Dissertations / Theses: 'Football performance'

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Pain, Matthew A. "The performance environment in football." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2006. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/26966.

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The first phase of this research project focused on developing an understanding of the performance environment in football, that is, the array of factors impacting individual and team performance in competitive situations. Study one was a qualitative investigation of the performance environment of the England youth football teams. National coaches, sport scientists, and players were interviewed regarding the factors that influenced performance at international tournaments. The main positives included: player understanding, strong team cohesion, managed free-time activities, and a detailed knowledge of opposition. The main negatives included: over coaching, player boredom, limited player free-time, player anxiety, and physical fatigue. Overall, results revealed 158 raw data themes, from which eight dimensions were abstracted to describe the performance environment.

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2

Kryger, Katrine O. "Player protocols for football boot testing." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2018. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/33865.

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Football is the most popular sport and played by more players worldwide than any other sport. The football boot industry is therefore big, competitive and still growing. Today, football boot designs are subcategorised into four categories, of which three are linked to specific skill performance enhancing claims: The power boot for enhanced shooting performance, the touch/control boot for enhanced ball control and the speed boot for enhanced speed generation. In comparison to the strong marketing claims, little research has been published on the impact of football boot design on performance, injury and comfort. Therefore, little is known about the importance and impact of changing boot design. The outcome of this thesis offers researcher and the football boot industry validated human test protocols for power boot, touch/control and speed boot designs. The outcome of the thesis also advances the knowledge of how the football boot impacts performance, comfort and highlights the potential links between plantar comfort and injury risk. Rule based system assessment was performed to validate a boot performance conceptual framework linking the player and their desired movements during a football match with the football boot and its different components. The three protocols for assessment of key performance aspects for power boots, touch/control boots and speed boots were validated using test-retest reliability assessment through relative and absolute reliability measures. The power boot protocols involved shooting assessment measuring ball velocity, offset from target, success and player perception of ball velocity and accuracy. The touch/control boot protocol involved dribbling and passing assessment measuring time, number of touches and radial distance from cones during completion of a complex dribbling drill, ball velocity and offset from target during flat and airborne passes. The speed boot protocols involved combined agility and acceleration sprinting time and jump height before and after a 90 min match simulation protocol. Throughout the match simulation heart rate, player perceived exertion, perceived muscle fatigue, overall foot comfort and specific regional foot comfort. The validated protocols were then applied to assess how boot parameters impact performance. For the power boot, boots with and without upper padding were compared II demonstrating a small favour for the non-padded boot. Similarly, boots with and without upper padding were compared for the touch/control boot scenario with no differences seen between the two designs. Finally, two commercially available speed boots were assessed for the speed boot scenario demonstrating significant differences in both comfort and performance measures. Indicating a potential link between decreased foot comfort and decreased ability to maintain performance throughout a 90 min game. The boot performance conceptual framework was developed with component at each level but no interactive links between levels were added due to the lack of evidence in the literature. The boot performance conceptual framework offers researchers and the football boot industry a visualisation tool to aid the general overview when assessing or designing football boots. The three validations of protocols demonstrated strong test- retest reliability for most measures assessed and can therefore be applied to assess the impact of altering boot designs like demonstrated in this study.

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Ahmed, Hawkar Salar Ahmed. "Physiological and cognitive performance of Futsal and Football referees." Thesis, University of Kent, 2017. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/67345/.

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Reduction of referees' physical performance in the second half of the game has been observed in previous research on football referees. There is very little research addressing Futsal referees. The aim of the present thesis was to investigate physiological, physical and cognitive performance of Futsal and football referees in field and laboratory studies. The 1st experimental study (Chapter 4) analysed the activity profile and physiological demands of 18 Futsal referees and referee decision-making performance at different stages of the match (e.g. 1st vs 2nd half). In addition, it explored relationships between physical fitness/performance on the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) fitness tests, activity profile and decision-making performance. The main findings were that total distance and average heart rate were higher in the first compared to second half but lactate and session RPE were similar. The proportion of correct decisions decreased in the second half (1st half, 91.1 ± 14.9% correct vs 2nd half, 73.3 ± 17.4%, p = 0.002). No correlations were evident between FIFA fitness tests and activity profile but the Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test - Level 2 (Yo-Yo IET-2) performance and total distance (clock time) were correlated (r = 0.720, p = 0.019). Further motion analysis studies are needed to collect data for referees and players during the same matches. The present study also suggests that the traditional FIFA fitness test (and 1000 m run) were poor for assessing Futsal referee-specific fitness, and tests that involve intermittent and/or direction changes, such as the Yo-Yo test or Assistant Referee Intermittent Endurance Test (ARIET), may be more appropriate, although further research is needed on the ARIET in this context. The 2nd experimental study (Chapter 5) examined whether undertaking a 10-min Psychomotor Vigilance test (PVT) before a match would influence referees' cognitive performance, especially decision-making (DM) to determine the suitability of using it in field-based studies involving real matches. The results showed that the PVT did not affect referees' decision-making or cognitive performance. Hence, the 10- min PVT can be safely used with referees before real competition/in the field. The 3rd experimental study (Chapter 6) assessed referees' performance on the PVT before and after competitive Futsal matches. The findings showed that, despite changes in BRUMS parameters indicative of a fatigue profile, psychomotor performance was improved after a single match (PVT mean reaction time 248.3 ± 26.2 ms pre- vs 239.7 ± 22.4 ms post-match, p = 0.023). It is possible that a more strenuous overall demand would cause different effects, however, the post-match improvement observed here could be used to inform warm-up practices (e.g. optimal duration and intensity) geared towards optimising cognitive performance of referees during matches. The 4th experimental study (Chapter 7) examined the effect of mental fatigue on referees' physiological responses and cognitive performance during a lab-based intermittent protocol. The main findings were that mental fatigue had a significant negative effect on referees' cognitive performance as assessed by a referee-specific decision-making task (correct decisions, 76.7 ± 7.2% at the beginning of exercise vs 64.6 ± 7.8% at the end, p < 0.001), which did not occur in the control trial. PVT performance was also significantly reduced to a greater extend in the mental fatigue, compared to control, condition. This may have implications for optimising referees' preparation and cognitive performance in real matches, which should be explored further. Overall this thesis has demonstrated that referee performance decreases in the second half in both Futsal and football referees. Further, it provides evidence that this is influenced by mental fatigue. Further investigations on referees' performance and related factors are warranted, along with interventions directed towards improving performance (cognitive and physical) via reducing mental fatigue.

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Sproule, David William. "Evaluation of the Biomechanical Performance of Youth Football Helmets." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/77703.

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Youth and varsity football helmets are currently designed similarly and tested to the same impact standards from the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). Youth players have differences in anthropometry, physiology, impact exposure, and potentially injury tolerance that should be considered in future youth-specific helmets and standards. This thesis begins by investigating the current standards and relating them to on-field data. The standard drop tests represented the most severe on-field impacts, and the performance of the youth and varsity helmet did not differ. There likely is not a need for a youth-specific standard as the current standard has essentially eliminated the catastrophic head injuries it tests for. As more is known about concussion, standards specific to the youth population can be developed. The second portion of this thesis compares the impact performance between 8 matched youth and varsity helmet models, using linear acceleration, rotational acceleration, and concussion correlate. It was found that helmet performance did not differ between the youth and varsity helmets, likely attributed to testing to the same standard. The final portion of this feature is aimed at advancing STAR for youth and varsity football helmets by including linear and rotational head kinematics. For varsity helmets, an adult surrogate is used for impact tests which are weighted based on on-field data collected from collegiate football players. For youth helmets, a youth surrogate is used and tests are weighted based on data collected from youth players.
Master of Science

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Young, Tyler James. "Head Impact Biomechanics and Helmet Performance in Youth Football." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78065.

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The research presented in this thesis aims to improve the knowledge of head impact biomechanics in youth football players by analyzing head impact exposure of youth football players and the performance of youth football helmets. The results of the studies presented provide a foundation for researchers, football leagues, and helmet manufactures to implement changes and modifications that aim to reduce concussion risk in youth athletes. The first study presented in this thesis aims to quantify the head impact exposure of 7 to 8 year old football players and determine the cause of variation in player exposure. To conduct this study, 19 players were instrumented with helmet mounted accelerometers that measured real-time acceleration data on the field. This data was analyzed to determine the magnitude, frequency, and location of each impact sustained by players in the 2011 and 2012 football season. From these data, it was determined that the average 7 to 8 year old player experienced 161 impacts per season, 60% of which were in practice and 40% were in games. The median impact for 7 to 8 year old players was 16 g and 686 rad/s². The magnitude of the 95th percentile impact was 38 g and 2052 rad/s². A total of 125 impacts above 40 g were recorded, 67% of which occurred in practices and 33% occurred in games. It was determined that returning players experienced significantly more impacts per season than first time players and practices had significantly higher magnitude impacts than games. These data can be used to further develop practice modifications that aim to reduce total impacts and high magnitude impacts experienced by youth football players. The second study presented in this thesis aims to quantify differences in youth football helmet performance before and after a football season. Currently, the only requirement regarding helmet recertification and reconditioning states that no helmet older than 10 years will be recertified or reconditioned. Quantitative data is needed to either support or refute this guideline and provide data describing how often youth football helmets should be recertified and reconditioned. To conduct this study, 6 youth Riddell Revolution football helmets, 3 that were new and 3 that had been used for one season, were tested on a drop tower from various heights and impact locations before and after the 2013 football season. It was determined that there was no significant difference in helmet performance before and after a season for new helmets or helmets that had been used for one season. In addition, there was no significant correlation between the frequency of impacts, the 95th percentile impact magnitude, or the product of the frequency and 95th percentile impact magnitude with the change in helmet performance. Future studies should be conducted that analyze the performance of youth football helmets over the course of multiple seasons.
Master of Science

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6

Reiber, Teresa Marie. "Using Laboratory Impact Devices to Quantify Football Helmet Performance." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/89902.

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When football originated in the 1800s, players wore no protective equipment. Between 1869 and 1905, there were 18 deaths and 159 serious injuries attributed to the sport. Following this, players began to wear protective equipment. The first use of a football helmet was in 1893, made of leather and designed to reduce the risk of skull fracture. Initially, football helmets were intended to protect a player against the most severe hits they would experience on the field. More recently, it has been shown that mild traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions, can induce long-term neurodegenerative processes. Since their introduction, helmets have transformed into plastic shells with padding designed to mitigate accelerations on the brain. With the growing concern for player safety, regulating bodies, like the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, have implemented standards for protective equipment, including football helmets. On top of these standards, there have been multiple methods developed to assess helmet performance with different testing apparatuses. Manufacturers are interested in how their helmet performs according to multiple testing methods. This could be costly if they do not have the proper testing equipment that a protocol utilizes. This thesis assesses the interchangeability of different test equipment to reproduce a testing protocol. The desire to perform well in testing standards has driven the improvement of helmet performance and continued design innovation. The second aim of this thesis is to evaluate helmet performance and its relationship with design changes in football helmets manufactured between 1980 and 2018.
Master of Science
When football originated in the 1800s, players wore no protective equipment. Between 1869 and 1905, there were 18 deaths and 159 serious injuries attributed to the sport. Following this, players began to wear protective equipment. The first use of a football helmet was in 1893, made of leather and designed to reduce the risk of skull fracture. Initially, football helmets were intended to protect a player against the most severe hits they would experience on the field. More recently, it has been shown that mild traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions, can induce long-term neurodegenerative processes. Since their introduction, helmets have transformed into plastic shells with padding designed to mitigate accelerations on the brain. With the growing concern for player safety, regulating bodies, like the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, have implemented standards for protective equipment, including football helmets. On top of these standards, there have been multiple methods developed to assess helmet performance with different testing apparatuses. Manufacturers are interested in how their helmet performs according to multiple testing methods. This could be costly if they do not have the proper testing equipment that a protocol utilizes. This thesis assesses the interchangeability of different test equipment to reproduce a testing protocol. The desire to perform well in testing standards has driven the improvement of helmet performance and continued design innovation. Another aim of this thesis is to evaluate helmet performance and its relationship with design changes in football helmets manufactured between 1980 and 2018.

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Nédélec, Mathieu. "Fatigue et récupération en football." Thesis, Lille 2, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012LIL2S014.

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Lorsque les joueurs de football réalisent plus d’un match par semaine, la durée de récupération entre deux rencontres successives pourrait être insuffisante, ce qui entraînerait une augmentation du nombre de blessures et/ou une diminution de la performance en match. L’objectif principal de cette thèse était d’identifier les facteurs (environnementaux, intrinsèques, position sur le terrain) susceptibles d’influencer la fatigue et les cinétiques de récupération de joueurs de football professionnels après un match. La présente thèse comprenait quatre études ayant pour objectifs d’analyser l’influence des courses et actions de jeu réalisées au cours d’un match (duel, saut, frappe/centre, tacle, changement de direction) ainsi que la surface de jeu (herbe naturelle contre surface synthétique) sur les cinétiques de récupération de marqueurs de performance physique, cognitive, subjectifs et biochimiques. Nos résultats ont montré que les courses réalisées au cours d’un match de football ne sont pas la cause principale de la fatigue générée par le match. Cette fatigue est également fonction des actions de jeu (duel, saut, frappe et changement de direction) réalisées au cours du match. La fatigue générée par le match est fonction de la position occupée sur le terrain (gardiens de but contre joueurs de champ). La surface de jeu n’influence pas les cinétiques de récupération de joueurs habitués à la surface synthétique. Ces résultats devraient permettre d’optimiser dans le futur les stratégies de récupération réalisées après le match
During periods when the schedule is particularly congested (i.e. two matches per week over several weeks), the recovery time allowed between two successive matches may be insufficient. As a result, players may experience underperformance and/or injury. The overall aim of the present thesis was to identify underlying factors (environmental and intrinsic factors, playing position) that contribute to fatigue and recovery time of professional soccer players after a match. Four experimental studies were conducted to investigate the influence of soccer running activity profile, playing actions performed during a match (i.e. contact, jump, shot/long pass, tackle, change of direction) and playing surface (natural grass versus artificial turf) on the recovery kinetics of physical performance, cognitive performance, subjective ratings and biochemical parameters. Results showed that soccer running performance does not appear to be the main cause for post soccer match-induced fatigue. Post-match fatigue and recovery time depend on playing actions performed during the match (contact, jump, shot/long pass and change of direction). Post-match fatigue depends on playing position (goalkeepers versus outfield players). Playing surface does not impact recovery kinetics among regular artificial turf players. Present results may promote the prescription of more efficient and individualized recovery practices after soccer match

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8

Williams, Andrew Mark. "Perceptual skill and soccer performance." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309973.

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Clarke, Stephen R., and sclarke@swin edu au. "Performance modelling in sport." Swinburne University of Technology, 1997. http://adt.lib.swin.edu.au./public/adt-VSWT20060710.114216.

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This thesis investigates problems of performance modelling in sport. Mathematical models are used to evaluate the performance of individuals, teams, and the competition rules under which they compete. The thesis comprises a collection of papers on applications of modelling to Australian rules football, soccer and cricket. Using variations of the model wij = ui + hi - uj + eij where wij is the home team winning margin when home team i plays away team j, ui is a team rating, hi is an individual ground effect and eij is random error, the evaluation of team home ground advantage effect (HA) is studied in detail. Data from the Australian Football League and English Association Football for 1980 to 1995 are investigated. The necessity of individual team HAs is demonstrated. The usual methods of calculating HA for competitions is shown to be inappropriate for individual teams. The existence of a spurious HA when home and away performances are compared is discussed. For a balanced competition, fitting the above model by least squares is equivalent to a simple calculator method using only data from the final ladder. A method of calculating HA by pairing matches is demonstrated. Tables of HA and paired HA in terms of points/game for each year are given. The resultant HAs for both Australian rules football and soccer are analysed. Clearly there is an isolation effect, where teams that are isolated geographically have large HAs. For English soccer, the paired HA is shown to be linearly related to the distance between club grounds. As an application of these methods, the development and implementation of a computer tipping program used to forecast Australian rules football by rating teams is described. The need for ground effects for each team and ground, and the use of heuristic methods to optimise the program is discussed. The accuracy of the prediction model and its implementation by publication in the media is discussed. International comparisons show prediction methods are limited by the data. Methods for evaluating the fairness of the League draw and the finals systems are given. The thesis also investigates the use of dynamic programming to optimise tactics in football and cricket. The thesis develops tables giving the optimal run rate and the expected score or probability of winning at any stage of a one-day cricket innings. They show a common strategy in one-day cricket to be non-optimal, and a heuristic is developed that is near optimal under a range of parameter variations. A range of dynamic programming models are presented, allowing for batsmen of different abilities and various objective functions. Their application to performance modelling are shown by developing a radically different performance measure for one day cricket, and applying it to a one-day series.

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Onomo, Onomo Ghislain Modeste. "Cohésion et performance des équipes de football amateur de l’agglomération lyonnaise." Thesis, Lyon 1, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LYO10119/document.

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Cette thèse a pour objet à partir d'une approche sociologique d'évaluer qualitativement la cohésion globale d'une équipe de football amateur en tenant compte des principaux acteurs que sont les joueurs, l'entraîneur et le président du club d'une part et d'analyser les liens entre la cohésion de groupe et les résultats sportifs d'autre part. La question est donc de savoir dans quelle mesure les interactions entre les membres d'une équipe de football amateur tant sur le terrain de jeu qu'en dehors peuvent-elles refléter le niveau de cohésion globale de l'organisation .Il s'agit d'expliquer à partir de l'analyse stratégique et systémique de Crozier et Friedberg (1977), comment ces acteurs aux objectifs personnels différents, voire même opposés réussissent-ils à coopérer pour atteindre l'objectif sportif fixé par le groupe. C'est en d'autres termes chercher à comprendre comment malgré leurs ressources et contraintes inégales, les diverses stratégies d'acteurs, les membres d'une équipe arrivent-ils à collaborer. Trois équipes seniors des clubs du Rhône ont été retenues dans cette étude : il s'agit de Grigny FC, l'AS Bron Grand Lyon et l'US Millery Vourles. Les principaux résultats de ces enquêtes montrent que : l'entraîneur et surtout le président peuvent autant influencer la cohésion d'équipe que les joueurs ; que les résultats sportifs d'une équipe de football amateur sont fonction non seulement du degré de cohésion globale de ses membres, mais aussi de la prise en compte des aléas sportifs ; que la notion d'amateurisme varie d'un club à un autre en fonction de certains paramètres parmi lesquels la distribution ou non de l'argent aux joueurs occupe une place de choix. Ces études concluent donc que la cohésion globale des membres d'une équipe de football amateur peut s'évaluer qualitativement et influence effectivement ses résultats sportifs
This thesis aims from a sociological approach to assess qualitatively the overall cohesion of a team of amateur football taking into account the main actors are the players, the coach and the club president on the one hand and analyze the relationship between group cohesion and sports scores on the other. The question is to what extent the interactions between members of a team of amateur football as the playground and outside can they reflect the level of overall cohesion of the organization. This is explained from the strategic and systemic analysis of Crozier and Friedberg (1977), how these actors at different personal goals, even opposite successful are to cooperate to achieve the goal set by the sports group. It is in other words trying to understand how despite their resources, unequal stresses, and various stakeholder strategies, the team members come to work. Three senior teams clubs of Rhone were included in this study: it is Grigny Football Club, the Athletic Association of Greater Lyon Bron and Union Sportive of Millery Vourles. The main results of these investigations show that: the coach and especially the president can all influence teams cohesion as players; the sports results of a team of amateur football depends not only on the degree of overall cohesion of its members, but also taking into account the vagaries of sport; These studies conclude that the overall cohesion of the members of a team of amateur football can be evaluated qualitatively and effectively influences its sports results

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Rylander, Vincent, and Petrus Lempinen. "Do finances explain performance? : Relationship between financial performance and sports performance in Premier League and Allsvenskan." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173038.

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The topic of finance in football have drawn a great deal of attention, not least in the last twenty-five years. While many see football simply as a game, set up to amuse spectators or as a way for athletes to compete for becoming the number one, football has more to it than meets the eye. By introducing alternative rulings for labour, the football industry set of to become increasingly competitive and created opportunities for substantial financial advancements. Today, football has become an industry worth studying in its own right, not least in the sense of financial elements that has become central topics when assessing and evaluating performance. This study has been inspired by the growing competitive landscape we today observe when dealing with European football. Correspondingly, this study will examine how the financial part of football teams correlate with the sportive part. The study follows previous research such as Szymanski (1998) and and Ferri et al. (2017) in the sense of taking a closer look at what impact the financial performance has on sport performance. Although, previous research contains vital information regarding the connection between the two, this study will further contribute to the subject. This study somewhat differentiate itself from others by taking on an approach as comparative in the context of different leagues. By looking at the Swedish Allsvenskan and the English Premier League, this study seeks to see what differ between the two. The study was made by collecting financial data together with assessing the final league table position in order to investigate if correlation could be found and to what extent the two leagues differ in the context of financial impact on sports performance. The findings of this study were mixed in the sense of expectations where significant relationships could be found for numerous variables but not entirely in line with previous research (Ferri et al., 2017). The two leagues also possessed different characters in the context of results, which the authors believe can be due to factors such as the size of clubs and investment opportunities. By presenting an alternative approach to the research field, the authors believe that this study can be of interest to those willing to look closer into the different characteristics of finances and its relationship with sports in European football.

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Lee, Daniel K. "Alignment Between Performance and NCAA Division I Football Head Coach Compensation." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2012. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/443.

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According to Fama (1980), the agency theory states that in order to avoid issues of moral hazard and adverse selection problems, executive compensation should be in alignment with performance. However, it is difficult to identify specific performance measures that are both precise and sensitive, especially when concerning corporate executives who typically do not give out public information. In order to analyze the validity of the agency theory, this study uses the scope of NCAA Division I-A football to analyze the relationship between pay and performance with respect to head coaches. We investigate factors that various literature on executive compensation have identified as associated variables such as organization size, job complexity, market competition, ability to attract talent, and mentorship. Through multiple regression analysis, results showed that size, ability to attract talent (recruiting ability), competition, and academic success were significantly positively associated with coach compensation. There was no significant association for winning games or mentorship, however. Because winning had no effect on salaries, we concluded that the agency theory did not hold for the specific context of Division I-A college football.

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Engeler, Martin. "The Impact of International Experience on the Performance of Football Teams." St. Gallen, 2008. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/02604197002/$FILE/02604197002.pdf.

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Campolettano, Eamon Thomas. "Quantifying Postural Control, Concussion Risk, and Helmet Performance in Youth Football." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/89340.

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As many as 1.9 million sports-related concussions occur annually in youth sports in the United States (U.S.). Often considered a transient injury, research has begun to relate sports-related concussions to long-term neurodegeneration. Youth athletes are considered to be more vulnerable to concussion than their adult counterparts. The research presented in this dissertation was aimed at promoting player safety in youth football as it relates to concussion. Balance dysfunction is often cited as one of the most common symptoms associated with a concussion. Several postural control assessments were assessed in order to develop a youth-specific testing protocol. A cognitive, dual-task assessment was presented for clinician use in the management of sports-related concussion. On-field data collected from youth football players wearing instrumented helmets allowed for characterization of the biomechanics of head impacts and concussions for this population. A youth concussion risk function was developed using head impact data collected from youth football players with medically diagnosed concussions. The proposed testing standard for youth football helmets was assessed in the laboratory and related to on-field head impact data to determine how representative the standard is of youth football head impacts. Helmet safety standards and certifications operate on a pass-fail threshold that does not allow consumers to weigh the relative performance of helmets. A modification of the Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk (STAR) evaluation system was developed for youth football helmets. Data presented in this dissertation have direct application to the development of future helmet safety standards and potentially other safety applications as well.
Doctor of Philosophy
As many as 1.9 million sports-related concussions occur annually in youth sports in the United States (U.S.). Often considered a short-term injury, research has begun to relate sports-related concussions to long-term breakdowns in neurological processes. Youth athletes are considered to be more vulnerable to concussion than their adult counterparts. The research presented in this dissertation was aimed at informing player safety in youth football as it relates to concussion. Abnormal balance is often cited as one of the most common symptoms associated with a concussion. Several balance assessments were assessed in order to develop a youth-specific testing protocol. An assessment involving quiet standing while being subjected to a cognitive task was presented for clinician use in the management of sports-related concussion. On-field data collected from youth football players wearing instrumented helmets allowed for characterization of the biomechanics of head impacts and concussions for this youth population. A youth concussion risk function was developed that related linear and rotational head acceleration to risk of concussion. The proposed testing standard for youth football helmets was assessed in the laboratory and observed to assess the most severe head impacts a youth player may experience during participation in football. A modification of the Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk (STAR) evaluation system was developed for youth football helmets in order to give consumers more information about helmet performance beyond the pass-fail criteria of the helmet standards. Data presented in this dissertation have direct application to the development of future helmet safety standards and potentially other safety applications as well.

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Bhargava, Tanvi. "Financial Performance of Football Teams: Effects of Win Maximization, Performance and Transfer Spending on Stock Prices." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1565.

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The present paper explores the effects of championships won and financial stability of the clubs on share price returns for publicly traded football clubs in Europe. The study uses samples from 2012-2017 of 14 publicly traded clubs on different exchanges such as Borsa Italiana, London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, Germany Stock Exchange, Paris CAC Index, Borsa Lisbon, Copenhagen Stock Exchange as well as the Turkish Stock Exchange. The initial analysis assesses share price returns’ links with team performance and team financial variables as well as two indices: STOXX 600 Market Index and the STOXX Football Index. Further analysis includes looking at revenues and the different variables that affect returns to see the correlation and understand profitability vs win maximization due to the effect of sugar daddy owners. There appears to be a negative and significant correlation between profit margin and returns, and I also conduct event studies for the biggest transfers of the clubs and conclude that in the short term, there is a significant effect on share prices when transfers occur.

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Samagaio, Antonio. "Essays on managing english football clubs." Doctoral thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/9106.

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Doutoramento em Gestão
Esta dissertação visa estudar a performance corporativa dos clubes ingleses de futebol profissional, bem como os determinantes da performance dos clubes, com destaque para o efeito dos jogadores formados pelas Academias. O estudo evidencia existir uma associação positiva e significativa entre a performance financeira e desportiva dos clubes ingleses ao longo das épocas de 1993/94 a 2010/11. Os testes de cointegração indicam a existência uma relação estrutural de longo-prazo entre as variáveis desportivas e financeiras. Este estudo proporciona suporte à corrente da literatura que refere a maximização da performance desportiva sujeita a uma restrição de sustentabilidade financeira de longo prazo, como os principais objectivos dos clubes de futebol. Os testes de causalidade de Granger mostram que existe relações causais diferenciadas entre clubes. Os jogadores formados pelos próprios clubes tiveram um impacto negativo no desempenho desportivo e receitas, mas um efeito positivo na redução dos gastos salariais. A opção por jogadores formados por outros clubes ingleses teve uma influência negativa na performance desportiva, mas um efeito positivo na rendibilidade e despesas salariais dos clubes. Os resultados sugerem a necessidade de melhorar a produtividade do sistema de desenvolvimento de jovens jogadores em Inglaterra. Finalmente, observámos que os clubes ingleses são heterogéneos sinalizando a existência de peculiaridades em cada clube que são importantes para compreender o a performance alcançada e como desenvolvem as suas vantagens competitivas sustentáveis.
This dissertation examines the corporate performance of English professional football clubs and the determinants of clubs’ performance, with particular emphasis on homegrown locally-trained players. The study shows that there is a positive and significant association between the financial and sporting performance of English clubs over the 1993/94 to 2010/11 seasons. Cointegration tests show that sporting performance and financial variables are linked by a set of long-run structural relationship. Our study lends supports to the theoretical stream that argues that the maximisation of sporting goals, subject to constraint of long- term financial sustainability, are the two main objectives of football clubs. Granger causality tests show that there are different causal relationships between clubs. Homegrown club-trained players had a negative impact on the sporting performance and revenue functions, yet they had a positive effect on reducing salary expenditure. Association-trained players option had a negative influence on the sporting performance function, but a positive effect on profitability and wage expenses for English football clubs. The results suggest that there is a need to improve the productivity of the system for developing young players in England. Finally, we observed that English clubs are heterogeneous, which signals that idiosyncrasies exist in each club, which is important for understanding both performance and how to develop sustainable competitive advantages.

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Burke, Niamh R. "Effects of caffeine supplementation on Women's National League soccer players' performance." Thesis, University of Chester, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10034/620457.

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Purpose: To determine the effects of acute caffeine ingestion on female soccer players repeated-sprint performance, time to exhaustion, heart-rate, and rating of perceived exertion. Additionally, to investigate if habitual caffeine consumption effects supplementation results. Methods: Using a randomised double-blind research design, 18 females from the Women’s National League ingested two-tablets containing either caffeine (400 mg) or placebo (lactose) 1 hour before completing an indoor multiple-sprint test (12 x 30 metre; separated by 35 seconds rest), and a multi-stage fitness test (Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2). Participants attended two-testing sessions 7-days apart and consumed either placebo or caffeine on the first session, and the opposite on the second testing session. Sprint-times were recorded using dual-beam photocells, time to exhaustion was measured in seconds and metres covered using interval recording on paper. Heart rate was monitored continuously, while RPE was measured after every third-sprint and every-minute during the multi-stage fitness test. Results: Sprint 3, 4, and 5 in the multiple-sprint test showed significant results (three sprints p=0.001, sprint 3: caffeine 7.58±1.36, placebo 7.61±1.33, sprint 4: caffeine 7.54±1.35, placebo 7.60±1.31, sprint 5: caffeine 7.56±1.36, placebo 7.60±1.32), while sprint 8 and 9 showed a tendency for faster times. Time to exhaustion was significantly improved with caffeine (p=0.0001, caffeine 428±209 seconds, placebo 345±122 seconds), heart-rate was not significantly different between trials as no interaction effect was found between trials (p=0.183), RPE overall wasn’t statistically different between trials (all values were p > 0.005) with sprint 12 providing the only significant different rating of perceived exertion score (p=0.003, placebo 16.3±0.8, caffeine 15.7±0.9). Finally, habitual caffeine consumption wasn’t statistically different between conditions (time to exhaustion p=0.92, rating of perceived exertion p > 0.005, heart-rate p > 0.01, and multiple sprints p > 0.004). Conclusion: Caffeine supplementation improves female soccer performance by means of increased time to exhaustion, tendency to improve multiple-sprint performance, and doesn’t affect heart-rate. Caffeine does not affect rating of perceived exertion, however, due to the increase in performance seen it is thought that unchanged RPE allows the body to work at higher intensities for longer. Finally, habitual caffeine consumption does not affect results as long as an abstention period of 48 hours is undertaken prior to matches. Take home message: Caffeine in a 400mg dose positively effects female soccer performance and minimal health risks or negative effects are associated with this supplementation. Caffeine produces a huge positive increase in endurance capacity, such as time to exhaustion, while also increasing the ability to perform at higher intensities for longer, reduced perception of effort.

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Plumley, Daniel James. "Alternative approaches to financial and sporting performance measurement in English professional football." Thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 2014. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/18468/.

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The purpose of this thesis is to combine, in a new way, variables of financial performance and sporting performance in professional football clubs to provide a new measure of overall performance. Previous literature on the topic indicates that the choice of variables used to measure sporting and financial performance has been haphazard and inconsistent. Subsequently, this thesis devises and tests a model that provides a new holistic measure of overall performance and can be used to evaluate the performance of professional football clubs in England. The model was produced using statistical analysis techniques to ensure that the correct variables were included and weighting factors on each variable added a further robustness to the model. The model is also timely in relation to new regulations throughout the European game such as Financial Fair Play which aims to alleviate the debt problem across professional football and encourage clubs to spend within their means. The thesis concluded a number of findings in relation to English professional football clubs since 1992. First, there has been a move towards utility maximisation among English clubs. Second, the foreign ownership model has led to an improvement in sporting performance and a decline in financial performance. Third, there is evidence to suggest that there has been a relationship between rising revenues and rising costs in English football during the last twenty years and that this shows no signs of abating. The central contribution to knowledge o f this thesis is the production of the model. The model highlights, for the first time, the relationship between variables. The thesis also provides a contribution to knowledge when analysing the performance o f clubs in the English football industry since the formation of the English Premier League in 1992. A further contribution is the potential application of the model to other professional team leagues and sports both in the UK and overseas. Such a model can be used by professional sports clubs, academics and practitioners alike to ascertain how a given club is performing in relation to its closest competitors. The model can also be used by governing bodies to inform and implement changes at policy level. Furthermore, the model and its uses are not exclusively limited to the UK given the Eurocentric nature of the work.

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Wilson, David. "The effects of intermittent fasting during Ramadan on performance related to football." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 2007. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/5862/.

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During the 9th lunar month of each year around 1 billion Muslims adhere to the religious 4- week festival of Ramadan, which is considered as a time for empathy for those less fortunate, a time for restraint, and goodwill. The main focus of the religious intervention of Ramadan is the intermittent fast whereby, each day between dawn and sunset nutritional abstinence is practiced. Empirical evidence from experienced soccer coaches in Qatar has indicated that the 4-week intermittent fast during Ramadan impedes the quality and quantity of training, as well as match play. However, there has been lack of attention directed to the consequences associated with Ramadan and football (soccer) players. Greater understanding of the consequences of Islamic soccer players adhering to lifestyle changes and intermittent fasting would facilitate soccer coaches in a systematic approach to addressing potential negative performance effects associated with Ramadan in future soccer-seasons. In order to address the research problem, a soccer-specific battery of tests was required; as there is no established gold standard battery of soccer-specific field tests preliminary technical and methodological studies were required. In Study-1 a soccer-specific anaerobic capacity field test (Liverpool Anaerobic Speed Test or LAST) was piloted for validity, reliability, and practicality since, the choice for suitable soccer-specific anaerobic capacity tests were inadequate. It was found that two familiarisation sessions are necessary to reduce systematic bias markedly and habituate players with procedures of the LAST. The total measurement error (ratio of Limits of Agreement) of the LAST was 2.5% (± 18 m), and peak blood lactate values produced were 17.6 mmol.l⁻¹, which were greater than the 14.7 mmol.l⁻¹ criteria set for maximal anaerobic effort before the pilot study. The test set-up and administration proved to be practical, facilitating large numbers of subjects to be evaluated relatively quickly ( < 20 min). Therefore, the LAST was included in the soccer-specific battery of field tests, which then provided a comprehensive analysis of the separate components soccer performance. The available facility to conduct this investigation was the soccer-field at Al-Ahli Sports Club Doha, Qatar and therefore, further methodological investigations were necessary; temperatures within Qatar can vary during different times of the season, and at times are quite severe with respect to heat and humidity. The purpose of Study-2 was to examine how robust the discrete soccer-specific field tests were which, would be used during the intervention of Ramadan, using a repeated measures counter-balanced design of indoor and outdoor conditions. It was found that during the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (YYIRT) (Krustrup et al., 2003) outdoor assessment maximal performance was reduced by 19% in contrast to the YYIRT conducted indoors, despite the subjects attaining similar maximal heart rates. Consequently, the YYIRT to volitional exhaustion was excluded from the battery of tests to be used during the intervention of Ramadan; all other soccer-specific field tests were found to be robust for use in the heat. The aim of Study-3 was a qualitative investigation to observe current soccer-practice and related factors surrounding training; this brief included bedtime, wake-up time, sleep duration, environmental conditions, pre-training dehydration, body fluids lost during training, body-core temperature, and relative training intensity. During Ramadan it was found that bedtime and wake-up time were significantly delayed and sleep duration lengthened compared to normal. Post-Ramadan was found to be akin to eastward time travel with advancement in bedtime, wake-up and return to normal sleep duration. Dehydration was significantly greater pre-training during Ramadan in comparison to non- Ramadan training weeks, and body fluid loss during training in both Ramadan and non- Ramadan periods was considerable. Relative training workload was also quantified during this time and highlighted important practical problems.

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Petutschnig, Matthias. "Regulatory Compensation Limits and Business Performance - Evidence from the National Football League." WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Universität Wien, 2017. http://epub.wu.ac.at/5564/1/SSRN%2Did2972655.pdf.

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Executives' compensation has been on the forefront of the public and political debate since the recent financial crisis. One of the measures publicly discussed is a general upper boundary to top management compensation packages ("salary cap", "maximum wage"). While such measures are novelties to the corporate world, the North American major sports leagues have been using maximum compensation regulations for decades. This paper exploits the 23-year experience with salary cap regulations from the National Football League (NFL). The results show a significant negative relation between the success of NFL teams and the amount of the net (after-tax) salary cap represented by the personal income tax rate of the teams' home states. A team from California (highest average tax rate) wins 2.256 games less per year and has an 11% reduced probability of making the playoffs than a team located in a no-tax state such as Florida or Texas. The paper contributes to and informs the ongoing public and political debate regarding the regulation of executive compensation, and its effects on the performance of the regulated entities.
Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

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Janson-Broström, Oliver. "How internal and external focus affets performance in youth elite football players." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för hälsa och välfärd, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-45580.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of attentional focus on football performance. 20 junior elite football players participated in a repeated measure experiment where the effects of external focus and internal focus (compared to a control condition with no instructions regarding attentional focus) in a football related performance was investigated. The participants got to do an obstacle course three times, one with no instructions regarding focus of attention, one with internal focus and one with external focus. Significant effect of focus was found in two out of three dependent variables, passing points and cone touches, but no effect on time taken to finish the obstacle course. The participants got more points in passing and touched less cones in the obstacle course when having an external focus (with medium to strong effect sizes) compared to both internal focus and no instructions regarding focus. There were no differences in performance between internal focus and no instructions. The result in this study indicates that having external focus could enhance performance for junior elite football players, even though more research is needed on the subject for senior football players.

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Hash, N. Regina. "Test re-test reliability of the UNC functional performance test." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10450/10196.

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Morris, Christopher W. "The Effect of Fluid Periodization on Athletic Performance Outcomes in American Football Players." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/khp_etds/24.

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For decades strength and conditioning professionals have been seeking optimal training volumes and intensities to yield maximum performance outcomes without the onset of injury. Unfortunately, current studies apply experimental training techniques without considering the individuals’ response to the imposed training load. Due to the vast genetic variability and extraneous environmental factors that affect one’s ability to recover, results from such studies are controversial and inconclusive. Athlete monitoring systems offer an objective assessment that is purported to evaluate an individual’s physiological readiness to adapt to an overload stimulus and thus allow for daily manipulations in training loads (i.e., fluid periodization). However, little is known about the efficacy of this technology to enhance training outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of fluid periodization on performance outcomes in American football players. Sixty-one Division 1 collegiate American football players (Age: 19.7 ± 0.9 yr; Height: 1.88 ± 0.3 m; Mass: 107.3 ± 11.1 kg) participated in this study and were stratified into experimental (n=33) and control (n=28) groups. Performance outcomes were measured prior to and following the summer training program. Physiological readiness parameters (heart rate variability and direct current brain wave potential outcomes) were measured daily in the experimental group only with Omegawave technology prior to training sessions and adjustments in training volumes or intensity were made based upon physiological readiness outcomes. The control group trained according to the daily prescribed workout. The findings from this study indicate that the experimental group significantly improved in vertical jump, vertical power, aerobic efficiency and broad jump (P < 0.01) compared to the control group. Additionally, significant improvements and effect sizes between groups were noted for fat-free mass (relative improvement: 54%, effect size: 0.30), vertical jump (relative improvement: 157%, effect size: 1.02), vertical power (relative improvement: 94%, effect size: 0.86), broad jump (relative improvement: effect size: 592%, 0.81), triple broad jump (relative improvement: 338%, effect size: 0.63), aerobic efficiency (relative improvement: 154%, effect size: 1.02), and medicine ball overhead throw (relative improvement: 50%, effect size: 0.26). In addition, the experimental group achieved these improvements with less core (-9.5%) and accessory (-13.2%) training volume (P < 0.01). In conclusion, fluid periodization produced greater improvements in performance outcomes at a reduced training load compared to a similar unmodified periodization scheme. These findings highlight the importance of modifying training parameters based upon the daily physiological state of the athlete.

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OLIVEIRA, MARCIO MARCELO DE. "FOOTBALL CLUBS WITH GOOD GOVERNANCE HAS HIGH PERFORMANCE?: EVIDENCE FROM THE BRAZILIAN MARKET." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2011. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=19058@1.

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Em meados da última década importantes resoluções foram incorporadas no cenário futebolístico nacional com o intuito de melhorar sua relação com a sociedade para além da competição meramente esportiva. Passou-se a exigir dos clubes de futebol um maior rigor em sua gestão e contabilidade, afetando seu nível de transparência, dentre outros aspectos que encontram nas boas práticas da governança corporativa toda uma sistematização para atingir estes objetivos. Em paralelo, as práticas de governança das empresas brasileiras vêm evoluindo bastante nos últimos anos, principalmente a partir da criação do Novo Mercado pela BM&FBovespa. Este estudo visa analisar a governança dos clubes de futebol no Brasil e verificar se existe alguma relação desta com o desempenho financeiro e esportivo destas organizações. Analisamos os 20 principais clubes de futebol do país e calculamos um índice para medir as práticas de governança de clubes de futebol (IPGCF) no período de 2005 a 2010. Nossos resultados indicam que clubes de futebol com melhor governança apresentam melhor desempenho financeiro (faturamento e rentabilidade sobre ativo) e esportivo (quantidade de títulos internacionais, nacionais e estaduais).
In recent years, there have been major changes into the Brazilian football scene in order to improve its relationship with society beyond mere sports contest. Some football clubs have started to implement professional management, transparent accounting, and other actions related to good corporate governance practices. In parallel, the governance practices of Brazilian companies have evolved considerably in recent years, especially since the creation of the Novo Mercado by BM&FBovespa. This study aims to examine the governance of football clubs in Brazil and to determine whether there is any relation with the performance of these organizations. We analyze the top 20 Brazilian football clubs and calculate an index to measure governance of football clubs (IPGCF) from 2005 to 2010. Our results indicate that football clubs with good governance have better performance both in financial terms (revenue and return on assets) and in sports (number of football championships).

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Eierdanz, Friedrich. "The beautiful game quantified? : a sociological study of performance analysis in professional football." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/25978.

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The aim of this thesis is to illustrate the practice of performance analysis in football and to explicitly illustrate the way match statistics are socially constructed, how this represents an interpreted form of knowledge, and how performance analysts communicate their insights towards other actors inside the club in which they are working. The aim is to investigate performance analysis as a newly emerged form of professional knowledge, which has an impact on the organisation of sports and the evaluation of players. This research is qualitative by nature and was conducted via the study of the educational literature on performance analysis, participant observations of performance analysts, industry conferences and qualitative interviews. The research conducted in this thesis shows that the match statistics of players are created socially via a process of quantification that adheres to tangible skills; in turn, these are infused into the organizational sphere of a football club by means of the mediation of performance analysts. This is an attempt to illustrate that the creation and interpretation of match statistics is not self evident, but undergoes various stages of production, interpretation and mediation through interaction. This study is mainly concerned as a contribution to the sociology of knowledge, and likewise to the sociology of professions because it explores the underlying system of expert abstract knowledge in use that performance analysts claim to possess. The main findings of this study can be summarized by stating that performance analysts conduct their job with socio-materially produced match statistics, which they partly create themselves and claim to be ‘objective scientific facts’ (Dok4.7). Their interpretative capabilities rest upon distinct sequences of socialization in which they accumulate a certain form of expertise, which allows them to talk meaningfully about football and the required skills. Performance analysts’ work with players is largely aimed at heightening reflexive awareness about the player’s performance in training and during matches.

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Mortensen, Bartley B. "Can a Preseason Screen Predict Injury or Performance over Three Years of College Football?" BYU ScholarsArchive, 2018. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7339.

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Purpose: To investigate if the Functional Movement Screen (FMSâ„¢) total score, individual component test scores or number of asymmetries can predict noncontact injury risk or player performance over three consecutive seasons of NCAA Division I football. Methods: As football teams are comprised of individuals with vastly different physical characteristics and playing responsibilities, we divided the subjects into three homogeneous groups based on position (Big, Combo and Skill). Each FMSâ„¢ score was assessed with regard to the total team score as well as by individual position groups. For our injury analysis we also controlled for exposure. For player performance we controlled for plays played.Participants: 286 NCAA Division I athletes participated over three consecutive seasons, yielding a total of 344 observations.Results: We found no significant relationship between total FMSâ„¢ score and likelihood of injury when analyzed by the total team or by position group. These findings were the same for all groups, for both the total number of injuries as well as injuries weighted by injury exposure. The only significant findings occurred when we considered individual Test Item scores to injury by position group. We only found a significant relationship in the expected direction with Push-Up Stability in the Combo group. Regarding performance, total FMSâ„¢ was only significant for the Big group, but this effect was not practically significant.Conclusion: FMSâ„¢ was not a good predictor of noncontact injury or performance based on possible playing time.

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Fraser, Samuel. "A method of using computer simulation to assess the functional performance of football boots." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2015. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/17733.

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This thesis details the development of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) techniques to simulate assembly and functional performance of football boots within a virtual environment. With a highly competitive market and seasonal changes in boot design common, the current design process can require numerous iterations, each adding time and cost to the development cycle. Using a reliable model allows evaluation of novel design concepts without the necessity to manufacture physical prototypes, and thus has potential financial benefits as well as reducing development time. A modelling approach was developed to construct a three dimensional boot model using FEA techniques, simulating the assembly of representative boot constituent parts based on manufacturing patterns, geometries and materials. Comparison between the modelled and physical boots demonstrated good agreement. Assessment of physical boot manufacture enabled the validation of the simulated assembly techniques, with digital image correlation hardware and software used to provide experimental measurements of the surface deformation. Good agreement was reported, demonstrating the predictive capabilities of FEA. Extensive review of literature provided applicable loading conditions of the boot during game play, with bending and torsional stiffness identified as important parameters. Boundary conditions associated with the foot during these movements provided a platform from which mechanical tests were used and developed to quantify boot function. Modelling techniques were developed and applied to the assembled FEA boot model, simulating the loading conditions to verify the validity when compared with experimental measurements. Bending and torsional stiffness extracted from the model were compared with the physical equivalent, demonstrating good predictive capabilities. The model was able to represent bending stiffness of the physical equivalent within 5.6% of an accepted boot range up to 20°, with torsional stiffness represented within the accepted range between 10° inversion to 7.5° eversion, corresponding to a large proportion of match play. Two case studies proved the applicability of the FEA techniques to simulate assembly and determine mechanical functionality virtually through a combination of automated modelling methods and a bespoke framework, demonstrating how it could be implemented within the industrial design process.

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Smith, Joseph Adam. "Quantifying the Effect of Helmet Fit on Performance." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83198.

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Fit is often pointed to as the most important factor to consider when selecting a helmet. However, there is no published biomechanical evidence suggesting that of helmet fit effects concussion risk. The objectives of this study were to quantify helmet fit on a headform and to determine the effect fit has on helmet performance. An impact pendulum was used to strike a helmeted NOCSAE headform mounted on a Hybrid III neck. Helmets were impacted at 4 locations at 3 energies representing a range of concussive to sub-concussive impacts. The fit conditions evaluated in this study represent fitting scenarios in which an athlete is provided a helmet that is properly or improperly sized and cases in which a properly sized helmet is too loose, too tight, or properly adjusted. A custom pressure sensor was developed and used to characterize helmet fit in each condition with a quantitative fit metric representative of a variation from zero pressure on the headform. All helmets produced significant differences in both peak linear and peak angular acceleration due to fit. Differences were generally small with some exceptions. Furthermore, air bladder inflation generated significant differences in both peak linear and peak angular acceleration, but these were generally small in magnitude. While fit associated with size and air bladder inflation significantly affected linear and rotational head acceleration for most impact conditions, the best fit condition did not always generate the lowest accelerations. Differences can be attributed to varying helmet characteristics between and within helmet models.
Master of Science

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Newell, Micheál. "Strategies to enhance performance in gaelic football players by reducing the risk of injuries." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2011. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2966/.

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Attempts to implement dedicated evidence-based sports science research in Gaelic Football are challenging. Current structures within Gaelic Football render the sport less conducive to research analysis. The tenet that all Gaelic Footballers “are born not made” still has its adherents in today’s management circles. Atavistic attitudes to sport scientific experimentation persist. This doctorate dissertation seeks to address important issues that have the potential to maximise performance in Gaelic Football. The underlying theme of this thesis is to understand the prevalence and aetiology of injury, and the provision of researched suggestions designed to enhance performance. The first study is a detailed prospective epidemiological study of injuries sustained by Gaelic Football players during a single competitive season (Newell et al., 2006). The design of the study was based on Van Mechelen’s (1992) model of ‘sequence of prevention of sports injuries’. To date there has been no prospective epidemiological study of injuries in Gaelic Football. Two of the main findings arising from the injury surveillance study were the high incidence of hamstrings injury and the frequency of injuring occurring in the final quarter of training and games (Newell et al., 2006). As a follow-up to the initial injury surveillance study (Newell et al., 2006), the next phase of study focussed on the aetiology of hamstrings injuries and in particular to investigate if hamstrings muscle strength or functional hamstrings/quadriceps ratio (H:Q ratio) is a predictor of hamstrings injury in Gaelic Football.The linear regression model fitted to the functional H:Q data identified two players as potential hamstrings injury candidates, one of whom sustained a hamstrings injury during the playing season. A subsequent intervention programme aimed at reducing the incidence of hamstrings injury was devised but team managers were generally unwilling to embrace an intervention as they did not wish, as they saw it, to interfere with components which were essential for player preparation. Dehydration is a recognised risk factor for injury, although the direct evidence linking dehydration and injury has not been established. The goal of the next phase of research was to investigate the fluid and electrolyte balance of individual elite (Newell et al., 2008) and club Gaelic Football players and devise personal hydration strategies, as a means of controlling the potential impact of dehydration while prospectively recording injuries. The two hydration studies (conducted in warm and cool conditions) have shown that changes to pre and post training body mass (using weigh scales), assessing pre-training hydration status (using a refractrometer, and reagent strips), and monitoring of the amount of fluids consumed during training (individualised drinks bottles) can help determine individual hydration requirements. The results of both studies indicated: a wide variation in sweat rates and fluid and electrolyte balance, evidence of pre and post dehydration, and that a single hydration strategy, based on published guidelines, is unlikely to be suitable for an entire team. Conducting regular testing during varying environmental conditions will help to establish a routine for fluid intake for all situations. Both studies provide support for an enlarged dedicated epidemiological research study to provide direct evidence linking dehydration to injury. However a study of this magnitude would require the full support of the Gaelic Football Association.

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Engelbrecht, Warren Peter. "Performance Aaalysis of penalty area entrances of a South African men's professional football team." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4349.

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Thesis (M Sport Sc (Sport Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study was to analyse the penalty area entrances of a team competing in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa. Ten home matches of the team were analysed making use of a category set designed for the study. The main areas of analysis included the point of final action before the ball entered the penalty area, the part of the penalty area at which the entrance occurred, the method of entrance, the number of completed passes within the area, and the outcome of the entrance as well as the reason for the outcome. The results revealed that the team entered the penalty area on average 59.4 times per match and scored a goal on every 37.4 penalty area entrances. The ball being taken away by the opponents was the outcome that occurred most frequently within the penalty area (42.1% of all entries), and was largely due to interceptions by the defending team (20.7%). The next most commonly occurring event was the ball being given away by the attacking team (22.4% of all entries) and was largely as a result of the poor passing (20%). The results revealed that in order for the team to improve their ability to convert their attacking opportunities into goals, improvement of technical execution in particular passing and shooting within the critical areas of the field must be established. The results have implications for the use of performance analysis for professional teams as support for the coaching process.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie was om „n prestasie-profiel te ontwikkel wat die strafarea-toegang beskryf van „n professionele span wat aan die Premier Sokker Liga (PSL) in Suid-Afrika deelneem. Tien tuiswedstryde van die span is geanaliseer, gebaseer op „n kategorie wat vir die studie ontwerp is. Die vlakke van analise was eerstens die punt van finale aksie voordat die bal die strafarea binnegaan, die plek in die strafarea waar toegang plaasgevind het, die metode van toegang, die hoeveelheid afgehandelde aangee-aksies in die area en laastens die uitkoms van die toegang asook die rede vir die uitkoms. Die resultate het aangedui dat die span die strafarea ongeveer 59.4 keer per wedstryd betree en elke 37.4 „n doel aanteken deur toegang tot die strafarea te verkry. Die afneem van die bal deur „n span (42.1% van toegang) het die meeste plaasgevind nadat die bal die strafarea binne gegaan het. Dit is grotendeels te wyte aan onderskepping deur die verdedigende span (20.7%). Die weggee van die bal deur die aanvallende span (22.4% van toegang) was hoofsaaklik as gevolg van swak aangee-aksies (20%) en het ook dikwels voorgekom. Die prestasie-profiel het aangedui dat indien die span hulle vermoë wil verbeter om aanvallende geleenthede te laat eindig in „n doel, verbetering nodig is met tegniese uitvoering, veral met vaardighede ten opsigte van „n bal-aangee en doelskop. Hierdie studie is „n voorbeeld van hoe prestasie-analise aangewend kan word in professionele sokker om ondersteuning aan die afrigtingsproses te bied.

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Winchester, J. B., Arnold G. Nelson, L. K. Stewart, Michael H. Stone, and J. T. Moffitt. "Hormonal Markers Show Strong Relationship with Strength and Power Performance in NCAA D-I Football Players." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2008. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4510.

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32

Gilson, Todd Anders. "Social cognitive and control theories a test of self-efficacy and performance in strength and conditioning /." Diss., Connect to online resource - MSU authorized users, 2008. http://www.oregonpdf.org/index.cfm.

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Van, Dyk A. P. "The assessment of motor competence in rugby." Thesis, Link to the online version, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/1263.

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34

Rikardsson, Hampus, and Linus Rikardsson. "Strategic Management in Football : How the European top club could adjust to UEFA financial fair play and simultaneously create conditions for competitive advantage within the changing UEFA football industry." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-94537.

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Background The external requirements for the European top clubs within the UEFA football industry are changing. Due to mismanaged finances during a significant period of time derived from the clubs’ ruthless aim for short-term sporting success, UEFA (The Union of European Football Association) has decided to change the rules of the game. UEFA’s newly implemented financial fair play regulations, with the main requirement of breaking even, force clubs that aim to participate in future UEFA competitions to drastically improve their financial performance. Consequently, we are witnessing a fundamental shift in the European top club’s upcoming strategy. From now on, the club must go from pursuing a short-term strategy almost exclusively based on the quest for sporting success, to successfully implement a long-term strategy that besides being based on the main purpose of sporting success also is characterized by the quest for financial success. Purpose The purpose with this thesis is to provide guidance towards the European top club’s adjustment to UEFA financial fair play and its simultaneous achievement of competitive advantage within the changing UEFA football industry. Approach With the more decisive aim for profitability, the similarities between the European top club and a profit-seeking firm become evident. Consequently, the authors apply and adapt business strategic management theories to formulate a long-term strategy based on the simultaneous achievement of profitability and improved sporting performance. Results Formulating a long-term strategy based on the simultaneous quest for financial and sporting success, the authors finally come to an understanding of how the European top club possibly could comply with financial fair play and simultaneously create conditions for competitive advantage within the changing UEFA football industry.

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Bitilis, Pavlos. "Electronic Performance And Tracking Systems (EPTS) : Perceptions, Benefits and Challenges of Professional Football Athletes and Training Staff." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för informatik (IK), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-106888.

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Personal Informatics (PI) are information systems that allow people to process activities with the usage of information technology, aiming to produce informational products (data) either for themselves or for others. Technologies that enable PI are becoming increasingly popular, assisting people in collecting personally relevant information about their body and their behaviour. In sports industry nowadays, a great variety of PI wearable tools offer support to athletes and training staff to improve their performance. An example of such tool is the Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS), which are a combination of hardware and software that facilitates the collection, storage, analysis and management of professional athletes’ fitness and health data. Although significant and broadly used, EPTS have not yet received much attention from researchers and, thus, understudied. Therefore, the master’s thesis explores the perceptions of professional football athletes and training staff regarding the use of EPTS in their everyday training and work. Furthermore, the master’s thesis research explores the benefits and challenges that professional football athletes and training staff experience when using EPTS in their everyday training and work. The master’s thesis study adopts the interpretive paradigm and qualitative ethnographic approach. The research data was collectedthrough direct observations in the field and semi-structured interviews from Greek professional football athletes and Greek training staff that use wearable EPTS in their everyday training and work and was analysed thematically. A theoretical framework, which is built upon relevant literature from the informatics field and along with the theory of sensemaking, is used to understand, interpret and discuss the research findings. The research outcome of the master’s thesis shows that communication is at the core of EPTS enabling football players and training staff to improve individual and team performance. Organizing of every day starts and ends with EPTS analysis and evaluation and better organized and daily evaluated football methodology appears as key benefit for the club. Coaches and trainers are now more data driven and accurate and analysts and trainers that conduct analysisof the data provided by EPTS are new members of the training staff. Evidence provided by EPTS build trust between staff and players and in the training staff. Visualization tools for presenting insights need to be further improved with the addition of in-field monitors and 3D presentations. Furthermore, it is important for training staff members to have ethical and consistent strategy on how data derived from EPTS are used on how data are communicated. The research complements previous research on personal informatics and adjusts them to elite team sport context and adds to the theory of sensemaking regarding how users make sense of PI tools that are related with their everyday routines at work. In addition, it offers football training staff members a model for efficient use of EPTS technology into the everyday football practices and a model of sustainable use aiming the overall improvement of team performance.

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Forbes, Hollie Samantha. "Isokinetic muscular strength and performance in youth football : relationships with age, seasonal variation and injury." Thesis, University of Hull, 2012. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:6863.

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The primary aim of the current project was to investigate the isokinetic muscular strength and performance of elite male youth footballers, and the relationships with age, seasonal variation and injury. A secondary aim was to use the information gathered to target muscle strain injury prevention strategies to particular age groups and times, and evaluate the effect. The primary aim was achieved by establishing normative patterns for muscular strength and performance of elite male youth footballers (grouped according to chronological and biological age) across a competitive season of youth football in Chapters Four and Five. Isokinetic muscular strength (characterised by peak torque (PT) and peak torque relative to body weight (PTBW)) of the hamstrings (H) and quadriceps (Q) using both concentric (CQ, CH) and eccentric muscle actions (EH) was evaluated. Muscular performance of the same muscle groups (characterised by H:Q ratios (conventional (CHQ) functional (FHQ)), asymmetry (dominant (dom):non dominant (ndom) leg ratios (e.g. CQ:CQ)), and angle of peak torque (AoPT)) was also investigated which necessitated an isokinetic speed of 60 °/s. Isokinetic evaluation was completed three times over the course of a regular playing season (start of season (SS) mid season (MS) and end of season (ES)). Participants were grouped according to chronological age (n=152, under 12 (U12) - under 18 (U18)) and biological maturation (according to Pubertal Development Scale (PDS 1 - 5) n=134). Forty seven participants completed SS, MS and ES isokinetic evaluation. Bilateral isokinetic evaluation consisted of five maximal repetitions of CQ and CH, followed by five repetitions of EH, leg dominance was counter-balanced. Repetitions two-four were used to calculate PT, PTBW, dom:ndom and AoPT for CQ, CH and EH, CHQ and FHQ; these measures were compared across chronological and biological age groups using a mixed model ANOVA. Dom:ndom CQ, CH and EH were compared across chronological and biological age groups using a one way ANOVA, while the relationship between AoPT and PT/PTBW was considered using a Pearson’s correlation. Additionally, the relationship between chronological and biological age, and PT/PTBW was investigated using a mixed model ANOVA within PDS group three. For analysis of seasonal variation a mixed model ANOVA was applied for all isokinetic measurements which considered time (SS, MS, ES), leg dominance (dom, ndom) and age group (U12 -U15) with a further mixed model ANOVA performed on CQ:CQ, CH:CH and EH:EH. Where appropriate SIDAK corrections were applied and the level of significance was accepted at p≤0.05. The main findings were that youth footballers did not increase their PT and PTBW EH in-line with CQ and CH as chronological and biological ageing progressed, this lead to a significant FHQ imbalance at U18. Dom:ndom CH comparisons identified that the chronologically younger and biologically less developed groups displayed a significantly stronger dom leg which may be explained through the concepts of skill acquisition and trainability. Biological age was not found to exert any additional effect over and above that of chronological ageing as significant differences in muscle strength still existed according to chronological age group within PDS group three. Additionally, AoPT EH and PT EH were found to be significantly negatively correlated on both legs which supported a potential mechanism for non contact hamstring muscle strain injury during running. Analysis of seasonal variation revealed that all PTBW measures showed a MS decrease. This may be related to breaks in normal training activity and links appropriately to times of peak injury incidence highlighted in youth football. In order to achieve the secondary aim of the current project Chapters Four, Five and Six investigated the relationship between isokinetic muscular strength and performance, muscle strain injury of the thigh, and injury risk attenuation. A retrospective and prospective injury audit was undertaken for the elite male youth football participants. For the retrospective approach participants were grouped according to chronological age (n=147) or biological age (n=128) and indicated using a self-report injury form their history (ever, (Hx)) or recent history (12 months, (Hx12)) of hamstring, quadriceps and adductor injuries. Approximately each player had an Hx of muscle strain injury and 0.56-0.59 of players had an Hx12. The hamstrings were the most commonly injured muscle group and the prevalence of muscle strain injury Hx and Hx12 increased with chronological and biological age. The prospective audit (n=50) identified that 0.16 of players sustained a muscle strain injury during the season, 0.08 of these being to the hamstrings. Between group comparisons (one way ANOVA with SIDAK correction) were also performed to investigate the difference in isokinetic measures between those participants who had an Hx12 of muscle strain injury and those who did not. It was discovered that for Hx12 of an injury to the dom hamstrings the injured group had less PTBW CH and EH on the dom leg. The injured group also had more inner range AoPT CH. These findings linked appropriately to the reported mechanisms and risk factors for hamstring injury but the exact direction of cause and effect could not be established. To this end a logistic regression analysis was undertaken in an attempt to predict which group (injured vs. non injured the 50 participants would belong to, using evidenced based risk factors in the experimental model. No predictive relationship between risk factors (including altered isokinetic muscular strength and performance) could be established. The information regarding the relationship between injury and muscular strength and performance may highlight a role for isokinetic screening to ensure adequate rehabilitation from injury. Injury risk attenuation strategies were investigated through an exercise intervention using the U18 age group following a break from football activity. The participants were split based on their FHQ at initial isokinetic evaluation (via odd and even placing) to form control (n=8) and intervention groups (n=8). Isokinetic evaluation was conducted as previously outlined and the exercise intervention targeted the hamstrings. Only six of the control group and seven of the intervention group completed the study and were compared using a mixed model ANOVA. Results showed that the intervention group were not significantly different to the control group post intervention for any of the isokinetic muscular strength and performance measures, though both groups significantly improved over time for the ndom leg CHQ and PTBW EH, and FHQ improved for both legs. Contamination of the control group may explain the lack of significant difference between groups. However, the exercise intervention was not targeted to individuals who displayed prior alterations to isokinetic muscular strength and performance, and this approach was discussed using the results of one member of the intervention group. In summary, the current project achieved the stated aims by discovering normative patterns of isokinetic muscular strength and performance according to age and seasonal variation. Injury risk attenuation strategies were targeted appropriately to the U18 age group following a break from football activity. However, the applied evidence based exercise may have been more effective if targeted to ‘risk’ after isokinetic screening.

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Fuentes, Johnathan. "Relationship Between Muscular Strength Testing to Dynamic Muscular Performance in Division One American Football Players." Scholar Commons, 2010. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1635.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a prediction equation for (performance variables) vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard sprint time, and pro-agility shuttle time using body mass and 1-RM values of strength for bench press and back squat. Participants (n = 76) used in the study were members of the University of South Florida D-1 football team in fall of 2009. Squat/BM demonstrated the strongest relationship in both correlation and multiple regression data for every performance variable. Squat 1-RM and Squat/BP indicated a decreased relationship and negative impact on performance. Results indicate that with increased Squat/BM improvement for all performance variables can be achieved. In addition analysis divided the entire football team into three positions (AT, LN, and SK), and noted differences for 10 of the possible 12 mean comparisons of performance variables.

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Medjad, Eric. "Le territoire et la performance sportive de haut-niveau : étude anthropologique des succès de l'OGC Nice du stade brestois 29." Thesis, Montpellier 3, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011MON30050/document.

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L’OGC Nice en 2003 et le Stade Brestois 29 en 2004, clubs de football professionnel, ont accédé à la division supérieure. En scindant le concept de performance en deux processus (le compétitif et le performatif), il est possible de déterminer si le social a influencé leurs résultats. Dans les deux cas, la série d’entretiens thématiques semi-directifs s’appuyant sur le discours journalistique de leur parcours sportif montre la prédominance de l’identité locale lors d’un événement déclencheur de la performance au cours duquel l’équipe se transcende. Le Kairos reçu des dieux est ce moment particulier qui marque le début de leurs performances. Les matches deviennent des rites sportifs dont le but est d’accéder au sacré. Ce rite a son origine dans le rite sacrificiel mais la mimésis ne sert pas à transférer la violence vers une victime émissaire. Elle devient le support d’une accession au sacré. La puissance qui passerait de la société à l’équipe n’est que la prise de conscience du joueur qu’il peut mobiliser sa propre puissance de concert avec ses partenaires. La saison sportive est ainsi une perpétuelle reconstitution de la société avec, semble-t-il, comme canevas les contes et les mythes. Elle devient l’incarnation d’un imaginaire qui s’appuie sur l’affectivité humaine pour exister. L’homme est en quelque sorte un territoire ou l’imaginaire se lie au réel : il est un champion qui s’ignore et qui ne le découvre qu’en saisissant le Kairos
Two professional football clubs, OGC Nice and Stade Brestois 29 reached the upper division in 2003 and 2004 respectively (Ligue 1 for OGC Nice and Ligue 2 for Stade Brestois 29). In order to determine whether their results were influenced by social issues or not, the concept of performance will be split into two processes (competitive and performative). In both cases, the series of semi-structured thematic interviews based on journalists’ speeches on their sports career shows the predominance of local identity during an event triggering their performance and during which the team transcends itself. The Kairos received from the gods stands for this particular moment when their performances begin. Matches are becoming sports rites aiming the sacred. Such rite originates in the sacrificial rites but mimesis is not use for transferring violence onto a scapegoat. It becomes the medium to get to the sacred. The strength which is supposed to go from society to the team is nothing but the player’s awareness of his ability to mobilize his own strength together with his team mates. Sport season is therefore a perpetual reconstruction of society with seemingly tales and myths as its framework. It becomes the embodiment of a fantasy based on human emotions. Man is somehow a territory where imaginary is linked to reality: he is an unconscious champion who only discovers it thanks to the Kairos

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Kervella, Yann. "Classification des techniques de frappe en football et modélisation des réussites en compétition : l'exemple des passes d'élimination de l'expert." Rennes 2, 2002. http://www.theses.fr/2002REN20001.

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Le travail s'inscrit dans une approche technologie du football. Il vise avant tout à constituer un outil de caractérisation in situ des pratiques de frappe de balle des footballeurs. La classification est élaborée par aller-retours : elle se crée dans l'interaction entre les variables empiriques issues de l'analyse de discours d'experts sur des situations vécues de frappe de balle en compétition, et celles validées par les sciences du contrôle moteur. Cet outil se veut exhaustif. Il a pour vocation d'embrasser l'ensemble des gestuelles de frappe de balle du joueur, quel que soit son niveau de maîtrise ou de pratique. Le travail s'attache ensuite, à partir de la grille d'analyse constituée, à formaliser les techniques d'exécution les plus adaptées aux passes à fonction d'élimination de l'adversaire au plus haut niveau de compétition. Ces configurations de recherche du déséquilibre de l'adversaire , caractérisées par des espaces fugitifs, imposent au passeur un conflit vitesse/précision au plan de la réalisation motrice. La gestion de cette pression temporelle constitue un obstacle majeur à la réussite des tentatives des experts. L'étude définit, par l'intermédiaire d'une modélisation statistique, les principes moteurs pertinents pour la réussite de ces passes spécifiques en compétition adulte professionnelle et élite 13ans. Ces règles techniques novatrices, transversales aux deux populations, expriment l'utilité sociale du travail. Elles ouvrent des perspectives didactiques en termes d'optimisation des passes à l'entraînement et de formation des professionnels de demain
The present study, conceived as a technological approach to football, is intended above all as a practical method to define and typify the way footballers actually kick the ball. The classification is built up by comparison and contrast between the concrete feedback gleaned from interviews conducted with elite players on their ball-kicking experiences in competitive play and those factors corroborated by the scientific study of movement. This tool aims to be wide-ranging, covering all aspects of a player's movements when kicking the ball, as all levels of skill and participation. Then, working from the analysis chart thus presented, the study goes on to conceptualize the most appropriate procedures for passing the ball in top-level competitive situations so as to neutralize the opponent. The attempts to wrong-foot the opponent, creating fleeting open spaces, confront the player performing the pass with a conflict between speed and precision of his movements during exectution. Mastery of this time pressure constitutes a major obstacle to success for elite performers. The present study defines, by means of a statistical model, the pertinent motor principles behind this specific type of pass both in senior competitive play and in top-rank under-13s These innovative technical rules, valid for both groups, confirm the usefulness of this research work. They open up coaching perspectives both in terms in improving passing during practice sessions and for training tomorrow's professional players

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Debris, Charles. "Statut, rôle et influence de la préparation mentale sur la performance du footballeur professionnel en France." Thesis, Paris 10, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012PA100048.

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L’objet de cette recherche expérimentale est d’analyser le statut, le rôle et l’influence de la préparation mentale sur la performance individuelle du footballeur professionnel évoluant dans des équipes françaises. L’échantillon est constitué de 168 joueurs professionnels de sexe masculin ayant une moyenne d’âge égale à 25,7 (± 4,8) et issus de trois niveaux de jeu : Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National. Une équi-répartition de la population expérimentale a permis une description et une analyse détaillée des modalités de l’entraînement mental dans ce sport collectif. La méthode expérimentale retenue fut le questionnaire. Cet outil d’enquête a été construit à partir de questions fermées, avec une échelle de 1 à 9, et sous forme de classement. L’ensemble du « questionnaire joueur » porte sur 35 questions sous administration directe. Nous avons procédé à une distribution de 232 questionnaires afin d’optimiser le taux de retour qui s’est élevé à 168 unités (72,4 %). Les résultats de l’étude ont montré que la prise en charge du facteur psychologique est très peu traitée dans les clubs par des préparateurs mentaux ou des psychologues du sport diplômés et par l’entraîneur, au contraire des aspects technico-tactiques et physiques qui sont, quant à eux, traités de façon très importante par lui-même et son staff. L’absence de préparation mentale a très peu d’influence sur la performance individuelle ce qui contraint les joueurs à s’autogérer mentalement. Cette autogestion a beaucoup d’influence sur la performance individuelle et produit un effet modéré sur la performance collective. Selon la population de l’étude, le mode de prise en charge des facteurs psychologiques détermine le niveau de performance individuelle du footballeur professionnel. L’autogestion a beaucoup d’influence tandis que l’absence de préparation mentale en a très peu. Ce travail de recherche a démontré que la psychologie du sport est jugée comme un pilier de la pratique des footballeurs, mais son institutionnalisation demeure instable et fragile. L’étude a démontré que le suivi psychologique doit s’installer avec des professionnels diplômés dans les clubs français pour accompagner les joueurs dans leur quête de performance. Cette longue recherche expérimentale a tenté d’apporter une nouvelle pierre à l’édifice de la préparation mentale dans le football
The aim of this experimental research is to analyze the status, role and impact of mental preparation on the individual performance of professional footballers playing in French teams. The sample population comprises 168 male professional footballers, with an average age of 25.7 (+/- 4.8 years), playing in three French leagues: Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and National. An equidistribution of the sample population enabled a detailed analysis and description of the different types of mental preparation in this team sport. A questionnaire was used as the experimental method. The “player questionnaire” comprised 35 self-administered closed questions, and players were asked to position their answers on a ranking scale of 1 to 9. 232 questionnaires were distributed, in order to receive a significant number of responses; 168 units were completed and returned to us (return rate of 72.4%). Psychological factors are rarely addressed in football clubs, whether by sports psychologists, mental trainers, or managers. In contrast, great stock is given to the physical, technical and tactical aspects of the game by managers and their staff. The lack of organized mental preparation means that this mode of preparation has little influence on individual performance, so players have to manage the mental side of their game themselves. This self-management has a considerable influence on individual performance, but only a moderate influence on team performance. According to the sample population, the way in which psychological factors are addressed affects the individual performance levels of professional footballers. While self-management has considerable influence, the lack of mental preparation results in little influence. This research demonstrates that while sports psychology is deemed to be an essential part of training footballers, its formal use as a practice in clubs remains patchy and inconsistent. The study shows that psychological monitoring needs to be implemented in French clubs, with certified professionals helping players to improve their performance levels. This long experimental research has striven to contribute to awareness about and practice of mental preparation in football

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Wood, Greg. "Anxiety and attentional control in football penalty kicks : a mechanistic account of performance failure under pressure." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/3053.

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Football penalty kicks are having increasing influence in today’s professional game. Despite this, little scientific evidence currently exists to ascertain the mechanisms behind performance failure in this task and/or the efficacy of training designed to improve penalty shooting. In a football penalty kick it has been reported that the majority of kickers do not look to the area they wish to place the ball; preferring to focus on the ‘keeper and predict anticipatory movements before shooting. Such a strategy seems counterproductive and contradictory to current research findings regarding visually guided aiming. Coordination of eye and limb movements has been shown to be essential for the production of accurate motor responses. A disruption to this coordination not only seems to negatively affect performance, but subsequent motor responses seem to follow direction of gaze. Thus, where the eyes lead actions tend to follow. In study 1, ten participants were asked to kick a standard sized football to alternate corners of a goal, whilst looking centrally and whilst looking where they intended to hit. This disruption of eye-limb coordination brought about a 15% reduction in kicking accuracy. When participants were asked to fixate centrally, their shots hit more centrally (17cm) than when they were allowed to look where they intended to hit. These results were in spite of no significant differences between the number of missed shots, preparation time and ball speed data across conditions. We concluded that centrally focused fixations dragged resultant motor actions inwards towards more central target locations. Put simply, where the eyes looked shots tended to follow. The second study sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in a sporting environment in order to establish how anxiety affects performance in penalty kicks. Fourteen experienced footballers took penalty kicks under low- and high-threat counterbalanced conditions while wearing a gaze registration system. Fixations to target locations (goalkeeper and goal area) were determined using frame-by-frame analysis. When anxious, footballers made faster first fixations and fixated for significantly longer toward the goalkeeper. This disruption in gaze behaviour brought about significant reductions in shooting accuracy, with shots becoming significantly centralized and within the goalkeeper’s reach. These findings support the predictions of ACT, as anxious participants were more likely to focus on the “threatening” goalkeeper, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system. A further prediction of ACT is that when anxious, performers are more likely to be distracted, particularly if the distracter is threat related. When facing penalty kicks in football (soccer), goalkeepers frequently incorporate strategies that are designed to distract the kicker. However, no direct empirical evidence exists to ascertain what effect such visual distractions have on the attentional control, and performance, of footballers. In the third study, eighteen experienced footballers took five penalty kicks under counterbalanced conditions of threat (low vs. high) and goalkeeper movement (stationary vs. waving arms) while wearing eye-tracking equipment. Results suggested that participants were more distracted by a moving goalkeeper than a stationary one and struggled to disengage from a moving goalkeeper under situations of high threat. Significantly more penalties were saved on trials when the goalkeeper was moving and shots were also generally hit closer to the goalkeeper (centrally) on these trials. The results provide partial support for the predictions of attentional control theory and implications for kickers and goalkeepers are discussed. The previous studies showed that anxiety can disrupt visual attention, visuomotor control and subsequent shot location in penalty kicks. However, optimal visual attention has been trained in other far aiming skills, improving performance and resistance to pressure. In study 4, we therefore asked a team of ten university soccer players to follow a quiet eye (QE; Vickers, 1996) training program, designed to align gaze with aiming intention to optimal scoring zones, over a seven week period. Performance and gaze parameters were compared to a placebo group (ten players) who received no instruction, but practiced the same number of penalty kicks over the same time frame. Results from a retention test indicated that the QE trained group had more effective visual attentional control; were significantly more accurate; and had 50% fewer shots saved by the goalkeeper than the placebo group. Both groups then competed in a penalty shootout to explore the influence of anxiety on attentional control and shooting accuracy. Under the pressure of the shootout the QE trained group failed to maintain their accuracy advantage, despite maintaining more distal aiming fixations of longer duration. The results therefore provide only partial support for the effectiveness of brief QE training interventions for experienced performers. This series of studies are the first to explore the gaze behaviour of football penalty takers in a quest to uncover and understand anxiety’s negative influence on attentional control and performance. They are also the first to explore the efficacy of goalkeeper distractions and training in improving performance from both the goalkeeper’s and kicker’s perspective. The results of these studies conclude that when anxious, penalty takers show an attentional bias toward the ‘threatening’ goalkeeper that can be increased and utilised by a goalkeeper employing distraction techniques and that penalty takers do benefit, to some extent, from a gaze-based pre-shot routine

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Kim, MJ Min Jun. "Money Craving in China and Korea: Football Club Performance and the Share Prices of Owning Corporations." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1044.

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This event study analyzes the share price reactions of the owning corporation investors in relation to the Chinese and Korean football clubs' success. Guangzhou Evergrande FC, Beijing Guoan FC, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC, and Pohang Steelers FC are examined which are owned by Evergrande Group, CITIC Group, Hyundai Motors Company, and POSCO Group, respectively. It is assumed that successful events of the football clubs such as winning championships and major players and head coach acquisitions will have a positive boost to the daily returns of the owning corporations. The results are strongest for Pohang Steelers FC but other football clubs also suggest similar trends. The findings offer some tangible support for the assumption that the recent global arms race in transfer spending by football clubs can create value for the owners and suggest that the investments may lead to positive returns.

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Ferreira, Jéssica Filipa Almeida. "Effect of neural mobilization on static postural sway and lower limb functional performance of football layers." Master's thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/22096.

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Mestrado em Fisioterapia
Background: Neural mobilization is commonly used by physiotherapists, and in broad sense, it could be used either as tension mobilization or as gliding mobilization. Nevertheless, studies comparing the effects of both techniques are scarce and mainly devoted to flexibility. The aims of this study is to compare the effects of tensioning neural mobilization versus sliding neural mobilization of the dominant lower limb on static postural control and on the functional performance of both lower limbs. Methods: Thirty-seven football players of the first and second district league participated in this randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized into two groups: sliding group (n=18) and tensioning group (n=19). Postural sway was assessed with a force plate and functional performance with hop tests. The assessment was taken before, immediately after and 30 minutes after the intervention. Results: At baseline, no differences were found between groups (p>0,05). There was a significant decrease (p<0,05) of total displacement of COP and velocity with eyes opened and closed after intervention. There was also an increase in total distance for the single leg hop test and the crossover hop test and a decrease of time for the 6 meters timed hop. On the first test, there was also an interaction between time and dominant limb (p>0,05). Conclusion: Sliding and tensioning neural mobilization have immediate positive and similar effects on postural control and lower limb functional performance in football players and these effects are maintained at 30 minutes post intervention. Mobilization of the dominant limb can produce effects on the non-dominant and non-mobilized limb.
Introdução: A mobilização neural é comummente utilizada em Fisioterapia, podendo, de uma forma geral, ser realizada em tensão ou em mobilidade. Contudo, estudos que comparem o efeito de ambas as técnicas são escassos. O objetivo deste trabalho é comparar os efeitos da mobilização neural em tensão vs mobilização neural em mobilidade do membro dominante no controlo postural estático e na performance funcional de ambos os membros inferiores. Métodos: Trinta e sete jogadores de futebol da primeira e segunda divisão distrital participaram neste estudo randomizado e controlado. Os participantes foram randomizados em dois grupos: mobilização em mobilidade (n=18) e mobilização em tensão (n=19). O controlo postural foi avaliado com uma plataforma de forças e a performance funcional com hop tests antes, imediatamente após e 30 minutos depois da intervenção. Resultados: Não foram encontradas diferenças iniciais entre grupos (p>0,05). Houve uma diminuição significativa (p<0,05) no deslocamento total do COP e na velocidade com olhos abertos e fechados após a intervenção. Verificou-se, também, um aumento da distância total percorrida no single leg hop test e no crossover hop test, e uma diminuição do tempo no 6 meters timed hop (p<0,05) após a intervenção. No primeiro teste, verificou-se, ainda, uma interação entre o fator tempo e o fator membro dominante (p<0,05). Não houve diferenças significativas entre as intervenções (p>0,05). Conclusão: Mobilização neural em mobilidade e tensão têm efeitos imediatos positivos e semelhantes no controlo postural estático e na performance funcional de jogadores de futebol, e as melhorias mantêm-se 30 minutos após a intervenção. A mobilização do membro dominante produz efeitos positivos neste e, também, no membro não dominante.

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Johnson, Jack Buckland Jr. "Evaluating the Importance of Strength, Power, and Performance Tests in an NCAA Division I Football Program." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29933.

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Strength and conditioning professionals spend a great deal of time and effort trying to improve athletic performance. Even as coaches evaluate each athlete by using the results of a vast battery of tests, there has been considerable speculation and discussion about the physical attributes of Division I football players and their playing status. The purpose of this study was to determine what influence strength, power, and performance tests scores have on an individual's playing status. The Skill group results indicate that power is the most important factor differentiating between starters and non-starters. Simultaneously, the Combo group results indicate that speed is the most important factor differentiating between starters and non-starters. Also, the L.O.S. group results indicate that bodyweight is the most important factor differentiating between starters and non-starters.
Ph. D.

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Wilhelm, Sarah E. "Using Functional Performance Assessment Tools to Predict Ankle Injuries in High School Football and Basketball Athletes." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396518848.

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Cox, Adam John. "An economic analysis of spectator demand, club performance, and revenue sharing in English Premier League football." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2016. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-economic-analysis-of-spectator-demand-club-performance-and-revenue-sharing-in-english-premier-league-football(be4c9045-e4cb-4d75-96b7-2ebe80c160b8).html.

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Since its creation in 1992, the Premier League has sold exclusive media rights for live football matches to broadcasters on behalf of member clubs. The collective selling method removes any price competition between the clubs, whom would otherwise compete against each other to sell rights to their matches (commonly seen in other European Leagues). A key issue with monopoly power is that the Premier League could distort the market for its product or abuse its dominant position in the market as the sole seller of the rights (contrary to Article 101 and 102 of the Treaty of the European Union). In defence, the Premier League argued that matches broadcast live on television can be considered as a substitute for watching at the stadium. A Competition Commission investigation concluded that the potential benefits of collective selling arrangements are for the redistribution of revenue to promote solidarity at all levels of football. After some amendments to the auction process, collective selling continues. Contributing to the applied industrial economics literature, this thesis examines the key arguments for using collective selling methods in the Premier League. Results from empirical economic analysis find firstly, that there is no evidence to suggest a negative impact on match day revenue from live broadcasting and the revenues from rights sales heavily outweigh such an impact. Secondly, that sharing revenue between clubs will only enhance solidarity (competitive balance) if the amount shared is much larger than at present, however, a greater uncertainty of match outcome reduces demand for spectating at the stadium whilst increasing demand for television viewing. Finally, the impact of investment in talent is far greater for weaker teams whilst participating in the Champions League and Europa League has no impact on domestic league performance. This thesis concludes that the Premier League should offer a greater number of rights to broadcast matches and should increase the amount of revenue shared (including revenues from European Competitions) in order to increase competitive balance. This would increase the number of television viewers for live football broadcasts but would likely reduce the numbers of fans spectating at the stadium.

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Cicut, Nicolas. "Le football, entre ressources symboliques, intégration sociale, optimisation économique et performance sportive : le cas de l’Olympique de Marseille." Thesis, Paris 10, 2020. https://bdr-parisnanterre-fr.faraway.parisnanterre.fr/theses/intranet/2020/2020PA100142/2020PA100142.pdf.

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Dans l’industrie du football professionnel, mondialisée et ultra concurrentielle, les performances sportives et financières occupent une place prépondérante. Compétitions et mercatos sont le théâtre d’intenses combats entre les clubs.Certaines organisations, bien qu’éloignées aujourd’hui du sommet de la hiérarchie, ont obtenu au cours des décennies une notoriété et une aura qui leur confèrent une attention médiatique constante et les maintiennent au centre d’un écosystème composé de parties prenantes riches et variées. L’Olympique de Marseille en fait partie, club historique, populaire, au palmarès unique en France, il entretient des liens forts avec son territoire et ses sympathisants.Une revue de la littérature sur le concept complexe qu’est la performance montre l’importance prise par les performances non-financières dans les stratégies de développement de certaines entreprises. Pour autant, ce sujet a engendré peu de travaux concernant les clubs, alors qu’il nous semble réellement intéressant de s’interroger sur les bénéfices potentiels liés à une optimisation de la performance sociétale.Nous avons bâti notre réflexion en ce sens, avec d’abord une approche par les parties prenantes, qui permet l’identification et la hiérarchisation de celles-ci, puis un approfondissement des interactions existantes, révélant d’importants points lacunaires. Ce constat posé, notre attention s’est portée sur la compréhension de l’origine de ces zones de non maîtrise avec la réalisation d’une vaste enquête qualitative qui détermine précisément, pour ces parties prenantes, les fondements de leur relation au club. Enfin, grâce à une étude minutieuse de la narration et des discours, les mythes et symboles qui ont construits et renforcent encore ce lien ont été appréhendés
In the ultra-competitive and globalised professional football industry, sport and financial performance have a prominent place. Competitions and transfer markets are the scene of fierce battles between clubs.Even if they are now far from the top of the hierarchy, some organisations have, throughout their history, gained a notoriety and an aura that brings them constant media attention and maintains them at the heart of an ecosystem made of rich and varied stakeholders. One of these organisations is Olympique de Marseille, a “historical”, popular club with a record that is unique in France and that maintains very strong links with its sympathisers and territory.A literature review on the complex concept of performance shows the importance of non-financial performance in the development strategies of some companies. However, the topic has been little studied when it comes to football clubs and it seems truly interesting to examine the potential benefits linked to the optimisation of societal performance.We articulated our reflection around this axis firstly with a stakeholder approach that lead to identification and prioritisation, then with an in-depth study of the existing interactions which results showed important shortcomings. We then turned our attention towards the understanding of these uncontrolled zones by performing a large qualitative survey in order to determine the cornerstones of the stakeholders’ relations with the club. Finally, the myths and symbols that strengthen these links are analysed through the meticulous study of the narration and speech

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Lundgren, Joakim, and Oskar Heljeberg. "M-C-O or M-C...No? Multi-Club Ownership in English Football and Its Drivers." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-185176.

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Multi-club ownership [MCO] is a concept within the football industry which entails that an owner holds significant stakes in multiple teams. This ownership strategy is not new, however, what are the driving forces of this type of ownership structure and what are the outcomes? The purpose of this study was to explore potential drivers of MCO, to irradiate the concept and determine whether traditional business administration theories can be applied to explain its existence. The main theoretical framework is based upon the shareholder theory and resource-based view of the firm with supplementary reasoning collected from other relevant theories. The study encompasses five seasons and consisted of the teams competing in the top two divisions in the English Football League system. The quantitative study covered six hypotheses and deployed both Two sample t-tests and regression models which sought to measure international player trading activity, sporting performance and financial performance. The results of the study show that multi-club portfolio members [MCPMs] tend to trade a larger share of players internationally compared to Non-MCPMs. However, the other models yielded no significant results in regard to MCPMs, although, value creation through the strategy cannot be disregarded as it may be present through other channels. The wider footballing industry has been studied extensively in previous literature. However, this study is focused on MCO, a topic that lacks a previous body of research. By filling this research gap the authors hope to illuminate the concept and increase transparency for both decision makers (owners of clubs) and supporters of clubs. In addition, a survey which is not empirically tested was conducted in order to help guide the proceedings of the research.

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Tai, Sharayah. "Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Safer Tackling Skills to Youth Football Players." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6410.

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Concussion rates and head injuries for football players have been on the rise and there is a need for further research in football to increase skills and decrease injuries. Behavioral skills training has been proven to be effective in teaching a wide variety of skills but has yet to be studied in the sports setting. We evaluated behavioral skills training to teach safer tackling techniques among six participants from a local Pop Warner football team. Results show safer tackling techniques increased substantially during practice and generalized to games among all six participants.

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Velentza, Elisavet. "A retrospective analysis of talent selection and progression within England's Rugby Football Union Elite Player Performance Pathway." Thesis, University of Chester, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10034/620558.

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The England Rugby Football Union (RFU) Elite Player Performance Pathway (EPPP) is a player development system, structured into five playing squads (Under 18 [U18], Under 20 [U20], National academy [NA, age: 18-23 years], Saxons [Saxon, age: 18+ years] and Senior National Squad [SNS, age: 18+ years]), which attempts to develop players to play within the SNS. Despite its importance however, there is yet to be any scientific appraisal of its efficacy in successfully producing SNS players. Appraising the performances of 396 players enrolled on to the EPPP between 2008 and 2014, the purpose of this programme of research was therefore to investigate the nature of player transition and determine the key features associated with match performance between respective squads of the EPPP. To achieve this, the progression rates to subsequent squads, and the anthropometrical and position-specific technical performance data was quantified in conjunction with individual player progression within the EPPP system. Of the 396 players assessed within the thesis, 121 reached the SNS. Involvement in the EPPP was defined by high rates of de-selection during progression to subsequent squads and this was most apparent within the U18, U20 and NA squads. Analyses revealed the proportion of selected players for higher squads was 48.70%, 37%, 57.10% and 61% for U18-U20, U20-NA, NA-Saxon and Saxon-SNS squads, respectively. Within the SNS (n = 121), only 5.80% experienced a linear development (U18-U20-NA-Saxons-SNS) whereas all other players displayed variability with respect to squad pathway trajectories (NA-SNS 0.82%, Saxon-SNS: 50.4%, U20-Saxon-SNS 4.95%, NA-Saxon-SNS 12.39%, U18-U20-NA SNS:2.57%, U18-U20-Saxon-SNS 3.30%, U20-NA-Saxon-SNS 2.47%, side entries [selection from outside the EPPP system] 17.35%) within the EPPP. Thus, progression within the talent development (TDE) system was typified by variable patterns of sequential selection and de-selection processes throughout U18 to senior squads. The prerequisite level of technical performance indicators (TPI), related to generic and position-specific performance characteristics, and anthropometrical features (body mass and stature) specific to six predefined positional groups (front row [FR], second row [SR], Back row [BR], scrumhalf [SH], inside backs [IB], outside backs [OB]), were examined. The SNS revealed similar TPIs to the Saxon squad in all positional groups, only SNS FR were heavier (p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.18) and taller (p ≤ 0.001; r = 0.25) than Saxons FR. Likewise, the results demonstrate that anthropometrical characteristics consistently differentiated respective squads though, on occasion, there were aspects of TPIs that discriminated youth (U18) adult (U20, NA) and senior (Saxons, SNS) age international squads for the six positional groups within the EPPP. Used in isolation therefore, TPIs might offer benchmarks across the respective squads, however the extent of the observed differences between younger (U18 and U20) and older (NA, Saxons & SNS) squads suggests they could be used in conjunction with coach intuition to improve the objectivity of player selection to future squads. Where the performances of progressed and non-progressed players were considered results revealed that taller and heavier players, competing within a higher number of matches, for an increased period of time, were the most important variables influencing progression or deselection from the programme. Where the match TPIs were considered, there were stochastic differences between groups though it appeared as though selected players typically outperformed the non-selected group albeit by small margins and there were fewer differences between progressed and non-progressed in older age squads. Finally, in players selected to progress and those deselected, there was notable within-group variation in the technical demands. Such variation was typified by overlapping IQRs when groups were compared meaning selected players could perform more, or less, effectively than deselected players in any given match. Clearly, such an issue suggests that the technical performance during competition cannot be used to determine talent in such instances. Collectively, the results provide insight to the key requirements of the EPPP, which could be used to develop future coaching, scouting methods, player TDE systems by providing normative levels of attainment for aspiring players, both enrolled or not, within the elite player developmental system.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Football performance'

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