Motor control and learning are among the main themes in sport psychology. The development of research regarding motor control and learning encompasses two different approaches: the information processing or computational approach and the ecological or dynamical system approach. The motor program is a key concept in the information processing approach, derived from the development of informatics. Schema theory and the hypothesis of practice variability were supported by various motor tasks. On the other hand, the ecological perspective was developed in relation to the problem of degrees of freedom. The concept of self-organization was applied to the generation of movement patterns through applications of the dynamical system to individual skills. When applied to the act of striking a tennis ball, the dynamical system with temporal input revealed a fractal transition between two attractors during switching between forehand and backhand strokes. Based on these results, a new training method was proposed, and the effect was examined. Next, concerning interpersonal skills, the synchronization of two opposing players was examined in games of tag and kendo using relative phase analysis based on oscillator dynamics. The anti-phase synchronization of the forward-backward step movement was increased with learning sessions in playing tag. Expert kendo players also switched between anti-phase and in-phase movements corresponding to the critical interpersonal distance. The triadic coordination of a 3-vs.-1 ball possession task was examined from the perspective of symmetry breaking, and the expert showed less symmetry breaking. The simulation results were confirmed based on the social force model, and the cooperative force was identified as most important. Training equipment that enhanced cooperative force was developed, and the effects were examined. Finally, we proposed that future research should focus on interpersonal skills as sport skills.

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This study investigated the effects of a one-day exercise program for children not good at exercise, measuring their motor ability, their awareness during exercise, and the continuity of their attitude toward exercise. The participants were 39 fourth-grade elementary school students (boys: 21, girls: 18). The exercise program lasted for about seven and a half hours including breaks. It involved motor ability tests that consisted of running (25 m run), jumping (standing long jump), and throwing (softball throw), and video- recorded them, before and after the program. Before, immediately after, and one year after the program, the participants completed a four-item questionnaire survey to measure their psychological states. The results revealed significant differences in the motor ability and the observed-movement tests. In terms of motor ability, there was a significant improvement in the participants’ softball throw by the program’s end, although there was a significant decrease in performance in both 25 m run and standing long jump. In terms of observed movement, however, there was a significant improvement in the participants’ running, jumping, and throwing movements. The results suggest that the one-day program of this study can improve motor abilities and enhance awareness of the benefits of exercise among children who are not good at exercise. The follow-up questionnaires showed that the children’s positive attitudes toward exercise were still maintained one year after the program.

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While Mongolia has shown remarkable economic growth in recent years, few comparisons have been made with other Asian countries and the level of economic growth is not clearly understood. If the period of peak growth speed were identified, we could grasp how fast or slow the economy is growing and investigate the extent of the influence of that economic growth on physical development in terms of the social and daily living situations. However, there are very few reports on the relationship between the physical development of Mongolian youth and the social and economic situation. In this study the wavelet interpolation model was applied to the speed of economic growth in Mongolia to determine the peak speed leading to that growth rate from the secular trends. Then, from a comparison with the economic growth rate in Japan, and a comparison of physical development in Mongolia and Japan, we examined the physical development pattern in Mongolian youth. For the physical growth data, longitudinal data for height and weight from 6 to 17 years old in Mongolia were obtained. The Japanese data used were longitudinal growth data for height and weight from age 6 to 17 obtained from the “Annual Report on the Survey of Physical Fitness and Athletic Ability” published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2019. The wavelet interpolation model was applied to the longitudinal growth distance values in the data obtained in both countries. Judging from the physical growth patterns in Mongolian youth, the results show that Mongolian youth are slightly taller than Japanese youth and that their rate of physical maturity is slightly slower, indicating that the socioeconomic conditions in Mongolia are still developing. It is likely that Mongolia is in the midst of rapid rapid high economic growth.

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The purpose of this paper is to show, through a case study, why and how the UNIVAS, Japan Association for University Athletics and Sport, was established. UNIVAS was established in Japan in March, 2019. It inclusively supervises a variety of university sports club activities nationwide.
In this paper, the author analyzes the policy formation of the UNIVAS establishment based on the new policy window approach. As a result of this analysis, seven interesting facts, supported by both a theory and a proof, have been discovered, five of which are summarized as follows.
1. Government officials, Diet members and Japanese citizens were all involved in multiple policy formation processes at multiple levels in a multi-layered way.
2. Multiple problems in agenda were sufficiently selected and mutually related.
3. With the progress of the policy formation, new policy proposals were added and refined.
4. Policy formation processes became available as problem windows and political windows were both opened
5. Actual policies were realized when the agenda, the lists of policy proposals and political events formed the complete package.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the distributions of sports value consciousness in comparison with the results of previous studies. The study explored the distributions of sports value consciousness, consisting of the 4 patterns of leisure, recreation, agôn and abstinence, among Japanese involved in physical activity and sports in community settings in previous studies conducted since the late 1980s. In this study, two surveys were conducted of participants in different endurance sports events using the same questionnaires as in previous studies. A set of cluster analyses using Ward’s method was conducted for these two surveys. The results showed several different distributions between survey 1 and 2 in this study, and similarities between this and previous studies. Firstly, there were different percentages of distributions in the patterns of sports value consciousness between survey 1 and 2. One reason for this would seem to be that each event has unique criteria for participation. Secondly, there was a neutral pattern of sports value consciousness in both the current and previous studies. Consequently, in order to generalize for these research results, the need was indicated for a study based on random sampling to estimate the distributions of sports value consciousness in the endurance sports settings.

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Heat-related illnesses such as exertional heat stroke occur in both summer and fall seasons. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of solar radiation screening by a roof, on the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) between late August and late October at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center, Nagoya city. To measure and record WBGT, portable WBGT meters were installed in the indoor and outdoor tennis courts of the tennis center. The number of days where the WBGT exceeded 28 ℃(strict precautions) and 31 ℃(No exercise allowed as a rule) were fewer in the indoor tennis courts than in the outdoor court. The highest and mean WBGT were significantly lower indoor than outdoor. Additionally, the difference in the WBGT between the indoor and outdoor court (the effects of solar radiation screening by the roof) varied between 6 and 7 ℃on sunny days. The highest WBGT at outdoor court reached approximately 28 ℃in mid-October, on the other hands, the highest WBGT at indoor court were approximately 20 ℃(Almost safe). The present study shows that effective solar radiation screening by a roof is observed between August and October. Therefore, a roof may contribute in reducing the risk of heat-related illnesses both in the summer and fall seasons. Heat-related illness such as exertional heat stroke occurs not only summer but also fall season.

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In the spring semester of 2020, many universities are believed to have abandoned practical classes in physical education due to the pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2. This document introduces the methods of practical classe implemented by Aichi University of the Arts in the spring semester of 2020. The number of students in each class was reduced to twenty. The gymnasium was tested for ventilation using a smoke machine. To ensure social distancing, markers were placed on the floor of the gymnasium at two-meter intervals. The gymnasium floor was divided into two areas, belongings area in the front and exercise area in the back of gymnasium, with all doors fully open and the circulator installed on the floor running towards the doors. To avoid crowding in the locker room, the course students’ travel routes were dispersed in two directions. Teachers and students were required to wear masks from before entering the gym until they left. During the barre lessons, disposable gloves were worn by all participants, and they were all facing the same direction at least one-meter interval. The bar was disinfected with alcohol after the bar lesson and the floor was mopped entirely after the class. If practical class are not possible in the future, the pedagogical content that would be possible in the assigned classes needs to be devised and its pedagogical quality tested.

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This study aimed to examine the characteristic of students’ reflections from video feedback using tablet devices in junior high school high-jump lessons.
The participants were 62 junior high school students (25 boys and 37 girls) who took five physical education (PE) lessons for a high-jump unit. Tablet devices (iPads) were placed to the side of the horizontal bars and used to obtain video feedback. Students were required to write comments about the outcome of their movements, the issues they faced, and how these were recognized. Comments were categorized according to source of recognition (self-observation, other-observation, advice from friends/teachers, or video feedback), specificity of content (specific or general), and movement phase (approach, take-off, aerial movement, or whole movement). Chi-square tests were used to identify statistically significant differences (p＜0.05) in the ratios of these categories.
Results indicated that: 1) Lower-skilled students reflected more frequently on their movement using video feedback; 2) Students provided significantly more specific reflections in response to video feedback than those who relied on self-observation of their own movement; and 3) Significantly more comments were made on aerial movement from video feedback than when relying on self-observation.
The results suggest that video feedback in PE classes could enhance students’ awareness of their movements, especially instant and uniform movements, thus facilitating more specific reflection. Additionally, instruction using ICT devices in PE classes may demand that teachers consider the point of view from which they intend students to assess their movements.

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