Group Meeting 2

The group of Edwards, Harber, and Rumble met in the Library on Sunday evening September 26, 2010 from 9:20 until 10:10. All members were present during the full time of the meeting.

Last Weeks Agenda:

At out last meeting we assigned Edwards to be our time recorder and went over our ideas as to what we would like our project to be about. After a brief discussion the group decided on the topic "The Use of Alcohol and its Effects on Sports Performance in College." Along with this we established the time for the current meeting and our agenda for such.

Today's Agenda:

1.Establish an outline for project and future meetings.
2. Assign tasks to each group member.
3. Talk about expectations for next meeting.
4. Decide when to meet next.

Topic Title/Description:
Our title for our project is "The Use of Alcohol and its Effects on Sports Performance in College." Throughout this project we are going to explore how alcohol does or does not play a role in the performance of college athletic teams.

Questions to answer:

1. What are the affects of alcohol on the body and how it relates to sports?
2. How does society portray alcohol use in sports?

PLAN OF ACTION:

1. Resources
 a. Media
 b. Journals
 c.Text books
 d. College Athletes/Coaches

2. Methods
 a. Survey
 b. Interview
 c. Online research
 d. Observations

3. Tasks for Members
 a. Edwards
  i. Look for media examples relating athletes and alcohol
  ii. Look for athletic role models both good and bad
 b. Harber
  i. Research of effects of alcohol on body related to sports performance
 c. Rumble
  i. Create Survey and disclaimer to give out to both athletes and coaches.

Presentation/Paper:


We will work on the PowerPoint and the project summary at  group meetings as we obtain information.

Next Weeks Meeting Agenda:

1. Review progress in task given at current meeting

2. Collect survey information thus far

3. Talk about next meeting (after fall break)

Movement Preparation

On Saturday September 18, 2010 I watched the University of Georgia (UGA) vs. University of Arkansas (UA) game. During this game I observed several factors which include: Reaction Time, Hick's law, Psychological Refractory Period, and Anticipation.


Reaction time:
 Reaction time is the time between a stimulus and the initial response. In football and evident in this game, there are several opportunities to observe a players reaction time. A few examples are the time between the snap of the football and the defensive/offensive line reactions, the time between a player seeing the ball in the air and catching it, and the time between the snap of the ball and the player who holds the ball during a field goal attempt.

Hick's Law:
 Hick's law states that an increase in uncertainty leads to a longer reaction time. For example, if a quarterback has only one person to throw to their reaction time would be faster than that of a quarterback who has several people to throw to and must decide which is the best choice. This example showed up multiple times during the UGA vs. UA game. Another example is a run play where the football team in possession of the ball will attempt to gain yardage by running the ball as apposed to passing it. Most run plays leave the runner with a specific hole, or opening, to run through. These plays have a faster reaction time than those that give multiple options.

Psychological Refractory Period:
 Psychological refractory period refers to two stimuli that are presented successively and require two different responses. In football we see this when players step one way, when they spin out of plays, and when teams will do a special play such as a fake punt pass. During the UGA vs. UA game there were several instances where players from both teams would run the ball and would pump fake one way and go the other in order to avoid a defender. One of UA's players did this very well and on one run avoided four Georgia defenders.

Anticipation:
 Anticipation is predicting what and when something will happen. The snap of the ball is an anticipation that happens for both the defense and the offense. An accurate anticipation of the snap would lead to the play being played all the way through while an inaccurate anticipation of the snap will most likely lead to a false start and a penalty. There were a few false starts throughout the game; making accurate predictions can win help games while inaccurate predictions can greatly hurt a teams position.

Meeting One

The Group of Edwards, Harber, and Rumble met at the cage on September 13, 2010 from 6:53 to 7:11 to select a group leader, Designate a minute recorder, Establish our next meeting time, and go over out agenda for our next meeting. All members were present at during the full meeting time.

Time recorded by: Melissa Edwards

Movement Classification

Once again, I have observed the Berry College women's volleyball team! I observed the team's practice between 4 and 5pm in Berry's athletic building known as the Cage on September 9, 2010. 

Movements are classified into two systems, one dimension and two dimension. These systems can then be broken down into subcategories. One dimension systems, which we'll look at first, are split into the following subcategories; fundamental Movement, Muscle groups, Type of task, Cognitive-motor elements, and environmental predictability. The two dimension system only has two subcategories, action and environment.

As with my last post, here are some terms to aid in understanding!

One Dimension Systems 

1.Fundamental movement

   a. Fundamental movement includes three more subcategories within itself to better break down movement  classification.These subcategories include locomotor(primary purpose of travel), manipulative(Primary purpose involves the manipulation of an object), and Stability(primary purpose is body control and stability).

   b. Locomotor

      i. Shuffle

      ii. Short sprint

   c. Manipulative

      i. Serve

      ii. Bump

      iii. Set

      vi. Spike

   d. Stability

      i. Block

2. Muscle Groups

   a. Muscle groups are broken down into two more subcategories based on the muscles involved. Gross motor skills and fine motor skill. Gross motor skills include large muscle groups while fine motor skills involve small muscle groups.

   b. Gross Motor Skills

      i. Bump

      ii. Set

      iii. Spike

      iv. Block

   c. Fine Motor Skills

       i. There are not many movements in volleyball that use small muscle groups but volleyball does require quite a bit of hand-eye coordination, which is a fine motor skill. 

   

3. Type of Task

   a. The type of task can be broken down into three subcategories much like fundamental movement. Discrete motor skills, serial motor skills, and continuous motor skills are the three subcategories. Discrete motor skills include those that have brief actions and a definite beginning and end; an example would be a golf swing. Serial motor skills include those that combine several discrete motor skills together such as hammering or shifting gears. Continuous motor skills are those in which there is no definite beginning and end.

   b.Discrete Motor Skills

      i. Bump

      ii. Set

      iii. Spike

      iv. Block

   c. Serial Motor Skills

      i. None

   d. Continuous Motor Skills

      i. This may happen on occasions such as a volley between the two teams that last for an extended amount of time.

4. Cognitive-Motor Elements

   a. Cognitive motor elements are classified on a scale ranging from cognitive to motor like so:                      cognitive                                                 motor.

Cognitive elements are elements that require strategic thinking much like a game of chess or poker, while motor elements require movement such as sprinting, jumping, or squatting.

   b. Many of the moves in volleyball fall somewhere in the middle since they require movement and a strategizing thought process of where to place the ball.

5. Environmental Predictability

   a. The predictability of the environment is classified on a scale very similar to the cognitive-motor elements scale with predictable on one end and unpredictable on the other.

                      predictable                                unpredictable

Predictable environments are those in which the action performed is easily predicted. Whereas an unpredictable environment would not be easily predictable.

   b. Predictable environments

      i. Serve

   c. Unpredictable Environments

      i. Anything after the serve

Two Dimension Systems

1. Action

   a. The action subcategory is divided into two more subcategories that include body and object manipulation. To find out which category the action goes in you simply ask yourself a few questions for each subcategory.

      i. Body

         a. Moving

         b. Stationary

      ii. Object Manipulation

         a. Yes

         b. No

2. Environment

   a. Environment follows the same objective as action, has two subcategories, and requires the same questionnaire process.

      i. Regulatory

         a. Moving

         b. Stationary  

      ii. Context

         a. Changing

         b. Not changing

3. Two dimension systems, when classified are put into a table that has 14 categories. I have identified four movements and placed them into four categories as follows: 

   a. Ready position (squatted position waiting for service of ball)

      i. Body is stationary with no object manipulation

      ii. The environment is not changing nor is its context

   b. Set

      i. Body is stationary with object manipulation

      ii. There is no environmental change but the context does change

   c. Adjustment of position to the play

      i. Body transport with no object manipulation

      ii. There is environmental change but the context does not vary

   d. Serve

      i. Body transport with object manipulation

      ii. The environment changes and so does the context

PDFE Assignment One!

On August 26th I observed the Berry College women's volleyball team during their daily practice in the Cage (Berry's sports complex). Before we go any further, here are some terms you may need to know!

Spike: A ball contacted with force by a player on the offensive team who intends to terminate the ball on the opponent's floor or off the opponent's blocker.
Block: A defensive play by one or more players meant to deflect a spiked ball back to the hitter’s court.
Set: The tactical skill in which a ball is directed to a point where a player can spike it into the opponent's court.
Dig: Passing a spiked or rapidly hit ball. Slang for the art of passing an attacked ball close to the floor.


Observations are as follows:
Safety:

*All players wore appropriate attire. This includes knee pads and braces if needed.

*The coaches are present and overseeing all drills.

*There is also a trainer present.

*The team has two aids that help in multiple drills and exercises.

*The only thing that caught my attention as being unsafe would be the amount of loose balls only a short while after the start of a drill.


Learning:

*At beginning of practice there is a ball tossing activity used to aid the players in getting used to calling the ball. This drill shows up later in practice as the team scrimmages.

*Individual practice in specific area/position: during this activity the coach physically shows the player what to do. After a few tries the player begins to perform the activity correctly. The player's improvement shows in the scrimmage.

*The coach stops the drills to correct the players. They show an understanding by performing correctly afterwards.


Active:

*The team starts their practice with agilities.

*As a team they run a drill on blocking, the act of blocking the opponents ball from coming over the net. This drill includes running, jumping, diving, and digging.

* They also perform individual set drills. These include running, jumping, and setting.

*Once the team is warmed up they play a scrimmage. The scrimmage requires all players to jump, shuffle, serve, make short sprints, dive, dig, and block.


Modifications:

*I myself have never played volleyball competitively and cannot say that there are many things that I would modify. I will suggest maybe having someone to collect all balls as the drills are being expected and adding a cardio warm-up to the routine other than only doing agilities.


Enjoyable:

*All players seem to be enjoying their time as they smile, laugh, and talk while warming up.

*The entire team has great chemistry, working together with good attitudes.

*The players compliment each other during practice.

*All players become excited and are motivated when they reach a goal.

*The coaches give encouraging compliments.

*During the scrimmage after every point, whether they obtained a point or not, the teams would huddle and encourage each other.


Interesting:

*Before practice officially began many of the players were already doing drills that were seen later on in practice.

*Many of the players in volleyball specialize in a position as opposed to being diverse.

*The coach places a point value on many of the drills to raise competition.