TSES8-JUNE 06

ISSUE 8 JUNE 2006
The official publication of the BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCES
ETHICS-ETHICS-ETHICS
Ethical guidelines explained
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN SPORT
Applying learning theory to teaching sport and exercise sciences
ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
A first look at the provisional programme
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STUDENT CONFERENCE
A feature on one of the most successful BASES Student Conferences
www.bases.org.uk
Issue 8 l June 2006
andExercise
Exercise Scientist
l The Sport
l1
Promoting Excellence
in Sport
and
Sciences
SPORT AND PERFORMANCE
Keynotes: Dr Sue Hooper, Australia,
Prof Yuri Hanin, Finland, Stafford Murray
and Dr Costas Karageorghis, UK.
Symposia
■ Sports Science Support for the Army Everest
West Ridge 2006 Expedition.
■ The effects of caffeine on exercise
performance: The evidence from fundamental
and applied research.
■ Placebo effects in sport: new data and
methodological advances.
Selected Scientific communication
■ The contribution of ‘regional’ psychology
networks to the delivery of good practice in
supervised experience and applied support work:
The case of the ‘Northern Network’.
■ Working with paralympic athletes at
international competitions: Reflections of a
neophyte sport psychology practitioner.
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Keynotes: Prof Andy Smith, Dr Mark Andersen
and Dr Richard Godfrey, UK.
Olympic Debate
■ “Will 2012 Increase Physical Activity of the Nation: How
do we exploit the Olympics for the Benefit of the Nation?”
Dr David Lavallee, Dr Mary Nevill and Dr Barrie Houlihan
vs Prof Ken Fox, Prof Joan Duda and Prof Stuart Biddle.
Symposia
■ Developing and assessing on-line discussions in sport &
exercise science.
Workshops
■ Non-linear modelling. Prof Alan Nevill.
Symposia
■ Developing and assessing on-line discussions in sport
and exercise science.
■ Emotional intelligence in sport and exercise.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
FOR HEALTH
Keynotes: Prof Greg Kolt, New
Zealand and Dr Jim Levine,
USA.
Debates
■ Today’s best buy in public health:
moderate activity or vigorous activity?
Dr Gary O'Donovan and Prof Chris
Riddoch.
■ The pros and cons of the health
benefits of exercise. Exercise: Is it
Really Good for You?
Prof Greg Whyte vs Dr John Buckley.
■ Does exercising at work influence
work performance?
■ ß-adrenoreceptor. desensitisation: a
mechanistic insight into post-exercise
reductions in cardiac function.
■ Strength and conditioning: Science fact or science fiction?
For more information, visit www.bases.org.uk
Early registration fees before 31 July 2006
FOREWORD
T
The Sport and Exercise Scientist
The SES is published quarterly by BASES
Editor l Prof Andy Lane
Production Director l Dr Claire Palmer
Editorial Advisory Board l Prof Greg Atkinson, Lisa Board,
Tracey Devonport, Dr Sarah Rowell, Dr John Saxton
Book and Resource Review l Daniel Bishop
Advertising l Dr Claire Palmer
Tel/ Fax:+44 (0)113 283 6162/63 • cpalmer@bases.org.uk
Publisher l Mercer Print, Newark Street, Accrington BB5 0PB
Tel: +44 (0)1254 395512
info@mercer-print.co.uk
BASES l Leeds Metropolitan University, Carnegie Faculty of Sport
and Education, Fairfax Hall, Headingley Campus, Beckett Park,
Leeds, LS6 3QS • Tel/ Fax: +44 (0)113 283 283 6162/63
jbairstow@bases.org.uk
Website l www.bases.org.uk
is sponsored by Human Kinetics, www.HumanKinetics.com
Disclaimer l The statements and opinions contained in the articles
are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and are
not necessarily those of BASES. The appearance of advertisements
in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement or approval of
products or services. BASES has undertaken all reasonable
measures to ensure that the information contained in The SES is
accurate and specifically disclaims any liability, loss or risk, personal
or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or
indirectly of the use and application of any of the contents.
Copyright © BASES, 2006 l All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in substantial part without permission of The SES
Production Director is strictly prohibited. An archive of the The SES
is available in the Member Area at ■ www.bases.org.uk
Copy deadline 1 August 2006 for Issue 9, September 2006. All
contributions welcomed. Info for contributors ■ www.bases.org.uk
Front Cover Photograph l Courtesy of Terri Dunning
Prof ANDY LANE
Editor
The Sport and
Exercise Scientist
his issue of The Sport and Exercise Scientist reflects a
busy period; we report on the Commonwealth
Games in an interview with medallist Terri Dunning;
we focus on how sport science could benefit Olympic
preparation in Prof Mark Williams’ article on motor learning.
BASES Conferences are key to the success of the
Association - we report the highlights of the BASES Annual
Student Conference and preview the 2006 BASES Annual
Conference, which for the moment I am currently
conference organiser at the University of Wolverhampton.
Turning to the Annual Conference and the review of over
350 abstracts, we are reminded of the importance of ethics.
Dr Gareth Stratton outlines ethical guidelines. The Annual
Conference will see many different types of presentation,
including some outstanding symposia, keynotes and scientific
communications. Applied papers are a welcome addition.
Dave Fletcher and Thomas Bisig reflect on their experiences
in the USA. Education and Professional Development is a
new and exciting Division within BASES and Dr Maria
Konstantaki, with comments from Dr Mike Duncan, offers
insight into learning theory and how it might apply to
teaching sport and exercise science.
In terms of The Sport and Exercise Scientist, the review
process is improving and more members are offering insight
into the strengths and weaknesses of submitted articles. We
believe this will enhance the quality of the publication. I
hope you enjoy this issue. ■
Prof Andy Lane
Editor
■ A.M.Lane2@wlv.ac.uk
4
CONTENTS
4 LESSONS LEARNED FROM 19 DATES FOR THE DIARY
THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES 20 ETHICS: A PRIMARY CONSIDERATION
An interview with medallist Terri Dunning.
FOR BASES MEMBERS
6 NEWS Dr Gareth Stratton considers the
8 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BASES
ANNUAL STUDENT CONFERENCE
importance of following ethical
guidelines in research.
23 MENTAL CONDITIONING AT THE
10 THE 2006 BASES ANNUAL CONFERENCE WORLD’S TOUGHEST PLAYGROUND
A first look at the programme.
12 THE BOA’S EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY STEERING
GROUP: A TIMELY EXIT OR A MAJOR LOSS?
Prof Thomas Reilly provides an insight into how
BASES members in British Olympic Association
Steering Groups developed research-based practice.
David Fletcher and Thomas Bisig reflect on
their experiences as Mental Conditioning Interns at the
IMG Academies in Florida.
25 BOOK REVIEW
26 LETTERS AND TOP TIPS
14 INTEREST GROUP BULLETIN BOARD 26 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN
SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
15 WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO MOTOR BEHAVIOUR? Dr Maria Konstantaki and Dr Mike
Prof Mark Williams offer comments on the
rise and fall of motor learning.
23
Duncan comment on how learning
theory can be applied to teaching sport
and exercise sciences.
17 INNOVATIVE EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION HELPING
PATIENTS WITH VASCULAR DISEASE TO WALK FURTHER 31 BASES WEBSITE – LATEST
Dr John Saxton and Dr Irena Zwierska DEVELOPMENTS
describe an example of how randomised controlled
trials in exercise science could ultimately
inform clinical practice.
www.bases.org.uk
Human Kinetics to continue
sponsoring the website.
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 3
F E AT U R E
Relax and enjoy! Lessons learned
Commonwealth Games Silver and Bronze Medallist Terri Dunning provides her thoughts o
Q Reflecting on the Commonwealth
Games, could you describe your
physical, mental and practical
preparations?
I maintained my swimming and weight
training and academically, I made sure I’d got
as much University work completed as
possible before I went. We then had a twoweek training camp on the Gold Coast,
Australia, here we started to taper, so my
intensity and distance came down a lot. I
concentrated more on my technique and
speed; it was a lot more about relaxing and
getting myself ready for the race. Mentally,
my coach would keep telling me that before
and during my race I just had to concentrate
on staying relaxed and not worry. I find that
worrying is one of the worst emotions to feel
before swimming. If I start panicking I feel my
performance will suffer, so I just have to
make sure I’m relaxed and pretty much go in
as though it doesn’t matter, then I tend to do
better.
Q How do you keep yourself relaxed?
Before the race I keep telling myself ‘you
have to be relaxed’, especially in the call
room. It’s quite hard when you’re sitting
there waiting to go through for you’re race. I
just think about my race and what I have to
do instead of thinking about anything else, like
what time I want to do and where I want to
come. When I’m actually in the water I think
to myself ‘just be relaxed don’t tighten up.’
Q Did you receive any support from any
outside agencies in preparation for the
Commonwealth Games?
British swimming provided media training.
We went to Loughborough for the day and
had the BBC staff talk to us. We also had
interviews in preparation for Melbourne,
other than that I just carried on with my
normal training at Birmingham with my
coach.
4 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and
Q What support have you received
during your swimming career to date
because I believe you’ve been on the
World Class Performance Programme?
When I was on World Class Performance,
we had access to strength and conditioning.
We were given training programmes and
access to our local institute of sport. I could
access physiotherapy, lifestyle management
and weight training. When I came off World
Class Performance, I lost access to this
support. If I needed physiotherapy, I had to
travel to Loughborough to see the British
swimming physio if he was available. So it
was a lot harder when I was not on the
World Class Performance Programme.
Q Did you develop any skills whilst you
were on the programme that have
continued to be of help?
Oh yes, my strength and conditioning coach
gave me all the techniques because I started
from scratch with him, so I was able to carry
it on. Now I’ll be back on it I’ll be able to go
back to him.
Q You mentioned lifestyle
management?
Yes, I didn’t personally go, if
you wanted lifestyle
management you
booked appointments
at the local institute of
sport. When I was on
the Performance
Programme I seemed
to be coping okay,
but I know friends
that have used it
and it’s been
really helpful
for them.
Q What additional support do you think
you would benefit from?
I found physiotherapy very helpful although I
only received it at the Pre-Commonwealth
training camp and the Games. We were able
to have it whenever, but beforehand if I had
a problem it was really hard to get
physiotherapy. I had to go all the way to
Loughborough just to see a physiotherapist
for half an hour, so access to that would be
helpful for me. Also video analysis, at the
Games we had video analysis and a
breakdown of our swims, graphs, splits etc. It
was extremely helpful watching my races
from my heats, to my semi-final, to my finals,
being able to see where I was and how I
could improve. Just looking at my splits and
the graphs was really helpful. Before every
race I’d watch the one prior to that, and you
could slow it down or speed it up and stop it
at different frames, so I was able to watch my
races, which I haven’t done before. The
other support we got was nutrition, which
we found really helpful, especially going to
Australia, it was a different climate so we had
a lot of talks about what was best to eat
and drink. For example, recovery drinks
or drinks to have before we raced,
that was helpful.
Q Can you describe the
atmosphere at the
Commonwealth Games?
In the past I’ve swum in front of
crowds and I’ve not even noticed
them, but standing there in front of
10,000 people, it’s quite different to
here in England. The cheering and
how loud the crowd was, it was
so daunting, and I was really
scared before my first race. But
throughout the week you got
used to it, you couldn’t quite
block it out because it was so
loud, but it wasn’t as much
of a shock or frightening.
www.bases.org.uk
F E AT U R E
d from the Commonwealth Games
ts on training, competition and sport science support in an interview by Tracey Devonport
COURTESY OF TERRI DUNNING
Terri at the competition pool
Q So you’re standing in front of the
block for the first race…?
For the first race, I couldn’t even hear the
whistle and I was so petrified, then you realise
that all the cameras were there and the
crowds were cheering. I felt really nervous
while I was swimming, and I knew I couldn’t
be like that for the rest of my races or I
wouldn’t swim well. So for the rest of the
week I just had to try and ignore the crowd
and it did get easier as each race went on.
‘‘
It was extremely
helpful watching
videos of my races
from my heats, to my
semi-final, to my
finals, being able to see
where I was and how I
could improve.
‘‘
Q The home nations were particularly
successful at the Games. In your opinion
why do you think this was?
Well England, Scotland and Wales rose to the
occasion. We knew beforehand it was going
to be hard, especially against the Australian
www.bases.org.uk
swimmers, but we all did so well and I think
seeing each other succeed pushed each
other on. In the preparation camp
beforehand Scotland, Wales and England all
had a training camp at the same venue. It
was a very relaxed atmosphere, the coaches
let you get on with what you needed to, and
everyone just seemed to enjoy it a lot more
and be a lot more relaxed before the
competition.
Q How does that compare with prior
experiences?
In the past, you’d still have to get up, have
breakfast, and go down to the pool and
stretch, even if you don’t have to get in the
pool. This time if you didn’t have to train in
the morning, you didn’t have to get up so
early. It was the same at the competition, if
you weren’t swimming that morning in a
heat, the only thing you had to be at was in
the stands at the start of the session. In the
past you would all have to get up at the same
time and go for breakfast together even if
you weren’t competing.
Q So did you seem to have more time
to do with as you wished?
Yes, and because I had a busy schedule on
the few sessions that I did have off, although I
still went and supported everybody else, I
was able to go early or attend when I
needed to.
Q Picking up on that point, I know you
had a heavy schedule and I recall in one
of you’re interviews you actually said
that you ‘had to try and stay focused’.
What did you mean by that?
At the beginning of the competition I had the
200 metre individual medley and 50 metre
butterfly, these aren’t really my main events.
My main event was on the very last day so
that’s what I meant by having to stay focused,
even though I’d swam well on my fun
events, I still had my main event to come. I
had to carry on training hard, doing
everything right and eating well. Although a
lot of other people had finished or done their
main events, I still had to swim on the last
day.
Q What would you say you learned
from your preparation for, and
performance at, the Commonwealth
Games?
Well I think I’d do the same in the future
because my preparation worked well leading
up to the Commonwealths. The main thing I
learned is that I am able to rise to the
occasion at major games. Before my sole aim
was to get into a final or achieve a personal
best, I though that would be a good
achievement at a big games like that. To then
go into a final, in the lane next to Jessica
Schipper who is a world record holder, and
to get a bronze medal next to her I was
really really pleased. If you’d have told me
that before I wouldn’t have expected it.
Q Is there anything else that you think
you’ve learned from the Games?
Just to enjoy every minute, while we were
there the coaches said that although we had
to concentrate, we had to soak up the
experience because it was a ‘once in a
lifetime’ opportunity. Throughout life you
never experience anything like that, so we
just had to soak it up and enjoy it. That’s the
main thing they kept telling us to do, just
enjoy it. ■
Terri Dunning
Terri is a second year sport
and exercise science student at
the University of
Wolverhampton. Terri is
currently involved in the
Talented Athlete Scholarship
Scheme.
Tracey Devonport
Tracey is a Senior Lecturer
in sport psychology at the
University of
Wolverhampton. She also
acts as a mentor to athletes
on the Talented Athlete
Scholarship Scheme.
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 5
NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
Board Member of the SENr
Dr Stuart Galloway, University of Stirling, has been appointed to
the Board of the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register Board.
The main role of the Board is to oversee the management of
the SENr.
Human Kinetics
Launches New Journal
Human Kinetics has recently launched a
new quarterly journal, The International
Journal of Sports Physiology and
Performance. As part of the BASES
membership package, members can
access this journal via the revamped
Journals on Demand via the BASES
Member Area at ■ www.bases.org.uk
Leeds Met Carnegie and WADA
to Review Doping in Sport
Researchers from the Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds
Metropolitan University are conducting an international
literature review of doping in sport, as part of the World
Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) social science research
programme. Primary focus will be upon attitudes, values and
beliefs towards doping, predictors and precipitating factors in
doping and anti-doping education and prevention
programmes. The review will highlight the content and
quality of available evidence and serve as a reference point
to guide future research in the field. The allocation of funding
for social scientific research into doping in sport is a recent
occurrence and to-date a large scale review of literature has
not been undertaken.
To enable a comprehensive review, BASES affiliates are
invited to advise the research team of any relevant research
or literature that may otherwise be missed through
conventional searching. Please address correspondence to
principal investigator Dr Susan Backhouse
■ S.Backhouse@leedsmet.ac.uk
BASES Honorary Fellows Award
BASES Honorary Fellows are pleased to announce a prize of
£200 to be spent on BASES products for the best
undergraduate dissertation made by a 2005-06 UK final year
undergraduate in the area of sport and/or exercise sciences.
This may be a topic in biochemistry, biomechanics,
kinanthropometry, motor learning and control, nutrition,
physiology, psychology and sociology as they relate to sport
and/or exercise and may encompass an interdisciplinary
perspective.
AWARD CRITERIA
1. The applicant must be a member of BASES.
2. The applicant must be an undergraduate that graduates
in 2006 completing a sport and/or exercise sciences
related dissertation.
3. Only one submission per Department is permissible.
4. The closing date is 30 September 2006. The results will be
announced in December 2006.
5. Reports will be reviewed and judged on scientific merit,
methodological rigour and standard of presentation.
6. The Awards Panel's decision is final in all cases.
7. This award will not be made in the absence of submissions
of sufficient merit.
8. Applicants must submit 5 copies of the required
documents to the BASES Office by 30 September 2006.
For an application form, visit ■ www.bases.org.uk and click on Awards and Grants.
The deadline for News and News in Brief items
for the next issue of The SES is 1 August 2006
6 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
Nominations are invited for
BASES Honorary Treasurer
Nominations are invited for the post of Honorary Treasurer of the
Association for 2006 to 2008. The Honorary Treasurer is a member of
the BASES Strategic Management Team, which is responsible to the
members for the effective operation of the Association (strategic and
financial management, decision-making, policy and procedure setting,
etc). Members of the Strategic Management Team are Directors of the
Association.
Specifically, the Honorary Treasurer has a role to produce costings for
new activities/ projects and plan the appropriateness of fees/charges
etc. The role has an innovative element and other activities may
include developing sponsorship packages and membership benefits.
The Honorary Treasurer also assists the Executive Officer to produce
financial forecasts/business plans and to check accounts.
Candidates must be Professional members of BASES. They must be
nominated and seconded by Professional members of BASES. They
must submit a manifesto on a single side of A4 (12pt) to Jane
Bairstow, Leeds Metropolitan University, Carnegie Faculty of Sport and
Education, Fairfax Hall, Headingley Campus, Beckett Park, Leeds LS6
3QS. Email: ■ jbairstow@bases.org.uk
For more information, then please contact Dr Richard Davison,
Honorary Treasurer of BASES Tel: +44 (0)2392843084
■ richard.davison@port.ac.uk
The deadline for nominations is Friday 7 July 2006.
Meetings: Approximately eight times per year in person. Additional
deliberations may be conducted via e-mail between meetings, as
required.
Term of Office: The Elected Officers shall normally hold post for a two
year period until the conclusion of the AGM two years after election
and will be eligible for re-election.
Financial Policies:
• Service on the SMT is non-remunerative.
• Travel and meeting expenses for SMT members are reimbursed
according to the policies and procedures of BASES.
• Delegate and accommodation fees for the BASES Annual and
Student Conferences are covered.
Launch of the Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Three partner organisations, the British Dietetic Association (BDA), the Nutrition
Society and BASES, are launching the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr)
in the summer 2006.
Work has been underway on the register for some time and the three partner
organisations along with funding agency UK Sport are pleased to announce that the
register will go live with a view to bring more clarity to current sport nutrition
practices.
The SENr is a voluntary register designed to accredit suitably qualified and
experienced individuals who are competent to work autonomously in sport and
exercise nutrition with performance oriented athletes, as well as those participating
in physical activity, sport and exercise for health.
Jeanette Crosland, project team member and BDA member, said, “This is a new
and exciting initiative in the development of the world of sport nutrition in the UK.
Importantly it identifies competencies required to successfully practice and will help
guide the careers of individuals who wish to combine their interests in sport and
nutrition. Support of the three partner organisations will for the first time allow
flexible pathways towards this increasingly valued profession.”
The new register will focus on four key elements:
1. Public protection, namely the sport and performance focused exercising
community
2. Setting, protection and promotion of standards of services and education
3. Professional development of individuals
4. Developing the profession and its knowledge base.
It is hoped that the identified list of registrant competencies will enable Higher
Education Institutions to consider their current programmes and be able, in the
future, to direct their programmes to meet the needs of those who are looking to
www.bases.org.uk
NEWS
BASES Members on UK Sport
Fast Track Practitioner Programme
The UK Sport Fast-Track Practitioner Programme (FPP) has been developed to address the
lack of opportunities for high calibre graduates to pursue a career within the high
performance system and to provide them with a consolidated professional development
programme, which will develop a comparability and consistency of service delivery to
athletes across the UK. Key elements of the programme are the development of soft skills
and a thorough understanding of the High Performance system which are so critical to
working effectively. It is the product of a partnership approach between UK Sport, the
Home Country Sports Institutes (HCSIs), the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the
British Paralympic Association (BPA), and also draws upon skills and expertise from the
private sector. The FPP is a one year scheme designed to accelerate the professional
development of young practitioners who demonstrate the potential for employment within
the high performance system. With continuing professional development, these individuals
will develop into the next generation of high performance system practitioners. The
programme is for individuals already working in the HPS in support roles who are
nominated by the National Governing Bodies, Home Country Sports Institutes, British
Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association. In addition, Interns on the UK Sport
Internship scheme, who are hosted by the aforementioned bodies, also attend the course.
The aims of the programme are as follows:
• To help develop a career path which attracts and retains high calibre graduates to the
high performance system.
• To secure an increase in the number of suitably qualified practitioners working within the
high performance system.
• For the intern stream; to immerse suitably qualified individuals in the high performance
system, which with suitable mentoring will fast-track the development of their knowledge
and competencies for the first level of autonomous practice with elite level athletes.
• For the support stream; to provide an accelerated learning experience for identified
individuals already in the high performance system.
The following BASES members were successful in entering onto the scheme this year:
• Catherine Allen
• David Bailey
• Michael Bourne
• Natalie Dunman
• Stephen Garland
• Richard Huxford
• Kate Jones
• Lauren Whittaker.
Congratulations to these individuals in gaining a place on this prestigious scheme.
Internship positions for this year (starting October 2006) will be advertised on the UK Sport
website and in the BASES weekly e-newsletter.
on Register (SENr)
www.bases.org.uk
the competencies described in the Self
Assessment of Competency document.
• Portfolios will be assessed and applicants will be
informed whether they meet the criteria or
whether there are any areas which require further
development. Those meeting the requirements
will then be entered onto the register.
Those who are interested in the register can find
out more, including downloading the application
procedures and the self assessment
documentation, by visiting:
www.senr.org.uk
COURTESY OF BASES
become practitioners in sport and exercise
nutrition.
The register will encompass practitioners in three
areas:
1. Sport and Performance
2. Physical Activity for Health
3. Education and Research.
In the first instance, the registration process is
focused specifically on the Sport and Performance
scope of practice. It is intended that the Physical
Activity for Health and Education and Research
areas will be introduced as secondary
phases to the establishment of the SENr.
To join the register:
• Applicants will be invited to complete
a Self Assessment of
Competency, to enable each
individual to check whether
they have the appropriate
qualifications and experience
to apply for the register
• Those with appropriate
qualifications and experience
will then submit a portfolio of
evidence to demonstrate how
they meet the criteria for each of
Frederick Wentworth-Bowyer
(the Nutrition Society), Andy Burman
(BDA) and Dr Claire Palmer (BASES)
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 7
STUDENT CONFERENCE
2006 BASES Annual Student Conference
The Conference recently took place at Heriot-Watt University and was viewed unanimously as a huge success
FACT FILE
98% of students surveyed said that they would
recommend other students to attend the
BASES Annual Student Conference next year.
Delegates
Undergraduates
Postgraduates
University Lecturers/Staff
Invited speakers
Exhibitors
Institutions represented
109
55
21
8
9
46
Keynote Speakers
Prof Nanette Mutrie, University of Strathclyde
Prof Neil Spurway, University of Glasgow
Dr Norman Croucher, Mountaineer and double
below-knee amputee
Workshops
Careers Forum – 8 Career profiles
BASES Coaching Interest Group
BASES Strength and Conditioning
Interest Group
Paths to Health
Presentations
36 Oral presentations
75 Poster presentations
Tracey Vaitekaitis a second year sport and
exercise science student from York St John
University College shares her experiences...
As a second year sport and exercise science
student, I attended the 2006 BASES Annual
Student Conference to see what my future might
hold. I was not presenting, which at first made
me feel slightly out of place, but by the time we
took the bus to Edinburgh in the evening I
realised I was not alone.
The posters and oral presentations over the two
days were of an extremely high standard. One of
the best things about the Conference was having
the opportunity to question those who were
presenting, both formally and at the highly
entertaining ceilidh! All of the presenters were
happy to answer questions, and this gave me
confidence in what can be achieved at
undergraduate level, as well as with further study.
The keynote speakers were informative and
interesting, as were those at the careers forum
and workshops. They showed the wide and
exciting variety of jobs and careers available to
graduates in this field. Dr Norman Croucher
also deserves a mention, as his closing of
Thursday’s programme “legless but smiling”
was both inspirational and hilarious.
ners up
The award winners and run
“There is so much to gain from stepping
outside the comfort of your own
university, and in to the wider BASES
community.”
The overall experience was invaluable. HeriotWatt University provided a beautiful and wellequipped setting for a fun and informative
Conference. I would like to encourage more first
and second year students to attend the 2007
BASES Annual Student Conference at the
University of Chichester, as there is so much to
gain from stepping outside the comfort of your
own university, and in to the wider BASES
community. I’ll look forward to seeing you all
next year!
Ellinor Olander, studying an MSc in Sport
and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough
University reports…
I attended my first BASES Annual Student
Conference this year and was quite surprised by
the fact that postgraduate students were a
minority. The Conference is not just for
undergraduate students but also postgraduate
students are able to present their research either
verbally or through a poster. There are also
awards for best poster and verbal presentation
for both postgraduates and undergraduates.
“I would like to encourage all students to
attend next year’s Conference.”
COURTESY OF BASES
I believe presenting at the Conference is a great
experience for any student, not to mention that
it is a nice addition to have on a CV. I did not
present at the Conference. As a Masters student
I had at the time not started my research, and
hence did not have anything to present. This
does not mean that I did not find the
Conference a great experience though. I met
many other students interested in the same area
as me and learnt aplenty.
2006 BASES Annual Student Conference Awards
Award
First Place
Runners-up
sponsored by BASES
sponsored by Human Kinetics
Postgraduate
Oral Award
Matt Barlow
University of Wales, Bangor
Anni Vanhatalo
University of Aberystwyth
Postgraduate
Poster Award
Emily Oliver
University of Wales, Bangor
Kate Shepard
University of Exeter
Undergraduate
Oral Award
Zoe Chamberlain
Kingston University
Christopher Owens
University of Gloucester
Undergraduate
Poster Award
Kate Hartley
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Jamie Cox
University of Birmingham
sponsored by sports coach UK
sponsored by Cranlea
Applied Research
Postgraduate Award
Neil Gibson
Heriot-Watt University
Melissa Day
University of Aberystwyth
Applied Research
Undergraduate Award
Adela Carter
University of Durham
Catherine Cooper
Buckingham Chilterns University College
8 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
www.bases.org.uk
STUDENT CONFERENCE
ral
ference for the first time with seve
“Brilliant! I attended the Student Con
the effort.
e
mad
I
that
and I am really pleased
postgraduate students from Exeter,
will
that
t
even
emic
acad
ile social and
It was a most enjoyable and worthwh
was
tions
enta
pres
the
of
lity
qua
all
. The over
remain in my calendar for next year
ate
adu
ergr
und
ing presentations from both
most impressive, with some outstand
ty
varie
wide
the
was
nce
touch to the Confere
and postgraduate students. A nice
e.”
iplin
disc
and
lity
qua
all
over
l,
emic leve
of awards, which recognised acad
of Sport and Health Sciences,
ool
Sch
of
d
Hea
n,
Esto
er
Prof Rog
of BASES
University of Exeter and Fellow
insight into
Heriot Watt University was a brilliant
“The Student Conference held at
nding the
atte
of
e
nce. The overall experienc
the world of sport and exercise scie
ce I was
advi
the
ful
help
how
se
ot over emphasi
Conference was invaluable; I cann
given will be to my future career.”
ent, University of Worcester
Katie Fownes, undergraduate stud
be regular
idea and should be developed to
“The careers forum was an excellent
.”
ference. The ceilidh was fantastic
feature at the BASES Student Con
Anonymous student
COURTESY OF BASES
A packed poster session
Additionally, there are some advantages of not
presenting one’s research at the Conference.
One advantage was that I was able to fully
concentrate on the oral presentations and avoid
being nervous as I have been told some of the
presenters were.
Secondly, and more importantly, I was able to
walk around and view all the poster
presentations instead of having to attend to one
poster the whole time like the poster presenters
had to do. To walk around and read all the
posters was great for a number of reasons. One
being that I got advice from other students that
had used the questionnaires I was to use in my
research. Another reason was that I was able to
discuss data collection with some fellow
students and get ideas of how to recruit
individuals to participate in my research.
Further, the poster presentation did not only
help me with ideas for my research but also
opened my eyes to all the different sport and
exercise sciences research that is conducted at
universities all around the UK and this motivated
me even more to start conducting my own
research.
In conclusion, I want to emphasise that
undergraduate and postgraduate students, no
matter if they are presenting their research or
not, can and probably will leave a BASES
Annual Student Conference with a lot of
newfound knowledge and friends. Because of
this I would like to encourage all students to
attend next year’s Conference.
www.bases.org.uk
Christopher Owens, a final year
undergraduate student in exercise and
health sciences at the University of
Gloucestershire had the following
experience…
After months of research and persistence with
my dissertation, I really wanted to do something
with the findings of my research and the BASES
Annual Student Conference provided the perfect
opportunity to present these findings. Therefore,
I decided to submit an abstract of my
dissertation to BASES. The preparation of the
abstract was extremely good practice in terms of
condensing your research and I found it a very
useful exercise when it came to my dissertation
at University. I opted to do an oral presentation as
I thought it would improve my presentation and
communication skills and received confirmation
from Heriot-Watt University that my abstract had
been accepted for presenting orally.
"A chance to rub shoulders with leaders in
their field and a golden opportunity not to
be missed."
So, I set to work with preparing my presentation.
I then practised and rehearsed the presentation
with some other students at my University,
which I found extremely helpful and it gave me
the confidence with regards to presenting in the
‘real thing’. Then came the ‘big day’. I had fully
prepared for the presentation and kept
memorising what I was going to say and if I am
honest, I was feeling nervous. Continues overleaf.
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 9
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2006 Conference venue
However, this is perfectly natural and is part
of the process you have to go through and
everyone was ‘in the same boat’. The
presentation went really well and everyone
was so supportive before, during and after it
and I enjoyed it a lot.
The questions that I received afterwards were
extremely gratifying as those watching had
clearly found the presentation interesting and
this gave me great joy. It was great to see
other presentations too from other ‘likeminded’ people to me. The next day was the
icing on the cake as I received an award for
my presentation. So I must have done
something right!
Overall, I would advise any undergraduate or
postgraduate student in sport and exercise
sciences to present at the Student Conference
because it is a great experience throughout
the whole process from submitting and
preparing an abstract to actually presenting
your own hard earned research. The sense of
achievement after presenting is a great
feeling and I hope to do it again at some
point.
If I could pass one piece of advice on to other
sport and exercise science students, it would
be to make sure you attend the BASES
Student Conference. Having just arrived back
from the 2006 Conference I cannot
emphasise this enough.
COURTESY OF BASES
The keynote presenters,
Profs Neil Spurway and
Nanette Mutrie
Acknowledgments
The Organisers, Dr Samantha
Fawkner and Louise Philip of HeriotWatt University would like to thank
their organising and abstract review
committee, led by Dr Niels Vollaard
and Dr Ailsa Anderson, and the
awards committee led by Dr Richard
Davison.
They would also like to thank the Dr
Claire Palmer and Jane Bairstow of
BASES, and Magali Perrey and the
Centre for Sport and Exercise Staff of
Heriot-Watt University. ■
COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON
2006 BASES Annual Student
Conference - continued from page 9
2006 BASES Annual Conference
provisional programme
Prof Andy Lane provides an update on how the Conference programme is shaping up
With the keynotes booked, the abstracts submitted and reviewed, the programme for the 2006
BASES Annual Conference at the University of Wolverhampton is taking shape. In this article, the
conference organising committee provide a first look at the provisional programme. I take care to
emphasise that this is a provisional programme, although we hope changes will be minimal.
Promotion and sponsorship is progressive. Sponsorship for the Conference is competitive. Our
exclusive gold sponsors include Cranlea, Body Care, Gaiam Pro and Qunitic. Silver sponsors
include Vitech, Tracksys and Biometrics Ltd., and Bronze sponsors include WRS Group.
The three-day conference is organised around the three new Divisions. The number of abstracts
submitted was impressive - over 350, with the new types of presentation proving popular.
Approximately 60% of abstracts submitted were in the area of Sport and Performance. Sport and
Performance presentations, therefore, will be now spread over Monday 11 and Tuesday 12
September. Physical Activity for Health presentations will remain on Wednesday 13 September. We
are likely to increase the number of oral and poster presentations from 200 at last year’s
Conference to 350 this year, and we hope to maintain the quality of presentations. The following is
just a sample of the provisional programme for the BASES Conference.
DAY ONE
Monday 11 September
Sport and Performance Day
Keynotes
• Dr Sue Hooper, Australia.
Improving sport performance through
applied research.
• Prof Yuri Hanin, Finland.
Performance states associated with athletic
success.
• Stafford Murray, UK.
From performance analysis to
performance enhancement.
• Dr Costas Karageorghis, UK.
The Psycho-physical effects of music.
Symposia
• Sports Science Support for the Army
Everest West Ridge 2006 Expedition.
• The effects of caffeine on exercise
performance: The evidence from
fundamental and applied research.
• Placebo effects in sport: new data and
methodological advances.
• Assessing and developing coping
effectiveness in sport.
Workshop
• Method of analysis of speed, stroke rate
and stroke distance in aquatic
locomotions. Dr Valery Kleshev, UK.
10 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
DAY TWO
Tuesday 12 September
Education and Professional
Development Day
(Sport & Performance Day continued)
Keynotes
• Prof Andy Smith, UK.
Why Nietzsche was Wrong About
Philanthropy: A New Funding Source for
Education and the Application of Sport and
Exercise Science.
• Dr Mark Andersen, AUS.
Real-World Experience and Formal
Education: Crossing the Divide.
• Dr Richard Godfrey, UK.
From Application to Education.
Symposia
• Developing and assessing on-line
discussions in sport and exercise science.
• Its bloody football, again!
• Imagery in sport: from theory to practice.
• A holistic perspective on elite
performance: The role of lifestyle,
environmental and experiential factors.
• Hypnosis: entertainment tool or mental
skill? An educational and professional
insight into using hypnosis in sport.
• Emotional intelligence in sport and
exercise.
www.bases.org.uk
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
DAY THREE
Wednesday 13 September
Physical Activity for Health
• Strength and conditioning: Science fact or
science fiction?
Debates
• “Will 2012 Increase Physical Activity of the
Nation: How do we exploit the Olympics
for the Benefit of the Nation?”
“We feel that the real challenge is ensuring
that the stimulus to participate is not skewed
towards those social groups whose
participation levels are already relatively high.
The key question is whether 2012 will
contribute to reducing the gap in
participation between high and low income
groups, men and women, different ethnic
groups and different regions. Based on the
available evidence, we feel that it will.”
Dr David Lavallee, Dr Mary Nevill and
Dr Barrie Houlihan.
“Without a serious and well thought out
multi-level strategy that harnesses the media
energy of the Olympics in a way that can
feed the real drivers of physical activity, then
there is the potential for more negative than
positive consequences for public health. We
believe that such strategies are possible but
to date have seen no recognition of this
need by the Olympic planners.”
Prof Ken Fox, Prof Joan Duda and
Prof Stuart Biddle.
“Can Inclusion be Anything Other than an
Illusion in Sport?” Dr Kay Biscomb, UK.
Workshop
• Non-linear modelling.
Prof Alan Nevill, UK.
Conference Dinner, including Conference
Band: Desafinado featuring Jess Blatchley
vocal and Costas Karageorghis on
keyboards.
COURTESY OF BASES
Dr Costas Karageorghis and Dr John
Buckley will be part of the entertainment
at the Conference Dinner
Keynotes
• Prof Greg Kolt, NZ. Physical Activity
Interventions for Health:
Targeting the Ageing Population.
• Dr Jim Levine, USA. Non-Exercise
Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).
Debates
• Today’s best buy in public health:
moderate activity or vigorous activity?
Dr Gary O'Donovan, UK and Prof
Chris Riddoch, UK.
The case for moderate activity
“The additional health gain for vigorous
activity over moderate activity is insignificant.
There is evidence that inactive populations
can be moved to take more light and
moderate activity. There is no evidence that
inactive populations can be moved to take
vigorous activity. The promotion of
moderate intensity activity therefore offers
the greatest potential health benefit - it is
therefore today’s ‘best buy’.”
The case for vigorous activity
“Alarmingly, it has been suggested that
current guidelines have given the impression
that individuals need only engage in
moderate activity and that no further health
benefits can be gained from vigorous activity,
sport or exercise (Whaley & Kaminsky,
2001: In ACSM’s Resource Manual, edited
by J L Roitman. Philadelphia: Lippincott
Williams and Wilkins). Physical activity
guidelines should endorse vigorous activity to
allow individuals to make better-informed
decisions about exercise and health.”
• The pros and cons of the health benefits
of exercise. Prof Greg Whyte, UK and
Dr John Buckley, UK.
Exercise: Is it Really Good for You?
“Most of the NHS national service
frameworks include the role of physical
activity as a key part in both primary and
secondary preventitve healthcare. Within this
topical debate Prof Greg Whyte (Director of
Science and Research, English Institute of
Sport) and Dr John Buckley (Exercise and
Rehabilitation Specialist, Keele University) will
present apposing views surrounding the
widely held belief that exercise has a positive
impact on mortality and morbidity. The
debate will offer a unique opportunity to
observe apposing and contradictory views of
the merits of exercise leaving the audience
to decide on the answer to the question:
‘Exercise: Is it really good for you?’” ■
* Early Registration Daily Fees (before 31 July 2006)
are £70 for BASES members and £55 for BASES
student members.
* Early Registration 3-Day Conference Fees
(before 31 July 2006) are £200 for BASES members
and £150 for BASES student members.
www.bases.org.uk
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 11
APPLIED PRACTICE
The BOA’s Exercise Physiology Steering
Group: A timely exit or a major loss?
Prof Thomas Reilly provides an insight into how BASES members in British Olympic Association Steering Groups developed research-based practice
A persistent question is how scientific
expertise is best targeted at the specific needs
of Olympic athletes so that they are kept
abreast of current good practice. Within the
present Olympic cycle, the structure of sports
science support has been altered with the
new partnership agreement between UK
Sport and the British Olympic Association
(BOA). The aim of this article is to outline the
development of physiology within the BOA
and in particular the contribution of the
Exercise Physiology Steering Group up until
the current Olympic cycle.
For some years the BOA was supported
directly by the British Olympic Medical Centre
(now the Olympic Medical Institute) and by its
own ‘steering groups’. The steering groups
were set up by the BOA to operate within the
BOA’s Technical Department prior to the
Barcelona Olympics. The first steering groups
to be appointed were in psychology,
physiotherapy and medicine followed by
exercise physiology. The Nutrition Steering
Group came later as did the Performance
Analysis Steering Group (combining expertise in
biomechanics and notation analysis) and the
Strength and Conditioning Steering Group.
Foremost among the Terms of Reference for
the groups was to advise the BOA on the
delivery of scientific services to Olympic and
Paralympic athletes and establish processes to
assist performances. They provided an
overview for all disciplines of the sports science
support work and training camps, in preparation
for and during the Olympic Games.
The Exercise Physiology Steering Group had
its first meeting at the BOA’s headquarters in
Wandsworth in January 1992. Whilst the
steering groups were independent of BASES,
their memberships reflected the inclusion of
prominent members active within BASES.
Members included Prof Tom Reilly (Chair),
Prof Colin Boreham, Leo Faulman, Prof Tudor
Hale, Kevin Hickey and Prof Neil Spurway, half
of whom, for historical interest, were at one
time Chair of BASES. They were therefore
well in tune with developments within the
sport sciences. Of the remaining members,
two worked with Olympic athletes on a dayto-day basis whilst the other had competed in
the Olympic Games. There was a definite
appreciation of the needs of the Olympic
athlete as a result of this ‘meeting of minds’, an
understanding that continued with changes in
membership that included staff from the British
Olympic Medical Centre such as Dr Richard
Godfrey and athletes’ representation for
example by Prof Greg Whyte.
The steering groups were wound up during
2005 to facilitate the new partnership
arrangements between the BOA and UK
Sport. With UK Lottery funding, the national
governing bodies had become more selfsufficient by recruiting their own dedicated
scientific personnel or accessing the services
of the Regional Institutes. This shift in service
provision was reflected in the new direction
of the Olympic Medical Institute towards
medicine and rehabilitation and the subsuming
of the steering groups’ roles within the new
structure set up by UK Sport. Many of the
functions previously provided by the steering
groups through workshops, symposia and
professional development activities are
incorporated into the ‘people development’
programme (notably its mentoring and
conference activities) outlined by UK Sport in
The Sport and Exercise Scientist (Issue 1, Sept
2004, pp. 4-5). The steering groups had been
in consultation with UK Sport in developing
the new model and were unanimous in
supporting it as right for the times.
standard’ service was the existence of expert
personnel, which laid open the need to
establish a register of physiologists with
sports-specific expertise.
Register of sports physiologists
The steering group was careful that any system
of registering ‘experts’ should not duplicate the
accreditation procedures employed by BASES.
Accreditation by BASES for support work was
a pre-requisite for eligibility. Individuals applying
to become registered physiologists with the
BOA had to provide evidence of working
successfully with high-level athletes. Further,
registration was applied to the sport or group
of sports where the expertise lay, thereby
acknowledging the specificity requirement. The
register was a precursor of the recently
developed procedures for accrediting scientists
for work with high performance sports,
namely BASES High Performance Sport
Accreditation (BASES HPSA).
The BOA registers are now inactive but have
not been formally wound up. The intention
has always been for something else to take
their place but this has taken longer than
planned in some disciplines. The BASES
HPSA will be one replacement, as is the
Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr)
and the BOA continues to work successfully
with the Association of Chartered
Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine (ACPSM)
for physiotherapy. Whilst some aspects of the
registers are still relevant, the need to
maintain a database of suitably qualified and
experienced individuals as a resource for
sports to access has been superseded by a
greater number of support staff being
available, largely through the Home Country
Sports Institute networks.
By the time of the Athens Olympics it was
clear that the steering groups had fulfilled their
initial purpose and that a new model of
support was evolving. In order to make this
transition, a final meeting of the steering
groups was convened in the Spring of 2005.
The meeting provided an opportunity for
Chairs of the Steering Groups to dwell on
some of their achievements, over and above
the routine services provided to the BOA. An
overview of some of the highlights of the
Exercise Physiology Steering Group’s activities
is provided below.
Benchmark services for physiology
One of the first tasks of the steering groups
was to set out clearly the standards that were
required to provide sports science support for
Olympic-level athletes. The quality of service
was a priority whilst speed of service,
including feedback, was also underlined. The
document outlined unequivocally how the
primary focus on the athlete was to be
maintained. An essential part of a ‘gold
12 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
Position statements
As contentious issues arose in sports practice,
the BOA was obliged to take a formal view
and often relied on its steering groups for
guidance. Some of its stances culminated in
the publication of ‘Position Statements’, which
were then available to the sports science
community at large, both within the UK and
abroad. Some topics were addressed jointly
by two or more steering groups. For
example, the consensus statement on
assessment of body fat was endorsed by
Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Psychology
Steering Groups (Reilly et al., 1999). The
stance adopted on the use of melatonin and
sleeping pills was generated jointly by the
Exercise Physiology Steering Group and the
Nutrition Steering Group (Reilly et al., 1998).
Other statements to which the Exercise
Physiology Steering Group had input included
that on confidentiality published in both the
Journal of Sports Sciences and the British
Journal of Sports Medicine. These outputs
www.bases.org.uk
APPLIED PRACTICE
Acclimatisation strategies
It is a quirk of sports organisations that many
of their major competitions are held in
inclement environmental conditions. Heat
had been identified as a factor contributing to
underperformance at the Barcelona Olympics
and was thought likely to be a major
challenge at Atlanta in 1996. The necessity
for developing a strategy to help cope with
heat was evident and began with the
preparation for these Games in the US.
Travel strategies to combat jet-lag applied
also, and subsequently to the Winter
Olympics in 1998 and 2002 and to the
Summer Olympics in Sydney, 2000. Pollution
was added to the agenda for Athens 2004.
The sharing of recommendations
incorporated workshops, roadshows,
lectures and written advice. The
documentation was presented in athletefriendly booklets and distributed to ‘Olympic
passport holders’. In many instances the
messages were reinforced by monitoring
athletes in training camps (in conjunction with
BOMC staff) or generating applied projects to
address specific problems. By the 2004
Summer Olympics there were sufficient
physiologists working with the sports to
transmit the advice directly to their athletes in
a sports-specific format.
The data collected in the course of
monitoring were sometimes published,
demonstrating how support work that is well
structured can lead to research outputs. This
result applied to the monitoring of hydration
status at the training camps at Tallahassee,
Florida, the heat acclimation schedules in UK
laboratories, the studies on temazepam prior
to the Atlanta Games and on melatonin at
the preparation camp on Australia’s Gold
Coast in the two years before the Sydney
Olympics. The same outcome resulted from
the studies on athletes with pulmonary
www.bases.org.uk
impairment before the Winter Olympic
Games in Salt Lake City and the studies on
responses to ozone exposure prior to Athens
2004. These projects showed how
competently conducted applied work can add
to the knowledge base and have merit
beyond their immediate application.
Annual workshops with BASES
The steering groups were not set up as
permanent entities. It was natural and
inevitable that the roles they assumed would
be incorporated within a re-shaped structure
of support or merged with the new in some
instances. The existence of the Exercise
Physiology Steering Group was marked by
regular workshops for its registered
physiologists and an annual open workshop at
the BASES Annual Conference until 2005.
The fading away of the steering groups marks
a further coming of age of applied sports
science and the increased emphasis on
support work on site. Nevertheless their
departure leaves gaps that are not being filled.
The disappearance of the joint symposium at
the Annual Conference means another point
of contact between mainstream members and
elite sport is lost. It is hoped that the
partnership between BASES and UK Sport in
furthering the ‘people development
programme’ will more than compensate.
In conclusion, sports science support systems
are attached to individual sports much more
than was the case while the BOA’s steering
groups existed. Gaps in central generic
support left by the demise of the steering
groups are now filled by consultants as and
when needed. The effectiveness of the new
support systems will be evaluated alongside
other aspects of preparing elite performers,
ultimately by the medal tally at the Beijing
Olympics. ■
References
Reilly, T., Maughan, R. & Budgett, R. (1998).
Melatonin: A position statement of the British
Olympic Association, British Journal of Sports
Medicine, 32, 99-100.
Reilly, T., Maughan, R.J. & Hardy, L. (1996).
Body fat consensus statement of the Steering Groups
of the British Olympic Association, Sports Exercise
and Injury, 2, 46-49.
Editor note
The following texts can be downloaded from
www.olympics.org.uk/omi/download.asp
• Avoiding Winter Illness
• Travelling Athlete
• Acclimatisation Advice - Sydney
• Acclimatisation Advice - Salt Lake City.
Prof Thomas Reilly
Thomas is Professor of
Sports Science and Director
of the Research Institute for
Sport and Exercise Sciences
at Liverpool John Moores
University.
Osmocheck
The new personal
“Osmometer”
for monitoring
dehydration
• Instant results
• Needs only a drop
of urine
• Easy to keep clean
Osmocheck is a refractometer
calibrated from
0-1500mOsmol/kgH20 and
gives an immediate indication
of the onset of de-hydration.
1500
danger
mOsmol/kgH20
were of benefit to sports scientists both at
home and overseas, not just those operating
in support roles with UK Olympic athletes.
They provided good exemplars for the
working group currently focusing on position
statements on behalf of BASES.
1000
warning
600
good
200
The relationship
between
refractive index
and osmolality is
empirical and
Osmocheck
results should
always be
benchmarked
against a
Laboratory based
Freezing Point
Osmometer,
such as the
Advanced Micro
Osmometer.
Buy on-line at
www.sports-science.co.uk
or call
Vitech Scientific on
01403 710479
or fax to 01403 710382
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 13
BULLETIN BOARD
Cycling
Performance
Interest Group
contribute to the
success of
Endurance Sports
Science Conference
Over 200 delegates were in
attendance at the Endurance
Sports Science Conference at
the University of Birmingham on
the 29 and 30 April 2006.
Sunday’s BASES symposia
included presentations, from the
University of Brighton’s Dr Jamie
Pringle and Dr Martin Bailey, on
“The Critical Power Model” and
“Force measurement at the
pedal” respectively. The
multidisciplinary theme
continued with the presentation
of current research on placebo
from Dr Chris Beedie and Abby
Foad of Canterbury Christ
Church University.
Abstracts from both BASES
sessions and minutes from the
group’s inaugural meeting are
available on the BASES Cycling
Performance Interest Group
webpage
www.bases.org.uk/newsite/cyclin
gsig.asp
If you would like more details or
wish to join the interest group,
please contact Andy Kirkland at
ak68@cant.ac.uk
The Steering Committee formed at the last
meeting has developed an outline plan
based on the comprehensive feedback from
the two sessions held at Brunel in Decembe
r
2005 and February 2006.
This plan is in effect a strategy rega
rding the direction of sport and exer
cise
psychology in the UK. From this,
action points have been formulate
d (to take place
within the next 12 months), which
in the first instance require input from
the BASES
Strategic Management Team; this
is currently in progress. This has also
included
questions regarding our remit, whic
h embraces both sport and exercise
and therefore
overlaps the new Divisions.
We have had some criticism rega
rding the location of meetings whic
h up till now have
been held in London although we
took advantage of talking to the Nort
hern Network
Meeting in Sheffield recently because
they had already organised their mee
ting. We
are open to suggestions regardin
g how to overcome this and realise
it is important to
include other areas of the UK. We
are currently looking at an online
solution and
regional networks as a solution to
this but any other ideas would be
welcome.
Notwithstanding discussions to agre
e and take action on the way forw
ard, the
Psychology Interest Group have boo
ked a slot at the Annual Conference
for further
discussion and debate.
Keith Irving, Convenor, BASES Psycholo
gy Interest Group
keith.irving@futureincoms.com
Interest Group
Weight Classified Athletes
Interest
ES Weight Classified Athletes
The inaugural meeting of the BAS
meeting
at the University of Chichester. The
Group took place on 26 April 2006
es: Sports
iplin
disc
ting the following academic
was attended by members represen
tions: National
nisa
orga
and
gy
holo
gy, Sports Psyc
Nutrition, Dietetics, Exercise Physiolo
tute of Sport and
lty to Children (NSPCC), English Insti
Society for the Prevention of Crue
Sport.
the National Governing Bodies of
Smith (pictured) outlining his
The meeting began by Dr Marcus
working with elite athletes over
reasons, based on observations from
e exists the need for a Weight
ther
why
es,
the previous 5 Olympic Gam
Issues relating to: role clarification,
Classified Athlete Interest Group.
d professional development for
guidelines for practitioners, continue
niques and strategies, junior
tech
practitioners, weight manipulation
lations of weight classified sports,
versus senior athletes, rules and regu
lenge to the
on of targeted research and the chal
repetition of bad practice, recogniti
2012, were highlighted.
group as practitioners to deliver in
final
examining several case studies. The
After lunch the meeting focused on
n in Sport: Unit
ectio
Prot
d
Chil
PCC
(NS
cock
presentation was given by Steve Boo
rding young
p to consider the issues of safegua
Director) who challenged the grou
key point raised
A
ur.
avio
beh
and
codes of practice
children in sport, duty of care and
with young
tory guidelines concerning working
was the need to look at existing statu
weight classified athletes.
ference where
ned for the 2006 BASES Annual Con
The next meeting of the group is plan
ion relating to
mat
infor
members will increase. Specific
it is envisaged that the number of
k
rg.u
es.o
ES website, www.bas
this event will be posted on the BAS
ht Classified Athletes Interest Group
Dr Marcus Smith Convenor, BASES Weig
COURTESY OF DR MARCUS SMITH
The aims of the conference were
to provide an update of the
cutting edge research in
endurance sports and secondly
to translate these scientific
findings into practical advice.
Speakers included ex-cycling
champion Chris Boardman, who
shared his experiences of
working with sports scientist
Peter Keen. Prof Peter Hespel
discussed his work in top level
professional cycling, making
specific reference to his testing
of cycling superstar Tom Boonen.
The BASES Cycling Interest
Group’s poster session covered
a wide range of topics ranging
from “Road cyclist position
improvement for competition
based on anthropometry and
crank torque” from a group in
the Basque Country to “Power
output during elite men’s ITU
World Cup race”.
Psychology Interest Group
Repeated Sprint Sports Physiology Interest Group
We have recently formed a BASES Interest Group for those with an
interest in the
physiology of repeated sprint sports. The initial aim is to provide a
network for
practitioners and academics with a common interest in this area.
Ultimately it is hoped that the group will promote research, discuss
ion and
collaboration, building on the existing strengths and expertise of individu
als in the
country.
The first meeting of this group is to be scheduled in the programme
of the 2006
BASES Annual Conference. In the mean time any BASES membe
rs with an interest
should contact the Convenor Michael Hughes on mghughes@uwic.ac.uk
SPORT SCIENCE
What ever happened to motor behaviour?
The missing ingredient for Olympic success
Prof Mark Williams offer comments on the rise and fall of motor learning
The ‘10-year’ or ‘10,000’ hours
of practice rule
Researchers undertaking work on
expertise and its development in sport
have highlighted that in order for
athletes to attain excellence they must
accumulate an extensive amount of
practice in the sport - the so-called ‘10
year’ or ‘10,000 hour’ rule (for an
extended discussion, see Starkes &
Ericsson, 2003; Williams & Hodges,
2004). It is apparent that elite athletes
develop a ‘rage to master’; an almost
obsessional desire to be the best
within that particular sport. Yet, while
the motivation, commitment and
dedication to engage in practice over
this extended time period are
fundamental to sporting success, it is
inevitable that not all forms of practice
are equal. It is not just the amount of
practice that is important, but rather
the need to engage in the right type of
practice, coupled with appropriate
instruction (Williams & Hodges, 2005).
What activities learners engage in and
how they do so are likely to be more
important factors than the absolute
amount of exposure to the sport. The
key factor is that in order to fulfil their
medal aspirations not only do our
athletes have to conform to the
Olympic ideal of faster, higher,
stronger, they also need to be
technically superior to their
competitors.
www.bases.org.uk
ACTION IMAGES
In recent issues of The Sport and
Exercise Scientist there has been
considerable optimism in relation to
London’s successful bid for the 2012
Olympics and the likely role that
BASES and its members will play in
supporting the development and
preparation of elite performers. This
optimism is well justified and in many
ways UK sport and exercise scientists
lead the world both in relation to
research and applied practice. We
have made tremendous progress in
recent years and no doubt will continue
to do so in order to ensure that when
the Olympic torch reaches London our
athletes will have the best chances of
success. However, although optimistic
as to our potential for success in 2012,
I am concerned that we may be
missing arguably the most vital
ingredient for Olympic success. Will
our athletes have the perceptualcognitive and perceptual-motor skills
needed to achieve excellence?
Making the right decisions under pressure
Do our athletes receive the
best practice and instruction?
The responsbility of deciding how best
to structure practice and provide
effective instruction currently rests by
and large with the coaches. It is the
coaches who decide what type of
practice the athletes engage in and
when and how to provide instruction.
Although numerous examples of
effective coaching practice may exist
across the country, the fact remains
that behaviour within the field is largely
based on tradition, emulation and
intuition rather than on empirical
research (Abraham & Collins, 1998).
Coaching behaviour is often
determined by subjective opinion and
historical precedence within the sport
and/or governing body rather than
evidence-based practice. Without
empirical evidence, how do we know
whether coaches are providing athletes
with the right type of practice and
instruction? The irony of course is that
if the practice opportunities and nature
of the instruction provided to athletes is
not effective then no matter how well
prepared our Olympic performers will
be in relation to their fitness levels,
dietary plans or mental toughness,
there is no guarantee of success.
It is likely that UK Sport will spend
millions of pounds leading up to the
Games to ensure that our athletes
receive the best advice and support
from physiologists, nutritionists, match
analysists and sport psychologists in
an effort to extract every last drop of
potential from our athletes. This money
is likely to be well-spent, but is it a
proverbial case of ‘..the cart leading
the horse…’? It is often suggested that
these discipline areas can provide that
extra 10% in order to make the
difference between winning and losing.
This may well be the case, but what
about the other 90%? Surely, the
biggest areas for potential
improvement, and the factors most
likely to differentiate at the elite level,
are the athletes’ technical skills and
their ability to ‘read the game’ and
make the right decisions under
pressure (Williams & Reilly, 2000)? To
quote a famous English poet ‘skill and
confidence are an unconquered army’.
How much money will UK Sport spend
attempting to improve coaching
behaviour and practice in these areas?
So, what can and should be done?
How can sport and exercise scientists
help coaches to ensure that the
athletes receive the best possible
practice and instruction?
Developing the teaching
curriculum
The mechanisms underpinning the
acquisition and performance of
perceptual-motor and perceptualcognitive skills are typically examined
by sport and exercise scientists with a
background in motor behaviour. The
difficulty is that this area of study is not
routinely covered as part of the
undergraduate curriculum on degree
programmes across the country.
Although this field has a long history
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 15
SPORT SCIENCE
both in experimental psychology and in
the sport and exercise sciences, it has
stagnated somewhat over recent
decades, particularly in the UK. Whilst
the field remains relatively vibrant in
North America, and there are a number
of active research groups in the rest of
Europe, the community of scientists
with interests and expertise in these
areas in the UK is waning. An
important step forward would be for
Heads of Department and Programme
Leaders to acknowledge the
importance of motor behaviour and
place areas such as motor control and
learning, motor development and
motor expertise firmly back on the
teaching agenda.
There is a need for dedicated modules
focusing on topics relevant to these
areas. Such modules should be taught
by motivated specialists in this field. At
present, the existing curriculm is often
delivered by non-specialists who may
lack a strong passion for the field and
the material is often embedded within
sport and exercise psychology
modules. Heads of Department should
advocate separate, stand alone
modules in these areas taught by
specialists with a relevant
postgraduate degree. An interesting
question is whether BASES through its
undergraduate endorsement scheme
(BUES) should make such provision a
compulsory part of the endorsement
process? Such a move may be
problematic in the short-term due to
the paucity of teaching staff with
relevant expertise, but there are
increasing numbers of recently
qualified graduate students, albeit
currently from a few select institutions,
that could fill these roles. At the same
time, it would be useful for academics
such as psychologists, biomechanists,
physical therapists and pedagogists in
physical education to explore links with
those working within the field of motor
behaviour so as to broaden
understanding of the mechanisms
underpinning effective performance
and learning.
It should be noted that the importance
of this field of study to the teaching
programme does not just apply to elite
athletes. In light of the obesity
epidemic evident across the globe, it is
crucial that pedagogists ensure that
their methods help learners to develop
the key skills needed to promote
physical acitivity and healthy aging.
The effective learning of skills is
essential so as to motivate children,
and adults, to engage in physical
activity across the life span. Similarly,
this field can make a substantial
contribution in clinical settings by, for
example, focusing on how elderly
individuals can reduce the risk of
falling or how stroke patients and those
with joint replacements can re-learn
skills so as to enhance and prolong
the quality of life.
From theory to practice:
Research and its application
with elite athletes
It is imperative for coaches and motor
behaviour specialists to develop closer
links. A key factor in this regard is for
administrators and policy makers to
acknowledge the need for, and to forge
initiatives to encourage, greater
collaboration. While funding exists to
enable exercise physiologists and
sport psychologists to work routinely
with elite athletes, I am not aware of
any sport and exercise scientist with a
background in motor behaviour who is
working directly in such a capacity in
the UK. In contrast, funding for such
positions is more prevalent in Australia
and North America. At the Australian
Institute of Sport in Canberra, for
example, a full-time motor
behaviour/skill acquisition specialist is
employed to work alongside coaches
in developing elite athletes. Similarly,
many of their regional Academies have
access to specialists interested in skill
acquisition. These individuals work
closely with the coaches to gather
empirical evidence to answer applied
questions such as: How should
coaches convey information to the
learner? How should practice be
structured for effective learning? How,
and when, should the coach provide
feedback? At what age should children
specialise in a given sport? Is there
evidence that skills transfer across
sports? How can coaches help develop
‘game intelligence’ skills such as
anticipation and decision-making? Such
questions should be fundamental to any
coach and applied scientist interested
in sporting excellence. Why then is this
particular field of sport and exercise
science overlooked by Performance
Directors in the UK? Have there been
any job vacancies on the UK Sport
website for this type of appointment? Is
there a belief that certain aspects of
athlete preparation and development
should remain exclusively within the
domain of the coach?
In closing, I should clarify that it is not
my intention to imply that motor
behaviour specialists have all the
answers, or for that matter that the
majority of the practice opportunties
and instructional interventions that
athletes are exposed to are
inappropriate – there is certainly
evidence, albeit mainly anecdotal, of
excellent coaching across the UK. The
issue is that coaches and sport and
exercise scientists need to work closely
16 l Issue 8 l June 2005 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
together to challenge popular beliefs
and embrace a culture where evidencebased practice permeates all aspects of
the profession. There is a need for ‘give
and take’ on both sides. Sport and
exercise scientists working in the area of
motor behaviour must endeavour to
undertake work that is not only
theoretically-driven and experimentally
sound, but is also relevant to coaches
and practitioners (e.g., see Williams et
al., 2002; Smeeton et al., 2005). A
perenial weakness in this field is that the
relevance of the work is not always
apparent to coaches. Similarly, coaches
must be open-minded and willing to
embrace new ideas and to self-reflect
as to the value of current doctrine in
their field. Although these issues
present significant challenges for
coaches and scientists alike, they are
obstacles that must clearly be
overcome. If we are to invest
considerable funds in our pursuit of
gold medals in 2012, the available
money must be spent wisely so as to
ensure that our athletes are the most
skilled as well as the best prepared at
the Olympic Games. Given the ‘10year’, ‘10,000 hour’ practice rule, time is
already running out. No doubt several
readers will sympathise with the points
made in this article, but while it is easy
to sit up and take notice there is a clear
need to get up and take action before it
is too late. ■
References
Abraham, A. & Collins, D. (1998). Examining and
extending research in coach development. Quest, 50, 59-79.
Starkes, J.L. & Ericsson, K.A. (2003). (Eds). Expert
Performance in Sports: Advances in Research on Sport
Expertise. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics.
Smeeton, N.J., Williams, A.M., Hodges, N.J. &
Ward, P. (2005). The relative effectiveness of explicit
instruction, guided-discovery and discovery learning
techniques in enhancing perceptual skill in sport. Journal
of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 11, 98-110.
Williams, A.M. & Hodges, N. (2004). (Eds). Skill
Acquisition in Sport: Research, Theory and Practice.
London: Routledge.
Williams, A.M. & Hodges, N.J. (2005). Practice,
instruction and skill acquisition: Challenging tradition.
Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 637-650.
Williams, A.M. & Reilly, T.P. (2000). Talent
identification and development in soccer. Journal of
Sports Sciences, 18, 657-667.
Williams, A.M., Ward, P., Knowles, J.M. & Smeeton,
N. (2002). Perceptual skill in real-world tasks: Training,
instruction, and transfer. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Applied, 8, 259-270.
Prof Mark Williams
Mark is Professor of Motor
Behaviour at Liverpool John
Moores University. His
research interests focus on
expertise and its development
in sport. He has acted as a
consultant for several
professional football clubs
and National Governing Bodies of sport.
www.bases.org.uk
P H Y S I C A L A C T I V I T Y F O R H E A LT H
Innovative exercise prescription is helping patients
with vascular disease to walk further in Sheffield
Dr John Saxton and Dr Irena Zwierska describe an example of how randomised
controlled trials in exercise science could ultimately inform clinical practice
COURTESY OF DR IRENA ZWIERSKA
Lower- and upper-limb aerobic exercise training
Peripheral arterial disease mainly affects the arteries of the lower
limbs and is usually characterised by atherosclerotic occlusion. Risk
factors for the disease are the same as for other cardiovascular
conditions, but with smoking, diabetes and hypertension being of
highest importance. The prevalence of the disease increases with
advancing age and it has been estimated that almost 20% of people
over the age of 70 years have the condition (Regensteiner & Hiatt,
2002). Mortality from cardiovascular events is high in patients with
symptomatic peripheral arterial disease, with 30-40% of patients
dying within five years and approximately half dying within 10 years
(Kannel & McGee, 1985; Dormandy et al., 1989). In the UK, the
number of people aged 65 and over should increase at 10 times the
overall rate of population growth in the next 40 years, which means
that the prevalence and consequences of this disease can be
expected to increase.
The most common symptomatic manifestation of mild to moderate
peripheral arterial disease is intermittent claudication, which has an
annual incidence of two percent in people over 65 years old. This is
a cramp-like pain, most commonly affecting the calf muscles, but
which can also affect the thigh and buttock regions in one or both
legs during walking. Due to the narrowing of lower-limb arteries, it is
caused by an inability of the arterial oxygen supply to meet the
metabolic demand during walking. Even though the pain usually
subsides within 10 minutes of rest, this condition can have a
profound effect on social, leisure and occupational activities. The
term ‘claudication’ is derived from the Latin word claudicare,
meaning to “limp”, after the Emperor Claudius who limped - limping
is the typical gait pattern observed in patients with claudication.
Exercise rehabilitation is a relatively inexpensive alternative to
pharmacological or surgical treatments for intermittent claudication.
www.bases.org.uk
In accordance with the principle of exercise specificity, most exercise
rehabilitation programmes have involved the lower-limbs and have
included some form of walking exercise. Although a wealth of
evidence supports the positive effects of lower-limb exercise
rehabilitation, overall physical activity levels are lower in patients with
symptomatic peripheral arterial disease than in the non-disease
population and a significant proportion of patients refrain from
engaging in walking exercise rehabilitation (Bartelink et al., 2004).
The degree of claudication pain evoked by walking might deter
some patients from engaging in lower-limb exercise, with the
reduced levels of physical activity potentially contributing to
subsequent disability and the enhanced risk of cardiovascular
morbidity and mortality that is observed in this patient group.
Alternative exercise modalities that avoid the pain associated with
lower-limb exercise might help some patients to overcome the
barriers to conventional forms of exercise rehabilitation (i.e., walking
exercise) and increase their enthusiasm for physical activity.
Interestingly, symptomatic upper-limb disease is over 20 times less
frequent than lower-limb disease, which means that patients who
experience intermittent claudication are far less likely to experience
pain during arm exercise. For this reason, a programme of work in
Sheffield funded by the British Heart Foundation has been
investigating the therapeutic potential of arm-cranking exercise for
this patient group.
Our preliminary work confirmed the findings of others that the
difference between upper- and lower-limb aerobic exercise
.
capacities (peakVO2) is minimal in patients with intermittent
claudication (Zwierska et al., 2006). The ratio of upper- to lowerlimb aerobic exercise capacity is normally in the range of 50-90%,
due to the greater amount of active skeletal muscle involved in leg
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 17
P H Y S I C A L A C T I V I T Y F O R H E A LT H
exercise. In fact, we showed that over one-third of patients with
intermittent claudication exceed their lower-limb aerobic exercise
capacity during upper-limb aerobic exercise. Further, the ratio of
upper- to lower-limb aerobic exercise capacity is greater in patients
with increased disease severity, as indicated by routine
hemodynamic measures. These findings reflect the impact of
impaired blood flow and ischaemic pain on the ability to support
moderate to high intensity leg exercise. They suggested to us that
upper-limb aerobic exercise could be an equivalent or even superior
exercise stimulus for maintaining or improving cardiopulmonary
function in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease.
Following on from our preliminary studies, the next stage of the
research was to test the hypothesis that a programme of arm-crank
training would evoke significant improvements in cardiopulmonary
function, walking ability and quality of life in these patients. To test
this hypothesis, we embarked upon a large-scale randomised
controlled trial with over 100 patients (Zwierska et al., 2005).
Patients with stable intermittent claudication were recruited from the
Sheffield Vascular Institute and randomly assigned to an upper-limb
aerobic exercise training group (arm-cranking exercise), a lower-limb
aerobic exercise training group (leg-cranking exercise) or nonexercise training control group. Supervised exercise training was
undertaken twice a week, for a total of 24 weeks, at equivalent limbspecific relative exercise intensities, thus ensuring a similar
cardiovascular stimulus. For each of the supervised training sessions,
patients exercised in cycles of two minutes exercise followed by two
minutes rest for a total exercise time of 20 minutes in a 40-minute
session. Incremental arm- and leg-crank tests in weeks 6, 12 and 18
were used to adjust the respective upper- and lower-limb training
intensities to ensure progression of the exercise stimulus as patients
adapted to the training load. Patients in the control group were given
lifestyle advice, including encouragement to undertake regular
exercise, but did not undertake any supervised exercise.
Patients responded well to the exercise training, with compliance to
the supervised sessions being 99% and patient drop-out being <
10%. This was largely attributable to a flexible approach in arranging
exercise sessions and regular telephone contact that was maintained
throughout the study. Both exercise training groups showed an
increase in lower-limb aerobic exercise capacity at the 24-week
time-point in relation to baseline measures and control patients.
Maximum walking distance before intolerable claudication pain was
also improved by approximately 100m in both exercise training
groups, representing a clinically important change in walking ability.
There was evidence that the improvement in walking ability was at
least partially attributable to a change in exercise pain tolerance, such
that patients were able to sustain higher levels of claudication pain
before having to stop and rest. In addition, marked improvements in
aspects of quality of life were observed in the exercising groups, with
positive changes in some quality of life dimensions being restricted to
the upper-limb exercise group.
We do not envisage that upper-limb aerobic exercise training would
ever be used in isolation from lower-limb exercise, nor be
considered the preferential treatment of choice. Rather, we suggest
that upper-limb exercise training might be used in conjunction with a
programme of lower-limb exercise training. Alternatively, we
suggested that a staged rehabilitation approach might be taken, i.e.,
that upper-limb exercise training might be used in the early stages of
an exercise rehabilitation programme. This is important when
applying to patients with increased disease severity. Such patients
18 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
experience more frequent episodes of claudication pain.
Nevertheless, using randomised controlled trial methodology, we
have clearly identified that both arm- and leg-crank training could be
useful alternative exercise training modalities for improving
cardiovascular function, walking performance and exercise pain
tolerance in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease.
Take home messages
• Arm-cranking exercise provides an adequate stimulus for evoking
improvements in walking performance in patients with intermittent
claudication.
• Our results suggest that the improvement in walking performance
after arm-crank training is due to a combination of central
cardiovascular and/or systemic mechanisms in addition to an
adaptation in exercise pain tolerance that enables patients to
endure a greater intensity of claudication pain before having to
stop walking.
• Arm-crank training could be a useful exercise option for improving
cardiovascular function and exercise pain tolerance in patients who
have become physically inactive due to the discomfort that they
encounter during walking, particularly during the early stages of a
rehabilitation programme. ■
References
Bartelink, M.L., Stoffers, H.E., Biesheuvel, C.J. & Hoes, A.W. (2004).
Walking exercise in patients with intermittent claudication. Experience in routine
clinical practice. British Journal of General Practice, 54, 196-200.
Dormandy, J., Mahir, M., Ascady, G., Balsano, F., De Leeuw, P., Blombery,
P., Bousser, M.G., Clement, D., Coffman, J. & Deutshinoff, A. (1989). Fate
of the patient with chronic leg ischaemia. A review article. Journal of
Cardiovascular Surgery (Torino), 30, 50-57.
Kannel, W.B. & McGee, D.l. (1985). Update on some epidemiologic features
of intermittent claudication: the Framingham Study. Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society, 33, 13-18.
Regensteiner, J.G. & Hiatt, W.R. (2002). Current medical therapies for
patients with peripheral arterial disease: A critical review. American Journal of
Medicine, 112, 49–57.
Zwierska, I., Walker, R.D., Choksy, S.A., Male, J.S., Pockley, A.G. &
Saxton, J.M. (2005). Upper- vs lower-limb aerobic exercise rehabilitation in
patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease: a randomized controlled
trial. Journal of Vascular Surgery, 42, 1122-1130.
Zwierska, I., Walker, R.D., Choksy, S.A., Male, J.S., Pockley, A.G. &
Saxton, J.M. (2006). Relative tolerance to upper- and lower-limb aerobic
exercise in patients with peripheral arterial disease. European Journal of Vascular
and Endovascular Surgery, 31, 157-163.
Dr John Saxton & Dr Irena Zwierska
John is an exercise physiologist from Sheffield Hallam
University with an interest in the role of exercise and
other lifestyle factors for promoting improvements in
quality of life and disease-free
survival in clinical populations.
Irena is an exercise physiologist at
Sheffield Hallam University, with a keen
interest in the role of physical activity in
elderly and clinical populations.
www.bases.org.uk
D AT E S F O R Y O U R D I A R Y
CALENDAR OF EVENTS S O M E K E Y E V E N T S T O W A T C H O U T F O R
JUNE 2006
6 The Practical Management of
Childhood Obesity
Institute of Child Health, London
i www.aso.org.uk
10 SportEX Disability Sport
Conference
University of Wales Institute
Cardiff (UWIC)
i www.sportex.net / 020 8287 3312
20 Applied Sport Science Symposium
Anglia Ruskin University
i www.anglia.ac.uk/sportscience
21 Sports Law
The Cafe Royal, London
i www.ibclegal.com/sportslaw
21-23 Obesity and Its Management
Liverpool Medical Institution,
Liverpool
i www.aso.org.uk
27 BASES Heads of Department
Forum
Manchester Metropolitan University,
Cheshire, Alsager Campus
i www.bases.org.uk/newsite/
Workshopsearch.asp
29 Physical Education Futures
Carnegie Research Institute, Leeds
Metropolitan University
i www.leedsmet.ac.uk/carnegie/cri.htm
29 Building and Sustaining High
Performance Teams: Learning
From the Frontline
Cardiff School of Sports, UWIC
i Susan Hampton
susan.hampton@btopenworld.com
JULY 2006
7-8 ACPSM/IFSP Conference –
Enhancing Recovery and
Performance in Sport*
Centennial Centre, Birmingham
i http://intl.elsevierhealth.com
/journals/ptsp
20-21 5th Cambridge Symposium in
Exercise Testing & Interpretation A Practical Approach
Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge
i Michelle Joyce
michelle.joyce@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
* BASES members pay the same rates
as ACPSM members.
SEPTEMBER 2006
10-13 2006 BASES Annual Conference
University of Wolverhampton
i www.bases.org.uk/newsite
/annualconf.asp
18-19 Tipping the Balance - Towards
Active Ageing
The BHF National Centre for Physical
Activity and Health
i www.creatingexcellence.co.uk
26-27 International Performance In
Sport Conference
Civic Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne
i greatshow.org
27-30 AAASP Annual Conference
Miami, Florida
i www.aaasponline.org
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
28- 1 Australian Association for Exercise
and Sports Science 2006: From
Research to Practice –
incorporating the 4th annual
Sports Dietitians Association
Australia Update
The University of Western Australia
i www.aaess.com.au/aaess-conference
F O R T H E L AT E S T I N F O R M AT I O N O N F O R T H C O M I N G E V E N T S V I S I T W W W. B A S E S . O R G . U K
International* MSc/PGDip/PGCerts in:
Sports Coaching, Sports Management
and Sport & Physical Education
www.worcester.ac.uk
The University of Worcester is situated in the heart of England and offers excellent courses
and flexible study options, supported by high quality staff and first class, modern learning
resources.
In response to the growing demand for both enhanced graduate employability and
continuing professional development the School has developed an innovative programme of
full-time and part-time taught MSc courses to complement its established undergraduate
programme and postgraduate research provision.
The programmes offer students the opportunity to evaluate and critically reflect upon
appropriate advanced theory and contemporary issues in sports coaching, sports management
or physical education in a stimulating, multidisciplinary student-centered learning
environment. The synthesis of advanced academic study with vocational experience will
enable the student to enhance their own professional practice in an increasingly competitive
sports marketplace.
*An innovative feature of the programmes enables students to obtain an ‘International’
award through completion of an international professional placement and an internationally
focused advanced independent study.
For further information:
To apply:
contact Dr Derek Peters:
T: +44 (0)1905 855352 E: d.peters@worc.ac.uk
contact registry admissions on:
T: +44 (0)1905 855111 E: admissions@worc.ac.uk
www.bases.org.uk
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 19
RESEARCH AND APPLIED PRACTICE
Ethics: A primary consideration for BASES members
Dr Gareth Stratton considers the importance of following ethical guidelines in research. Dr Dave Gilbourne offers comments
Institutional ethics represent the morality,
integrity and honesty of an organisation. It
follows that individuals within an organisation
adhere to the agreed ethical code. Within it’s
agreed Code of Conduct, BASES has established
the ethical position of the association with
guidance for research and support for
experimentation involving human participants. In
this article, I aim to remind BASES members of
the need for ethical processes and procedures
as the first step in quality research and practice
in applied sport and exercise science, so that
both the researchers and participants are
protected.
Recently, the 60th anniversary of the holocaust
led to memorial services being held around the
world. It is partly due to the holocaust that some
key ethical principles involving research with
human participants were formulated. The
Nuremberg War Crimes Trial brought to public
view the gruesome methods some Nazi
scientists used on captive subjects in the
inhumane experiments that individuals were
forced to take part in. Appropriate ethical
treatment of human participants is now central
to our work and the need to protect participants
from being used as 'guinea pigs' in scientific
research is essential to our continued moral
practice. To develop an international consensus
on the use of experiments involving human
participation “the Helsinki Declaration” (1975)
has become an internationally-recognised
document that defines the ethical principles of
clinical research. The declaration
(www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm) is primarily
concerned with experimental designs in clinical
research, and does not cover many of the
observational designs used so often in public
health enquiry. This declaration is a ‘must-read’
for all established and developing sport and
exercise scientists. It is imperative that BASES
sports and exercise scientists adhere to rigorous
ethical procedures surrounding their students,
clients and/or research participants in all their
work. Whilst these procedures are mainly
covered under the BASES Code of Conduct, it is
the intention of this article to revisit the key
ethical principles and practices required when
working with human volunteers in an
experimental or applied setting.
Key ethical principles
A number of key principles describe ethical
protection in a sport and exercise setting. The
first principle of voluntary participation states
that participants should always volunteer their
involvement; both terms are definitive and
should be carefully followed. Researchers
should never coerce participating in research,
something that is especially applicable where
researchers rely on 'captive audiences' in
prisons, schools and universities for example.
Participants should be able to withdraw from the
project at any stage. Voluntary participation is
sought through a process involving informed
consent. Informed consent is based on a full
disclosure of risks; participants should be
competent enough to understand the nature and
magnitude of risk, and undue pressure to
participate in an experiment must be avoided.
By acknowledging their understanding of this
information, participants give their consent or
assent to take part in the research. Consent is
legally binding and given by an adult (18 years
of age or older) who fully understands the project
they are going to take part in. Assent on the other
hand is sought from minors (<18 years of age)
and dependent or vulnerable (those at risk)
others, such as those with a disability. Although
assent is not legally binding, it is as important as
consent. For example, a parent/carer who gives
consent for his/her child to undertake a test of
maximal aerobic power may be in a position to
coerce his/her child into the activity. In this case,
the child is protected by providing written assent
to participate in the study.
Although in most cases, sport and exercise
science researchers deal with healthy
participants, there is a growing requirement to
involve “unhealthy” participants in research and
applied projects. Scientists need to be
appropriately qualified and have experience, so
that participants are not knowingly placed in
harmful situations. Harm can be physical or
psychological and participants can also
withdraw from any situation that they perceive as
high risk or harmful at any stage. A clear risk
assessment and appropriate management of risk
including related procedures are essential in
research and applied practice. Ethical
committees oblige applicants to complete risk
assessments for all procedures. These risk
assessments also provide the basis for
insurance cover for individual and institutional
liability.
Clearly all individuals involved in the research
need to be appropriately trained and qualified to
accurately undertake the research that they are
engaged in. Systems and practices for ensuring
good practice in this area are essential for
undergraduates, allied health and sports and
exercise professionals alike. Data gathering,
management and reporting procedures need to be
documented, agreed and in concordance with the
principles of confidentiality and anonymity
(Brogan, 2004). Confidentiality and anonymity are
two key principles that should be applied to
protect the privacy of participants. All research
should guarantee participant confidentiality – in
that information will not be divulged to
individuals who are not directly involved in the
study.
Further, it is normal practice for any permanent
evidence such as video or audio recordings to
be destroyed once the research has been
completed.
The principle of anonymity on the other hand
means the participant remains anonymous to
anyone including members of the research team
(although this is rare in sport and exercise
science research). Increasingly, health
20 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
researchers need to cater for a participant’s right
to service. This occurs when a control group is
part of the research design. If the hypothesis
suggests that the treatment group may accrue
beneficial effects, persons assigned to the
control group may feel that equal access to
services is being curtailed. In this case control
groups may receive “information only” about the
treatment (such as literature on healthy diet and
exercise) as opposed to the full treatment.
Ethics committees
To formulate ethical approaches and procedures,
higher education establishments and NHS trusts
and Primary Care Trusts have constructed ethics
committees. An ethics committee consists of a
panel that reviews research proposals on ethical
implications and decides whether additional
actions need to be taken to assure the safety and
rights of participants. First and foremost, the
ethics committee will consider whether the
research/practice proposal has both scientific
validity and ethics. It is worth remembering that
panel members are not necessarily experts in the
field. As a group the constituents of the committee
have expertise in ethical issues are there to ensure
the rights of the participants are protected.
The language used in applications to ethics
committees ought to be suitably technical but
not littered with unfathomable jargon. Ethics
committees generally have reams of paper to
wade through in preparation for ethics
committee meetings and as such do not wish to
get bogged down in academic detail. Normally
the ethics committee would review any research,
experiment or applied procedure undertaken by
an exercise scientist even if the work is the
subject of an application to another Ethics
Committee. Recently, the NHS has tightened-up
their procedures regarding ethical approval. Any
study that involves patients or staff of the Health
Authority, must also obtain the approval of the
Local Research Ethics Committee. By reviewing
proposals for research, ethics committees also
help to protect both the organisation and
researcher against potential legal implications of
neglecting to address important ethical issues of
participants.
Ethics committees normally require a number of
completed documents to be completed prior to
a project commencing. Typically there are 6 or 7
forms to complete.
1. Application for Approval of an Investigation
for Teaching, Testing or Research Involving
Human Participants. Here the project title is
stated along with its aims. The details of the
project are outlined along with procedures
including a statement about the originality of
the project and how it will benefit participants
or society. Statistical or content analsyes
should also be included and related to clear
hypotheses or research aims.
2. Confidentiality of Patient Records. This
requires a signed statement by the research
team stating that they will adhere to the
principles outlined in the Data Protection Act.
www.bases.org.uk
RESEARCH AND APPLIED PRACTICE
3. Form of Consent to Take Part as a Participant
in a Major Procedure or Research Project. A
form of consent for the participant that should
also be signed by a disinterested third
party/witness. This should include a short
paragraph about the aims of the project.
4. Form of Assent (Carer). A form of consent for
a vulnerable participant such as a child. This
should include a short paragraph about the
aims of the project written at an appropriate
level.
5. Participant Information (PI) Sheet. The PI
sheet should state “the exact nature” of
involvement required of the participant.
6. Risk Assessment Form. The RA form needs to
clearly establish the nature of the hazard,
likelihood of injury occurring and procedures
taken to minimise the risk. This may need to be
signed by a relevant health and safety officer.
7. NHS Research Governance Proforma (when
NHS staff or patients are involved). The Local
ethics research committee (LOREC) will also
require an application if NHS staff or patients
are involved in any phase of the research.
These are usually organised by PCTs or NHS
trusts.
Limitations in ethical applications
It is imperative that ethics applications are
completed with the utmost diligence. Arguably,
the weakest part of ethical applications lay in
either the participant information (PI) sheet or
the risk assessment form. The PI sheet should
be written in a language that will be accessible
to “all” the participants and translated into a
variety of languages if required. The most
common problem with PI sheets is that they do
not provide the exact detail of involvement for
the participant. Participants need to know exactly
what they are volunteering for, how much time
this will take, whether there are any inherent
benefits or risks and what these may be.
Participants need to know that the researchers
are qualified and adequately insured and
suitable to work with vulnerable groups
(Criminal Records Bureau high level clearance
may be required for example). Participants also
need to know where the research will be taking
place and who to contact if they wish to ask
further questions. If selection criteria are used to
accept or reject participants, then these criteria
also need to be explicit at the outset. These
principles should be applied whether university
students are participating in a laboratory
procedure or elderly diabetic patients are being
interviewed about the effect of exercise on their
quality of life. Where consent and assent are
required, it is always good practice to provide a
PI sheet for the carer/parent and the vulnerable
person or child. These PI sheets will contain the
same basic information but adjusted to suit the
intended reading age of the audience. It is also
important to consider timing in relation to your
ethics application. This may take up to 6 month
(sometimes longer) to clear if more than one
ethics committee is involved in clearing the
project. This time needs to be accounted for
when planning a project and needs to be explicit
in research and project outlines with research
partners or funders.
www.bases.org.uk
Finally, when researchers have completed their
data collection, results must be reported
accurately and honestly. An unethical approach
can invalidate research findings, lead to
prosecution, and damage the image of the
research community within the public realm as a
whole. Members of BASES should adhere to the
highest moral and ethical standards when
dispensing their duties. This article serves as a
review of our responsibilities as professionals
when working with human participants during
our scientific research and practice.
Supporting material
Brogan, C. (2004). Sport and exercise science and
The Data Protection Act. Make sure you’re protected.
The Sport and Exercise Scientist, 1, 16.
The HERO website
www.hero.ac.uk/uk/research/good practice for new
researchers/professional ethics and equal 232.cfm
Medical Research Council Position State ment
on Ethics www.mrc.ac.uk/pdf mrc statement
regulations ethics may 2005.pdf
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics
www.nuffieldbioethics.org/
Helsinki Declaration
www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm
BASES Code of Conduct
www.bases.org.uk
Dr Dave Gilbourne offers comments...
Dr Stratton’s text acts to reinforce the notion that
ethical guidelines, and frameworks to police
them, are in place to protect those who help us
with our studies and (maybe) to also protect
those who research - this is a litigious world. I
also found it humbling to be informed, in my
case for the first time, of the horrors that
motivated the development of ethical processes.
It is clear also that ethical guidelines are
becoming more and more stringent as time
progresses and, for all researchers, these
developments represent a challenge of sorts, to
stay in touch.
In my own institution, the general sub-text of the
above paper is now being digested by
undergraduate as well as postgraduate research
cohorts. The processes of risk assessment,
gaining informed consent or assent and
ensuring confidentiality/anonymity is now
embedded into the teaching of the level two
research methods module at my Institution.
Although the process has generated increased
levels of paperwork, the impact on the student
researcher has, to my mind, been profound. The
general consensus, one I would share, is that
the level three students seem now to approach
their first research venture with an elevated
sense of responsibility and social awareness. In
that context engagement with ethical
considerations, something that at first glance
might be seen as a dry and unimaginative topic,
has been associated with motivational and
procedural benefits.
My own research area is predominantly qualitative
and qualitative researchers are bound by the same
ethical framework that is alluded to by Dr
Stratton. We are as concerned about
confidentiality, for example, as any researcher in
any field. In recent years, issues, raised mainly by
postgraduate researchers, also serve to
underscore the unique way that qualitative
research techniques can challenge researcher and
participant. Although there is little space here for
extrapolation, I have decided to end my
commentary by highlighting recent ethical
challenges that I have faced in my supervision of
qualitative research projects. In one example, a
student called in to talk over ‘concerns’ he had
with his research project. He explained that he felt
guilty after undertaking interviews with ex-athletes
who were suffering from the effects of Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
“They’re just devastated…you can see it. They
talk about things OK mostly but they can get
emotional…then I go…got my tape that’s
it…but what about them? When they close the
door and I go to the car I think, “What’s that
interview done to them?”
In this case, the student followed all the
necessary ethical procedures. Consent forms
had been completed so, in ethical terms,
everything was fine and above board. The
researcher though was obviously uneasy qualitative research often asks people to give a
lot of themselves and though the participants all
understood what would happen, the researcher
remained unsure about the impact such
disclosure might have had on the psychological
status. Similar questions or concerns can gain
intensity when repeat interview protocols are
deployed say in a sports injury context.
Finally, and these thoughts are being developed
in more detail in a research methods paper
presently under construction, questions over the
potential supervisory and participatory
consequences of researchers who engage in
unusual methodologies (such as autoethnography) offer new challenges to the ethical
frameworks highlighted here. Does informed
consent require the auto-ethnographer to sign
his/her own form? How do supervisors monitor
the impact of a researcher emerging authorship
on their psychological and (so) subjective wellbeing? These are qualitative ethical issues that
challenge me at the moment and answers are
not necessarily ready to hand. ■
Dr Gareth Stratton
Gareth is a Reader in paediatric
exercise science, and is
programme leader of the
physical activity, exercise and
health programme at Liverpool
John Moores University. He sits
on the University ethics
committee.
Dr David Gilbourne
David is a Principal Lecturer at
Liverpool John Moores,
University.
His research output explores a
range of qualitative themes and
processes using different
approaches.
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 21
APPLIED PRACTICE
Mental Conditioning
at the World’s
Toughest Playground
David Fletcher and Thomas Bisig reflect
on their experiences as Mental Conditioning
Interns at the IMG Academies in Florida
It was a typical British winter’s morning when
an advert for the “IMG Academies Mental
Conditioning Interns” caught our eye in the
BASES e-newsletter. As the rain lashed down
on our office windows, we won’t deny that
the thought of spending our summer in the
Florida sun instantly appealed to us. However,
as we read more it became clear that these
positions offered far more than a welcome
change of climate; they presented an exciting
opportunity to gain experience of working
with some of the world’s best athletes. Fastforward six months and following a rigorous
selection procedure, we found ourselves
standing at the entrance to what Sports
Illustrated famously dubbed, “the toughest
playground in the world”. Although both of us
have enjoyed the rich sporting culture at
Loughborough University, we were not
prepared for the magnitude of what awaited
us inside the IMG Academies.
To understand the vastness of the Academies
it is worth briefly reflecting on the historical
development of this unique centre of sporting
excellence. In 1978, the now legendary tennis
coach, Nick Bollettieri, along with partners
Ted Meekma and Greg Breunich, pioneered
the concept of a tennis boarding school that
combined athletic training and academic
education into one integrated curriculum.
During the 1980s, tennis players thrived in
the academy environment through specialised
performance training in technical, fitness,
mental and strategic conditioning. In 1987,
Nick and his colleagues continued to develop
by forming a strategic partnership with the
International Management Group (IMG) and
Bob Kain. By 1994, the Academies and its
comprehensive training approach had begun
to encompass additional sports, including golf,
soccer, baseball and basketball.
Today, spread out over nearly 200 acres, the
IMG Academies is arguably the most
advanced multi-sport training and educational
facility ever created for athletes. Every year, it
delivers world-class sports training
experiences to over 11,000 professional,
senior, collegiate and junior athletes. There is
probably nowhere else in the world that one
can work with and observe as many
professional athletes within a structured
environment. Furthermore, with two private
academic schools on campus and students
from over 70 countries, the Academies are
the largest and most ambitious school for
devoted youth athletes. The Academies’
COURTESY OF DAVID FLETCHER
David observing Nick
Bollettieri’s coaching
methods
(inset: Nick and David)
22 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
Divisions now include: Nick Bollettieri Tennis
Academy (NBTA), David Leadbetter Golf
Academy (DLGA), IMG Soccer Academy,
The Baseball Academy, The Basketball
Academy, The International Performance
Institute (IPI), Bollettieri Sports Medicine
Center and The Evert Tennis Academy (ETA).
Athletes converge on these academies to
participate in a wide range of programmes
designed to meet their individual needs
including full-time semesters, training camps,
private lessons, corporate visits, coaching
symposiums, tournaments and special events.
Participants in these programmes receive
instruction from over 100 expert coaches and
have daily access to the Academies’ worldclass facilities and amenities. Many of the
world’s top athletes have trained at the
Academies including tennis players Andre
Agassi, Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova, Venus
and Serena Williams, Monica Seles and Anna
Kournikova, and golfers Michelle Wie, Paula
Creamer, Julieta Granada and Casey
Wittenberg.
The Mental Conditioning Department, which
is based on campus at the Sports
Performance Center, provides the entire
performance enhancement consultancy for
the IMG Academies. Its roots lie in Jim
Loehr’s work in mental toughness with
Academy tennis players and its mission is to
direct, facilitate and monitor the positive
mental development of athletes so they can
fulfil their goals in competition and life. A
major area of focus is the continuous
development of character while learning to
manage any competitive situation in a positive
and effective manner. The Department
consists of five full-time members of staff:
Trevor Moawad, Chris Passarella, Caroline
Benson, Angus Mugford and Joshua Lifrak.
These consultants are trained in a variety of
different areas, including sport psychology,
developmental education, athletic counselling,
team building and motivational speaking. Their
backgrounds and expertise combine to
provide state-of-the-art applied practice in
areas such as performance enhancement
techniques, psychological skills training, video
analysis and feedback, and personal and
lifestyle development.
In our role as Mental Conditioning Interns,
we spent nine weeks of the summer as an
www.bases.org.uk
APPLIED PRACTICE
integral part of the Department team. In
addition to us, Eric Bean from California State
University, Fullerton and Crystal Larson from
Springfield College were the other Mental
Conditioning Interns. The internship involved
us gaining hands-on experience in a range of
areas including: individual consultation with
athletes; group workshops on mental
conditioning topics; coach education and
development; programme design and
diagnostics; marketing the support services;
assessment, monitoring and evaluation of
interventions; and reflective practice and
supervisory debrief.
COURTESY OF DAVID FLETCHER
wide age range of athletes (from 5 years old
to adult), a significant proportion of athletes
with very basic English language skills, and the
length of the sessions (all lasting an hour).
Combine this with the limited preparation
time and having to deliver up to four
workshops a day, and it becomes clear why
this was one of the most difficult tasks we
faced.
A notable feature of the Mental Conditioning
Department is the way that it continually
markets itself to potential clients and related
agencies. Having both come from a
predominantly academic background, we
found ourselves
learning a great deal
about how important
brand image and
trend creation is
within a business
such the IMG
Academies. Linked
with this was the
heavy use of
motivational and
educational videos.
The Department has
an impressive
catalogue of videos
that are tailored not
only to specific sports
and mental
conditioning topics,
but also based on
current and past
Thomas conducting an individual consultation with
athletes associated
an athlete from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy
with the Academies.
Perhaps the most challenging but stimulating
Stirring music, commentary, interviews and
work that we did was the consultation with
subtitles are all dubbed over the action to
individual athletes. Whilst the format of the
create not only an inspirational spectacle, but
consultations varied according to an athlete’s
also a highly effective approach to fostering an
individual needs, it generally involved an initial
accepted mental skills climate. To illustrate,
evaluation, video analysis, intervention design,
footage of athletes training on campus is often
in-event support and written report. In many
spliced with performances in the international
instances, this work was reinforced with
arena (to aid imagery development) and
coach and/or parental recommendations
subtitles are commonly employed to show
designed to strengthen behavioural change in
what an athlete may be thinking during
the athlete. It’s worth highlighting that the
pressurised situations (to aid self-talk
sessions not only covered performance
development).
enhancement-related issues such as mental
The campus training lifestyle allowed us to
toughness training programmes, but also
gain a valuable insight into the practical
addressed athletic counselling, injury recovery
experience of other conditioning coaches at
strategies, emotional intelligence
work, including fitness trainers and technical
development, assertiveness and
specialists. Indeed, one of the major strengths
communication training, intuitive thinking skills,
of the Academies is the communication that
and lifestyle and organisational management.
exists between the performance staff and the
Another demanding aspect of the internship
opportunity to refer when appropriate to
was the design and delivery of group
external professionals, such as medical
workshops for all the different sports at the
personnel and a clinical psychologist. We also
IMG Academies. Following a group needs
received close supervision from all the fullassessment, we (the interns) designed sporttime mental conditioning coaches regarding
specific mental conditioning programmes that
the efficacy of our applied practice. For
were underpinned by cognitive-behavioural
example, some of our group workshops
principles within a periodised structure. In
were video recorded to provide us with
terms of delivery, some of the major
detailed and constructive feedback on our
obstacles that we faced were poor theatre
presentation skills. It was also enlightening to
acoustics, no Microsoft® Office PowerPoint®
work alongside the American interns and
facilities, the sheer number of athletes in a
observe their style and approach for the
workshop (over 100 on some occasions), a
Association for the Advancement of Applied
www.bases.org.uk
Sport Psychology (AAASP) certification. In fact,
our weekly peer debrief sessions provided
some of the most informative (and
entertaining!) moments of the summer.
Complimenting the services offered by the
Mental Conditioning Department is “Game
On”, a unique communication and media
consulting company that works with athletes
of all ages and standards, as well as coaches,
management and corporations. Developed in
Santa Monica, California, by film and television
actor Steve Shenbaum, Game On entered
into a partnership with the Academies in June
2003 to create an on-campus communication
and media training division. Its offices are
located in the Sport Performance Center,
alongside the Mental Conditioning
Department. Over 100 athletes attend Game
On sessions each week, meeting in groups of
eight to 10 under the supervision of
Shenbaum, who has appeared in feature films
such as “American Pie 2” and “EDtv”. What
makes Game On different is that it teaches
through interaction and keeps athletes
constantly involved by engaging them rather
than lecturing to them. Shenbaum and his
associate Blair Dalton accomplish this through
an entertaining and fun learning atmosphere
where communication is a product of a wide
range of imagination and improvisation
exercises.
Life at the Academies wasn’t all work and we
did get the chance to experience some of the
diverse Floridian culture and climate. We
visited several other well-known sporting
academies and live athletic events, not to
mention some fantastic bars and beaches.
Overall, the Mental Conditioning internship
was one of the most challenging but
enjoyable experiences of our lives. Clearly, it’s
not just for the athletes that the IMG
Academies is the toughest playground in the
world! ■
Editor note
Readers may find of interest Angus Mugford’s article
on working in the USA (Issue 5, Sept 2005, The
Sport and Exercise Scientist, pp. 12-13).
David Fletcher
David is currently reading for a
doctorate degree in sport
psychology at the University of
Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC).
He regularly consults with a
wide range of sport performers.
DFletcher@uwic.ac.uk
Thomas B. Bisig
Thomas is currently reading for
a doctorate degree in sport
psychology at The University of
Northampton. He regularly
consults with a variety of
athletes in Switzerland,
Germany, Italy, UK and USA.
Thomas.Bisig@northampton.ac.uk
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 23
WORKSHOP REVIEW
‘PSYCHOLOGY AND FOOTBALL’ WORKSHOP
A review by the new BASES psychology workshop representative, Dr Anna Waters
On 29 March 2006 BASES joined forces
with the British Psychological Society
(BPS) and the Football Association (FA) to
provide a workshop dedicated to
psychology and football. The workshop
took place at the impressive Cardiff City
Hall. It was some achievement to manage
to coordinate a workshop across three
different organisations and four
presenters! Having delegates from BASES,
BPS and the FA all together, provided a
broad base for ideas and discussion. We
should endeavour to make more use of
such connections with our workshops in
the future.
focused on normative (e.g., junior to
senior level, amateur to professional) and
non-normative transitions (e.g., injury, loss
of personal coach or de-selection) in
sport and was well supported by
references to the literature and
demonstrated a good application of
theory to practice.
Dr Chris Harwood from Loughborough
University has spent some time working
with a professional football team and his
session on developing pre and post
performance audio CDs, was made
especially interesting with lots of
references to his experiences working
with the team. This was a well structured
and informative presentation, with the
practical and applied aspects well
supported by theory. It was particularly
interesting to discuss and learn how to
develop the less utilised postperformance CDs.
All presenters were sport psychologists
with an expertise in football environments
and there was a strong emphasis on
delegate participation. The day consisted
of an introduction followed by four
interactive workshops covering a good
assortment of topics: Career Transitions in
Football, Developing Pre and Post
Performance Audio CDs, the Psychology
of the Goalkeeper and the Use of Videos
in Football. I felt the workshop had been
well structured and covered a range of
topics. However, I did feel that four
different workshop sessions in one day
was too intense. In future, it may be
more beneficial to have only three
presenters, each taking slightly longer
sessions.
The sessions throughout the day picked
up on a number of areas and techniques
that are important in football, but that we
may not have thought about in detail or
be familiar with. Specifically, the first
session conducted by Dr David Lavallee
and colleagues from Loughborough
University, concentrated on career
transitions in sport. It is inevitable that
athletes will face many career transitions
during their time in sport and the session
conducted by David was both interesting
and thought provoking. The presentation
Another area that is emerging as an
important aspect of practitioner’s work is
the use of Personal Motivational Videos
(PMVs). Roberto Forzoni, working with
the English Institute of Sport, presented
an applied session detailing his experience
of producing PMVs and providing tips on
how to develop effective PMVs. This
highlighted an area that is becoming more
and more widely used and important for
practitioners to be aware of and able to
use. The session focused on the main
points outlined in Roberto’s article in Issue
7, March 2006, pp. 10-11 of The Sport
and Exercise Scientist and was well
supported with examples of PMVs that
Roberto has used in his work with a
variety of football clubs.
It was interesting to have the feedback
from David James at the end of Dr
Richard Mullen’s session. It would have
been beneficial if there had been more FA
player delegates in attendance and more
input from professional players during all
of the sessions. In particular, it would have
been advantageous to hear athlete’s
experiences of employing some of the
techniques and strategies put forward.
Overall, the presentations were all of a
high standard, interesting and of value.
There was a variety of topics and a good
balance between theoretically based
presentations (e.g., career transitions) and
applied presentations (e.g., use of videos).
All of the sessions provided a lot of
information, practical advice and
demonstration of application. ■
ACTION IMAGES
The day started with an informative
presentation by Dr Andy Cale outlining
where sport psychology currently stands
within the FA. Andy started with an
interesting visual description of two fields
separated by a river. On the one side is
an ideal football pitch and on the other
side sport psychology. Originally people
had to use canoes to cross from one side
to the other, but now there are bridges
built and continuing to be built between
the two. From my understanding of
Andy’s presentation, sport psychology is
now being incorporated at a number of
different levels within the FA, however,
there are still inconsistencies in the
distribution of sport psychology and the
more headway needs to be made.
David James shared his experiences of his
sports psychology
focus of the session was on identifying the
psychological factors associated with goal
keeping and involved the audience
identifying, from a video of highlights, the
number of different activities undertaken
by a goalkeeper during an entire
premiership game. The session brought
home the diverse role of goalkeepers and
how vital their contribution is to the
team’s overall performance.
As well as being given an opportunity
during the group work to put some ideas
together for developing an audio CD,
Chris provided a lot of information and
tips for us to take away, detailing how to
develop effective audio CDs.
An area that has been neglected in the
research and possibly not fully understood
is the role of a goalkeeper in football. Dr
Richard Mullen from Brunel University
presented with England goalkeeper David
James. David was asked to comment at
the end of the session on his experiences
of sport psychology and what he had
found effective and what not so. The
24 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
Dr Anna Waters
Anna is a BASES Accredited
Sport and Exercise Scientist
(Psychology – Scientific
Support) working with
professional athletes,
performing artists and
corporate clients for her
company Chrianna
Consultants.
www.bases.org.uk
REVIEWS
A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE LATEST SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE BOOKS
Pain and Injury in Sport
Exercise, Health and Mental Health:
Emerging Relationship
Editors: Sigmund Loland,
Berit Skirstad & Ivan Waddington
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0-415-35704-7
Edition: First
This excellent and comprehensive
text raises important social and
ethical questions about the attitude of
pain in sport. Drawing on the
contributions of leading international
researchers, the authors examine pain
in sport from medical, psychological,
philosophical, historical and
sociological perspectives. Key themes
include pain and injury management,
the role of sports coaches in rehab,
and the meaning of pain and injury. There are also insightful discussions
of athletes’ acceptance of pain as part of everyday life, and the ethical
issues surrounding deliberate infliction of pain in sport. Each of the five
subsections has a separate introduction and final summary. The book
adopts a multidisciplinary approach, lending a broad basis for
discussion. Furthermore, the book draws on the findings of a workshop
on ‘Pain and Injury in Sport’, providing fascinating interviews and
practical examples to support the theoretical concepts under scrutiny.
Whilst of primary interest to academics and researchers in the field, this
text is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand more about
the culture of risk in elite sport. Overall, the editors of this volume provide
an important resource for anyone interested in the outcomes of empirical
studies of pain and injury in sport. A definitive resource for its target
audience.
■ Russ Coppack, Head Group Therapist, The Centre for
9
10
Injury Research and Clinical Assessment, DMRC.
Editors: Guy E J Faulkner &
Adrian H Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0-415-33431-4
Edition: First
It is the Emerging Relationships which
characterise this book. The editors’
decision to break new ground is richly
rewarded. Twelve well constructed and
tightly edited chapters from leading
international researchers examine a diverse
array of topics, including exercise as an
intervention in alcohol and substance abuse,
and exercise and quality of life in cancer survivors. The editors concisely
summarise what is known about the relationship between exercise and mental
health and outline the aims of the text in the opening chapter; they also provide
an editorial commentary for each of the contributions, in the concluding chapter.
This works well, serving to critique not only the conceptual basis of each section
but also the methodological issues surrounding this research. The emerging
relationships are clear: exercise and physical activity are valuable evidencebased elements of good physical and mental health. My one small reservation is
the absence of chapters explicitly dealing with depression or diabetes.
This is a specialist handbook. Senior undergraduate and postgraduate health and
exercise science students will value its depth and authority. My hope is that it is
included on the reading lists of clinical psychologists, medical practitioners and
others involved in the development of policy and practice in exercise and
physical activity promotion. Exercise scientists are already convinced of the
relationship between exercise and health. Others need to be challenged and
informed, and this book can be an important part of the process!
■ Dr Tony Westbury, Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences,
9
10
Napier University.
Dynatomy: Dynamic Human Anatomy
Essentials of Exercise Physiology
Authors: William C Whiting & Stuart Rugg
Publisher: Human Kinetics
ISBN: 0-7360-3682-2
Edition: First
Dynatomy provides clear
and accessible descriptions
of applied human anatomy,
and its strength lies in its
ability to enliven the
complex nature of the body’s
functional movement
anatomy. The text is divided
into two parts: Part I provides
a concise overview of the
structures of bones, joints
and muscles and their related
functions, while Part II considers
the application of basic anatomical functions to the fundamental
movements in sport, such as running, jumping and throwing. The
excellent Primal Pictures CD; Essentials of Interactive Functional
Anatomy really brings to life the complexities of human movements,
and is a useful addition to the text.
This text would be useful for students studying an introductory anatomy
course although the text may also prove to be a useful additional
resource for coaches interested in human anatomy. I can
enthusiastically recommend this text and accompanying CD as a
detailed and comprehensive resource
Authors: William D McArdle, Frank I Katch & Victor L Katch
Publisher: Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins
ISBN: 0-7817-4991-3
Edition: Third
The first exercise physiology textbook that I
bought – by McArdle et al. – proved an
inspirational purchase. Twenty-five years
later, McArdle et al. have become a
household name in the field. This third
edition is a compact version of its
established parent, Exercise Physiology:
Energy, Nutrition, and Performance;
however, ‘Essentials’ is less expensive
and smaller, but retains many features.
Indeed, the overall theme of the two texts
is identical: to integrate basic concepts and relevant scientific information to
provide a foundation for understanding nutrition, energy transfer, and exercise
training. As with most McArdle et al. resources, its strengths are the nutrition
and body composition sections. Impressively, most of the end-of-chapter
references sections contain many recent publications, including a large
proportion from 2005!
The book is marvellously illustrated, and is equipped with CD and web support;
PowerPoint slides are available to lecturers for every chapter. It is suitable for a
Level 1 module, but refers to non-SI units in places. I also found the first chapter
on the history of exercise physiology rather tiresome and unnecessary. However,
on the whole, Essentials of Exercise Physiology is certainly fit for purpose.
■ Mr Max Garrard, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise
■ Dr Mike Doherty, Reader in Sport & Exercise Physiology,
University of Wolverhampton.
Physiology, Liverpool Hope University.
www.bases.org.uk
8
10
8
10
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 25
LETTERS
STAR LETTER
Education and Professional Development –
BASES into Further Education
I am encouraged at the formation of the new Divisions and
the directions that these will take BASES towards the future
and in particular the 2012 Olympics. I feel the biggest step
forward for BASES may be the formation of the Division of
Education and Professional Development. I am currently
teaching within Further Education (FE), after graduating with
my Masters Degree, and although enlightened, I am
discouraged by the role that BASES currently plays within FE
and a number of questions can be raised with the existing
relationship between BASES and FE.
Firstly, how well recognised is BASES in FE? Do recent
graduates like me, who wish to pursue a career in FE, benefit
from being a member of BASES, with respects to
employability? During an application or interview how much
weight could be put on ‘BASES Membership’ and ‘Annual
Student Conference Presentation’? Discussions with
colleagues from various Colleges, leads to their blank faced
expression when the acronym BASES gets mentioned and
further supports my doubts. Furthermore, as sports science
undergraduate courses become one of the fastest growing
subject areas, many Universities market themselves on
BASES Accredited Staff, but to an unwitting 17 year old
looking for a University, what does this mean to them? To 17
year olds looking at the night life and taxi provision to help
them choose where their next three to five years will be spent,
how does having interdisciplinary accredited staff hope to
attract them if the promotion of BASES does not happen
before they reach the university open days spent in the labs.
As BASES strives to complete its objectives, surely active
promotion of career opportunities within sports science, elite
sport and BASES’ role and function, would be strengthened
by the active promotion of BASES within Colleges during A
level, First Diploma and National Certificate stages. Would
the generation of interest of sport science support create
more interest in the various careers in sport science? I would
say yes, when teaching my students, they are fascinated by
the options that may be available to them when they are
faced with university. On closer inspection though, it seems a
large majority of the Colleges offering sports studies/science
courses make no attempt to advertise and discuss the career
progression of ‘sports science support”. It seems from day
one of a 16-19 full-time course, our perspective sports
scientists have no knowledge of what sports science support
involves.
If BASES was to be actively involved in the development of
FE relations then who better to do it than the recent
graduates working within FE. Those who have an active
passion for BASES can promote our organisation and
educate the students and those lecturers that have no
existing knowledge of BASES, the work it does and the role it
plays in sport. I feel that for those of us who are unable to
find an employed position in sports science support or
research, FE lecturing may be a natural progression as a
career route before considering what support or research has
to offer. Graduates like myself, are in an ideal position
particularly as we head towards a time where elite sport will
be under the spotlight, and positions created to support such
athletes.
I look forward to the subsequent directions that the Division
takes and its progression towards greater FE relations and
hope that this letter creates a catalyst for our members within
FE to become more proactive, and increase the profile of our
discipline to our future members at an earlier stage.
James Morris
26 l Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
HAVE YOUR SAY
Got something to say, a comment to be
considered, a suggestion to share?
Then this is the place where you can have your say.
Please address all correspondence to:
The Editor, The Sport and Exercise Scientist
■ A.M.Lane2@wlv.ac.uk
The deadline for Top Tips & Letters for the next issue
of The SES is 1 August 2006.
Each issue, the winner of the Star Letter
will receive a copy of the featured book
or a voucher to the value of £50,
courtesy of Human Kinetics.
This issue’s prize is
STRENGTH TRAINING ANATOMY
book and DVD package
■ www.humankinetics.com
www.bases.org.uk
TOP TIPS
TOP TIPS WINNER
On-line research methods
websites
The following website is a useful internet resource for sport
science lecturers and students.
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/collections/read.shtml
It offers guidance on how to interpret and critique journal
articles. The articles are grouped into broad themes including:
Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research)
This article provides guidelines to help evaluate qualitative
research. It identifies the necessary considerations for evaluating
the methods used and interpretation of data
Papers that summarise other papers (systematic
reviews and meta-analyses)
This article provides guidelines to help evaluate systematic
reviews and meta-analyses. This includes information to help
assess the methods used for selecting studies and drawing
conclusions from the analysis procedures.
Statistics for the non-statistician
Two articles provide a checklist of preliminary questions to help
individuals appraise the statistical validity of a paper. This includes
questions such as ‘If the authors have used obscure statistical
tests, why have they done so and have they referenced them?’
and ‘Were "outliers" analysed with both common sense and
appropriate statistical adjustments?’
Assessing the methodological quality of published
papers
This article considers five essential questions that should assist in
assessing the methodological quality of papers. This includes
questions such as ‘Was the design of the study sensible?’ and
‘Was systematic bias avoided or minimised?’
Tracey Devonport, University of Wolverhampton
An example of using two screens
The winner of each issue’s Top Tip
will receive a prize courtesy of
Bodycare. This issue’s prize is a
Powerbreathe Inspiratory Muscle
Trainer or a voucher to the value of
£50 for Bodycare Products.
Tel 01926 816155, or e-mail
bcsales@lsi.co.uk,
www.bodycare.co.uk
■
Developing new directions in
public health and promotion of
physical activity and nutrition
Two screens and one mouse
We often need to look at two files at the same time. Windows
allows you to operate multiple files and different packages. I find
this essential in my role of editing and in a great deal of my work;
having the reference list on one screen and the text on the other;
having the SPSS result on one screen, and the results in word on
the other; having the BASES conference database on one screen
and the programme file on the other screen are all examples of
when it helps to be able to cross check two files quickly. Yes we
can switch between windows, but this can be frustrating, especially
when you get tired.
I bought an additional screen recently to plug into my lap top. How
you get windows:
Step 1: Plug in second screen
Step 2: Shortcut to display
Step 3: Settings
Step 4: Highlighted second screen and place tick in the box ‘extend
my windows onto this monitor’ (see pic above, right)
Step 5. Apply
You should be able to move the mouse from screen to screen;
move a document from screen to screen; and thereby switch from
document to document. You can copy on one screen and paste in
the other.
Prof Andy Lane, University of Wolverhampton
www.bases.org.uk
MSc in Exercise & Health Science
MSc in Nutrition, Physical Activity
& Public Health
Structure the programme
to your needs
Exciting career prospects in
health promotion & public health
Study full-time (1 yr) or
part-time (2- 5 yrs)
Variety of Modules with topics
covering physical activity,
nutrition, obesity, mental health,
population issues, psychology,
dietary issues and ageing
Assessment by coursework and
dissertation - No examinations!
Certificate/Diploma available
Active research environment
Department of Exercise and Health Sciences
Contact: Margaret Thompson
Dept of Exercise and Health Sciences,
University of Bristol,
Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TP
Email: Margaret.Thompson@bristol.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 117 33 11147
Fax: +44 (0) 117 33 11148
Website: www.Bristol.ac.uk/ehs
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 27
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Optimising Learning Environments in Sport and
Exercise Science: Theory and Practical Applications
Dr Maria Konstantaki offers insights into applying learning theory to enhance the quality
of learning and teaching in sport and exercise sciences. Dr Mike Duncan offers a reply
Teaching methods in Higher Education are
increasingly becoming student-centred rather
than lecturer-centred. This article provides
examples from exercise physiology to
demonstrate the application of selected learning
and teaching theories when teaching sport and
exercise science. Studies that have evaluated the
effectiveness of learning and teaching methods
in sport and exercise sciences are limited. The
present article, although largely based on
experiences of the author, proposes that learning
is enhanced through the application of theory,
and invites readers to test these suggestions.
Experiential learning and
undergraduate sport and exercise
science teaching
Practical work that is intended to develop skills
and technique within a controlled environment
could provide students with the opportunity to
learn from experience. Methods that may
promote experiential learning include
laboratory experiments (practice skills),
simulations (creating a realistic experience in a
controlled environment), case studies (discuss
issue or problem), micro-teaching (intensive
practice of a skill under observation) and
projects (study a topic in depth).
Laboratory experiments
Exercise physiology laboratory experiments
could be designed to facilitate progression from
simple to more complex concepts, from year
one through to year three. Students undertake a
series of tasks (doing) and observe the results
either in small groups or individually
(processing, thinking). A handout or laboratory
manual provides students with background
information to guide them through each testing
protocol and data analysis procedure. The
handout can also include questions encouraging
students to consider the significance of
observations. These can either be discussed
during class time, or as a task to be completed
independently as part of module assessment
(thinking, furthering understanding). An example
of such a plan is shown in Table 1. Students
progressively develop independent learning
skills over the three levels.
The students can be briefed that in Level 1 they
will be introduced to key physiological
measurements and testing procedures; at Level
2 students are expected to conduct these
measurements with minimal supervision; and at
Level 3 students should be able to perform the
measurements and interpret the results
independently. Field visits to centres where
physiological testing of athletes or patients takes
place should be scheduled during the three
years to broaden students’ awareness of ‘real
life’ examples. Assessment should be linked to
practical skills as it is commonly recognised
that assessment drives student-learning.
Simulations
Simulation arguably provides an excellent
method to use with Level 3 students who will
have mastered the necessary skills and will be
confident to use equipment and procedures in a
Table 1. Three-year plan for exercise physiology laboratory sessions
2
3
Acquire basic skills,
observation
Build on basic skills,
reflection
Apply skills,
problem-solving
Lecturer’s
contribution to
the development
of key skills
70%
50%
10%
Student’s
contribution to
the development
of key skills
30%
50%
90%
Heart rate and blood
pressure, pulmonary
function,
anthropometry (BMI,
girths), blood
chemistry (Hct, Hb),
resting oxygen uptake
(Douglas bags),
flexibility,
dynamometry, field
tests (multi-stage
fitness test)
Heart rate and blood
pressure, pulmonary
function, oxygen
uptake (on-line
system), dynamometry
(CYBEX),
cardiorespiratory
fitness (AstrandRhyming, Cooper),
body composition
(skinfolds), OBLA
VO2max, Wingate
protocols, body
composition
(skinfolds vs body
stat), peak lactate
concentration, fieldbased speed tests,
dynamometry
(CYBEX)
Level
Aim
Elements
1
28 l Issue 7 l March 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
.
controlled laboratory environment. Students can
be given a case scenario to work on, practise
their skills and then apply their knowledge of the
underpinning theory by interpreting and
discussing their findings. An example of such a
scenario would be to instruct a subject
on how
.
to perform an exercise test (i.e., VO2max) and
collect and interpret data. The student needs to
perform the role of an exercise scientist who
greets the client, administers PAR-Q and
informed consent, follows experimental
procedure (subject and equipment preparation),
interprets findings and feeds back to the subject.
This method of teaching can be linked to
problem-based learning and some of its
elements are inherent in the adult learning
theory.
Case studies
Case studies can be rich learning experiences,
particularly with Level 2 and Level 3 students
who should be developing critical thinking
skills. A case study will first require the students
to understand the nature of the case, and then to
analyse the appropriate features of it in order to
complete the task. For example, the students
can be given two or three journal articles on the
same topic to study in groups, investigate the
methodology used, summarise the findings and
generally critique the article. Then each group
can present a summary of their critical analysis
of the articles in question. All groups can then
have an open discussion about the pros and
cons of each article. Case studies are a
representative method of problem-based
learning and provide insight into the context of
an example as well as illustrating the main point
(Fry et al., 2003). Dale and Lane (2003) provide
examples of where this was effectively managed
in sport and exercise psychology modules.
Micro-teaching
Teaching the methods used to conduct
physiological testing arguably lends itself to
micro-teaching. Taking and analysing blood
using the finger prick procedure and a certain
type of analyser (e.g., the Lactate Pro) is the
skill used as an illustrative example. In week 1
students are taught the practical skills and given
an opportunity to practise it in week 2. In week 3
students independently perform the task for the
lecturer and receive feedback regarding their
performance. During week 3 students also
provide reciprocal feedback on each other’s
skills. This method could be particularly useful
with year three students, as the aim of Level 3 is
to complete the process of guiding the students
to become independent learners.
Projects
Projects arguably provide students with research
experience. Projects do not have to exclusively
consist of Level three honours projects, rather
www.bases.org.uk
LEARNING AND TEACHING
COURTESY OF MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, CHESHIRE
Student-centred
teaching methods
Dr Mike Duncan offers comments...
they should be inculcated into the curriculum
across all Levels, albeit in different proportions.
The first step is to ask the students to work in
groups to collect data and information. This will
ensure that the student is not suddenly faced
with a project that they have to complete
individually, but each student can work as part
of a team. Such a method allows the students to
interact and support each other through the
learning experience. The assignment can set a
requirement for the students to produce an
individual report in order to avoid plagiarism. An
example of a second year project in exercise
physiology may involve a series of body fat
assessments using different methods on a
number of subjects. Students are given time to
familiarise themselves with equipment and
procedures (following demonstration) and then
conduct the measurements on members of their
group, collect data and formulate results.
Finally, the students are given two weeks to
research the topic in more depth, compare and
contrast their findings to contemporary literature
and produce an individual report.
References
Dale, C. & Lane, A. M. (2004). ‘Carry on Talking’:
Developing ways to enhance student’s use of online
discussion forums. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure,
Sport and Tourism Education, 3, 53-59.
Fry H., Ketteridge S. & Marshall S. (2003). A
Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher
Education: Enhancing Academic Practice. 2nd
Edition. Kogan Page, London and Sterling, VA.
www.bases.org.uk
Performing an exercise test
stance. Similarly, case studies, as described in
this article, provide one example of the use of
problem based learning within exercise
physiology but it might be more interesting to
share how problem based learning (or any other
method of teaching and learning) can be
integrated and assessed within sport and
exercise sciences. Most importantly, in order to
aid the development of teaching and learning
within sport and exercise sciences, we need to
evaluate the staff and student experience of this
type of framework.
This article serves to provide a good start point
from which practitioners could share their
experiences with each other through The Sport
and Exercise Scientist. Future consideration
should be given to which methods do staff or
students find the most enjoyable to
deliver/engage with, which are the most labour
intensive, how do colleagues employ these
methods across disciplines and how do we
assess student learning when using different
teaching and learning strategies? ■
Dr Maria Konstantaki
Maria is a Senior Lecturer in
Sports Science in the
Department of Sport and
Recreation at Buckinghamshire
Chilterns University College. She
is a Registered Practitioner with
the Higher Education Academy.
COURTESY OF LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
Conclusion
These methods are based on theoretical
propositions and arguably would help prepare
students for employment within the sports and
exercise industry, and can be equally rewarding
for the lecturer. An acknowledged limitation of
many of the suggestions is the lack empirical
data to test these assumptions; something I
suggest is warranted by sport and exercise
scientists wishing to enhance the learning
process of students.
The issue of experiential learning should be
familiar to most academics within sport and
exercise sciences and this article is useful in
that it serves to refresh the minds of those
already teaching within Higher Education in
terms of the theory on which teaching and
learning can be based. This work may also help
to introduce newer academics within sport and
exercise sciences to this theory of teaching and
learning. The inclusion of a framework from
exercise physiology is also useful in providing
ideas and an opportunity to reflect on and
modify practice. I am sure that the types of
examples provided within this article are also
familiar to many and are used in delivery of
undergraduate courses across the country.
In my view the next step in highlighting the
practice of teaching and learning within sport
and exercise sciences is how these methods
work across disciplines and how they are
differentiated across disciplines or level. For
example, simulations can be used as problem
solving learning, problem based learning or
enquiry based learning depending on the
discipline, topic area, course or pedagogical
Mike Duncan
Mike is a Senior Lecturer in
Sports Studies at Newman
College of Higher Education.
His main research focus is in
the area of children’s physical
activity and problem based
learning.
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 29
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B A S E S A N N U A L M E M B E R S H I P A P P L I C AT I O N
BASES launched a course finder for sport and exercise
science undergraduate and postgraduate courses. This
project was led by Drs Val Cox and Claire Palmer. Dr
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BASES to be providing a useful one-stop service to
students, schools and colleges, institutions, higher
and further education staff”.
Users are able to
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by a range of fields
including institution,
region and course
topic areas. The
course finder now
lists those courses
which have achieved
BASES endorsement
(BUES), which
assures the
appropriateness of
the curriculum,
resources and
opportunities that
undergraduate
courses offer for
training sport and
exercise scientists.
All endorsed courses
are listed on the
BASES Course
Finder and marked
with a tick.
The website has been aided significantly by a strategic
alliance with one of the leading sport and exercise
science publishers Human Kinetics. Human Kinetics
Managing Director, Sara Cooper, added, “We are
delighted to be able to lend our support to the
website. I am sure that BASES’ members and visitors
will find the many new features to be of great benefit”.
All BASES members receive 15% discount at
www.humankinetics.com, meaning annual
BASES membership fees, particularly for
students paying only £30, can quickly be
recouped in savings.
1. On-line journal access
Members can now enjoy access to Human Kinetics
Journals on Demand, which allows members to
download up to 30 articles from the Human Kinetics
journal titles in any one year. Instead of going to a
library and searching through hard copies of Tables of
Contents, Journals on Demand offers a search
mechanism so that members can search on keywords,
authors, article title and abstract for a piece of
research. Several new journals have been added Physical Activity and Health and International Journal
of Sports Physiology and Performance.
Members also have full access to the electronic version
of the Journal of Sports Sciences (Vol14 – present).
www.bases.org.uk
3. Studentship finder
BASES has launched a Studentship Finder, listing the
latest studentship vacancies in sport and exercise
sciences. The service is free and aims to provide a
valuable service to institutions and sport and exercise
science graduates. Please visit
www.bases.org.uk/newsite/jobsearch.asp for details on
the latest studentship vacancies in sport and exercise.
4. External examiner finder
Members can now search in the Member Area for
individuals suitable to take on the roles of External
Examiner or Panel Member of Course Approval. There
are currently 65 BASES members listed on the
external examiner finder. Feedback from members
indicates that this search engine takes the pain out of
what has previously been quite a pain-staking task to
be performed each year.
5. Job and studentship alerts
Division of Education and Professional
Development Chair l Dr Rhys Thatcher
ryt@aber.ac.uk
Division of Physical Activity for
Health Chair l Dr John Buckley
j.p.buckley@keele.ac.uk
Division of Sport and Performance
Chair l Dr Kevin Thompson
kevin.thompson@eis2win.co.uk
Dr Claire Palmer, BASES Executive Officer, “Since we
modernised the site, we’ve added lots of new features
to ensure a highly functional and interactive
environment for visitors.” The website averages over
3,000 page views per day.
2. BASES course finder
Chair l Prof Craig Mahoney
c.a.mahoney@wlv.ac.uk
Chair Elect & Treasurer l
Dr Richard Davison
richard.davison@port.ac.uk
Secretary l Prof Edward Winter
e.m.winter@shu.ac.uk
Executive Officer l Dr Claire Palmer
cpalmer@bases.org.uk
The BASES website has gone from strength to
strength since it was re-launched two years ago.
Delighted with its success, Human Kinetics has
agreed to sponsor it for another year.
BASES
Leeds Metropolitan University,
Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education,
Fairfax Hall, Headingley Campus,
Beckett Park, Leeds LS6 3QS
Tel/ Fax: +44 (0)113 283 6162/63
■ www.bases.org.uk
Office Manager l Jane Bairstow
jbairstow@bases.org.uk
Administrative Assistant l Marsha Stankler
■ mstankler@bases.org.uk
BASES website, www.bases.org.uk
- latest developments
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCES - the UK professional body for all those with an interest in the science of sport and exercise
BASES ONLINE
The job vacancies and studentships webpage has
been re-designed to improve their functionality. Alerts
have been added so visitors can subscribe for free to
immediately receive new jobs and/or studentships in
their e-mail inbox. ■
The website is designed by Andy O’Neill
of Lazy Gecko www.lazygecko.co.uk
Issue 8 l June 2006 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 31