Julien Blondeau, who researches thermodynamics and fluid dynamics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, writes us about his most unusual research project: I can now perfectly explain why, for instance, field hockey players score more than football players, although the fields have approximately the same size, the number of players is exactly the same, the goals […]
Tag: sports
Peppermint Odor in Sports
Although few organized sports focus on the smell of peppermint, a study published almost two decades ago zeroed in on the practice. The study is: “Enhancing Athletic Performance Through the Administration of Peppermint Odor,” Bryan Raudenbush, Nathan Corley, and William Eppich, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, vol.23, 2001, pp. 156-60. The authors, at Wheeling […]
A more powerful sports statistics tool
A more powerful statistical tool is available for sports analysts, potentially displacing traditional measures based on old-fashioned body-dimension (height, weight, etc.), or sport-specific performance (speed, scoring, passing, etc.). The statistic is displayed in a newly published research report: “Relationships Between the Second to Fourth Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Game-Related Statistics in Semi-Professional Female Basketball Players,” […]
Psycho-emotional status regulation of minigolf players (study)
When it comes to sporting activities, the psycho-emotional state of the players can have a profound effect on their performance. What positive steps can be taken to enhance it? A number of strategies are currently available : “[…] various ways and their combinations based on physiological reflexes are applied: breath holdings, relaxation of facial muscles, […]
How to ‘cheat’ at sport without really ‘cheating’ – part 3: Grunting
Our previous Improbable article in this series examined the use of placebos – we now look at grunting. Though several sports tolerate (or even encourage) grunting as part of normal play, some have complained that it can be used as a deliberate and unfair distraction of one’s opponent(s). With regard to tennis for example, see: […]
How to ‘cheat’ at sport without really ‘cheating’ – part 1: Praying
“Ajax, through Athena’s spite, slipped upon some offal that was lying there from the cattle which Achilles had slaughtered in honor of Patroklos, and his mouth and nostrils were all filled with cow dung.” The account above is from The Iliad – in which Homer relates how Odysseus prays to the goddess Athena to request […]
On Biting in Sport(s)
The clip above shows (amongst others) the now-famous 2014 FIFA World Cup biting-incident featuring Luis Suárez. One might ask, and indeed some have, what are the ethical and philosophical implications of such an act? Bearing in mind that : “A prohibition against biting an opponent is not included in the rules of most contact sports, […]
In a pro basketball game, when is a lead safe?
In a pro basketball game, when is a lead safe? This analysis “Safe Leads and Lead Changes in Competitive Team Sports,” Aaron Clauset [pictured here], M. Kogan, and S. Redner, arXiv:1503.03509v1 [stat.AP] 11 Mar 2015. (Thanks to Marcos Carreira for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at the University of Colorado, the Santa Fe […]
The hazard of being an English football league manager
Sports managers, the ones who operate at the highest levels, don’t manage to hang on to their jobs long, says this study: “The hazard of being an English football league manager: empirical estimates for three recent league seasons,” R. Bachan, Barry Reilly, and Robert Witt [pictured here], Journal of the Operational Research Society, vol. 59, no. […]
Which Kinds of Products Produce Which Kinds of Genitourinary injuries When
The data in this study indicate that, on a gross society basis, male parts are more often injured by products than are female parts, and that sporting goods are often involved, though more often for younger males than older ones, and that, sporting good aside, zippers are often implicated. “Product Related Adult Genitourinary Injuries Treated […]