Taiikugaku kenkyu (Japan Journal of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences)
Online ISSN : 1881-7718
Print ISSN : 0484-6710
ISSN-L : 0484-6710
Volume 57, Issue 2
Displaying 1-24 of 24 articles from this issue
Original investigations
  • Takeshi Matsubara, George Koike, Yoshiyasu Higuchi, Mami Yanagawa, Mun ...
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 369-377
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: May 08, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this study was to establish a simple and novel equation to determine the 50%VO2max/wt (ml/kg/min) predicted by the one-point method (1 PM50%VO2max/wt) using data from daily exercise aimed at health promotion, and to elucidate the relationship between this 1 PM50% VO2max/wt and coronary risk factors (CRFs).
    Data from 632 female subjects (aged 41±13 years) were studied. The 1 PM50%VO2max/wt was calculated from paired values of work rate and heart rate during exercise on a stationary bicycle ergometer, and the age-predicted heart rate at 50%VO2max (=138-age/2). As CRFs, percentage body fat, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and HbA1c were measured. Logistic regression analysis was carried out for statistical analysis.
    Our findings confirmed that the odds ratio of having abnormal values for CRFs was lower at a higher 1 PM50%VO2max/wt (p<0.001), indicating that data obtained from daily training aimed at health promotion are very valuable for calculating 1 PM50%VO2max/wt for assessment of health status.
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  • Takashi Takenouchi, Aiko Okuda, Mikiko Oohata
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 379-398
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 19, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Ego development in athletes should be examined as a long-term process. We hypothesized that 1) athletes face specific crises at each stage of development, and 2) these crises involve the resolution of psychosocial developmental tasks that promote ego development at each stage. The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of the hypothesized process of ego development in athletes, focusing on three developmental stages: junior high school years, senior high school years, and college years. The study initially examined crisis issues related to ego development in college athletes. A previous study by Takenouchi et al. (2006) investigated crisis issues related to ego development in junior and senior high school athletes. Based on the results of the present study and their study, we examined developmental changes in crisis issues related to ego development in athletes. The results showed that crisis experiences in the issues of coaches, future occupation/life courses, continuation in athletics, friends of the opposite sex, and athletic performance were associated with ego development in ways that differed according to developmental stage, thus supporting hypothesis 1. We next examined whether developmental changes in crisis issues related to ego development in athletes could be interpreted theoretically in terms of changes in the psychosocial tasks at each stage of development. Examination of psychosocial developmental tasks, such as psychological separation, identity formation, development of intimacy, and internalization of sex roles, confirmed that the developmental changes in crisis issues related to ego development could be interpreted theoretically in terms of the changes in the psychosocial tasks at each stage of development. This finding suggests that crisis issues may be related to psychosocial developmental tasks, and that those tasks may mediate the relationship between crisis issues and ego development among athletes, thus supporting hypothesis 2. Accordingly, the results of this study support the hypothesized process of ego development in athletes. Future research directions are discussed, and a model for the process of ego development in athletes, including issues to be examined in the future, is presented.
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  • Kyu Sasaki
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 399-414
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 19, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper was to clarify the referents of “physique” (adj.) and discuss its significance in the educational context of J. J. Rousseau's Émile.
    In 18th century France, the term ‘physique’ was a synonym for ‘naturel(les)’, and did not refer directly to the human body (‘corps’). This implies that the educational theory of ‘physique’ found in Émile differed in some way from the contemporary concept of ‘physical education’ as education of the human body. By considering the educational theory of ‘physique’ as a prototype of physical education, this paper attempts to clarify its contexts, and to trace its educational significance.
    The main points derived were as follows:
    In Émile, ‘physique’ was paired with ‘moral’ (‘moreau’), which corresponds to the stages of human development. The former meant the characteristics of stages in infancy, while the latter meant the stages after puberty. Education aimed at ‘the being of physique’ attempts to facilitate acquisition of abilities for self-conservation. In order to acquire such abilities, not only the human body but also mentality needs to be developed. The educational theory of ‘physique’, which attempts to cultivate both, is appropriate for childhood.
    In the work of Rousseau, ‘physique’ has referents different from the human body. Although the educational theory of ‘physique’ includes the human body, the two need to be distinguished from each other.
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  • Ayumi Tanaka, Yoshinobu Saito, Yoshitaka Kobori, Zhen-Bo Cao, Mitsuru ...
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 415-426
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 18, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Purpose: To examine the associations of health-related physical fitness (HRPF) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Japanese women and men.
    Methods: The subjects were 366 women and 162 men aged 30-79 years. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was measured with a graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer. Muscular strength was evaluated by measuring hand grip strength, muscular endurance was assessed by an abdominal endurance sit-ups test, and flexibility was measured by a sit-and-reach test. Z-scores for each test were summed to construct the HRPF index composite score (HRPFs). Various CVD risk factors, including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), HDL cholesterol (HDL-c), triglycerides (TG), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were examined for each participant.
    Results: After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status, associations were found between CRF and SBP, DBP, HDL-c and TG, (β=−0.191; p<0.01, β=−0.167; p<0.05, β=0.245; p<0.01, β=−0.233; p<0.01, respectively), and between muscular strength and HDL-c (β=0.156; p<0.01), muscular endurance and HDL-c (β=0.121; p<0.05) in women. In men, CRF was inversely associated with TG (β=−0.255; p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated an inverse gradient (p<0.05) across tertiles of HRPFs and individual HRPF levels (including CRF, muscular strength, and flexibility) for prevalence of having two or more CVD risk factors after adjustment for age and smoking status. In comparison with individuals in the lowest tertile of HRPFs levels, those in the middle (odds ratios (ORs) 0.32 (95% CI: 0.17 to 0.60) in women and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.20 to 1.00) in men) and highest tertile (ORs 0.12 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.28) in women and 0.31 (95% CI: 0.13 to 0.73) in men) had a significantly lower likelihood of having two or more CVD risk factors.
    Conclusions: Our results show that HRPF is associated with CVD risk factors in Japanese women and men.
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  • Takashi Shimazaki, Masao Kikkawa
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 427-447
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purposes of this study were to construct a Nonverbal Communication Scale for Coaches (NCSC) and to examine relationships among nonverbal communication (NVC), communication ability and coaching evaluation.
    Study 1 involved construction of the NCSC. Adolescent athletes (n=166) completed a questionnaire that assessed their coach's nonverbal communication (perceived frequency and impression). Exploratory factor analysis yielded eight factors: negative NVC (unfavorable impression formation, negative attitude, unacceptable attitude and exhibition of perplexity) and positive NVC (positive distance, positive gesture, positive touching and positive expression).
    Study 2 involved testing the reliability and validity of the NCSC, and examining the relationships among NVC, communication ability and coaching evaluation. Adolescent athletes (n=276) estimated their coach's NVC, verbal communication and coaching using the NCSC, Communication Ability Evaluation Scale (Negishi and Kikkawa, 2006) and Coaching Evaluation Scale (Tanaka et al., 1996).
    Structural equation modeling demonstrated: 1) the reliability and validity of the NCSC for measuring the coach's NVC, 2) relationships among NVC, communication ability and coaching evaluation, and 3) mediation of coaching ability in the relationships. These findings provide a model of relationships among NVC, communication ability and coaching evaluation.
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  • Naoko Sengoku, Daisuke Koizumi, Nobuo Takeshima
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 449-454
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 29, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Nordic walking exercise on functional fitness in older adults. Seventeen healthy adults (11 women and 6 men, aged 70±6 yr) volunteered to participate in the exercise group (EX-group) and 17 (14 women and 3 men, aged 69±7 yr) volunteered as controls (CN-group). The EX-group participated in a 12-week supervised exercise program for 904 min/day, 3 days per week. After the program, the EX-group showed significant improvements in the arm curl, chair stand, up and go, back scratch and 12-min walk tests compared with the CN-group.
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  • Hiroaki Uechi, Yasunori Morioka, Kenta Oyama
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 455-469
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study sought to develop an instrument for assessment of motivation for exercise, the Exercise Orientation Scale, and use it to examine the relationship between exercise orientation and use of a behavioral change technique in an exercise setting. In Study 1 designed to develop the scale, we employed 204 elementary school students, 310 junior high school students, and 252 university students. Factor analysis of the 18-item Exercise Orientation Scale revealed a six-factor structure comprising (1) relatedness orientation, (2) discipline orientation, (3) fulfillment orientation, (4) practice orientation, (5) reward orientation, and (6) superiority orientation. The scale was found to have reliability and validity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to examine differences in exercise orientation by sex and developmental stage. The scores for fulfillment orientation, reward orientation, and relatedness orientation differed significantly between boys and girls: boys had significantly higher fulfillment and reward orientation scores, while girls had significantly higher relatedness orientation scores. Almost all orientation scores for elementary school students were significantly higher than those for the older groups. In Study 2, the participants were 195 university students. Covariance structure analysis revealed that content-related motivation (i.e. the practice, discipline, and fulfillment orientation factors) in particular predicted the use of a behavioral change technique to promote exercise participation. Moreover, fulfillment orientation was directly related to the duration of exercise participation. The results of these studies suggest that content-related motivation promotes exercise participation via the use of a behavioral change technique.
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  • Shusuke Murata
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 471-482
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: June 18, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Many Japanese rural areas now depend on sustainable sports tourism. However, this has not taken root yet in the reality of community life in such areas.
    Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out the viewpoint that is fitting the present face of sports tourism in order to reconstituting sports tourism studies. As a method, this study reviews previous research with reference to the “tourist-gaze” theory.
    Previous studies have employed two methodological viewpoints for understanding the postmodern face of sports tourism. One is a semiotic consumer viewpoint, and the other is a structural viewpoint for clarifying the relationship between a community and sports tourism. However, as there is no theoretical bridge between these two approaches, the present study attempted to connect these viewpoints through the “tourist-gaze” theory, which considers both of them.
    Our findings demonstrated a need to look at sports tourism as a social activity that involves reinterpreting various types of land as sports space, and to reconstruct sports tourism by considering representational conflicts among these areas of land.
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  • Yasunobu Nishi, Keiji Iwai
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 483-499
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: July 11, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to identify psychological factors that contribute to the development of sub-clinical primary exercise dependence among Japanese exercisers. Most studies of exercise dependence follow a top-down, quantitative, hypothesis-verification approach. The present study, in contrast, used a qualitative method, the Grounded Theory Approach. Dialogue data were collected from 14 exercisers who were evaluated for sub-clinical primary exercise dependence in semi-structured interviews and analyzed by classifying them into categories. Through these steps, seven types as psychological factors were identified as leading to sub-clinical primary exercise dependence among Japanese exercisers: dependence, obsessive-compulsiveness, conflict avoidance, maintenance of a positive self-concept, perceieved benefit of exercise, limited stress-coping resource, and typical increase in exercise volume. It was also found that dependence and obsessive-compulsiveness play a crucial and direct role in the development of sub-clinical primary exercise dependence, and that conflict avoidance and maintenance of a positive self-concept can precipitate obsessive-compulsiveness. Finally, a perceived benefit of exercise was shown to be an integral component of dependence.
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  • Chanwoo Lee
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 501-513
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: July 07, 2012
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    This study investigated Korean traditional archery in the 18th century by reference to the Eosagopungcheop (records of the old custom of King's archery) of King Jeongjo, who was known for both literary and military accomplishments in the Joseon era. Through these records, we were able to obtain information on the types of archery, the variety of targets and arrows, the methods of scoring and recording, and the features of traditional archery. The findings were as follows:
    1.  The arrows employed were Yuyeopjeon (willow-leaf arrow), Soso (small arrow), and Cheoljeon (iron arrow). All of them featured in examinations for military officers.
    2.  In terms of quantity and frequency, the willow-leaf arrow was used most commonly.
    3.  The small arrow was considered the piece arrow, which was a weapon unique to Korea.
    4.  It became clear that the iron arrow, which was very heavy and thick, was used to break shields. It seems that this type of arrow was considered the most important for military officer examinations, because it played an important role in breaking down the enemy's defense in Korea, depending on the archery tactics.
    5.  The targets employed included cloth targets, leather targets and a variety of other types.
    6.  It was clarified that in terms of accuracy, targets were ranked in order of size. On the pierce leather target standard, the other targets appeared to be named ‘Fragment’, ‘Small’, ‘Palm’ in descending order of size.
    7.  Each type of arrow was paired with a specific target. The willow-leaf arrow was paired mainly with leather targets. The small arrow was paired with both leather and cloth targets, and the iron arrow was paired with shield or club targets.
    8.  According to the records, a practice session comprised basically 10 sequences, each involving the shooting of 5 arrows.
    9.  The scoring system differed depending on the type of target. For leather targets, the score was separated into two hit zones: the center and the surrounding area. However, the score was not separated in this way for cloth targets.
    10.  The willow-leaf arrow used on leather or club (cudgel) targets was the item to compete in accuracy. The small arrow, used mainly on cloth targets, was used in contests held on shooting ranges. The iron arrow, used mainly on shields or clubs as targets, was used for determining destructive power and accuracy.
    11.  The inscriptions in the records are divided as to whether the shooting sequence was single or multiple.
    12.  The records reveal that Korean traditional archery was still widely practiced at the end of the 18th century, when firearms had become common in all parts of the world.
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  • Takaaki Tsunokawa, Hideki Takagi, Yasuo Sengoku, Shozo Tsubakimoto
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 515-525
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: July 11, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between swimming performance and estimated fluid force by pressure distribution analysis of breaststroke kicking motion. Eleven elite male swimmers participated in the study, and provided written informed consent. Each subject performed the breaststroke kicking motion for 10 seconds without upper limb motion at maximal effort. During the trial, the subjects were connected to a load-cell via a polyethylene rope for measurement of tethered force (Ftethe) at 200 Hz. Eight pressure sensors were attached to the right foot to measure the the distribution of pressure on the foot. Resulting fluid force acting on the foot (Ffoot) was calculated from the product of measured pressure values and the area of the foot. Using coordinates of the right foot calculated using the 3D-DLT method, the estimated fluid force, propulsive force (Fprop), vertical force (Fvert) and lateral force (Flater) exerted by the right foot were computed. The competitive swimming velocity (v100) was calculated based on the personal best time over 100 m. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was used to investigate relationships among estimated fluid forces, Ftethe and v100. There were no significant correlations for v100 and mean Ftethe. The value of v100 showed significant correlations with the mean Ffoot (r=.734, p<.01), mean Fprop (r=−.741, p<.01), impulse of Ffoot (r=.742, p<.01), impulse of Fprop (r=−.757, p<.01), peak of Ffoot (r=.753, p<.01), and peak of Fprop (r=−.751, p<.01). During the trial, Fvert and Flater corresponded to the kicking motion. These results suggest that there are close relationships between swimming performance and estimating fluid forces acting on the foot. Therefore, the method used for estimating fluid force acting on the foot in this study appears to be a useful tool for evaluation of swimming performance.
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  • Yusuke Yano
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 527-543
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: July 14, 2012
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    This study focused on the introduction of hidari-kote (left kote), one of the datotsu-bui in chudan-no-kamae of kendo, in shinai-kyogi, and its restriction in gakko-kendo after 1953, in order to elucidate the process of transition of the striking zone and the reasons for it.
    The results obtained were as follows:
    1.  Datotsu-bui (particularly kote-bu) in chudan-no-kamae of shinai-kyogi were treated equally, regardless of whether the strike was directed at the opponent's left or right kote-bu in shinai-kyogi, as was decided from the perspective of sport. However, hidari-kote in gakko-kendo after 1953, which was practiced alongside shinai-kyogi as “sport kendo,” was restricted. This difference in the treatment of hidari-kote confirmed a discontinuity between shinai-kyogi and gakko-kendo.
    2.  In 1957, shinai-kyogi and gakko-kendo were amalgamated. A gakko-kendo instruction guide called “gakko-kendo-no shido” (1958) states two reasons why hidari-kote in chudan-no-kamae was prohibited in gakko-kendo. The first reason was that when fighting against an opponent using chudan-no-kamae, “attacking the opponent's dominant right hand increases the chance to win.” The second reason was that in chudan-no-kamae, “striking the opponent's left hand, a supporting hand in kendo, is dangerous because the point of the shinai (bamboo sword) tends to be thrust at the opponent's body and hard striking to the left hand from jodan (upper-guard position) in particular can cause injury.” In chudan-no-kamae, when striking hidari-kote, which is closer to the body than migi-kote (right kote), the point of the shinai tends to be thrust at the opponent's upper left arm area, which is not protected by bogu (protective equipment). In gakko-kendo, the striking instrument in question is a heavier and harder 4-slat bamboo shinai, instead of the 16-slat bamboo fukuro-shinai that is used in shinai-kyogi. In addition to the risk of the specific area being injured with the heavier and harder shinai, a fist of left hand, which is not the striking zone, is also struck because the tsuba (sword guard) does not protect it. Hence, striking the hidari-kote in chudan-no-kamae is prohibited in gakko-kendo.
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  • Masako Ishihara, Masanobu Araki, Hironobu Tsuchiya
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 545-555
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 16, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between personality, coping, social support, mental health, and psychological stress, in college athletes. We developed a conceptual diagram based on the psychological stress theory of Lazarus and Folkman (1984) and tested this diagram having personality as an independent variable and mental health as a dependent variable. Stress coping behavior and social support were also included in the diagram as mediating variables because they were conceptualized as being affected by individual personality. One hundred and eighty-six college athletes (115 males, 71 females) participated in the study, and completed three questionnaires: (a) the Tokyo University Egogram (TEG), which assessed personality; (b) an athletic stress coping behavior scale and athletic social support scale; and (c) the Mental Health Pattern. The TEG is a questionnaire developed based on transactional analysis theory that assesses the five ego states: Critical Parent, Nurturing Parent, Adult, Free Child, and Adapted Child. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and the model showed a good fit to the data (GFI=.967, AGFI=.983, CFI=.959, RESEA=.074). The results indicated that personality was directly related to mental health. For example, Adapted Child, as measured by the TEG, was directly related to the participants' stress responses. The results also indicated that personality was indirectly related to mental health through its effects on coping and social support. For quality of life, Free Child was more influential than the other ego states. In addition, individuals were more likely to utilize problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and social support in order to improve their quality of life. The results of this study suggest that stress management education corresponding to each personality type may be useful for maintaining the mental health of college athletes and facilitating their quality of life.
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  • Koichi Kawabata, Akira Ito
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 557-565
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: September 29, 2012
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    A study was conducted to investigate differences in bat swing between the use of long and short bat grip positions. Fifteen male baseball players were videotaped at 250 Hz using two high-speed video cameras while they were batting balls placed on a batting tee and pitched at 80, 100, and 120 km/h by a pitching machine. The bat head and grip end were digitized, and the three-dimensional coordinates were calculated using the direct linear transformation (DLT) method. Bat head velocity at impact employing the long grip position was significantly higher than that when the short grip position was used, but grip velocity and bat angular velocity at impact employing the short grip position were significantly higher than those when the long grip position was used, independent of pitching speed. These findings suggest that bat head velocity at impact was affected mainly by the radius of gyration. Bat head velocity at impact using both grip positions decreased significantly as pitching speed increased. This may have reflected the efforts of the players to improve batting accuracy, since the bat head velocity at impact was significantly lower for the short grip position than for the long grip position at all pitching speeds. These results regarding the relationship between speed and accuracy indicate that the short grip position is advantageous for improving batting accuracy.
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  • Yuki Ueda, Junya Masumoto, Nobuyuki Inui
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 567-576
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: August 09, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    It is known that simple reaction times increase with an increase in the number of components in a response sequence (the overall sequence of chunks, SEQ) while choice reaction times increase as the duration of a single response component (the internal structure of each chunk, INT) becomes longer. However, the two different types of movement programming account, the SEQ and INT, are not always consistent with the results of previous studies. The present study employing 10 male undergraduate students examined the effects of sequence length on reaction and movement times, and their variability, using simple and choice reaction time tasks consisting of 1 to 6 key presses (6 conditions). Analysis showed that although choice reaction times were constant under the 6 conditions, simple reaction times increased linearly as the number of key presses increased. Similarly, although choice reaction time variability was constant under the 6 conditions, simple reaction time variability increased linearly as the number of key presses increased. In addition, although there was no significant difference between the conditions for the movement times of the choice reaction time task, those for the simple reaction time task increased as the number of key presses increased. Thus, reaction and movement times and the variabilites of the simple reaction time task increased with an increase in the number of key presses, indicating that the longer the required movement became, the longer the latency of retrieval from the ‘motor program-buffer’, and the initiation and execution of its motor program (the effect of SEQ).
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  • Takeshi Yoshida
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 577-594
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 17, 2012
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    The purposes of this study were to identify, from a sociological perspective, the main factors involved in the process that a former J-League soccer player overcame the challenges and difficulties over retirement, and to find features that would be informative for athletes facing problems related to retirement from sport. This J-Leaguer became wheelchair-bound after being severely disabled in a traffic accident, and was able to overcome various challenges and difficulties through a career transition to wheelchair basketball. His life history was investigated on the basis of data recorded mainly during interviews. This study was based on the subjective socialization theory, especially Erikson's theory of identity related to subjective action, which is considered to partly overcome the problems associated with contemporary socialization theory, with special reference to the specific significance of individuals who helped the subject to overcome his difficulties.
    The difficulties he experienced were related to both retirement and life with a walking disability, the former being in conflict with the subject's strong self-identity as an elite soccer player. The presence of “irreplaceable others”, including his wife who devoted herself to his support and their newborn baby, his sense of responsibility for them, and his pride based on self-identity enabled him to exercise his subjectivity (reflexivity), allowing him to overcome his difficulties. In terms of his career transition to wheelchair basketball, “leading others” and “associates” in a wheelchair basketball club played important roles. When athletes retire as players, the following points are considered important for overcoming their associated difficulties. It is vital that the new change of career is well balanced with the athlete's self-identity. The role of others such as “leading others” is influential in finding a suitable career field. Furthermore, it should not be overlooked that the feelings of athletes that allow them to exercise their subjectivity to overcome their difficulties, “irreplaceable others”, self-identity which is the main source of such inner feelings, and “associates” in a supporting role are all valuable in this respect.
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  • Takayuki Murayama, Hiroshi Sekiya
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 595-611
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 17, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Factors related to choking under pressure during sports were investigated through a questionnaire survey, and the relationships among them were examined. A questionnaire survey of choking was conducted among university students in sports-oriented school clubs (n=535). Exploratory factor analysis extracted 11 factors: changes in motor control and vicious circles, abnormal physical sensations, cognitive and perceptual confusion, introversion, self-consciousness, feelings of physical heaviness and weakness, conscious processing (attention to movements), passivity, feelings of physical fatigue, safety-oriented strategies, and heat sensations. An analytical model with nine factors (excluding feelings of physical fatigue and heat sensations) as latent variables was constructed, and covariance structure analysis was performed. The results indicated the validity of the mechanistic model of choking, consisting of nine latent variables. According to the model, when self-consciousness, or abnormal physical sensations, had a high profile, conscious processing increased. Furthermore, it was confirmed that conscious processing affected changes in motor control and vicious circles, which led directly to a decline in motor performance. It was also indicated that abnormal physical sensations determined cognitive and perceptual confusion, or feelings of physical heaviness and weakness. On the other hand, when cognitive and perceptual confusion and feelings of physical heaviness and weakness had a high profile, passivity increased. High passivity caused changes in motor control and vicious circles. Moreover, increased passivity led to the adoption of a safety-oriented strategy that often caused changes in motor control and vicious circles. While previous studies have tried to explain choking only from the perspective of changes in attention, the above results suggest the following mechanistic model of choking, indicative of another perspective: changes in psychological, physiological, and behavioral variables cause a decline in performance. Especially interactions between emotions and cognition and the adoption of a strategy with a low risk of failure determine changes in motor control.
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  • Yasuto Kobayashi, Michiyoshi Ae, Akiyo Miyazaki, Norihisa Fujii
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 613-629
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: September 21, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study compared the overarm throwing motion of skilled elementary school children with standard motion models in order to obtain suggestions for teaching overarm throwing. The subjects were 93 children from the second, fourth, and sixth grades of elementary school who were asked to throw a softball with maximal effort. Their throwing motions were videotaped with three high-speed cameras for 3-D motion analysis. Seven boys and seven girls were selected from each grade as good throwers based on their throwing distance. The standard motion model proposed by Ae et al. (2007) was established from the coordinate data for the good throwers of each grade. The primary variables computed were the release height, velocity, and angle of the ball, the joint angles of the upper and lower limb joints, and the segment angles of the trunk.
    The findings obtained were as follows.
    1) For skilled boys, the throwing distance and ball velocity increased significantly with increasing school grade, and the throwing distance and ball velocity were significantly related in all grades.
    2) Skilled fourth and sixth grade boys greatly extended the flexed right knee joint in the striding phase and the right hip joint in the throwing phase. The range of motion of the rotation, forward-backward leaning of the trunk, and extension angle of the right elbow joint at ball release for sixth graders exceeded those of participants of other grades.
    3) For skilled girls, the throwing distance and ball velocity increased significantly with increasing school grade, and there were significant relationships between the throwing distance and the ball velocity in fourth and sixth graders, and between the throwing distance and the release angle in fourth graders.
    4) Skilled fourth and sixth grade girls significantly abducted the right hip joint and leaned the trunk rightward. The horizontal abduction angle and external-internal rotation angle of the right shoulder of sixth graders in the throwing phase exceeded those of the students in other grades.
    These results indicate that the range of motion of the legs and trunk increased with increasing school grade and was a dominant factor in skilled boys, and that fast external-internal rotation of the shoulder and large right hip abduction were characteristic of skilled girls.
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  • Ryuichi Sasaki, Toshiyuki Kurihara, Tadao Isaka
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 631-639
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 19, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study attempted to clarify the relationship between the muscle size of the triceps surae and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the Achilles tendon (AT) in sprinters. The subjects were 10 collegiate sprinters (years of sprint training: 8.7±1.6 yr) and seven age-matched controls. Serial cross-sectional T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of both legs were taken using a magnetic resonance imaging system. Maximum CSA of the AT, gastrocnemius and soleus muscle, and muscle volume of the triceps surae were measured and compared between the two groups. The values of maximum CSA of the AT, gastrocnemius and triceps surae muscle and the volume of all muscles of sprinters were significantly larger than those of control subjects. However, maximum CSA of the soleus muscle did not differ significantly between the groups. The relationship between each muscle size and maximum CSA of the AT differed between the left and right. However, the maximum CSA of the AT was highly correlated with muscle volume of the triceps surae rather than the maximum CSA of each muscle in every leg in both groups. The regression lines for muscle volume of the triceps surae against the maximum CSA of the AT differed significantly between the groups. Therefore, it was suggested that the maximum CSA of the AT of sprinters was correlated with the muscle volume of the triceps surae.
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  • Yusuke Maruyama, Shoji Konda, Toshimasa Yanai
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 641-651
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 19, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the position of the center of buoyancy (CB) relative to the center of mass (CM) lay more caudally when the abdominal breathing technique is used, as compared with the chest breathing technique. Ten healthy men who practiced the abdominal and chest breathing techniques participated. The position of the CB, CM, and the distance between them (CB-CM distance) were determined as time-series data during inhalation with each breathing technique, and the changes in the positions and distance due to inhalation were compared between the two techniques. The results showed that both the CB and CM translated due to the inhalation and that the amount and direction of the translations differed between the two techniques (p<0.01). The increase in the CB-CM distance was significantly smaller (p<0.01) with abdominal breathing (1.11 cm) than with chest breathing (1.21 cm). For both breathing techniques, the CB was located more cranially to the CM, regardless of the amount of inhalation. These data demonstrate clearly that the position of the CB relative to the CM lies more caudally with the abdominal breathing technique than with chest breathing, thus supporting our hypothesis. These results indicate that breathing technique influences the magnitude of the moment of buoyant force around the CM and the swimmer's ability to float horizontally on the water surface.
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Practical investigations
  • Zenya Fujita, Shinsuke Yoshioka, Yusuke Ishige, Kenji Tauchi, Jun Tsuc ...
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 653-662
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: August 07, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this study was to clarify how coaching in the V2 skate technique, intentionally including the flight phase, affects the skating velocity of female cross-country skiers. First, seven female skiers performed the V2 skate technique at maximal effort. Next, five subjects who did not have any flight phase in their V2 skate technique were trained to perform it along with the flight phase for about 10 minutes, and were then asked to execute the flight phase. In this test, the subjects used poles and skis equipped with force sensors, and their velocity was recorded. After the test, each subject was interviewed about her subjective experience of the V2 skate including the flight phase. It was found that the training caused all of the subjects to change the V2 skate so that it included the flight phase. Moreover, during skating attempts with the flight phase, both the skating velocity and the peak and average forces of the pole and ski increased significantly. The interviews revealed that three subjects felt a sense of fear when they were airborne, and that four subjects felt close to loss of balance. These results suggest that training in the V2 skate with a flight phase was effective for increasing the skating velocity of the female skiers. Moreover, it was evidently difficult for the female skiers to learn to skate with flight phases through a normal training method because of the sense of fear they experienced during the maneuver.
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  • Eiji Ikeda, Haruki Uchiyama
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 663-682
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 16, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Collective Efficacy (CE), which was proposed by Bandura (1997), is one of the most important factors for understanding the function of a group or organization. Moreover, CE is an important factor to consider when evaluating “team performance” (Uchiyama, 2001). However, in the field of coaching, no practical study using a measure of CE has yet been conducted. Therefore, the present study was performed to verify the effectiveness of coaching using CE theory to evaluate and confirm agreed-upon items that reflect team performance. In the present study, the CE of a basketball team was evaluated using the Collective Efficacy Scale for Half-Court Offense (CES-HCO). In order to examine the effectiveness of coaching, improvement of team performance was measured using the number of turnovers for each possession. The key findings of this study were as follows.
    1)  Factor analysis revealed that the CES-HCO comprised 20 items within the following frameworks of adjustments and characteristics. Moreover, with a Cronbach's α and a test-retest correlation coefficient, r, of .71 (p<.001), the CES-HCO was confirmed to have high reliability.
    2)  Using the “theme-do-reflection cycle” (Uchiyama, 2001), a coaching program that incorporated the use of the CES-HCO was developed. During the intervention period, the coaching program significantly increased the CES-HCO score (p<.05).
    3)  Using this coaching program that incorporated the CES-HCO, team performance improved significantly during the intervention period (p<.05).
    The results of this study indicate that the practical application of CE is useful for reinforcing improvement of team performance in basketball through coaching.
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  • Teruya Watanabe, Toshihiro Morita
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 683-698
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: September 07, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A strict technical model is needed to optimize technique training, but the high jump allows a wide range of technical variation, and thus technical models cannot be restrictive. This dilemma has been resolved by classifying the flop technique. However, it is currently uncertain how the target technique should be selected from those presented, and how the chosen technique should be taught. The purpose of this study was to obtain such fundamental knowledge of technique training in the high jump based on a case of successful skill correction in a male university athlete.
    An 18-year-old male high jumper had used a jumping form resembling the “speed power flop” (Watanabe, 2007) until skill correction was implemented. The author advised him to change the target technique to the latest type of “speed flop” (Watanabe, 2010a) because daily observation of his jumps had suggested that his “biological type” (Vittori, 1971) was suitable for this technique. Within a few months, the athlete mastered the basic form of this technique and his personal record improved from 2.06 m to 2.14 m.
    Although the selection made in this case finally proved to be reasonable, the athlete felt a sense of discomfort with the new technique when he succeeded in performing its basic form for the first time. He also insisted that he was unable to jump any higher with the new technique than with the original one. Thus, the author had difficulty in persuading the athlete to continue training with the new technique because, at that time, the decision to select this technique for him had not been justified by studies. This training process indicated that further research was required to develop a standard or a protocol for technique selection that is good enough to allow coaches not to be misled by athletes' statements of experiencing discomfort.
    A further significant observation of this study was that the skill correction was triggered by changing the type of arm swing during the take-off phase. It was reported previously that changing the take-off leg can be used as a method for technique re-learning without being influenced by a previous skill. However, changing the take-off leg may lead to a significant reduction in performance during the process of technique acquisition. This case implied that changing the type of arm swing may be used as a method of skill correction with considerably decreased risk of significant performance reduction.
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Case study
  • Taiji Matsui, Tadaaki Yajima, Tadao Miyakozawa
    2012 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 699-720
    Published: 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 05, 2012
    Advance online publication: October 19, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a program created to improve the blocking performance of a men's university volleyball team. Its effectiveness was verified by comparing the performance of the volleyball team before and after the introduction of the program. We hypothesized that improving the six component elements of body movement in the preparatory phase of blocking would be effective for improving blocking performance. A practice program was thus created to improve the blocking skills of the team. The team members used this practice program six days a week for ten weeks. The numerical values for each component element of two teams—Japan's top team in the V·Premier League and the university team—were compared. The practice program was then created on the basis of these data. The team trained with this program six days a week for ten weeks. The university team consisted of six men: height 187.7±3.4 cm, weight 77.3±6.4 kg, age 19.3±0.5 years and career 9.7±2.6 years. The autumn league games were played after training with the new practice program. Performances in the spring and autumn seasons were compared based on an analysis of the six component elements. The analysis results showed that the six component elements of body movement in the blocking process improved after training with the new practice program. Furthermore, the number of effective blocking performances increased dramatically. Thus, the results of this study show that improving the individual components of the blocking process is effective for improvement of overall blocking performance.
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