Category: Competitive Sports

Volleyball is a sport played with two teams consisting of six players on each side of the court divided by a net. The players use their hands to hit the ball back and forth over the net until it cannot be hit by the opposing team and hits the floor or goes out of bounds. This report will be analyzing a freshman female athlete playing volleyball at the collegiate level. The athlete has been playing volleyball for seven years, consisting of club and high school volleyball, has four years of experience with resistance training, and possesses skill in performance of free weight and machine exercises. A specialized strength and conditioning program would be beneficial for this athlete because it would focus on the improvement of strength, speed, and power as well as endurance to perform at a high level for a long period of time. Improving upon these qualities will give this athlete the best chance of becoming an overall better player.

Movement Analysis

Volleyball consists of many skills and movements such as setting, serving, spiking, passing, etc. The skill that will be broken down in this paper is the spike. A spike: “is a specific skill of volleyball with high coordinative demands that is characterized by several phases: a run, the countermovement jump, a set of explosive overhead actions in the air, and a landing phase” (Oliveira, Moura, Rodacki, Tilp, & Okazi, 2020). Focusing specifically on the overhead actions, the primary muscles involved in this movement are the teres minor, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and anterior deltoid. These muscles are used to hold the humerus in place while performing the overhead movement (Rokito, Jobe, Pink, Perry, & Brault). For the running, countermovement jump, and landing phase the primary muscles used are the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves (Maughan & Shirreffs, 2017).

When performing the movement of a spike, the athlete will flex the hip, knee, ankle, elbow, and shoulder joints when going into a squat stance and then move into extending those joints and propelling their body upwards. The arms will swing forward when jumping up and the shoulders and elbows will be extended overhead. When cocking the arm back, the shoulder will slightly abduct and externally rotate, the elbow will be flexed, and then move into full extension when performing the hit of the ball. The planes this movement occurs in are the sagittal plane when performing flexion and extension of the joints, frontal plane with adduction of the shoulder, and the transverse plane when externally rotating the shoulder (Haff & Triplett, 2016, p.26).

The two main factors to focus on when analyzing a spike are the trajectory and the velocity (Ferris, Signorile, & Caruso, 1996). In a study conducted at the University of Leige, it was found that the height that the player contacts the ball significantly effects the velocity of the spike. Athletes that are able to vertically jump higher will be able to produce a greater velocity when hitting the ball (Forthomme, Croisier, Ciccarone, Crielaard, & Cloes, 2005). In order to increase the velocity of the spike, the athlete would need to improve on their vertical jump height by prioritizing training that works on strength and power.

Physiological Analysis

The ability of a volleyball player to exhibit power, speed, and agility throughout a game is imperative. Volleyball is considered both anaerobic and aerobic. The primary energy system utilized by a volleyball player is the ATP-PC system along with some use of glycolysis (Maughan & Shirreffs, 2017). The ATP-PC system, or phosphagen system, is utilized for high-intensity movements and relies on the breakdown of ATP and creatine phosphate for energy. Glycolysis involves the use of carbohydrates to resynthesize ATP in the body (Haff & Triplette, 2016, p.46). It is important to train the anaerobic system to be able to perform explosive jumps, improve power for attacks and hits, and maintain speed and agility to quickly shift positions on the court. Training the aerobic system is beneficial as well to make sure the athlete is able to perform these skills throughout the entire match with minimal rest.

When implementing a strength training program, an athlete will see improvements in muscular strength, power, and overall performance. In terms of performance, “resistance training has been shown to increase running economy, vertical jump, and sprint speed” which are all beneficial for a volleyball player (Haff & Triplett, 2016, p.106). It is imperative to increase muscular strength in these athletes because it will result in an increase in muscular force production, and “increasing the strength of a muscle or group of muscles may facilitate an improvement in sporting performance” (Kraemer, Duncan, & Volek, 1998). Including plyometrics in the athlete’s training program would promote an increase in muscle force production and power by incorporating quick and powerful movements that will activate the use of the stretch-shortening cycle. The stretch-shortening cycle can be defined as the “stimulation of the stretch reflex to facilitate a maximal increase in muscle recruitment over a minimal amount of time” (Haff & Triplette, 2016, p.473).

Although the main focus for this athlete would be strength and power, it is important to incorporate aerobic training as well to ensure the athlete can play at her best capacity for the entire duration of a game. One of the benefits an athlete would see from aerobic training would be an increase in their absolute lactate threshold. Increasing the lactate threshold would allow the athlete to be able to perform at a higher intensity for a longer amount of time, such as being able to perform successive vertical jumps throughout an entire match (Haff & Triplett, 2016, p.126).

References

1. Ferris, D. P., Signorile, J. F., & Caruso, J. F. (1995). The relationship between physical and physiological variables and volleyball spiking velocity. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 9(1), 32-36.
2. Forthomme, B., Croisier, J.-L., Ciccarone, G., Crielaard, J.-M., & Cloes, M. (2005). Factors correlated with volleyball spike velocity. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 10, 1513.
3. Haff, G., & Triplett, N. T. (2016). Essentials of strength training and conditioning (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
4. Kraemer, W. J., Duncan, N. D., & Volek, J. S. (1998). Resistance training and elite athletes: Adaptations and program considerations. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 28(2), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.1998.28.2.110
5. Maughan, R. J., & Shirreffs, S. M. (2017). Energy demands of volleyball. Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119227045.ch1
6. Oliveira, L. dos S., Macedo Alfano Moura, T. B., Felix Rodacki, A. L., Tilp, M., & Alves Okazaki, V. H. (2020). A systematic review of volleyball spike kinematics: Implications for practice and research. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.1177/1747954119899881
7. Rokito, A., Jobe, F., Pink, M., Perry, J., & Brault, J. (n.d.). Electromyographic analysis of shoulder function during the volleyball serve and spike. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 7(3), 256–263.

It is no secret that the sport of ice hockey is known for its physical nature. Whether or not you enjoy the aspect of aggression, or the strategy behind hitting to create a good hockey play, it is an intrusive game. Does the act of aggression supplement the sport of hockey or lead to violence and potential injury in minor level hockey players? The ability to hit another player is very controversial. There are so many different ways to strategize a game and create game winning plays by using your body and physical force. Along with that physical force there are many health related concerns associated. The most innocent and unintentional hit can result in a major injury that has the ability to end careers. What drives the aggression/physical nature of hockey players? Where would hockey be without the physical influence? Is contact something that should be eliminated from the sport of hockey? Given the evidence I will discuss throughout this persuasive essay, I strongly believe that contact/aggression is something that needs to be, to an extent, in the sport of hockey. Eliminating contact would be detrimental to the game for a number of reasons. Hockey offers a safer outlet for personal, social, behavioural influences; the aggression can be regulated through rules and penalties by coaches and referees; and contact adds competition, strategy and a healthy physically demanding aspect to the game. I strongly feel that the proper influences, mentors, and education can prevent injury and make hockey a wholesome sport again.

Personal, social and behavioural influences are directly related to “parents, coaches, teammates and the media” (Cusimano, et al. 2016). Contact becomes evident and often feels necessary when the environment is stimulating. When you have people watching and cheering along with the possibility of media attention, it becomes important for a player to “demonstrate loyalty to teammates” (Cusimano, et al. 2016). These aspects can prove to be stressful and I believe that the best way to outlet this stress is in a controlled environment. When the feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated are at play, it is the safest option to be in a setting where there are consequences for inappropriate actions and misconduct. Educating the players about what will happen if their aggression is out of hand is proven to be the best way to supplement emotional distress. If this environment is eliminated for hockey players, it could lead to future issues with violence and injury because of the inappropriate channeling of forceful behaviour.

Competition and strategy play a big role in transitioning of plays and setting up goals to win games. It proves very effective having a small hit up against the boards to then result in taking the puck and having in return up the ice in your teams favour. Without contact, this would turn hockey into a seemingly uninteresting and slow game to watch, as well as play. Unhealthy and violent aggression contradicts the strategic part of the game and “little is known about what can be done to reduce this behaviour to create a safer environment for the sport.” (Cusimano, Nastis, & Zuccaro 2013). This is where smart hockey comes into play. Making proper hits to enhance the level of play is what is needed in hockey and this can very easily be achieved when there is proper instruction and education, “interventions must appeal to young players’ sense of competitiveness, while simultaneously developing their respect for and awareness of injury.” (Cusimano, et al. 2016).

In conclusion, eliminating the act of contact and aggression in the sport of ice hockey is not the best call to make it a safer sport. Providing the proper education, mentors, and resources can prevent injury, major or minor. Although contact can prove to be misused, it is still effective in creating the game of hockey and all that it is. There are multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors that relate to the behaviour behind violence and aggression, whether that be “parents, coaches, teammates and the media” (Cusimano, et al. 2016). Creating an environment where players can fuel their competitive natures and channel the aggression in the best way possible is vital for the overall safety of the players, because there is this environment there are also consequences such as minor or major penalties that affect the overly aggressive player. These penalties also help prevent possible injury, which is more prevalent than ever in the sport of hockey. Although there are pros and cons to the argument of contact in levels such as minor hockey, I firmly stand by my statement that taking contact out of hockey is not the way to go.

Ice hockey is the fastest team sport. Its origins are difficult to track back, as games with sticks and balls have existed for a very long time and are considered the first steps towards developing the game of ice hockey itself. Early evidence in form of pictures and paintings of an alike game was found in Greece. Due to civilization leading the way of humans, the game moved up to the North, where colder temperatures were found. Soon the game was translated onto the ice, and the preform of Ice hockey game was invented.

Most historians agree that Canada, which is considered the Motherland of Hockey, distrib-uted greatly to the development of the sport by hosting many different tournaments on frozen lakes and ponds. 1885 was the historical year where the first North American league was created in Kingston holding a total of 4 teams. It only took a short amount of time for ice hockey to reach popularity across the country. Lord Stanley, an English Governor, created a silver trophy in 1892, for which the Canadian Ice hockey teams compete each year. The year 1892 does not only mark the important creation of the most famous trophy in hockey, the Stanley Cup, which is rewarded to the winner of the playoffs of the NHL (National Hockey League), which counts as the best and most competitive ice hockey league, but also it is the year in which the first female ice hockey game was carried out.

In the 1900s the first big competitions took place, such as the first World Championship in 1920, which Canada was able to win. In 1924, the first ice hockey competition was carried out at the Olympic Games, in which Canada was again dominating and winning the gold medal. With the rise of popularity and competitiveness of the sport, more aspects such as mental training were drawn into the sport. This led to a complex structure and increased difficulty of being an outstanding ice hockey player since the sport evolves around more than just the physical skills.

Definition of Mental Training

Mental training gets its origin from the Latin word “mental”, which means sense or mind. It is often associated with sports but has its crucial effects on every-day life as well. It is not, unlike many other aspects of life, based on skill. It has been proven to very effective as the human body cannot differ between physical and psychological aspects. In addition, it can store imaginations and create a new reality, which does not rely on actual reality. This is because the brain cannot contrast between reality and imagination. Therefore, it has the same effects whether one physically trains or psychologically imagines scenarios: the sub-conscious mind recalls reactions, that have been trained.

Persistent mental training evolves to a person gaining mental toughness. Mental toughness helps one to accept adversity in life, such as unfairness, death, or other setbacks. In every-day life, it is often expected to have some kind of predictable and fair way of living. Those who are successful accept the unpredictability of life and do not let unfair events take their hopes and dreams.

Mental training helps one to control the responses to external stimuli heedless of the cir-cumstances. A stimulus is something one perceives through the five senses of tasting, hear-ing, feeling, seeing and hearing. The response then happens based on previous experiences and often it results in being uncontrolled, such as saying something in a fight, that one re-grets afterwards.

Basic Goals of Mental Training

Mental Training can be beneficial in many aspects of life. One of the most significant is the self-regulation, that of thoughts, emotions, but also to correct daily mistakes and substance abuse. Addiction, sleeping disorders and often even breathing problems are psychosomatic diseases, which are created in the head and then have their impacts on the body. A psycho-logical imbalance leads to bodily tension and responses in form of pain. Mental Training can help to influence the mind and thus prevent those somatic responses and help to recov-er from them, once they already occur. Controlling the mind is crucial for sustaining a peaceful state of mind.

Mental Training in sports

“Sports are 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical”- Yogi Berra

In addition to the basic goals of mental training, the performance of athletes is what can be hugely impacted by mental training. It is the theoretical opposite of practical training and can be performed regardless of the location or various of other circumstances, such as the financial means. Reaching a high level, most players are more the less equally skilled, but their mental abilities and mental toughness is what is the deciding factor of what evolves one to a champion.

Mental Training gets its origin from the eastern European countries, as well as North Amer-ica. It’s concept eventually arrived in Europe, but by then those countries who already uti-lized the mental aspects were superior to those who based their training only on the physi-cal side of it. Over the years, more and more studies have proven the benefits of it and now it is widely used already when the athletes are young. Theresa Hornich said in the inter-view, that already when she was 7 years old, that her mom asked her about her goals and ambitions before every game, which helped her to be eager to actually achieve them in competition as well. By consciously performing mental skills, physical abilities can be im-proved and refined.

Mental Training helps athletes with their mental boundaries, such as a lack of self-confidence, endurance, commitment or fears such as that of a loss. It can help to redefine the sport for them and show them what they are passionate about and why they put in the hard work. Athletes are surrounded by many different external stimuli, which can be over-whelming and reduce their performance quality. Mental skills can help cope with this prob-lem, as well as bolster their character.

Types of Mental Training

Visualization

Visualization is the usage of imagination to create pictures in one’s mind, which are based on previous experiences, memories, emotions and thoughts. Visualization changes the chemistry in the body, connects the mind and body and releases sources of energy to per-form in the best possible way. It can promote creativity, self-confidence and motivation, which can be deciding factors in maintaining a relaxed and clear mind in tough situations. It also has its benefits in reducing fear and nervousness.

A person can visualize to approach a goal, to put himself/herself into an act, or to recall positive memories. A good comparison is dreaming: dreaming is only a mental process, but it can show physical symptoms, such as waking up from a nightmare, and being bathed in sweat or shaking. This is the case with mental imagery as well: physical advantages are the result. The process of mental rehearsal is when one is imagining a skill or situation that will later happen, such as a save with the stick. Repeating this process helps one to be able to react better and more precisely in a situation.

Dissociation vs. Association

There are two basic ways of visualizing: the inner perspective, association, and the outer perspective, dissociation. Association is the more subjective visualization, as the action is performed by oneself with all senses to create the feeling of actually performing it and to activate the same muscles as physical training would. The more specific and detailed one’s imagination is, the better the results will be. This method is particularly suitable for practic-ing physical acts, such as improving specific situations as a goaltender. Association should only be used with positive performances and results. For negative and unwanted outcomes, dissociation is suitable. Bad performances from the past can be analysed and one is able to recognise the mistakes that were made and focus on avoiding them next time. It also strengthens self-confidence and helps to forget fear before new challenges, which helps to master novel tasks.

Introduction

History

Volleyball has been one of the top team sports for both men and women. It has been around since the 1895 when it first started in United states. It was first named “Mintonette” developed as a sport derived from tennis and handball. Mainly it was a new sports shaped as a less rough version of basketball for older people. Because the rules of the game consist of serves, hitting and volleying, the name “volleyball” was given to it in the year 1896 in its first exhibition match. Volleyball later branched out of the united states towards Philippines, Canada, European countries and finally to Asia in the 1900’s.Women started playing volleyball as a sport not until 1920 when they changed they way a woman was perceived in society for being strong and able to play rather than an image of beauty or weakness compared to men. It was the sports that introduced women into the sports world.

Motivation

The aim of this paper is to analyze volleyball as a sport while focusing on specific demands of players, the planification of best training cycle and the assessment of strategies for optimal performance of players. I have chosen this sports because I have had previous experiences with it in school and university for 4 year and I would hope in the future to be a part of a training team for volleyball. I believe this paper will aid in making me understand volley as a sport with a clearer plan of execution. Another reason for my choice is that volleyball is one of the most famous competing female sports when compared to basketball or football.

Analysis and Demands

Volleyball is a sport where many movements that occur are of explosive nature [5]. Most of the muscles involved in the execution of movements include the shoulder and arms in the upper body, and knees and legs in lower body. Considering those needs, some of the physical attributes found essential to player were height and arm length. According to Pandey et al., (2016) Players who were of higher height, body mass and longer leg length showed higher performance compared to shorted players with shorter legs or lower body mass [4]. Other than physical attributes, some physiological attributes were tested that need to be considered essential in volleyball some of which included aerobic capacity, muscle strength, vertical jumps and agility and strength [5]. Volleyball players must have high reaction ability which are accompanied with high speed and power in-order to perform any hits or spikes [5].

Regarding the aerobic capacity of players, it was an average of 40.72 ml/kg min-1 whereas the average anaerobic capacity was of 43.96 ml/kg min-1 [5]. According to the results shown, players use more anaerobic metabolism since most of their moves done need high speed and power to perform rather than relying more on aerobic metabolism. Players in this sport need to have high aerobic profile where maintaining a high performance during the game is essential [6]. A study conducted compared oxygen consumption between athletes and non-athletes. The athletic groups were football and volleyball. They mainly tested oxygen consumption (VO2 max) on players and control group. The results for football, volleyball and non-athletes were 4.25 vo2max/l/min, 3.95 vo2max/l/min and 3.19 vo2max/l/min respectively [6]. This means that although volleyball players rely more on anaerobic metabolism, aerobic capacity is essential for better performance as an indicator of physical capacity during games just like any other sport which in this case is football [6].

Review According Lidor and Ziv (2010), since power is essential for spiking, serving and hitting in volleyball, strength is an integral part of performance in this sport. Some tests were conducted on players and non-players of volleyball. One test was on bench press power comparison where volleyball players showed significantly higher values compared to the non-players [7]. Another test was an Isokinetic testing on concentric and eccentric shoulder and elbow strength in female volleyball players and nonactive women. These results also showed significant difference in both groups the authors expected the volleyball players had significantly higher concentric and eccentric peak torque of the shoulder and elbow rotator muscles but not for concentric flexion peak torque in the elbow [8]. This was mainly due to the fact that elbow flexors are used for deceleration after hitting the ball and not before whereas arm extension with torque cause an increase in spiking velocity [8].

Vertical jumps are probably the most crucial skills to have in volleyball games [9]. Having different jumping abilities is what differentiates performance between different players whether they are of higher or lower levels. “A ‘‘critical height’’ above the net exists for optimal spiking and blocking and that the players who are able to reach this threshold have an advantage over those players who fail to reach it” [9].

As for the speed and agility, it is an integral part in every defensive an offensive maneuver performed by the players [REVIE]. One study had shown that volleyball players have higher sprint speed when compared to non-players however, surprisingly the strength and plyometric training alone cannot improve these aspects when compared to non-players in a 12 week training program [10].

Attacker

In the next part of the specific demands I will be focusing on one specific player position which is the attacker position. The attacker is mainly responsible for attempting to hit the ball towards the opponent’s court side with the purpose of scoring the volley and gaining a point for their team [12]. Their usual movements include hitting or spiking the ball with explosive power, high jumps and high speed [11]. The hitter usually does not have to do much running thus their total meters travelled and low. An attacker should always be positioned in an 8 to 12 step distance from their spiking location [11]. This gives them ball anticipation, power and speed build-up necessary to perform the jump and spike with maximal power [11].

Functional

I will be using myself as a reference in this part since I was mainly an attacker in my previous team. Many attack players are usually known for their higher stature, long arms and longer legs to aid in easier jumps. “It is frequently suggested that a volleyball players height has a lot to do with their ability to spike which is non-surprising as the athletes mentioned below are around 2m tall if not more” [5].according to Palao, J. M., Manzanares, P., & Valadés, D. (2014), the average height of male and female world championship volleyball players between 2000 to 2012 were 199 cm and 185 cm respectively. Their BMI were in the normal range between 20.9 and 23.3 kg/m2 [3]. As for my measurements, my height lies in female requirements of 185 cm and my BMI is 23 kg/m2. I was mainly chosen for this position due to my height and ability to jump higher compared to my team mates.

Physiological

The most physiological properties needed were those related to speed and strength [14]. Studies had shown that quadriceps-hamstring strength is not different between either positions played between players stating that an attacker uses as much quadriceps and hamstring muscle strength as any other player [14]. On the other hand, attackers in volleyball had higher speed response for the 2 muscle groups when compared to the other players. This shows that attackers are able to perform movements faster than other players which is essential for their position since speed is essential for increasing power [14]

According to Elahe, Narges, Mahdieh and Somayeh (2013) the results of different player positions aerobic and anaerobic capacities showed that attackers/spikers have the highest anaerobic and lowest aerobic capacity of 47 ml/kg min-1 and 39.38 ml/kg min-1 respectively compared to the others since most of the moves done are jumps.

The attacker usually must have specific set of skills to perform the best spikes which include the preparation, approach, take-off, midair contact and finally the landing [14]. Since most of the actions done by an attacker include jumps with spikes, it is only normal to have both upper and lower limbs muscles included [14]

As for the phases, the preparation is the position in which the player must be in before their first step towards the jump and spike. In this phase the player must be in a flexed position with dominant foot towards their spike direction and arms hanging in a relaxed state [14]. Since the player will need high force, maximum speed must be reached in a short period of time to allow for the force build-up leading to the spike, here comes the approach phase [14]. In the approach phase, a 3 or 4 step run is done right before the jump which helps produce a more vertical jump. Right after the third step in the run , the fourth step done is a minimum-floor contact step which increases jump elasticity this goes back to “ Newton’s third law: Newton’s third law completes the volleyball spike as for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus when running or in this case jumping, athletes apply force to the ground with both a downward (vertical) and (horizontal) component” [15] .Arm position is essential in this part for generating maximum force. After this step is done the player jumps up with high elasticity, speed and momentum/torque created in the last step before the jump making an elastic-explosive jump [14]. At the take off part the players hands must be swinging back which also helps in jump elasticity [14].

After the jump is done the hands are both swung up in complete extension allowing the spike to hit with maximum power, this is produced by using the whole body for power production.in this phase hip rotation plays an essential part[14]. Right handed players must rotate their left hips called ipsilateral rotation allowing them to project more force. “Move total upper limb through a hip flexion. This creates a mechanical advantage and this improves his performance” [13].

The landing is also another important part of the whole spike since many injuries may occur so it must be done correctly. The perfect way to land is on both feet together in order to absorb the landing [16]. Another important thing to do is to land with both knees bent to prevent “jumper’s knee” [16].

Muscle groups in every step in performing the jump and spike include elbow, knee, wrist, ankle, hip and glenohumeral joints as well as complete leg muscles; which will all be used together at some point in the game. Every muscle group used for flexion and extension aid in the moving of that joint [13].

Leg muscles such as calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors are essential for running, but they also play a vital part in quick, explosive jumps. Strong leg muscles give you the power you need to elevate your jumps for effective all jumps, spikes , setting and blocking [6].

Some additional muscles play a role for stabilizing the shoulder and arm movements during spikes, some of which are the scapular and latissimus dorsi muscles of the back. Chest muscles move up and down with the body depending on the arm movement for support in relation to shoulder position.

Psychology

As many know, being in matches can be stressful on all players but specifically ;the one they count on for the scores, the attacker. Being the person in charge of scoring can be sometime overwhelming because they are expected to perform the best in order to win. One of the most essential psychological trait for an attacker is the volume of attention. They must be aware of all their surrounding and movements done by the players and the ball. This attention helps them in estimating the approximate location of the ball, when they need to jump and to which location the ball needs to be hit by them. This excess need of attention can have some negative effect on the players in a way that can cause excessive fatigue and unbalanced emotional state. The player must be on perfect mental state in order to perform at their best with minimal distraction. A common trait between attackers is being mentally tough which means the player must know how to conquer fear, rise above circumstance and know their body and capabilities.in other words, nothing must affect the player in the team. The player’s performance remains solid and stable no matter the situation. They should be able to ignore any negative external influences and focus only on controlling themselves by positive thinking while maintaining focus. Anxiety is very common between all players the only difference is how the player allows to affect their performance. Many studies conducted on volleyball players showed the players who have high self-confidence when playing accompanied with anxiety seem to perform better ,whereas on the other hand lack of self-confidence accompanied with anxiety leads to poorer performance. “the absence of self-confidence during stressful competition maybe critical factor, owing to its additional motivational properties along with experiencing anxiety symptoms” [10].

References

1. Lopez, M., Texidor, S., White, E., & Zaremba, P. (2010). Volleyball. Retrieved from http://www.ohio5.org/woosterwomeninsport/exhibits/show/sports/volleyball
2. Dupuis, C., & Tourny-Chollet, C. (2003). Increasing Explosive Power of the Shoulder in Volleyball Players. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 25(6), 7-11.
3. Palao, J. M., Manzanares, P., & Valadés, D. (2014). Anthropometric, physical, and age differences by the player position and the performance level in volleyball. Journal of human kinetics, 44, 223–236.
4. Pandey, & Kumar Correspondence, Ajay & , Pandey & Tilak, Raj & Meena, Inder & Kerketta, Sunita & , Bisht. (2016). Relationship between Selected Anthropometric Measurement and Volleyball Players Performance. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health. 217. 217-219.
5. Elahe, K., Narges, G., Mahdieh, G., & Somayeh, R. (2013). Description of aerobic and anaerobic capacity of male student volleyball players. Res J Sport Sci , 1 (2), 54-7.
6. Rankovic, G., Mutavdzic, V., Toskic, D., Preljevic, A., Kocic, M., Nedin Rankovic, G., & Damjanovic, N. (2010). Aerobic capacity as an indicator in different kinds of sports. Bosnian journal of basic medical sciences, 10(1), 44–48. doi:10.17305/bjbms.2010.2734
7. Morrow, JR Jr, Hosler, WW, and Nelson, JK. A comparison of women intercollegiate basketballplayers, volleyball playersand nonathletes. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 20: 435–440, 1980
8. Alfredson, H, Pietila, T, and Lorentzon, R. Concentric and eccentric shoulder and elbow muscle strength in female volleyball players and non-active females. Scand J Med Sci Sports 8: 265–270, 1998.
9. Gladden, LB and Colacino, D. Characteristics of volleyball players and success in a national tournament. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 18: 57–64, 1978.
10. Fry, AC, Kraemer, WJ, Weseman, CA, Conroy, BP, Gordon, SE, Hoffman, JR, and Maresh, CM. The effects of an off-season strength and conditioning program on starters and non-starters in women’s intercollegiate volleyball. J Appl Sport Sci Res 5: 174–181, 1991
11. “What Are the Biomechanical Principles That Are Crucial to a Volleyball Spike?” Biomechanics of the Volleyball Spike, 19 June 2015, biomechanicsvolleyball.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/7/.
12. Denny Jackson. (2007). strength and power for volleyball. Retrieved from https://www.strength-and-power-for-volleyball.com/about-me.html
13. Muscolino, J. E. (2014). Kinesiology : the Skeletal System and Muscle Function. Elsevier Health Sciences.
14. Tkachev, Jessica. “Mechanical and Anatomical Analysis of Spiking.” Academia.edu, 2 May 2014, www.academia.edu/10948723/Mechanical_and_Anatomical_Analysis_of_Spiking.
15. “What Are the Biomechanical Principles That Are Crucial to a Volleyball Spike?” Biomechanics of the Volleyball Spike, 19 June 2015, biomechanicsvolleyball.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/7/.
16. Bisseling, R. W, et al. “Relationship between Landing Strategy and Patellar Tendinopathy in Volleyball.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 41, no. 7, 2007.

“The best way to build confidence in court is by playing.” according to a Thai Secretary-General of Thailand Volleyball Association, Mr. Jaksuwan Tocharoen, “It’s best to go up against strong guys if you want to get stronger.”- Haikyuu!! Volleyball (A Japanese manga series). Another proof on the list is the journey of Brazil WVT, from just being a part of Olympic line up in the past, they managed to be the #1 team in world ranking for years! The year 2000 up to 2014 were the “golden years” of Brazil because they entered the semi-finals on those years without being eliminated even once! In short, exposure is the key! It’s the opposite of what happened in the Philippines during these years. The reason? Politics.

The last time our country participated and won a medal was on 2005 SEA Games which was held here in Manila. Afterwards, nothing. The role of former president of now dissolved PVF, (Philippine Volleyball Federation) Gener Dungo was questioned. The Philippine Sportswriters Association demanded Dungo to appear, but he declined. Then later, Vangie De Jesus, a suspended secretary attempted to create a team that will compete internationally. Which made the birth of Amihan (women’s) and Bagwis (men’s) team. But not long ago, both teams were dissolved.

“The greatest team we never had.” – this is the sentiment of volleyball supporters. The author of this essay, who is a volleyball fanatic, shed tears. Resulted from what happened was the disappointment of volleyball community here in the Philippines. FIVB was learned about the situation and condemned the PVF for nullification of authority. These events led to the creation of LVPI (Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc.) by POC (Philippine Olympic Committee). With the help of LVPI, and “Tats” Suraza, a PSL (Philippine SuperLiga) president from 2013 until 2018, Philippines was able to compete in SEA Games, both men and women after 4-year inactivity. Due to long absence, a huge gap of skills of Filipino players were evident, if compared to neighbors like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Sadly, politics is politics. It is inevitable.

2017 was the year when the Philippine volleyball marked a promising future. Our country continues to send their representatives at international competitions – thanks to LVPI, POC and FIVB. As of July 8, 2019, both women’s (u23 team) and men’s (senior team) participated in Sealect Tuna Volleyball Championship in Thailand. The men’s team are set to battle against Saraburi Thai-Denmark for bronze medal tomorrow at 11 a.m. Laban Pilipinas!

Introduction and aim of the study

Definition of ice hockey

Canada was the first country which implemented ice hockey in the 19th century. Up to now, it belongs to one of the major sports worldwide. The National Hockey League (NHL) represents the largest all over the world. (rulesofsport)

Ice hockey is a dynamic sport between two teams, executed by ten outfield players, who skate with high speeds while shooting a puck between two goals, and two goal keepers in total. (Mosenthal) The game is located on an ice rink which is about 60m long and 30m wide. The players wear ice skates, a helmet, (full) face mask, optional a mouthguard, shoulder pads, arm guards, gloves, trousers which are padded, and use an ice hockey stick individually adjusted in length based on their height. (rulesofsport) One match takes more than 60 minutes, three times 20, with ten minutes break after the first two blocks on ice. The athletes play with a stretch, they change every 45-60 seconds on average with their substitutes. For each position the trainer can line up four players who can change frequently. (McKay) The aim of the match is to have the most goals, in case of tie, overtime is given. (rules of sport)

Epidemiology of ice hockey injuries and prognosis

Due to fast speeds, ice hockey bears a great risk to get injured. (Biasca) Researchers even named ice hockey the most violent sport worldwide. (Benson)

From all registered injuries of athletes, 13-35% affect ice hockey players. (LaPrade) The exact frequency of injuries in ice hockey varies in literature due to the heterogeneity of exposure, designs of studies and definitions of injury. One common terminology is used by LaPrade et. al: an injury is as a trauma which needs medical care and the affected person to be removed from the current game as well as subsequent session. (LaPrade) An injury occurs through the complex interaction between extrinsic and intrinsic risk factors which are modifiable and non-modifiable. The exposure to those is dynamic. (Benson/Mc) Minor trauma is often not reported but they happen four times as often in contact leagues than in non-contact sports as well as in ice hockey more often during games than practice. (Scanlan, McKay)

It is proven that men get injured more often than women probably due to the fact that body-checks in the male leagues are forbidden. (bfu1) Mc Kay et. al state in their study that 2.3-79.2 injuries / 1000 players occur in the men`s league. (McKay)

The most common injured body parts are head and shoulders. (McKay, Schmitt) Mc Kay et. al observed in the male professional NHL league between 2006-2007 and 2011-2012 that 16.8% of all injuries concerned the head, 14% the thigh and 13% were knee injuries. LaPrade et. al published the following numbers regarding affected body parts: 13.5% occurred in the knees, 8.9% acromioclavicular joint, 6.2% were contusions of the upper leg and lastly 4.5% hip and pelvis strains. (LaPrade) Concussions show the highest rates of all injuries in school and professional athletes playing ice hockey. This kind of injury lead to prolonged physical and mental health issues. (Todd) 56% of the concussions resulted from contact with boards. (Touminen)

But scientific information outline that the overall time-loss due to injuries and illnesses is decreasing. (McKay).

Causes and mechanism

The high speeds can result in collisions between players, according to Mosenthal et. al this is the main cause of athlete`s injury, as well as between players and boards. (Benson, Schmitt, Mosenthal). The incidence of injuries depends amongst others on the league, age and individual player (Scanlan) but body-checking stays the primary cause of injury. (Mc Kay, Mosenthal, Todd)

Wilcox et. al analyzed the occurrence of head injuries in ice hockey players. In the study of 2013, they investigated the head impact by using an accelerometer device: the “Head Impact Telemetry System” measured the head impact during a match, more precisely the location, frequency and magnitude of impact. They concluded that there is still a high need to reduce the exposure of head impacts in order to lower the injury risk because that kind of trauma is a severe health problem. (Wilcox)

Thoughts were made to change the boards of the rings, as a cause of injuries, to decrease the injury rates.

Dasher boards in Switzerland

Raitasport Co. Ltd. is a company which supplies ice hockey arenas all over Europe with safe equipment since 1979. Dasher Board Systems are one of them which are even made for arenas where the Olympics and World Championship are held. “HORNIUM” and “OPTIUM” are modern flexible dasher boards made and sold by Raitasport and used in Switzerland.

Kaner-tec ag is another company who sells equipment for ice hockey arena since the seventies. A study by Touminen et. al found out that the risk to get injured is 29% lower in those arenas with the new flexible “Engospond Flexboard PPS” designs than in those arenas with traditional, stiff boards. (Touminen) Also, Kaner-tec supplies cities of Switzerland with dasher boards.

Prevention strategies

Prevention strategies are developed to reduce the prevalence of injuries to athletes, but the challenge is to avoid creating new risks by that. (Benson) Explorative studies should concentrate on twelve factors, when it is about verifying prevention strategies.

For example, in ice hockey, with the implementation of helmets it was proven that skull fractures and mild traumatic injuries became less. (Benson/Mc) Shoulder pads were made bigger and full facemasks and mouthguards made mandatory (Benson, Biasca) even though the full facemasks and mouthguards function is controversial. (Benson/Mc). They led to a reduction of dental, facial and ocular injuries (Benson, Biasca, Beson/Mc, Mosenthal) but did not protect the players adequate from severe head injuries such as concussions (Biasca, Mosenthal). Some studies even found out that trauma to the neck, brain and spinal cord were higher with the introduction of full facemasks. Therefore, only those under 18 need to wear full facemasks and mouthguards, otherwise the decision lies by the player. (Benson) Besides, safer equipment can result in aggressive behavior as stated in some literature because the athletes feel more protected. This compensating behavior of athletes is called the Peltzmann effect as mentioned in a study by Chong and Restrepo which can barely be avoided because it happens unconcious. (Chong) Also, nowadays, the players become stronger and bigger which can be further causes of the high prevalence of injuries. (Tedd) Besides, it is important that the equipment is worn correctly in order to avoid other trauma. Strict rules, controls and penalties were introduced to deal with these problems. (Biasca)

Because, as mentioned above, the injury prevention strategies focused on behavioral modifications are less effective, recently, concentration lies on contextual changes, such as environmental issues. But unfortunately, studies on equipment modifications for sport is rare. The Haddon matrix is a tool to identify and create intervention strategies. (Vriend) It is useful in the analysis of ice hockey injuries.

Benson et. al state that prevention in terms of rules enforcement, change of equipment and techniques is the best treatment for concussions. The aim of this study is the evaluation of a prevention strategy regarding the dasher boards used in ice hockey. There is the need to at least decrease the severity of body impacts if it cannot be avoided fully. (Benson) One prevention strategy is the change of the material from the dasher boards around the ice hockey rink. The aim is that the impact on the athletes body is reduced. A few tests were executed by different researchers. Therefore, this study summarizes the current evidence about dasher boards made out of a more flexible design.

Research on flexible dasher boards

The study by Cordis et. al from 2012 compared body checks against several boards made of different materials in real-life games and laboratory settings. According to the impact forces, there was a 25% difference between flexible boards and the most conventional dual base frames. The displacement of the most flexible board was 130% greater. Furthermore, they state that by replacing the glass with plastic shield, the impact forces were reduced. But it is important to mention that the plastic shield as well as metallic posts bear a high-risk even though the boards are more flexible. The injury risks could be reduced if the height of the board is lowered and metallic post removed because the player most likely hits the flexible part of the board and not the plastic shield or metallic post. (Cordis)

Poutiainin et. al evaluated 2012 the possible mechanism of injury rates caused by a player to board collision. Their goal was to compare three board designs and find which one has the lowest impact force by performing a case control experiment in a laboratory. A sand filled bag was used to simulate a collision with the board. They found out that single formed dasher boards are less stiff. The best results showed the dasher board made of acryl which was 15mm thick. The authors therefore recommend single framed, light and flexible protective shielding material without the metallic posts. (Poutiainin)

Touminen et. al observed 1.1 of 1000 players got injured when hitting a traditional board but only 0.2 of 1000 when flexible boards were used in ice hockey arenas. The incidence rate was measured during the international ice hockey World Championships and Olympic Winter Games between 2006 and 2015. The authors concluded that a flexible material can increase the impact energy resorption, decrease the peak forces, lead to greater stopping distances. (Poutiainin, Touminen) A bigger stopping distance results in a smaller force and injury risk. They recommend the use of glass and flexible boards to reduce concussions. (Touminen)

In 2016, Schmitt et. al compared six different boards designs and tested their collision impact with a dummy (representing a 78 kg heavy and 1.75 m tall person) as well as with a pendulum, cylindrical shaped. The reason for that was the statement that 20-40% of all injuries happened with the boards. In their experiments mainly the shoulder made the first contact with the flexible boards, the abdomen and thorax with the referenced ones. (Schmitt, bfu) Results showed that flexible boards were displaced four times more than traditional ones. However, although they did not absorb shock well enough, the displacement was increased what decreased the stiffness and effective mass, the rebound velocity was higher, and the impactor did not lead to a deformation. The study had a high repeatability. However, worth to mention is that a displacement is not sufficient enough to avoid biomechanical loading fully.

Later on, 2018, Schmitt et. al improved their own study design as well as the one executed by Touminen et. al. They have found some limitations regarding the used sand filled bag and testing environment. Therefore, they designed a new product which was standardized and tested in a laboratory as well as in an ice arena. The board in the arena showed a higher rebound velocity and lower displacement (20-30% compared to the laboratory) and curved boards were stiffer than straight ones.

Dasher boards in use

In North America, at the world champions league and in several northern Europe countries, flexible boards are already used. (Watson) Since 2018/19 it is an obligation for the national leagues in Switzerland to have impact limited boards in their ice arena. The cities Lausanne, Biel, Bern and Lugano started to implement these new designs in their stadiums and experienced positive results by that. One example are the numbers of an observation in Bern 2016: in the winter season the head impacts of ice hockey players were reduced because the lower part of the board was 15cm deeper and made of flexible design and the acrylic glass was higher. A mass of 60kg acted on the players head instead of 153kg with the old material. However, this shows that the total impact is still high enough, also with the new designs. Hansjürg Thüler, head of sports at the information desk for accident prevention (BfU), is satisfied with the results because 10% of the total injuries (30%), happened through body-checks against the boards, is expected to be prevented. Though, rule enforcements about hits against the heads needs to be strictly followed in the future. (Zeitung)

Conclusion and future research

Even though the new dasher boards which are currently improved in their designs reduce the overall injury rates of a collision between a player and board, there is still a high need of potential for development. Several advantages were outlined with the few researches which currently exists, but the ice hockey player is still put in jeopardy. It is not clear yet how severe an impact would be on different parts of the ice hockey rink and in how far the shear panels of the boards could be improved. Currently there are assessments running.

References

1. Unknown. Ice Hockey Rules Internet. 2016 cited 29 January 2019. Available from: http://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/ice-hockey.html.
2. Mosenthal W, Kim M, Holzshu R, Hanypsiak B, Athiviraham A. Common Ice Hockey Injuries and Treatment. Current Sports Medicine Reports. 2017;16(5):357-362.
3. McKay C, Tufts R, Shaffer B, Meeuwisse W. The epidemiology of professional ice hockey injuries: a prospective report of six NHL seasons. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2013;48(1):57-62.
4. Biasca N. The avoidability of head and neck injuries in ice hockey: an historical review. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2002;36(6):410-427.
5. Benson B. Head and Neck Injuries Among Ice Hockey Players Wearing Full Face Shields vs Half Face Shields. JAMA. 1999;282(24):2328.
6. LaPrade R, Surowiec R, Sochanska A, Hentkowski B, Martin B, Engebretsen L et al. Epidemiology, identification, treatment and return to play of musculoskeletal-based ice hockey injuries. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2013;48(1):4-10.
7. Benson B, McIntosh A, Maddocks D, Herring S, Raftery M, Dvořák J. What are the most effective risk-reduction strategies in sport concussion?. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2013;47(5):321-326.
8. Scanlan A. Sports and Recreation. Injury Prevention Strategies: Systematic Review and Best Practices. BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit. 2001.
9. Schmitt K, Muser M, Thüler H, Brügger O. Belastungsreduzierende Bandensysteme im Eishockey: Experimentelle Untersuchung zur Performance. Bern: bfu – Beratungsstelle für Unfallverhütung; 2017. bfu-Report 76. DOI 10.13100/bfu.2.338.01
10. Todd R, Soklaridis S, Treen A, Bhalerao S, Cusimano M. Understanding the resistance to creating safer ice hockey: essential points for injury prevention. Injury Prevention. 2017; injuryprev-2016-042272.
11. Wilcox BJ, Beckwith JG, Greenwald RM, Chu JJ, Mcallister TW, Flashman LA, et al. Head impact exposure in male and female collegiate ice hockey players. Journal of Biomechanics 2014;47:109–14. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2013.10.004.
12. Poutiainen P, Peltonen J, Isolehto J, Avela J. Comparison of impact characteristics of four different ice hockey arena dasher boards. European Journal of Sport Science. 2012;14(1):11-18.
13. Tuominen M, Hänninen T, Parkkari J, Stuart M, Luoto T, Kannus P et al. Concussion in the international ice hockey World Championships and Olympic Winter Games between 2006 and 2015. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017;51(4):244-252.
14. Schmitt K, Muser M, Thueler H, Bruegger O. Crash-test dummy and pendulum impact tests of ice hockey boards: greater displacement does not reduce impact. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017;52(1):41-46.
15. Dasher Boards. Internet. 2017 cited 26 January 2019. Available from: https://www.raitasport.com/products/dasher-boards/
16. Kaner-tec AG Produkte. Internet. cited 26 January 2019. Available from: http://kaner-tec.ch/index.php/produkte.html.
17. Chong A, Restrepo P. Regulatory Protective Measures and Risky Behavior: Should We Be Saved from Ourselves? SSRN Electronic Journal. 2014.
18. Vriend I, Gouttebarge V, Finch C, van Mechelen W, Verhagen E. Intervention Strategies Used in Sport Injury Prevention Studies: A Systematic Review Identifying Studies Applying the Haddon Matrix. Sports Medicine. 2017;47(10):2027-2043.
19. Cordis. Researchers investigate hockey board safety. Medicalxpress. 2012.
20. Schmitt K, Gross J, Muser, M. Development of a standardised pendulum to impact ice hockey boards. Bern: bfu – Beratungsstelle für Unfallverhütung; 2018. bfu knowledge base. DOI 10.13100/bfu.2.352.08
21. Schmitt K-U, Gross J, Muser, M. On-site impact testing of ice hockey boards. Bern: bfu – Swiss Council for Accident Prevention; 2018. bfu knowledge base. DOI 10.13100/bfu.2.354.08
22. Watson.ch. «Flexible Banden» erneut getestet – Risiko für Hirnerschütterungen noch nicht reduziert 2016. https://www.watson.ch/sport/eishockey/391358064-flexible-banden-erneut-getestet-risiko-fuer-hirnerschuetterungen-noch-nicht-reduziert.
23. Zeitung B, Tamedia Espace AG. Für ein bisschen mehr Sicherheit im Eishockey. https://www.bernerzeitung.ch/sport/hockey/fuer-ein-bisschen-mehr-sicherheit-im-eishockey/story/10408516

Rationale

Volleyball is one of my favorite sports that I play although I only play two and that was the reason I decided to focus my mathematical exploration on this simple topic. When told I had to do this exploration, I instantly started searching for topics and/or things I could do but nothing interested me. After looking at the stimuli given to me and many other examples, I decided that I would stick to what I was known for: sports—volleyball and basketball. I thought that relating this mathematical exploration to a more personal matter would be the better choice. Having played volleyball from my 8th grade year to my senior year in high school, I know that serving is an important part of the game, but my question was “How would I model this?” Serving a volleyball is one of the most important factors in the game of volleyball and I knew that I would need to consider the physics of serving. Projectile motion is something that most definitely needs to be considered when talking about the optimization of a serve.

Introduction

Volleyball is an internationally renowned sport that is currently ranked as number 5 according to world atlas. It is essentially a game that consists of two teams, normally six players, in which a ball is hit over a high net. The aim of the game is to score points by forcing the ball on the opponent’s side of the court. One prevalent strategy is the use of a serve. I’ve played it since my 8th grade year of middle school and I’ve been a great server ever since. An optimized serve will either result in a point (due to it not being returned) or weakly returned allowing the serving team to use this to an advantage. In this paper, I will construct a model to interpret the optimization of a volleyball serve.

In order to correctly model ‘serving’ optimization, I decided to base the optimization of the serve on the dimensions of the court and the volleyball and the forces acting upon the ball. I realized that I first needed to consider these small factors when it comes to serving. The other most important forces to be considered are: the initial velocity put on the ball by the player, the force of the spin of the ball, and the distance the ball has traveled. Not only those things but also gravity plays a crucial role in the serving of a volleyball as it gravitates towards the Earth.

Dimensions and Limits

A volleyball has a diameter of 8.15 inches which gives a radius of slightly over 4 inches. It weighs about 10 ounces when rounded from 9.9 oz. The ball has narrow indentations along its outer surface which affect the way the air moves around the ball. When hit hard without a spin, the ball tends to flurry—known as a float—in the air, moving erratically as it descends toward the ground. When hit hard with a spin, the ball tends to gravitate towards the ground faster with what is known as topspin.

A typical volleyball court is 29 feet, 6 in. (9 m) wide by 59 feet long (18 m) in the shape of a rectangle (see Figure 2). The net in NCAA women’s volleyball is 7 feet, 4 ½ in. high. The net in the middle separates the court into two equal playing areas. Spreading from the end of each side of the court is an area from which the ball is served. The server may stand at any spot behind the line to serve efficiently.

To calculate these models, x will represent the distance the ball travels horizontally, while h will be the height of the ball. The total distance will be represented by dt. In order for the ball to be served, one must hit the ball with an initial speed, therefore, VI will represent the initial velocity of the ball. As air resistance plays a big part in this model, time will be a factor to the model. Time will be represented as t due to the faster a ball comes, the less time an opponent has to get to the ball and return it.

Explanations of Models

a.1- Spin

We must take into account the spinning of the ball. A spin on the ball allows the ball to move faster towards the ground on the opponent’s side of the court. It creates a force that along with the initial velocity that would make a serve a good serve that may end with an awarding point. A top spinning ball is where the top of the ball in spinning in the same direction of its projected motion; thus causing the molecules on the ball to gravitate towards the means of the Earth due to gravity. Because of this very reason, servers tend to typically use this strategy rather than a serve with no spin to acquire a quick point. To calculate this model, we must take the magnitude of the force and relate it to the angular velocity of the ball, which will be represented by ω. Angular velocity is a velocity that applies to objects that move along a circular path. Since, due to the spin, the magnitude is proportional to the angular velocity and the velocity of the actual volleyball.

a.2- Gravity

This model is based off assumptions that gravity (freefall) is the only force acting upon the ball. In this model, the magnitude of the gravity force will be mg in the –y direction since the ball is traveling downwards; m is the mass of the ball and g equals 9.8 meters/second2 whereas it’s the acceleration due to gravity by the physics law of projectile motion. Also, the ball will move with a constant velocity in the x direction until it completes its path by landing on the ground. This model will be represented by the physics law of force (see figure 4):

Calculations and Substitutions

To accomplish a successful evaluation of an optimized volleyball serve, I had to experiment with three different volleyball players that I selected to execute the task of optimal serving. Three trials were taken all with different intentions for each specific trail to determine the best combinations of serving for optimal serving. For the first trial, they were all given the task to serve at different angles to determine the best angle to serve at and different strengths to help with initial velocity. I recorded the times which were affected by the angles that the ball was hit from and the distances which were affected by the initial speed applied to the ball. However, the time may still calculated by the distance of which the ball traveled.

To get appropriate angles, one server was asked to serve at an angle of 60 degrees, another was asked to serve at an angle of 45 degrees, and the third was asked to serve at an angle of 30 degrees. In the first trial, all three served at different angle with the same initial velocity of 3.2meters/second.

Both the time and total distance have large effects on the optimal serve whereas the distance itself has a huge effect for optimal time on a serve. The distance from the net is best when closest as possible to the net because landing the ball close to the net makes it difficult for the opposite team to pass—making hitters have to pass balls rather than the backline of defensive specialists [passers]. Now, because gravity is still the main force, the lower the serve, the shorter the time will be for the ball to hit the ground. Furthermore, the optimal serve was the 45 degree-angled serve as it took the fastest to hit the ground and the shortest distance from the net which are both good things. The 30 degree didn’t even make it over the net because how low the serve was while mentioning gravity being added to the ball’s force. The 60 degree-angled serve took too long for the ball to hit the ground which could benefit the other team with enough time to see where the ball is landing to be able to pass the ball.

Conclusion

Moving on I calculated the results again based off spin using the results of no spin. Increasing the spin on a ball allows the server to serve the ball with a much greater velocity, which makes it much harder to return. If the serve uses spin on the ball of the 45 degree ball, it will allow for a 14% more increase in getting the defender too “shank” a pass creating a point for the server’s team.

Bibliography

1. “Volleyball Server.” Strength and Power Volleyball, www.strength-and-power-for-volleyball.com/volleyball-server.html.
2. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2005 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Rules and Regulations. www.ncaa.org, 2005.

Sports a global phenomenon in human history taking the world by storm, by producing the best athletes to participate according to nationally or clubs. A test series is played for five consecutive days in two innings on the other hand, IPL matches consist for 3 hours with non-stop entertainment. Cricket is complicated to people who have never watched, played or had a passion for the game but in India, it’s equivalent to religion. During soccer world cup the entire Spanish nation is united for the match similarly cricket in India not only unites people but religion also. A country where players are treated like gods, prays chanted for the wellbeing of players this definitely shows the amount of dedication and love the nation has for this game. The fever of cricket overshadows every other sport in India including its national game hockey. Today, the sports business is enormously increasing the countries national economy as well as other corporate sectors. Previously, cricket was symbolized as a gentleman’s game however, these days it is considered as entertainment business for showbiz at a professional level.

The original name of cricket was called surrey that was played by schoolboys during 1550s and during the century the game was widespread amongst the rural population, countrymen also known as peasant game according to (Underdown, 2006). Somehow, the earnestness within elite member began in the 18th until John Nyren published the scores of games in a magazine called The Town later reprinted with the original title ‘The Cricketers of My Time’ (Underdown, 2006). Mostly famous and renounced families understood the seriousness of this sport promoted during the Victorian period. Although, it developed from England’s rural areas but was highly regarded as a competitive game whereas over the years it grew as ‘English national pastime’ including games like soccer, horse racing and rugby. During the British era, cricket was diffused to countries captured and occupied by British troops and foreign settlers including Commonwealth nations who actively supported this sport, albeit not all (Kaufman & & Patterson, 2005, p.2). Cricket was a sign of superiority and racial status while non-white members were restricted from playing. Towards the 19th century, this game was adopted by West Indies and gradually the popularity increased dramatically. While in India, the European colonist formed their own team with local top-notch players demonstrating the country’s ability as a cricket destination (Kidambi, 2019). Certainly, with the Britishers ruling not only economically and politically they also established cultural imperialism to other parts of the world through cricket.

In the following years, India was one of the few countries to play cricket at international level and select players within the country. Gradually, people developed a positive impact on cricket, but unfortunately, no media coverage was available, somehow radio was the only means for commentary. When India won the world cup in 1983, they were the talk of the country since general public wanted to see and know their hero’s that’s when media draw its attention towards cricket through a limit scope. Media played its role as well as creating endless possibilities that benefited both parties together. This indeed was the first official mingle between sports and showbiz at global level. (Subramanian, 2008).

In 2007, Indian Premier League (IPL) paved ways for cricketers from various nationalities to form respective teams playing against each other. After T20 international tournament cricket gained popularity and received an overwhelming response from people across the globe. This idea was made into reality in 2008 when Lalit Modi former vice president of BCCI (Indian Premier League : How it all started – Times of India, 2003). This was the first attempt to build a sports brand franchise across south- east Asia, based on the popularity of sports. Subsequently imitating the English Premier League and National Basketball League (NBA) a clear vision was to create a similar format (Ghosh, 2015). With the adoption of western culture, this format has proven sensation amongst the masses in India including the entertainment sectors, celebrities, advertisement and media company co-sponsoring this event (Indian Premier League : How it all started – Times of India, 2003). Moreover, replicating another concept of the American version was the auction system wherein, the bidding event represents cricketers across different nationalities to be auctioned for. This process continues until the bidder has place the highest amount in comparison to the others, foreign buyers are also welcome to purchase. The bidder who won has the advantage to own his team representing any city in India. There were three major reasons contributing towards the success of this game – length of the match, timing and important foreign players (Karhadkar, 2018). Surely, players from international countries participating in this tournament would carry their cultural diversity to India infusing a multi blend in the game through advertisements and endorsements. Audiences at home witnessed their favourite cricketers as a part of their home team making it a perfect opportunity to explore the game.

When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched IPL initially, started with eight teams and a certain prize money making it one of the wealthiest internal cricket tournaments in India. The concept of auction was derived from the American sports and infused into cricket (Lavalette, 2019). During IPL bidding nearly 500 top players made their way out of thousands thereafter, a ceremony is held to auction each play once that is done a squad of 27 members per team is formed. Although, previously clubs played against each other but here the eight team with resemble different states with the country.

Usually, IPL is always played in India but in 2014 due to general elections, the possible matches were subtly shifted to an international venue in the developed Middle East countries (Davis, 2016). Since India’s election date was tentatively scheduled during the mid of April and IPL undoubtedly continues for two consecutive months it was impossible to merely continue with the game. Formerly, multiple locations like Bangladesh, South Africa and UAE were carefully selected options to conduct these games however, UAE projected to be incredibly efficient in infrastructure hosting matches in the past, direct flights connecting both the countries obtain another advantage for hosting this event (Samiuddin, 2014). Most of the matches were held at three different emirates cities Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Before the impressive start of the first match, an anglophone commentator welcomed the overwhelming crowds from various nationalities with a slight South African accent referring to the world largest live cricket show on the globe. According to Davis (2016), IPL initially was a minor part of India’s coordinated project that emitted the country name sooner along with private investors investing in IPL viewed this imagination of India as a global spectacle. IPL undoubtedly proves to be a worldwide sensation not only in India but all over the world.

The reason contributing to the success of IPL was due to media intervention. Media has taken cricket to masses in several forms like advertisements on television, sports columns in newspapers, magazines and other sources. Certainly, cricket tops the priority list and the reason is clear: cricket is in demand. Many foreign channels like Sony, Fox Sports, Star Sports, Star India have bid auctions for broadcasting and media rights but Star India paid a hefty prize covering entire India distribution rights, digital as well as the rest of the world for a higher cost (Viswanath, 2017). The CEO of Star India expresses his happiness proclaiming cricket can be watched from any part of the world is an achievement towards growth and popularity of from one nation to another. The Indian media has played an integral role in fostering a strong connection between citizens and the nation through the broadcasting of cricket matches involving all crickets irrespective of their foreign denomination. Social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter witnessed an upsurge during 2017 IPL tournament 20 million conversations were sent across these websites (Jha, 2017). However, unsurprisingly India has the largest viewer population albeit, surprisingly the United States had the second biggest audience a country not known to give much attention to cricket. The increasing commercialization of the game along with social media presence has ignited nationalism as Indians looked towards cricket to assert their global identity.

With the ultimate end of British occupation in India marked the beginning of cricket as a routine for entertainment, business as well as the appropriation of patriotism and modernization. The media has been instrumental in spreading the game to remote villages across India as a result, smaller towns also get to enjoy the sport. A few years ago, sports were a medium of captivating restricted only to live games on television but these days reduction in data cost and bettering connectivity, online platforms are becoming essentially vital sources of live streaming. Newspapers and news channels can no longer remain aloof from this fact and have accepted cricket as an integral part of this process. IPL is regarded as the premium sports league of the country having incredible value for its stakeholders, franchisees, as well as international brands like Pepsi, Samsung, Nokia, Daikin, World Expo, were co-sponsors during these events (Mishra, 2020). IPL receives a huge chunk of profits in the form of sponsorship, business ventures and media right. With the Indian diaspora dispersed all over the world due to globalization, the media has been vastly influential supporting communities to cling on to their identities through the televising of cricket matches.

As a part of the ceremony, there goes a saying, in India cricket and celebrities go hand-in-hand whereas IPL was the perfect opportunity to endorse a brand, movie or support a team. Additionally, famous Bollywood superstars had purchased teams belonging to different states. Adding a highlight to the event is international artist like Major Lazer and Chris Brown showcasing their performance during the inauguration ceremonies (Massey, 2016). Earlier, cheerleading was definitely not a part of cricket but, replicating the standard format of all sports across the U.S, IPL also introduced this concept as an element of this game. They had to adopt the Indian way of clothing as per the state national costume and dance accordingly (Carson, 2015). Inviting popular singers displays the collaboration between national and foreign personalities blending a homogenization of culture.

The Indian Premier League has entered its 12th session this year, a complete rollercoaster for cricket’s biggest league since its inception in 2008. The tournament has constantly been embroiled in controversies, but yet manages to grab eyeballs somehow. Nowadays, corruption of sports like match fixing is quite prominent almost in every sport whereas, these games are prearranged well in advance with certain players and outsider operators. Mostly, violation of rules, regulations and laws as well. It’s considered one of the fastest growing global crimes in sports, a convenient means of money laundering and rapid transaction of money betting for example when a side deliberately loses a game or continuously aims for wide it is pretty well understood of the situation. These gambles like match fixing and illegal sports is evident during government scrutiny as well as grabbing media’s attention. While there were speculations floating around since the inception of this event at least four members from a team were involved in match fixing including foreign players claimed former commissioner Lalit Modi making revelation on Twitter (IPL: At least four Chennai super kings players are involved in fixing, claims Lalit Modi, 2015). According to an undercover investigation carried out in Mumbai by Al Jazeera’s news channel unveiled a member claiming to payoff cricketers during matches. The match-fixer foretold the involvement of several players and how their participation in the game would be. A small portion played according to the bidders fetches a huge amount depending on the series played (Harrison, 2018). Among these storms IPL faced another controversy as well as adding to their problems was renowned BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) president son-in-law and others members were accused for fixing the match between two teams. However, the case was handed over to the local court of further investigation (Police case for IPL match fixing filed against srinivasan, son-in-law,2013). Bringing this incident to light means disrupting the process and highlighting people involved in this act but there are few players whose name have just being added to this list. Australian cricketer Shaun Trait, has taken legal action against the media for including his name in spot-fixing scandal during IPL whereas, it was broadcasted on Twitter and the radio (Angry Tait slams incorrect spot-fixing reports, 2013). Surely, media’s intervention is required to portray every angle of the game but precautions and research should definitely be considered before naming any allegation.

IPL has paved a path to entertain people across the international borders nevertheless, along with the entertainment comes a hand full of other negative aspects reflecting the reality of showbiz. The way south America breathes soccer similarly Indian breathes cricket. Indians worship cricketers as gods and enjoy each match is watch with the same thrill and enthusiasm. During the initial years, the game flowed smoothly with the presence of former IPL founder Lalit Modi setting the system in place. After which several controversies followed, Pakistan players were forbidden to participate in the tournament due to Mumbai terror attacks. The cricket board refused to grant permission to enter India. Secondly, in 2011, South African cheerleader exposed the ill treatment received by cricketers and committee members. Scandals, corruption cases and other minor tantrums works conjointly with IPL (Menon, 2012). Other concern, stated by a qualified coach, is majority of players ignore training practice and fitness sessions in order to build physic and muscles that’s not required for the game (Mathur, 2019). This league boosted the economy in number ways like creating job opportunities in different states, umpiring, security forces and majorly ticket selling generated a huge revenue in the country. In 2014, when UAE hosted the event it contributed an enormous amount of 275 million dirhams boosting the country economy and tourism sector (Tiwari, 2018). However, keeping in mind, events can have an adverse and unexpected consequences leading to media involvement and public unwanted attention, with media having influential power on social and cultural impact in society.

Taking everything into account, the peculiarities of cricket creates a strong urge for people to watch and visually participate in this sport. Players representing different nationalities are globally admired for localizing sports and its culture during IPL. The arrival of a new league has added brightest to the game right from the beginning to form a cosmopolitan identity. Post industrial globalization excess pressure was put on the game in order meet public expectations. Creation of franchises where international players are auctioned at the highest bid. Wherein, business and sports are collaborated to form a new venue. An Indian visionary to reproduce a similar version of NBA and English Premier League football within a short span of time. Cricket is a hegemonic sports culture with a rapid growth of media involvement, male dominance, cultural imperialism and modernization of culture. The presence of Bollywood was felt as celebrities purchase their own team, cheerleaders danced on every “boundary and wickets” (Cricket, lovely cricket, 2008). Among these allegations like tax evasion and scams, money-betting, showbiz the true spirit of cricket is hampered.

One Premier League club owner, when asked about innovation, said on stage, “Our fans are not interested in innovation; they want us to win, and personally, I’m old school. Love the game as it is doesn’t change…”. Sound familiar?

Digital Transformation in the world of sports

In the last 4 years, we have personally met over 100 professional clubs and teams and worked very closely with some of them in realizing digital transformation and innovation.

Most sports clubs are saying that they are happy to embrace technology, but very few have really identified this as a do or die factor. It’s viewed more as a “nice to have” in most cases. We believe that sports clubs that do not become digital powerhouses by 2024 will not only be left behind and lose money and followers, but stagnation will seep into the dressing rooms and ultimately lead to their downfall on the pitch.

Innovation for clubs is much more than the next flashy thing. It is actually a tool to create tangible outcomes. To impact the bottom line, whether we are talking about using innovation on the pitch to boost performance, or the ability to attract new fans and amplify the fan experience. Do it 365 days a year, 24/7, as this is what fans expect.

We have put here some suggested measures, sports club should consider:

The 8 Digital Powerhouse Club Key Principles:

• Digital Law of Attraction — The Golden State Warriors have become a destination team, not just because they have Steph Curry, but because athletes want to be in the heart of innovation, and many of them have commented on the benefits of being near to the Silicon Valley. We can extrapolate this to players wanting to be part of innovative clubs.
• Gen Z is King: Those born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Peter Moore (CEO of Liverpool) said it best. When asked what keeps him up at night, he answered “Fortnite”, not the fear of rival clubs stealing his start players. He fears that fans will lose passion and that the quality of players will drop as a result of video games. “Gen Z” loves video games, so if clubs aren’t embracing Esports, they are going down the wrong path.
• Nurturing start-ups through an Innovation HUB/ Accelerator: Embrace the local and global startup communities. Leverage the free trials to demonstrate how things can be different, and justify a business case to implement them. It’s not difficult, but it takes time and initiative. This is being done successfully at the 1.FC Koln and Arsenal clubs, within leagues (La Liga, UEFA) and even hosted by stadiums (Johan Cruyff Arena, Chelsea Stamford Bridge). While the names listed are not many, the key takeaway point is that accelerators are not limited to one entity, and need to become part of core culture for driving change.
• Multiple Club Strategy — Having multiple clubs allows you to test and try innovation at one time and implement it later in a higher value club. The owners of Manchester City are an example of this principle — owning multiple football clubs on many continents allows them to test innovation in the US or Australia before implementing it in the EPL. Many US owners have adopted the multi-team approach in various leagues, including groups like HBSE (Sixers, Devils, Crystal Palace, and Team Dignitas esports), Fenway Group (Red Sox and Liverpool) and MLSE (Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, and Argonauts).
• May the (Digital) Force be with You — If you can’t win on the pitch, you win in the digital world. As highlighted earlier, not every club can win on the pitch, but anyone can win in digital ventures or Esports, as the playing field is leveled. Take advantage of these opportunities now.
• Owning Your Smart Stadium/Venue — As we speak to many clubs, some of the first roadblocks we hear are “we don’t own our stadium, so we can’t implement digital ticketing or smart gates” or “the Wi-Fi sucks and is out of our control”. It will be those clubs that control their own destiny with a venue that can implement innovation.
• China and India Presence- If you aren’t present in China, you cannot be a global super club. This isn’t a revelation to anyone, but it’s more than just having a Chinese player. Innovation is happening in China faster than anywhere in the world. Embracing Chinese (and soon to be Indian) innovation will become a huge factor that differentiates the leaders from followers.
• Community for Real — The new catchphrase “data is the new oil” shows how important it is to become a master in the art of managing and engaging with a global community through the current and new digital media, and how vital it is to convert social fans into real fans. While Facebook and Twitter are necessities, embracing the next new thing (TikTok, FaceApp) is imperative. Do not stand still. Build a global community.

The Digital Powerhouse Club

If we look around European football, we see only a few clubs that have truly identified the opportunity to embed innovation as a core principle or as part of their strategic roadmap. One great example is the Barcelona Innovation HUB with its big vision. 1.FC Köln is the first club in the Bundesliga to run its own sports tech accelerator (now in its second year), integrating start-up solutions into all its departments. Other great examples in football are Manchester City, which is taking a global approach leveraging trials with their teams on multiple continents, as well as participating in a global sports tech fund. Innovation, however, isn’t reserved primarily for the large super teams. In fact, Real Sociedad, a legendary but mid-tier La Liga club, has adopted a digital transformation roadmap, including a smart stadium innovation program for startups and, more recently, has been the driving force in establishing a global alliance of likeminded digital and tech-savvy clubs in order to leverage economies of scale to compete with the super clubs.

On the other hand, the NBA has many global trailblazers in the innovation space, but almost all clubs are far more advanced in adopting innovation than European football counterparts; specifically the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers who, driven by HBSE, was also one of the first sports teams to acquire an Esports club as well as establish an innovation hub.

Small football clubs don’t have to be left behind, and also have an opportunity to leverage innovation and compete with the big players. Dziki Warsaw, a second division Polish basketball team, works with numerous start-ups, offering them a test case and entry point into Europe or the basketball world. They are working with startups from Australia, Romania, Greece, and India, giving them a team and platform to try and test their products. This isn’t difficult, it just takes a change in mindset and a cultural shift. Claiming this to be too expensive is a cop-out.

In summary, while many football clubs say they want to be innovative, only a handful are really embedding the innovation culture in all areas of their performance. In our opinion, there will be some very famous prominent clubs who will inevitably become the Kodak or Nokia of the sports world. It’s bound to happen, and it won’t be the first time we have seen this movie. Adopting innovation starts at the top and needs to be endorsed from the top down and embedded as a culture in the club. Innovation is affecting all industries and we promise you that sports are not immune to the future.

A sport is typically defined as any physical activity involving some degree of completion. Some of the common sports include baseball, football, basketball, racing, volleyball, among many other kinds of sports. A person who participates in any sport as a profession is referred to as an athlete. As proved in this essay, while sports are very important in an individual’s daily life, it has its share of challenges.

For children, sports are important in helping them grow and develop. It helps in developing both physical fitness and mental health of the child. Schools aim at improving the physical and mental abilities of children and also instill a sense of good sportsmanship. Participation in sports enables students to avoid the monotony of classwork and therefore enhancing their talents and skills associated with sports.

In disabled children, sports enhance qualities such as self-control, a competitive spirit, mutual friendship with peers, physical energy, tolerance, and social interaction with the other members of society. According to research, sports have enabled disabled children to develop a positive sense of their wellbeing, solving the problems associated with social acclimatization, stigma, and low self-esteem. Several sports events are organized across the globe to enhance positive self-worthy and acceptance of the children living with disabilities. In general, sports are the most useful way of providing entertainment to children in every part of the world.

According to research, the playing of sports helps us to build and enhance our confidence levels. If we practice regularly, they become more active and healthier, and this enables them to avoid diseases that may be caused by excess fats and calories that we take every day (Coakley, 6). These diseases may include obesity, arthritis, heart problems, as well as diabetes. Regardless of whether the sports are professional or not, they are playing a vital role in strengthening our bodies, developing coordination, and promoting our physical and mental health.

According to Forrester (2006), universities and colleges, universities, and colleges have been seen to provide excellent environments where sporting activities can be upgraded. Several programs in these institutions which are offered to students promote the students’ abilities and talents in recreational activities and therefore boosting their physical wellbeing. The relationship between involvement in sports and academic work has been seen to be beneficial as it refreshes the mind after classes. Some of the students end up taking sports as their future career. Students who take part in recreational activities such as sports end up being the best in class, and their reasoning abilities are hence faster compared to the rest (Forrester 2006). Besides, emotional wellbeing is constructively related to the extent to which a student participated in sports.

Sports provide entertainment, especially when it involves celebrities who do it as a profession. Watching and cheering games provides us with a way of escaping the stress of daily lives. It also helps the people in the community to come together. Sports also improve the economy of countries through tourism and other activities that enhance the revenue of a city or a state. Major sports events are perceived as a crucial element in the tourism strategies of different countries. For a city to hold a national or an international sports event, it has to contribute a particular cost. The costs it incurs are, however, dependent on some certain economic benefits to the local citizens of the country.

Besides sports having numerous advantages, there are a few challenges associated with sports, especially when it comes to injuries. The extent of sports injuries is, in most cases, expressed in terms of the number of injuries per vulnerability or exposure, for instance, per 10 hours in sports participation. According to research, several people tend to fear to engage in sports due to the fear of getting injuries during the engagement. It is with this regard that sports science and medication has been increasingly attracted the attention of many people across the globe. Most countries have adopted sports medicine as the mode of prevention of sports injuries. Injuries have also been observed in causing economic burdens in relation to the cost it bears, either directly or indirectly.

In conclusion, sports are crucial in our lives as it helps to improve or physical and mental fitness. It is also a source of entertainment and revenues for people, especially when it involves celebrities who people enjoy watching. The UN provides that sports by its nature is about inclusivity and citizenship and thus should be respected as a human value and way of living. Besides, sports should be incorporated in all areas of professionalism, starting from school, institutions, and also places of work as it is a vigorous recreational activity that can boost one’s health and improve the reasoning capacity.

Works Cited

1. Coakley, Jay J., and Elizabeth Pike. ‘Sports in Society: Issues and controversies.’ (2014).
2. Forrester, Scott, Christopher Arterberry, and Bob Barcelona. ‘Student attitudes toward sports and fitness activities after graduation.’ Recreational Sports Journal 30.2 (2006): 87-99.
3. Gratton, Chris, Nigel Dobson, and Simon Shibli. ‘The economic importance of major sports events: a case study of six events.’ Managing leisure 5.1 (2000): 17-28.
4. Kızar, Oktay, et al. ‘The importance of sports for disabled children.’ Merit Research Journal of Art, Social Science, and humanities 3.5 (2015): 5.