Introduction: This research examines the perceived age of Premier League basketball players as they near retirement, focusing on the complex interplay between players, fans, and the media in shaping perceptions of age and retirement. The study highlights the unique pressure on the basketball players to retire due to age-related expectations, rooted in the perception that athleticism is age dependent.
Methods: The research methodology applied in this study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with a sample of 11 professional Israeli basketball players and two veteran players' agents.
Results: Three themes emerged: (1) Feelings of betrayal and ingratitude; (2) A farewell tour toward disengagement from one's professional career; and (3) The media's role in shaping beliefs and attitudes. These themes illustrate how the sports environment portrays aging players, shaping fan opinions, both positively and negatively. Significantly, the findings emphasize the challenges that players must confront within an ageist environment.
Discussion: The study concludes by highlighting the cultural and social construction at work. The "coercion" to retire from professional sports is more pronounced here due to the common belief that sports success is time-bound and age-dependent, necessitating a "young body". In this reality, the audience does not merely function as a backdrop for athletes' performances, but has the power, at the collective and the individual level, to affect change on and off the court.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1295487 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Sport Games, Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Marymoncka 34, Warsaw, 00-968, Poland.
This study aimed to examine and compare the anthropometric profiles, motor skills, game-related abilities, and functional capacities of under-15 (U-15) and under-16 (U-16) male basketball players, evaluate the impact of maturity offset, and predict performance across physical and sport-specific domains. A total of 234 athletes participated in a comprehensive test battery, assessing morphological (height, mass, standing reach), physical (sprinting, agility, jump height, endurance), technical (jump shot, free throws, dribbling), and functional movement screen variables. The U-16 group outperformed U-15 players in physical characteristics and jump height.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBr J Sports Med
January 2025
Division of Preventative Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Objective: To compare physical activity (PA) over midlife between (1) former collegiate athletes and non-athletes and (2) among athletes in different sports.
Methods: The Harvard Alumni Health Study (HAHS) is a prospective cohort study of male undergraduates who completed serial questionnaires regarding PA and health status between 1962 and 1993. PA was categorised by intensity (<3 METs, light; 3 to <6 METs, moderate; ≥6 METs, vigorous), and energy expenditure (kilocalories (kcal)/week) was estimated at each intensity and in total.
Eur J Sport Sci
February 2025
Graduate School of Sports and Health Studies, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan.
The effects of flywheel (FW) training on jump performance, muscle function, and muscle mass in athletes have not been fully clarified. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an 8-week FW training program on jump performance, stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) function, muscle strength, peak power and muscle thickness in collegiate basketball players. Twenty male college basketball players (mean age: 19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Sports Physiol Perform
January 2025
Physical Performance & Sports Research Center, University of Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of bilateral and unilateral plyometric-training (PT) programs on jumping, sprinting, and change-of-direction (COD) ability in male postpubertal basketball players.
Methods: Forty-three young male basketball players (14.2 [1.
J Clin Densitom
January 2025
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Body fat percentage (BF%) is routinely measured in athletes to monitor training and dietary interventions. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is widely considered the gold standard body composition measurement technique, but DXA BF% values measure consistently higher than other techniques. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to determine the lowest DXA-estimated whole-body fat mass in free-living athletes with unrestricted access to food.
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