Penalties in judo result from negative actions that are not in line with judo combat regulations. The aim of the research was to determine the differences in penalties between winner and non-winner competitors in judo. A total of 1799 (men=1133 and women=666) matches with penalties were evaluated during 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Judo Championships. The variables were expressed as proportions and compared with the Chi-Square test with pairwise Z-tests. The ratio of receiving the first and second shido was the same in men and women athletes (p>.05), but it was different for weight categories (p<.05). The ratio of shido penalty was different between winner and non-winner athletes, the ratio of the second shido was lower in winner athletes (p<.05). While the ratio of forbidden action was the same in winner and non-winner athletes (p>.05), the ratio of forbidden actions in the first and second shido differed (p<.05). The difference in the penalty ratios in winner and non-winner athletes, especially the difference in forbidden actions leading to first and second shido may reflect some tactical differences. The results of this research can significantly contribute to the understanding of the significance of judo penalties both in training and in competition, as well as to the further study of judo penalties.

Background: It is crucial to evaluate children’s motor coordination and strength to identify possible motor deficits on the right or left side of the body. However, whether a distinction exists in children aged 3–6 must be clarified. The goal of the current research was to investigate the differences in motor skills between preschool boys and girls, dominant and non-dominant hands or legs, in children of preschool age. (2) Methods: The present study was conducted on a sample of children (boys, n = 52; girls, n = 52; age range, 3–6 years). Three motor tests evaluated on both sides of the body served as the sample of factors used to measure athletic performance. Leg tapping (15 s), hand tapping (15 s), and a maximal hand grip strength (HGS) test kg. (3) Results: The study’s findings show no statistically significant variations in preschool boys’ and girls’ motor skills. Preschool girls had better results in the right leg tapping than preschool boys t (98) = 2.08; p ≤ 0.04. We found a significant difference between genders aged 3–4, 4–5, and 5–6 years. No correlation was found between the girls’ three variables and age. A small but significant positive correlation was found between dominant hand tapping and age r² (52) = 0.21; p ≤ 0.01, dominant leg tapping and age r² (52) = 0.20; p ≤ 0.01 and dominant HGS and age r² (52) = 0.17; p ≤ 0.01. No noticeable differences were identified when comparing the dominant side with the non-dominant side in each group. The results show that most children prefer to use their right hand and right leg as their dominant sides. (4) Conclusion: The authors of this study focus on the functional (frequency of movements) and dynamic (differences in muscle strength between body sides) elements of asymmetry. Future studies should examine the influence of morphology on performance with the dominant or non-dominant body side.

Healthy plantar pressure distribution beneath the feet plays a crucial role in children’s development from the very beginning, with any deviations potentially leading to various pathologic conditions. This review aims to examine recent applications of pedobarographic analysis in pediatrics applications, providing a clearer picture of current research practices and the topics being addressed. The authors conducted a comprehensive search across several scientific databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, ultimately selecting 17 studies after applying specific criteria for inclusion. The findings demonstrate that pedobarographic analysis can effectively differentiate between age and sex differences in plantar pressure and detect the influence of various risk factors in healthy children. It was found that a child’s foot health is closely linked to their physical activity level, with body fat percentage playing a significant role in pressure distribution. Furthermore, external factors like school bags and internal factors such as obesity were identified as major contributors to abnormal plantar pressure, and pedobarography proved successful in detecting these effects. The analysis also showed that pedobarography is an effective tool for assessing foot health, tracking changes, and monitoring longterm recovery or trends in children. However, the review also highlights a limitation in the scarcity of research, particularly in the areas of gait and plantar pressure in children. Only a few studies have focused on young healthy athletes, suggesting that future research could delve deeper into this population.

The aim of this research was to determine the effects of a six-week preparatory period on the development of speed and agility in female soccer players of “Emina” Women’s Soccer Team of Mostar (n=18), who competed in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the season 2021/22. In the research, variables were applied to determine the basic characteristics of female soccer players: Age (years), Height (cm), Mass (kg), BMI (kg/m2), to assess speed ability: Sprint 5m (s), 10m (s), 20m (s) and agility: 10x5 m test (s), Zig-Zag test (s) and 505 test (s). The average age of female soccer players was 21.27 ± 4.57 years, average height 167.2 cm ± 5.82 cm and average weight 60.4 kg ± 7.36 kg. The dependent samples T-test was run to determine the statistical significance of the differences in arithmetic means between the initial and final measurements. The reported results of the T-test showed that after the six-week preparatory period, the test subjects had a lower mass (t=3.027; df=17; sig.= 0.008; p≤ 0.05) and BMI (t=2.253; df=17; sig.= 0.038; p≤ 0.05). Statistically significant differences at the level of p≤ 0.05, after the program had been completed, were reported for the agility tests 10x5m (t=3.125; df=17; sig.=0.006) and 505 test (t=3.028; df=17; sig.= 0.008). In other variables, positive changes were reported, but they were not statistically significant at the p≤ 0.05 level. We concluded that the six-week preparatory period program produced statistically significant changes in the area of ​​agility and that the training should focus more on improving speed and speed endurance in the given sample of female football players.

The aim of this research was to determine the structure of football through indicators of situational efficiency in world championship matches. The research sample consisted of 370 soccer players who played all 90 minutes of the Round of 16 matches of the three world soccer championships WC2010 (N = 124), WC2014 (N = 126) and WC2018 (N = 120). 30 variables of situational efficiency were used, which were taken from the official website of the World Football Federation (www.fifa.com). To determine the structure of football, we used factor analysis, the method of principal components with oblique direct oblimin transformation was used, and the Kaiser-Gutman criterion was used to determine the significance of the extracted factors. Analyzing the results, the explanation of the common variance was the highest at WC 2010 (83.52 %), followed by WC 2014 (81.97 %), and the lowest explained variance was at WC 2018 (76.30 %). In the structure of football at WC 2010 and WC 2014, 6 latent factors were singled out, and at WC 2018, 4 latent factors were singled out, which are differently saturated with situational indicators. We conclude that changes have occurred in the structure of football over a period of 8 years, which is shown by the number and structure of factors that have been fished out. The structure of football has changed in such a way that the number of factors has been reduced from 6 to 4, and the structure of isolated factors clearly defines modern football. Based on the results, the guidelines and standards on which football training should be based can be clearly determined, while using certain training tools, training stimuli and appropriate training loads in order to achieve a high level of physical preparation, a high level of technique in movement, a high rhythm of the game and tactical maturity of football players.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the normative values of muscles’ contractile properties, lateral symmetry, and the impact of aging on muscle contractility in gymnastics. Materials and Methods: A survey of 81 athletes from different disciplines was undertaken: MAG (n = 26), WAG (n = 28), and RG (n = 27). The athletes’ average age was 15.41 ± 5.03 years. We try to establish the normative values for contraction time (muscle pairs) in gymnastics for Slovenian athletes for ten skeletal muscles. Results: Athletes’ age affects contractility in a negative way. Differences between the duration of contractility and age were found in all disciplines: m. BF (r = 0.48, p < 0.001), m. TB (r = 0.37, p < 0.013), m. ES (r = 0.17, p < 0.025), m. VL (r = 0.36, p < 0.00) and m. VM (r = 0.40, p < 0.000) at a statistical significance of p < 0.05. Conclusions: A comparison between the left and right sides shows little asymmetry in WAG and that the occurrence of injuries is in the middle range. In RG we see a bigger deviation, which could trigger the emergence of pain or injury in m. BF (13%) and m. GL (14.5%), but in MAG the deviation is greater in m. BB (12%), m. BF (11%) and m. GM (13%).