CFI) between different WRs. Results showed that the WR of 1:6 registered the largest CFI_pp and CFI_mp after four sprints in both sexes. In male adults, there was a significant difference (p<.05) in peak power (PP) output and CFI_pp, for all three WRs. This indicated that optimal PP recovery was beyond either a WR of 1:9 or 90 s. Paired sample T-tests showed that mean power (MP) in sprints derived from the WR of 1:12 was not significantly different (p>.05) to that derived from a WR of 1:9. This demonstrated that a 90s recovery in male adults was sufficient to prevent a significant reduction in MP whilst sprinting on the NMT. For the female adults, the CFI_pp for WRs of 1:9 and 1:12 were not significantly different (p >.05), indicating that either at least a WR of 1:9 or a 90 s intra-session recovery was required to prevent a significant (p<.05) decrease in PP. There was also no significant difference (p>.05) in CFI_mp for the three WRs in female adults. The present study showed that male and female adults exhibited differences in recovery capabilities. Untrained female adults recovered faster than untrained male adults from short-term high intensity intermittent sprints of up to 10s.

The overall activity pattern in soccer is of an intermittent high-intensity type and the capability to perform repeated high-intensity running is a discriminatory performance quality among soccer players at different standards of the game. Repeated high-intensity running derives energy from all three energy systems in different proportions depending upon the fitness level of the players and the physiological demands of the game in terms of duration, intensity and frequency of the high-intensity running efforts required during the game. Therefore, a measurement of repeated high-intensity running capability in soccer players provides a worthwhile index of their playing prowess. Both laboratory and field-based methods and protocols are used to assess this capability in soccer players. Some studies deal with high-intensity running and all-out sprint ability as separate entities while others combine them into one single category of high-intensity running. The majority of the laboratory-based test protocols are developed on the bicycle ergometer and relatively few use the motorized treadmill and the non-motorised treadmill. The field-based tests for the assessment of repeated sprint ability use different sprint distances and recovery intervals while intermittent high-intensity running ability are evaluated predominantly using the YoYo tests in soccer players. Long-term studies are required to determine the effect of age and environment on repeated high-intensity running capability in soccer players. Furthermore, it is desirable to conduct further studies determining the measures of repeated high-intensity running capability in the tests that can be objectively translated into measures of match performance.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between composite concentric isokinetic torque (CCIT), peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) of male and female adults using allometric scaling. Eighteen male (age: 21.3±1.9yrs, stature: 1.71±0.05m & body mass: 64.5±5.4kg) and 20 female adults (age: 20.2±2.0y, stature: 1.62±0.06m & body mass: 51.3±7.9kg) participated in the study. Lower limb muscle mass (LLMM) of the participants was determined using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometric (DXA) procedure. Peak leg extension and flexion torque at 1.05, 3.14 and 5.20 rad/s were determined using an isokinetic dynamometer (Cybex 6000), and were summed to derive CCIT. PP and MP were derived from a 30-s Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) on a cycle ergometer (Monark 814E). Data allometrically scaled to LLMM, respectively, were for PP (77.6±7.4 vs. 72.9±8.4 W/kg LLMM^0.72, p<.05) and MP (57.2±5.7 vs. 55.1±4.8, W/kg LLMM^0.76 p<.05). Equivalent data for CCIT, respectively, were at 1.05 rad/s (19.7±3.0 vs. 18.4±2.1 Nm/kg LLMM^0.93, p<.05), at 3.12 rad/s (6.7±1.3 vs. 6.7±1.1 Nm/kg LLMM^1.18, p<.05) and at 5.20 rad/s (6.2±1.2 vs. 6.6±1.0 Nm/kg LLMM^1.12, p<.05). Significant correlations (male: r=0.50-0.66, p>.05; female: r=0.53-0.84, p>.05) were established between PP (W/kg LLMM^0.72) and MP (W/kg LLMM^0.76), and CCIT at 1.05 rad/s (Nm/kg LLMM^0.93), at 3.14 rad/s (Nm/kg LLMM^1.18) and at 5.20 rad/s (Nm/kg LLMM^1.12). Correlations between LLMM-independent variables- PP and CCIT, were higher at 5.20 rad/s than at 1.05 rad/s (r=0.61 vs. r=0.65) but not for MP and CCIT (r=0.64 vs. r=0.61). Data showed that LLMM-independent power and torque variables shared moderate common variances.

As more people become involved in sport, it is essential that both athletes and coaches make use of biomechanics to further sport performance and also to keep sport injury at bay. In Taiwan, sports biomechanics plays an important role in athlete preparation for major international competitions. The chapter provides an overview of how biomechanics is used in variety of sports.

Myofascial pain is extremely common in athletes. It is a clinical syndrome caused by myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). MTrP is a highly localized and hyper-irritable spot in a palpable taut band of skeletal muscle fibre and/or its associated fascia. MTrP is usually caused by or associated with neuromuscular injuries, and can be perpetuated or aggravated by some medical conditions (perpetuating factors). There are certain characteristics of a MTrP; localized spot, tenderness, taut band, referred pain, local twitch response, reduced joint range of motion, symptoms waxed and waned, muscle weakness but without atrophy, and autonomic phenomena. Anybody can have MTrP and any one of the 696 skeletal muscles in the body can have MTrp. MTrPs might not exist in early life, but develop in later life due to soft tissue injuries. MTrP is more likely located at the site of dysfunctional endplates. The pathogenesis of MTrPs is probably related to an integrative mechanism in the spinal cord in response to sensitized sensory nerve fibers (nociceptors) associated with dysfunctional endplates.

Philosophy can show us the power of creative thinking and effective wisdom. It can provoke us to constant questioning. Effective wisdom can overcome personal and professional problems. Philosophy searches the truth and wisdom is applied moral judgment. The two feed into each other and build on knowledge. Socrates said "True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us." Kant observed, "Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life." Of course we must acquire knowledge as these great men obviously did. But knowledge is little use without wisdom. Wisdom is to know what is appropriate to do in any situation: in the right time, to the right person, for the right reason, to the right extent. We need to cultivate wisdom. This requires many components including: vision, mission, inspiration, action and contribution. Combined with strong discipline we can generate an intuitive intelligence, a super sense to navigate our way through troubled waters and live a life, which is worthwhile and successful. With knowledge, philosophy and wisdom we can aim for the right goals, do the right things, live contented lives, inspire others and change the world for the better.

The body of an individual in the military demonstrated the ultimate vigour exemplified by niku-dan— 'the human bullet' (also known as kamikaze and human being torpedo) that was used in Japan during World War II and exposed the contradiction between a body characteristic of the modern nation-state and that of a democracy in the past century. In view of this contradiction in the politics of various nation states, it was also difficult for the Modern Olympics to bridge this gap in politics to bring about peace. Then, Utopia was directed to the Pre-Modern Ages, and the idea that an inclusive body should be regained naturally was exaggerated among those who studied sport and body theory through this kind of contradiction. After all, the structure of military physical education in the modern nation states separated the body and the mind and provided a subjective element to the mind. It is likely that many countries have a similar military history. When it becomes necessary for us to regain the individual rhythm of our respective bodies, it is important that we consider what is required for the philosophy of the body in the context of implementing the motto of 'live'.

Parents are significant others who exert strong influence on young adolescents. This study explores and examines the relationships between perceived parenting dimensions and various psychological-social variables; vis-à-vis basic psychological needs satisfaction, sport motivation, self-perceptions, and life aspirations of student athletes in Singapore. Two hundred and five student athletes (111 males and 94 females) aged 14 to 20 years old responded to the questionnaires. No gender differences were found. Both mother's and father's perceived parenting dimensions of involvement, autonomy support, and warmth correlated highly to student athletes' satisfaction of basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competency. Comparison of these parenting dimensions showed that mother's involvement and warmth were perceived to be higher than those of the father's. Cluster analysis yielded three distinct groups with characteristic perceived parenting dimensions and psychological needs satisfaction. In comparison, Cluster 1 (labeled Cluster A-A) has average scores for parenting dimensions and psychological needs satisfaction for both parents. Cluster 2 (labeled Cluster L-L) has low scores while cluster 3 (labeled as Cluster H-H) has high scores for both sets of variables. The results from the analyses of the effect of the three clusters on the key variables showed that student athletes with high perceived parental involvement, autonomy support and warmth and reported that their basic psychological needs are highly met, when compared to the other two clusters, had significantly higher autonomous motivation, higher self-perceptions, and rated the importance of, and the likelihood of achieving, intrinsic aspirations higher. These findings are in congruence with the self-determination theory and supports previous studies' findings that involved and autonomy-supportive parenting is linked to higher intrinsic aspirations.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) established that human capital development is one of the essential inputs that contribute significantly to the economic and human well-being of a nation. Investing in human capital is therefore a necessity for industry development and economic growth. The sports industry is an emerging industry sector. In Asia-Pacific market alone, experts projected a 29% growth in the sports market from US$13.7 billion in 2006 to US$17.7 billion in 2011. As Singapore positions itself to capture this potential market through government's support and investment in developing the sports sector mainly through infrastructure development and sports events programming, it is critical that ample attention be paid to the development of human capital. Industry development requires more competent manpower in various disciplines. Sports coaching is an identified area for human capital to be developed. This article examines the policy and structural changes that affect coach education in Singapore. Together with an environmental scan of coach education in a few leading countries, it explores ways to provide more avenues as well as relevant approaches for professional development of coaches. The chapter concludes with a call for careful attention to be given to the following: (i) Leadership in national-level sports policy on coaching development and coach education; (ii) Alignment and synergy in sports policy and educational policy in supporting further development of human capital in the sports coaching; (iii) The role of tertiary educational institutions in providing avenues for professional development of coaches; and (iv) Further professional development of coaches at higher education level should pay attention to the approach to be adopted and be both relevant and contextualized to the coaching practice.

The objectives of the current chapter are (a) to introduce two measurement techniques of an attitude construct (i.e., direct and indirect measurement), (b) to describe dispositions, advantages, and disadvantages of each technique, and (c) to highlight the trends of these techniques in the sport literature. For the purposes of the study, the authors reviewed and summarized various conceptual studies in measurement theory. While indirect measurements have several advantages, sport researchers are deterred by crucial limitations such as cost, reliability, and validity issues. Therefore, sport researchers have heavily relied on direct measurement techniques such as Likert, Thurstone, and semantic differential scales. These direct scales were examined on how to measure an attitude construct using them and what their advantages and disadvantages are. Considering convenience, reliability, and validity of the direct measurement techniques, sport scholars have preferred Likert scale to measure attitude toward domains of their interest.

The use of sport psychology to harness and bring out the best in athletes in major competition is not new. In Taiwan, the model employed for the provision of sport psychology services is creative in that it draws upon expertise that resides in universities with sport science capability. Stages in sport psychology service provision and athlete engagement are described. Sport specific examples include the monitoring of heart rate and EEG in pistol shooting, and heart-rate in archery in competition and non-competition settings are used as entry point evidence base for the sport psychologist to work on, on an individualized basis. Other non-intervention approaches like sleep deprivation and project adventure are also described.

In Japan, large-scale initiatives for the protection of the environment were adopted for the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games in 1972, more than 20 years earlier than the declaration by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for environmental protection when hosting the Olympic Games. The downhill ski events were held on Mount Eniwa but the course was a part of a special nature reserve. The Olympic Games Organizing Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee, in accepting the demands of the local nature conservation association, dismantled all of the downhill course facilities after the Games. Afforestation was pursued over fifteen years, after the Winter Olympic Games with the aim of restoring the forest to its original state. These environmental conservation experiences in Sapporo were put to good use again in the Nagano Winter Games in 1998. However, the problem of raising the starting point of the men's downhill ski course to a higher elevation was a strong point of contention in the Nagano Olympics. The problem gave rise to intense strife between the peoples. However, the internal contradictions and conflicts between conservationists and Olympic Game protagonists for the protection and management of nature over the years were clarified and contributed to further progress made toward protection of the environment.