Getting a Grip on Strength Measurement in Children (6-13 Y): Impact of Typical Error of Measurement.

Purpose: To identify the smallest change in handgrip strength (HGS) in children that can be considered of practical significance.

Method: A total of 290 male and female children, aged 6-13 years, performed a HGS testing protocol 3 times within a 7-day period. The typical error of measurement (TE), coefficient of variation, and smallest worthwhile change (SWC) were calculated for each sex and age group (grade).

Tackler and ball-carrier technique during moderate and severe injuries (≥8 days lost) compared with player-matched and team-matched injury-free controls in Elite Rugby Union.

Objective: To analyse tackler and ball-carrier technical proficiency during moderate and severe contact injuries (≥8 days lost) in professional rugby union, and compare it with injury-free event-matched controls from the same player and from the same team.

Methods: Technical proficiency for 74 (n=74) (moderate and severe; ≥8 days lost) tackler and ball-carrier injuries during The Currie Cup (2014-2018) and 623 matched non-injury events (253 own controls, 370 team controls) were examined through video analysis using a standardised list of technical criteria.

Results: Mean technical proficiency score for injured tacklers during front-on tackles was 6.

BokSmart rugby safety education courses are associated with improvements in behavioural determinants in attending coaches and referees: presurvey-postsurvey study.

Background/aim: BokSmart is a nationwide injury prevention programme that aims to reduce players' injury risk mainly through education of coaches and referees in mandatory biennial education courses. These courses are held throughout each rugby season. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess whether these courses were associated with improvements in attendees' behavioural determinants.

'': experiences of players sustaining a rugby-related acute spinal cord injury.

Background: Though rare, rugby union carries a risk for serious injuries such as acute spinal cord injuries (ASCI), which may result in permanent disability. Various studies have investigated injury mechanisms, prevention programmes and immediate medical management of these injuries. However, relatively scant attention has been placed on the player's experience of such an injury and the importance of context.

Assessing tackle performance using a novel collision sport simulator in comparison to a "live" one-on-one tackling drill.

It is necessary to study the rugby tackle as it is associated with successful performance outcomes and is responsible for the majority of contact injuries. A novel collision sport simulator was developed to study tackle performance. The main aim of this validation study was to assess tackle technique performance between two different conditions: simulator versus a standardised one-on-one tackle drill previously used to assess technique.

Coach-directed education is associated with injury-prevention behaviour in players: an ecological cross-sectional study.

Background/aim: Rugby union ('rugby') presents an above-average risk of injury to participants. is a South African nationwide intervention that aims to reduce rugby-related injuries in players. This is achieved by educating coaches and referees to improve injury behaviour of players.

The BokSmart intervention programme is associated with improvements in injury prevention behaviours of rugby union players: an ecological cross-sectional study.

Background/aim: Participants of rugby union ('rugby') have an above-average risk of injury compared with other popular sports. Thus, BokSmart, a nationwide injury prevention programme for rugby, was introduced in South Africa in 2009. Improvements in injury-preventing behaviour of players are critical to the success of an intervention.

Methods of prescribing relative exercise intensity: physiological and practical considerations.

Exercise prescribed according to relative intensity is a routine feature in the exercise science literature and is intended to produce an approximately equivalent exercise stress in individuals with different absolute exercise capacities. The traditional approach has been to prescribe exercise intensity as a percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) or maximum heart rate (HRmax) and these methods remain common in the literature. However, exercise intensity prescribed at a %VO2max or %HRmax does not necessarily place individuals at an equivalent intensity above resting levels.

Perceptual cues in the regulation of exercise performance - physical sensations of exercise and awareness of effort interact as separate cues.

It has been argued that the physical sensations induced by exercise, measured as the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), are distinct from the sense of effort. This study aimed to determine whether a new measure of task effort - the Task Effort and Awareness (TEA) score - is able to measure sensations distinct from those included in the conventional RPE scale. Seven well-trained cyclists completed a maximal effort 100 km time trial (TT) and a submaximal trial at 70% of the power sustained during the TT (70% TT).

Measuring training load in sports.

The principle of training can be reduced to a simple "dose-response" relationship. The "response" in this relationship can be measured as a change in performance or the adaptation of a physiological system. The "dose" of training, or physiological stress associated with the training load, is more difficult to measure as there is no absolute "gold standard" which can be used in the field, making it difficult to validate procedures.

The quantification of training load, the training response and the effect on performance.

Historically, the ability of coaches to prescribe training to achieve optimal athletic performance can be attributed to many years of personal experience. A more modern approach is to adopt scientific methods in the development of optimal training programmes. However, there is not much research in this area, particularly into the quantification of training programmes and their effects on physiological adaptation and subsequent performance.