Endurance athletes seek for the optimal balance in training stress and recovery so they can perform at their best and avoid injuries. The PhD thesis of Ruby Otter at the School of Sport Studies (Hanze University of Applied Sciences) and the Center of Human Movement Sciences (UMCG, University of Groningen) showed that not only physical stress and recovery, but also psychosocial stress and recovery influence performance and injury risk of endurance athletes. During the research project, 115 endurance athletes have been monitored for two years. The athletes kept a daily training log including information about any injuries. Every 1 to 3 weeks the athletes filled out a psychosocial stress and recovery questionnaire and they came into the SportsFieldLab Groningen to perform exercise tests every 6 weeks. Results showed that an increase in stress and a decrease in recovery are associated to decreased performance parameters. An unplanned negative life event disturbed perceived psychosocial stress and recovery over a relatively short period and it impaired performance parameters of runners. In addition, the risk of sustaining an injury increased after increased relative training loads (physical stress). Finally, a new submaximal rowing test has shown to be reliable and practical for predicting maximal performance of rowers. The findings in this thesis support the notion that psychosocial as well as physical stress and recovery play a role in performance changes of endurance athletes. Athletes and coaches could benefit from monitoring physical and psychosocial factors so that training programs can be adapted for each individual.
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Turkey has received consistent criticism from international media for having many naturalized athletes in its national squad, both in the Olympic Games and other major international sporting events. Similar criticisms have also been a feature of debates for a long time in domestic media, varying in views toward these athletes. This research focuses on media representations of naturalized athletes in Turkey between 2008 and 2020. We investigated the sentiments of news items from four major Turkish newspapers (Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Sabah and Fanatik) on their stances toward naturalized athletes over the timespan of 2008–2020. Beside analyzing the sentiment of the media content both cumulatively and fragmentedly, we also identified the yearly trends and most featured sports in this context, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. Our findings showed that sentiments in Turkish media toward naturalized athletes are mostly neutral and negative as well as with differences varying on the basis of the newspapers and news item types. The most criticism underlined pursuing “shortcut” success with naturalized athletes representing Turkey in the international arena. Among the featured sports, basketball, football, and track and field have been the most discussed ones in the naturalization context.
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To enhance the training of sport psychology consultants, it is important to know which learning experiences are useful for which components of professional development. We interviewed 15 novice consultants on their learning experiences related to 13 different topics. Traditional learning experiences (e.g., courses, teachers) were related to the development of practical know-how. Learning from others (e.g., peers, colleagues) was related to professional development (i.e., dealing with issues, challenges, and dilemmas that occur in sport psychology practice). Practical experience and reflective activities were related to both know-how and professional development. These results can be used to shape effective sport psychology education.
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