Appropriate levels of motor competence are an integrated part of individuals’ health-related fitness, and physical education is proposed as an important context for developing a broad range of motor skills. The aim of the current study was to apply meta-analyses to assess the effectiveness of curriculum-based physical education on the development of the overall motor competence of children and adolescents. Studies were located by searching seven databases and included according to predefined criteria. Random effects models using the standardized effect size (Hedges’ g) were used to aggregate results, including an examination of heterogeneity and inconsistency. The meta-analysis included 20 studies, and a total of 38 effect sizes were calculated. A statistically significant improvement in motor competence following curriculum-based physical education compared to active control groups was observed in children and adolescents (g = −0.69, 95% CI −0.91 to −0.46, n = 23). Participants’ ages, total time for physical education intervention, and type of motor competence assessment did not appear to be statistically significant moderators of effect size. Physical education with various curricula can, therefore, increase overall motor competence in children and adolescents.

The impact on learning outcome of tailoring instruction and teaching toward modality-specific learning style preferences has been researched and debated for decades. Several topical reviews have concluded that there is no evidence to support the meshing hypothesis and that it represents a persistent neuromyth in education. The concept, however, is still utilized in educational practice and favored by many academics. This mini-review presents literature, which has applied explicit and rigorous methodological criteria, in relation to the meshing hypothesis. In order to demonstrate evidence for the meshing hypothesis, studies had to screen participants for their preferred learning style, assign participants to matched or non-matched conditions, and then provide the same test to assess learning for all participants, as well as presenting statistical crossover-interaction effects. Across studies that have applied these methodological criteria, the overall effect sizes were very low and non-significant, indicating that there is still no replicable statistical evidence for enhanced learning outcome by aligning instruction to modality-specific learning styles.

The present study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy, flow, positive- and negative affect, worry and ski jumping performance, as well as the degree of influence these psychological factors have on ski jumping performance in specific competitions and overall World Cup ranking. World Cup ski jumpers (N = 40) responded to four questionnaires in the middle of the World Cup season, reporting their subjective experience during a competitive setting over a period of three consecutive days. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Flow Theory was used as main conceptual frameworks. Self-efficacy was moderately related to ski jumping performance, both overall World Cup ranking (r = −0.37) and the results from the first out of three individual ski flying competitions (r = −0.36) and explained approximately 14% of the variance in the overall World Cup. Flow was moderately related to ski jumping performance, both overall World Cup ranking (Flow-Focus) (r = −0.34), and individual ski flying results from the first competition (Flow-Arousal) (r = −0.36). The Flow-Arousal explained approximately 13% of the variance in ski flying results. Worry was highly related to ski jumping performance in the second (r = 0.60) and third (r = 0.52) competition, indicating that approximately 36 and 27% of the variance in ski flying results could be accounted for by levels of worry, respectively. Negative affect was moderately related to ski flying performance (r = 0.34). These results show that psychological factors that regulate emotional states may be of importance for World Cup ski jumping performance, and that appropriate coping strategies, constructive mindset and motivation, appears to be essential in this regard. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the relationship between these psychological factors and ski jumping performance among World Cup athletes. The study adds important information about some of the dynamic features of emotional and psychological mechanisms involved during elite ski jumping performance.

The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the physical (locomotor activities) and physiological (Banister’s training impulse) in-season training load between starters and substitutes in a well-trained junior soccer team. Physical performance variables from the Polar Team Pro system were collected and analyzed from a sample of junior soccer players (N = 18; age = 15.7 ± 0.5 years; stature, 177.9 ± 4.6 cm; body mass, 67.1 ± 5.5 kg). The study analyzed a total of 10 matches and 38 training sessions during the 2018 season with linear mixed models. The players from the starting line-ups demonstrated significantly higher average weekly physical load compared to the non-starters with respect to all variables: distance (total, running, high-speed running, and sprint) [F (1, 573) ≥ 66, p < 0.001, eta = 0.10], number of accelerations and sprints [F (1, 573) ≥ 66, p < 0.001, eta = 0.10], as well as Banister’s training impulse (TRIMP) [F (1, 569) = 10, p < 0.001, eta = 0.02]. Evidence from this study indicates that a large amount of weekly accumulated high-speed running and sprint distances is related to match playing time. Therefore, weekly fitness-related adaptations in running at high speeds seem to favor the starters in a soccer team.

The coach-created motivational climate within youth sports teams has been shown to be of great importance for the quality of youths’ sports experiences as well as their motivation for continuing or discontinuing sport participation. While the player’s perspective on motivational climates has been studied extensively, the coach’s perspective has received considerably less attention. Thus, little is known about the concordance of perceptions of the motivational climate between coaches and their players, or the lack thereof. The purpose of the present study was to directly compare players’ and coaches’ perceptions of the motivational climate within their respective teams. To this end, 256 male and female soccer players (15–17 years of age) from 17 different teams and their coaches (n = 29) responded to the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sports Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2). The study design included responses from both coaches and players to the same questionnaire, and both groups were aware of the other part’s participation. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between players’ and coaches’ perceptions of the motivational climate. Specifically, players of both sexes perceived the motivational climate to be significantly more performance-oriented and significantly less mastery-oriented compared with the coaches. These findings may advance our understanding of the coach-athlete relationship, and may be of importance for understanding players’ motivation for persistence or discontinuation of the sport.