The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of personalized sleep hygiene education on sleep indices in elite athletes. Nine elite male cricket players performed 3 weeks of baseline sleep monitoring (PRE), followed by group and individualized sleep hygiene education and a further 3 weeks of sleep monitoring (POST). Subjective sleep questionnaires included the Athlete Sleep Behaviour Questionnaire (ASBQ), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Objective sleep indices were monitored via wrist actigraphy. There were significant improvements (p < 0.05) in two of the sleep questionnaires (ESS and PSQI) and in sleep efficiency (+5%), sleep latency (−29 min) and sleep onset variance (−28 min) following the intervention, all associated with large or very large effect sizes (d= 1.38, −0.85 and −0.88, respectively). The current study reports that personalized sleep hygiene education using the ASBQ to target maladaptive sleep behaviours may be effective in acutely improving sleep indices in elite male athletes.

JUMPING- AND HOPPING-BASED TESTS CAN PROVIDE VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO AN ATHLETE'S PROFICIENCY IN BALLISTIC SPORTING MOVEMENTS SUCH AS SPRINTING OR CHANGE OF DIRECTION. CAPTURE AND ANALYSIS OF THIS ARE USUALLY EXPENSIVE AND LABORATORY BASED. RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN INTEGRATED SMARTPHONE VIDEO TECHNOLOGY FROM THE COMMERCIAL SPACE HAVE LED TO AN INCREASE IN THEIR UTILITY FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE AND COULD BE EXTREMELY USEFUL TO THE STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH, BUT THE ACCURACY AND SENSITIVITY OF THESE ARE LARGELY UNDETERMINED. THIS BRIEF REVIEW DISCUSSES THE ACCURACY OF A SMARTPHONE VIDEO APPLICATION CALLED MY JUMP AND ITS VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY FOR JUMP-BASED DIAGNOSTICS.

Talukdar, K, Cronin, J, Zois, J, and Sharp, AP. The role of rotational mobility and power on throwing velocity. J Strength Cond Res 29(4): 905–911, 2015—Sound rotational power and mobility are an integral component in functional performances, such as throwing and striking. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of rotational power and mobility on cricket ball–throwing velocity. Eleven professional cricketers and 10 under-19 club-level cricketers performed the chop and lift, seated and standing cricket ball throw, seated and standing side medicine ball throw, and seated active thoracic rotation range of motion (ROM) and hip rotation ROM on one occasion. Participants were divided into 2 groups (fast and slow) based on their standing cricket ball–throwing velocity. The seated and standing cricket ball throw on the dominant side was significantly different (p < 0.00) between fast and slow throwers (11.03 and 10.7 km·h−1, respectively). Muscular performance measures, such as bilateral thoracic rotation ROM, hip external rotation ROM on the dominant side, and force and work required in the chop, were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) between fast and slow throwers. Faster throwers in this study displayed greater force (18.4%) and work (31.2%) outputs in the chop compared with the slower throwers; however, slower throwers showed significantly greater ROM in the thoracic (13.4–16.8%) and hip regions (11.8%). It was concluded that greater ROM at proximal segments, such as hips and thoracic, may not increase throwing velocity in cricket as reduced ROM at proximal segments can be useful in transferring the momentum from the lower extremity in an explosive task such as throwing.

IN CRICKET, THE ABILITY TO THROW A BALL AT HIGH VELOCITY WITH GREAT ACCURACY IS CRITICAL TO SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE AND OFTEN DETERMINES THE OUTCOME OF MATCHES. THE SKILL OF CRICKET FIELDING INCORPORATES A MOVEMENT PHASE AND A PICK-UP AND THROW PHASE AIMED AT DECREASING RUN RATE OR PRODUCING A RUN OUT OF THE OPPOSITION. A MAJOR ISSUE IN CRICKET IS THE RISK OF INJURY TO PLAYERS ATTRIBUTED TO AN ACUTE SPIKE IN THROWING INTENSITY AND VOLUME DURING PRACTICE AND MATCHES. THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PRACTICES THAT MAY REDUCE THE PREVALENCE OF THROWING-RELATED INJURIES AND IMPROVE THROWING PERFORMANCE.

TRIPLE AND QUINTUPLE HOPS (THT AND QHT, RESPECTIVELY) ARE USED TO TEST REPEATED PROPULSION. THIS NARRATIVE REVIEW PROVIDES INFORMATION REGARDING THE USE OF THT AND QHT, AS WELL AS THEIR RELIABILITY, TESTING NORMS BY SEX AND ATHLETIC LEVEL, THEIR ABILITY IN DETECTING ASYMMETRY AND RELEVANCE TO OTHER PERFORMANCE MEASURES. THE TESTS' RELIABILITY (INTRACLASS CORRELATION COEFFICIENT [ICC]_THT = 0.80–0.98; STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEAN [SEM]_THT = 0.11–0.23 M; ICC_QHT = 0.89) WARRANTS THEIR INCLUSION DURING TESTING BATTERIES. THT RANGES FROM 4.28 TO 6.90 M AND ASYMMETRIES RANGE FROM 10 TO 15%. THT IS LIKELY RELATED TO ACCELERATION CAPABILITIES. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PROVIDED TO PRACTITIONERS REGARDING TESTS' ADMINISTRATION.

Context: Horizontal hops can provide insight into how athletes can tolerate high-intensity single-leg stretch loads and are commonly used in athlete monitoring and injury management. Variables like flight, contact, and total time provide valuable diagnostic information to sports science professionals. However, gold-standard assessment tools (eg, 3-dimensional motion capture, force plates) require monetary and technological resources. Therefore, we used a tablet and free software to determine the between-rater, within-rater, and test–retest variability of the temporal events of multiple horizontal hop tests. Design: Reliability study. Methods: Nine healthy males (20.8 [1.3] y, 71.4 [9.8] kg, 171.7 [4.5] cm) across various university sports teams and clubs volunteered and performed several triple (3-Hop) and quintuple (5-Hop) horizontal hops over 3 testing sessions. Six raters detected temporal events from video to determine between-rater variability, while a single rater quantified within-session and test–retest variability. The temporal variables of flight time, ground contact time for each individual hop, and the total time of each hoping series were determined. The consistency of measures was interpreted using the coefficient of variation and interclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: Good to excellent between-rater consistency was observed for all hops (ICC = .85–1.00). Absolute (coefficient of variation ≤ 2.0%) and relative consistency (ICC = .98–1.00) was excellent. Test–retest variability showed acceptable levels of absolute consistency (coefficient of variation ≤ 8.7%) and good to excellent consistency in 10/16 variables (ICC = .81–.93), especially those later in the hopping cycle. Conclusions: A tablet and free digitizing software are reliable in detecting temporal events during multiple horizontal hops, which could have exciting implications for power diagnostics and return-to-play decisions. Therefore, rehabilitation and performance professionals can confidently utilize the highly accessible equipment from this study to track multiple hop performances.