The purpose of this study was to compare the level of Sense of Coherence (SOC) in athletes to that in non-athletes in a college population. Subjects were 716 students (315 males, 401 females; mean age 19.4±1.4 years; age range 18-37 years) from metropolitan colleges. SOC was measured by standard questionnaires (Antonovsky, 1987) including the Japanese version of the SOC-13 translated by Yamazaki (1999) which can also measure three sub-concepts of SOC, namely, senses of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The sports activities the subjects engaged in were also surveyed in terms of their affiliated athletic organizations, sporting events, frequency of play, successive years of play, and experience of playing sports. From the frequency of play at the time of survey, the subjects were categorized into three groups: high frequency sports activity (HFS), medium frequency sports activity (MFS), and Low frequency or No sports activity (LNS) groups. Additionally, from the number of successive years of play of their current sports, subjects were categorized into four groups: 0-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-9 years, and >10 years. Significant differences in SOC and meaningfulness scores were found between the HFS, MFS, and LNS groups (χ²=12.53, 11.80; both p<0.01). Significant differences in the SOC, meaningfulness, and comprehensibility scores were also found between the four duration groups (Z=3.68, 2.77, 3.19, p<0.001 or 0.01) with several sex differences. The results showed the possibility that sports activities related to SOC, and athletes possessed higher SOC than that of non-athletes. The findings suggested that experience of successive years of sport activities enhanced SOC. This hypothesis was discussed mainly in terms of General Resistance Resources (GRRs) and the three SOC sub-concepts.

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Sport injury has been identified as one of the major adolescent health problems. This study investigated the current level of knowledge and attitude of sports injury prevention and management (SIPM), and the correlations between the demographic factors among senior high school athletes in Taiwan. The population covers a total of three hundred school athletes who accepted the survey and were selected with purposive sampling from the school athletes of seven public and private senior high schools in Hsinchu County. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires. 86.0% participants had sports injury history in the last year; gender (p<.001), type of school (p<.001), grade (p<.01) and total practicing days a week (p<.01) was statistically significant in SIPM knowledge. All participants believed that none of the sports injury related courses provides adequate knowledge; and the highly positive correlation between knowledge and attitude of SIPM was found (r=.608, p<.001). We suggest that the higher risk group of sports injuries, such as school athletes will be deprived from learning more about sports injury prevention and management. The training of high school teachers and coaches will likely increase students' knowledge and influences their attitudes then motivate their practice to keep health.

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The aims of the study were to examine the association between occupational PA and overall PA level of school teachers, and to compare the occupational PA level of school teachers engaged in PAs of a different nature at work (PE and non-PE teacher) in Hong Kong. Seventy-one elementary school teachers were assessed for three-day PA levels using step pedometers. Results indicated that occupational PA significantly predicted overall daily PA level. PE teachers were reported to have higher step counts during working hours compared with non-PE teachers. In addition, the occupational PA level of teaching profession is not reported to be at low level. The promotion of PA, both leisure and occupational, should be emphasized to the teaching profession.

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In the present study, we aimed to determine whether the advancement in skeletal age (SA) of youth soccer players relative to chronological age was dependent on the maturation spurt or selection bias toward biological maturation. These factors were investigated using cross-sectional and mixed longitudinal study designs. Height, body mass, SA, and maturation differences in 181 youth soccer players (age range; 9.3-16.0 years) were measured. SAs were assessed using the Tanner-Whitehouse three (TW3) and Japanese-standardized SA (J-SA) methods. Thirty-seven of the 181 players (age range; 9.6-13.0 years) then participated in a one-year follow-up study. The participants were divided into seven age groups (under 10 (U10)-U16). Cross-sectional differences in all measurements between the categories were compared with annual increment data. There were significant cross-sectional differences in height (14.9 vs. 10.9±3.3 cm), body mass (13.4 vs. 8.2±3.1 kg), and SA (J-SA: 1.7 vs. 1.0±0.6 yrs; TW3: 2.6 vs. 1.5±0.8 years) between the U12 and U13 groups (p<0.01 each). Furthermore, these differences were higher than those for mixed longitudinal data. These findings imply that advanced biological maturation in youth soccer players may depend on selection bias towards the early biological maturation.

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In the present study, the influence of psychological pressure on corticospinal motor tract (CST) excitability was investigated using monophasic transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during a fine finger movement. Nine participants performed a spatiotemporal tracing task using a small laser pointer attached to the right index finger. After seven acquisition trials, they performed two non-pressure trials followed by two pressure trials. A stress was successfully induced; state anxiety, heart rates, and galvanic skin response all increased under pressure. In terms of motor evoked potential (MEP) in the first dorsal interosseous muscle, increases in amplitude and decreases in latency were shown under pressure. Moreover, whereas background electromyography (bEMG) before TMS failed to increase significantly under pressure, the ratio of MEP amplitude to bEMG did increase under pressure. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between increased CST excitability and decreased performance accuracy from non-pressure to pressure trials. These results suggest that psychological pressure can facilitate the excitatory level of CST during performance of a fine motor skill and that CST excitation under pressure can relate to decreased performance.

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This study compared the range of hallux valgus angle (HVA) deformity between basketball players and same aged non-basketball players as controls. The participants included 21 basketball players (9 males, 12 females, mean age 18 years) and 36 age-matched college students (19 males, 17 females, mean age 20 years) who served as controls. After direct palpation of the first metatarsal and proximal phalange, we measured the HVA deformity using a photographic approach in the women basketball players and a goniometer for the men basketball players and all controls. The HVA was greater in basketball players than in the controls. Among female basketball players, the HVA was significantly greater in guards compared with forwards and centers. In conclusion, playing basketball may increase the HVA. The greater increase in HVA among guards might arise because they are required to make diagonal and horizontal movements that increase the burden on the foot. In general insole or ergonomic shoes could reduce pain, improved walking ability, and hallux valgus angle for prophylactic or therapeutic approaches. Therefore, an appropriate preventive interventional program should be developed.

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This paper examines perceptions of effective coaching and coach-athlete relationships within professional team sports in Australia. The findings are based on interviews with six male professional coaches and 25 players from cricket, rugby league, and rugby union. Qualitative data analysis reveals that relationships within professional sport settings are based on mutual respect, trust and honesty. The results also indicate that professional coaches and players describe two different types of coach-athlete relationships-the close, ‘family’ oriented relationship or the ‘professional’, arms-length relationship-both of which are considered equally effective as long as the coaches and athletes share the same attitude towards the relationship. These findings have implications for effective coaching and how coaches interact to develop relationships with their athletes. They demonstrate that if coaches are to be perceived as effective, it is crucial to consider individual athlete preferences with respect to the type of relationship formed. This highlights the need for specialised coach training in people management as the professional coaching role increasingly requires attention to personal development in conjunction with the technical, tactical and physical training of their athletes.

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This paper discusses the historical process of tourism acculturation of Thai Massage in tourism particularly delineating how socio-cultural contexts have been formed that enabled tourism acculturation. In recent years, health tourism has been developing in Asian countries, where tourists often enjoy practicing a variety of traditional techniques of the body as “healing arts,” such as Tai Chi, Zen meditation, and Yoga. Thai Massage has also become one of these kinds of traditional techniques of the body, attracting many tourists as a “spiritual” practice based on Buddhist philosophy. However, has Thai Massage originally been practiced as it is done in health tourism now in Thailand? In other words, has Thai Massage been acculturated as a result of the tourism development in Thailand? This paper addresses this question by examining the transition of Thai tourism policy, the cultural structure of the spa, and the acculturation process of Thai Massage.

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Clarification of the relationship between experiences in sports and personality development has been one of the most important issues in sport psychology. The present study focused on the relationship between the adoption of a belief in life skills through participation in athletic clubs as an opportunity for personality development, and time perspective (TP) as a psychological aspect that is related to adoption of this belief. In study 1, a questionnaire to measure the adoption of a belief in life skills through participation in athletic clubs (BLSQ) was developed through an investigation carried out on 563 college students who belonged to athletic clubs in high school or junior high school. It consisted of 4 subscales; positive thinking, endurance, propriety, and cooperation. The reliability of the BLSQ was verified, but the validity of it was not strictly verified. The factors related to adoption of the belief were identified through the preliminary investigation. In study 2, the BLSQ, the experimental time perspective scale (ETPS), and a survey of experiences in athletic clubs were introduced to 180 freshmen who belonged to athletic clubs at high school. From the results of study 2, it was clarified that (1) insight into self-experiences in athletic clubs was related to adoption of a belief in positive thinking and endurance. On the other hand, actual experiences in daily life were related to the adoption of a belief of propriety and cooperation. (2) A belief in life skills would be related to the development of TP through an affirmative interpretation of experiences gained at the athletic clubs. Consequently, it is considered that an affirmative interpretation of experiences at athletic clubs as experiences that facilitate the acquisition of life skills, leads to the development of TP.

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This paper outlines the findings from a qualitative investigation of the perceptions about, and strategies of, effective coaching leadership within three male Australian professional team sport contexts. Data collection involved semi-structured observations and interviews with coaches and players from professional cricket, rugby union and rugby league teams at training and competition venues in Australia. Data analysis revealed three major properties that underpin perceived effective coach leadership—(1) Develop a personalised approach, (2) Delegate responsibilities and (3) Decision-making. The findings showed that coaches in these professional sport settings possessed their own personal approach to leadership, yet develop a leadership style that resonates with the ideals of support staff and players. The results also demonstrated how a player-centred approach to coach leadership was more highly valued than the traditional, coach-centred approach within these professional contexts. The implications for coaching practice are discussed in relation to previous leadership and coaching literature.

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The purpose of this study is to explore the multidimensional benefits experienced by Masters Sports participants from a case of the Masters Koshien. This study focused on the Masters Koshien to collect qualitative data regarding detailed description of subjective benefits of the event participants and investigated what kind of benefits do the masters sports participants obtain substantially. Survey interviews were conducted and 1,878 linguistic data items were collected from 304 participants of the 2008 Masters Koshien, our action research program. In the series of thematic analysis, 21 benefits of masters sports were extracted and divided into 4 different dimensions of benefits: individual benefits, community benefits, social benefits, and educational benefits. It was suggested that this study could reveal three additional benefits that previous studies have not been explored such as community benefits, social benefits, and educational benefits of masters sports. Moreover, it was revealed that the Masters Koshien presented the general benefits derived from any masters sports and the typical benefits of the Masters Koshien's unique status as a mecca-like masters sports event and as an alumni membership sport event.

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