Reliability of equipment for measuring the ground hardness and traction
- Authors: Twomey, Dara , Otago, Leonie , Ullah, Shahid , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology Vol. 225, no. 3 (2011), p. 131-137
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The aim of this paper is to report the inter-rater reliabilities and intra-rater reliabilities of the Clegg hammer, penetrometer, and studded-boot apparatus used for measuring the mechanical properties of natural turf, and to determine whether the level of experience influences the reliability. Three experienced and three novice testers measured the surface hardness and rotational traction at nine locations on a community-level Australian football oval. A repeated-measures analysis of variance tested for significant differences between the six testers for all equipment, and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to determine the inter-rater reliabilities and intra-rater reliabilities. The ICCs for the reliability between the six testers ranged between 0.77 and 0.87 for the Clegg hammer, ranged between 0.55 and 0.73 for the penetrometer, and equalled 0.51 for the studded-boot apparatus. The inter-rater reliabilities and intra-rater reliabilities were greater for the experienced testers than for the novice testers for the Clegg hammer and penetrometer but the novice testers produced greater inter-rater reliabilities for the studded-boot apparatus. This study highlights the potential variability that can exist between testers using the ground hardness and traction equipment, which has implications for future research involving multiple testers both in agronomic-based studies and in linking the surface properties to the injury risk across multiple venues. © Authors 2011.
Ensuring implementation success: how should coach injury prevention education be improved if we want coaches to deliver safety programmes during training sessions?
- Authors: White, Peta , Otago, Leonie , Saunders, Natalie , Romiti, Maria , Donaldson, Alex , Ullah, Shahid , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 48, no. 5 (2014), p. 402-403
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: Coaches play a major role in encouraging and ensuring that participants of their teams adopt appropriate safety practices. However, the extent to which the coaches undertake this role will depend upon their attitudes about injury prevention, their perceptions of what the other coaches usually do and their own beliefs about how much control they have in delivering such programmes. Fifty-one junior netball coaches were surveyed about incorporating the teaching of correct (safe) landing technique during their delivery of training sessions to junior players. Overall, >94% of coaches had strongly positive attitudes towards teaching correct landing technique and >80% had strongly positive perceptions of their own control over delivering such programmes. Coaches’ ratings of social norms relating to what others think about teaching safe landing were more positive (>94%) than those relating to what others actually do (63–74%). In conclusion, the junior coaches were generally receptive towards delivering safe landing training programmes in the training sessions they led. Future coach education could include role modelling by prominent coaches so that more community-level coaches are aware that this is a behaviour that many coaches can, and do, engage in.
Encouraging junior community netball players to learn correct safe landing technique
- Authors: White, Peta , Ullah, Shahid , Donaldson, Alex , Otago, Leonie , Saunders, Natalie , Romiti, Maria , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol.15 , no.1 (2011), p.19-24
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Behavioural factors and beliefs are important determinants of the adoption of sports injury interventions. This study aimed to understand behavioural factors associated with junior community netball players' intentions to learn correct landing technique during coach-led training sessions, proposed as a means of reducing their risk of lower limb injury. 287 female players from 58 junior netball teams in the 2007/2008-summer competition completed a 13-item questionnaire developed from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This assessed players' attitudes (four items), subjective norms (four), perceived behavioural control (four) and intentions (one) around the safety behaviour of learning correct landing technique at netball training. All items were rated on a seven-point bipolar scale. Cluster-adjusted logistic regression was used to assess which TPB constructs were most associated with strong intentions. Players had positive intentions and attitudes towards learning safe landing technique and perceived positive social pressure from significant others. They also perceived themselves to have considerable control over engaging (or not) in this behaviour. Players' attitudes (p < 0.001) and subjective norms (p < 0.001), but not perceived behavioural control (p = 0.49), were associated with strong intentions to learn correct landing technique at training. Injury prevention implementation strategies aimed at maximising junior players' participation in correct landing training programs should emphasise the benefits of learning correct landing technique (i.e. change attitudes) and involve significant others and role models whom junior players admire (i.e. capitalise on social norms) in the promotion of such programs. © 2011 Sports Medicine Australia.