Neşe Toktaş

The study aimed to evaluate the acute effects of caffeine mouth-rinse interventions on shooting accuracy among bocce volo (BV) players. Twenty-four healthy, professional men bocce players, aged 20.67±4.43 years; height 176.46±6.58 cm; body weight 65.79±10.00 kg, volunteered to participate in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Interventions included Caffeine mouth rinse (CAF-MR), Placebo (PLA), Control (CONT). In the study, participants' shooting performance was assessed during the BV progressive game. The collected data were analyzed (with SPSS Windows software) by repeated measure ANOVA analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test at p ≤ 0.05 level. The analysis of Volo Shots Accuracy revealed a significant main effect of condition (F (2,46) = 49.19, p = 0.001, η2 = 0.68), with post hoc analyses indicating significant differences between CAF-MR and PLA (p = 0.001), CAF-MR and CONT (p < .0001), and PLA and CONT (p = .003). Similarly, the analysis of Volo Shots Accuracy Percentage showed a significant condition effect (F (2,46) = 34.28, p = .001, η2 = 0.60), with post hoc analyses revealing significant differences between CAF-MR and PLA (p < 0.001), CAF-MR and CONT (p < 0.001), and PLA and CONT (p = .01). CAF-MR intervention increased shooting accuracy, as indicated by the shooting accuracy points obtained during the BV progressive game.

Measuring pre-service dieticians’ sport nutrition knowledge levels seems important in order to determine their real educational needs, monitor the im

This study investigated the effects of acute and chronic swimming exercise on executive functions in preadolescent males. Forty-eight participants (swimming exercise group [SEG], n = 24; control group [CG], n = 24), aged 10.15 ± 0.71 years and proficient in swimming, took part in the study. The SEG followed a structured swimming program consisting of three 45-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. The CG did not engage in regular physical activity during the same period. Both groups showed significant improvements in working memory and inhibition after a single bout of acute swimming exercise (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). Regarding chronic exercise, post-test results revealed a statistically significant advantage for the SEG (p < 0.05). In intragroup comparisons, both groups demonstrated improvements in working memory (p < 0.001), while only the SEG exhibited significant gains in inhibition (p < 0.05, p < 0.001); no such improvements were observed in the CG (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that acute aerobic swimming can enhance working memory and inhibitory control in preadolescent males. Chronic swimming training may also result in significant improvements in these executive functions, with greater gains observed in the exercise group.

While it is widely accepted that coach knowledge plays a foundational role in coaching effectiveness, there are few validated tools to determine pre- and- in-service coaches’ content knowledge (CK) levels. Thus, the aim of the present study was to develop and validate two CK test packs for developing physical and technical competence in athletes. Using convenience sampling, 2457 pre-service coaches participated in this study voluntarily. Several steps were followed for development of nine CK tests including facilitating panels, and processes for establishing content and face validities. Winstep was used to conduct Rasch analyses. Content validity was established, and the infit and outfit statistics confirmed that, with minor exceptions, all of the tests met the standards as the difficulties of questions matched respondents’ knowledge levels. The item and person separation indices showed excellent and acceptable confidence levels in item difficulties and respondents, respectively. The Wright map further demonstrated that all tests had a good range of difficulty levels to discriminate different knowledge levels. Data generated through the use of these CK test packs can be used to understand the actual knowledge levels of coaches, to monitor their improvements and to inform the development of educational programs.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of treadmill training at different inclinations on balance, strength, flexibility, and gait parameters in children with cerebral palsy in addition to traditional physiotherapy applications. Forty-two participants with cerebral palsy aged 7–18 years and at Gross Motor Function Classification System level II were randomized into three groups: downhill walking, uphill walking, and walking with no incline. Balance, isometric strength, flexibility, and gait parameters were assessed at baseline (2nd week) and at 11th week. The groups were provided with treadmill training and conventional treatment. All groups showed improvement in balance. Isometric strength values showed improvement in knee flexion on the affected side for both downhill walking and uphill walking groups, as well as in knee extension force for the uphill walking and walking with no incline groups. In flexibility, hip flexion, hip extension, and ankle dorsiflexion improved in all groups, while knee flexion and ankle plantar flexion improved only in downhill walking and walking with no incline. The duration of the modified timed up-and-go test showed significant improvements in both the downhill walking and uphill walking groups. Treadmill training performed at different inclinations improved balance, isometric strength, flexibility, and gait parameters on both the affected and less affected sides.

Rationale The effect of caffeine mouth rinsing (CAF-MR) on cognitive performance has not been thoroughly investigated. Objectives To evaluate the effects of different concentrations of CAF-MR on selective attention in relation to perceived taste intensity. Methods A total of 30 healthy and recreationally active male subjects were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Interventions included MR for 20 s at rest with three different caffeine solutions (0.24% [60 mg/25 mL], 0.6% [150 mg/25 mL], and 1.2% [300 mg/25 mL]), MR with 25 mL water (placebo), and no MR (control). Data on Victoria Stroop Test (VST) and the perceived taste intensity were recorded at five sessions. Results CAF-MR-300 mg intervention significantly decreased completion time (from 62.93 ± 19.07 to 57.01 ± 16.74 s, p = 0.002 in Part D), while CAF-MR-150 mg intervention significantly decreased number of errors in Part D (7.00 ± 6.21 vs. 5.63 ± 5.76, p = 0.04) and Part C (8.77 ± 8.80 vs. 7.10 ± 7.11, p = 0.02). Perceived difficulty was significantly decreased both after CAF-MR with 150 mg (5.57 ± 1.65 vs. 4.77 ± 1.98, p = 0.006) and 300 mg (5.95 ± 1.77vs. 4.67 ± 1.96, p < 0.001). Perceived taste intensity for 300 mg of caffeine was negatively correlated with completion time (r: ranged, 0.37 to 0.46, p ranged, 0.045 to 0.009) after 300 mg, 150 mg (p ranged, 0.04 to 0.005) and placebo (p ranged 0.044 to 0.03) interventions. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate that CAF-MR shows dose-dependent effects on selective attention in healthy recreational males, such as improved speed (for 300 mg caffeine), reduced error rate (for 150 mg caffeine) and decrease in perceived difficulty (for 150 and 300 mg caffeine).

Background: Leisure satisfaction is the degree of positive perception and emotions that an individual acquires as a result of participating in leisure time activities, and it has an important function in maintaining and increasing leisure time participation. Some studies on leisure satisfaction address the comparisons between groups. These studies are based on the premise that the measurement tool used to reveal the between-group differences measures the same feature in subgroups. Objective: In this study, we investigated whether the differences between the groups were due to the measurement tool by examining the psychometric properties of the leisure satisfaction scale. Methods: The study sample comprised 2344 exercising individuals, including 1228 (52.3%) women and 1116 (47.6%) men. The structural invariance of the leisure satisfaction scale, developed by Beard and Ragheb (Journal of Leisure Research 12:20-33, 1980) and adapted into Turkish by Gökçe and Orhan (Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 22:139–145, 2011), was tested through multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The results indicated that the structural and metric invariance conditions were fulfilled across gender, marital status, and age in all subscales of the leisure satisfaction scale. Scalar invariance was obtained in educational and social satisfaction subscales across gender and in physical satisfaction subscale across marital status. Conclusion: The study provides evidence for the future comparisons according to these three variables, indicating that the differences obtained will result from the real differences between groups rather than the measurement tool properties.

Background: Containment measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to drastic changes in daily life and effects on health behaviors such as decrease in physical activity (PA) levels. This study aims to present a general framework to researchers on COVID-19 and PA research in relation with changes in studies within years, current trend topics, gaps in the research field and possible future trends. Methods: A total of 1819 articles indexed in the WoS core collection database were analyzed according to publication year, citation, country and institution collaborations, coword, co-citation networks, concept–topic trends and topic clusters using bibliometric analysis. Results: The most productive country was the USA(n = 335), and the most productive institution was University of London in UK (n = 38). The most cited publication was the study by Ammar et al, (2020) (n = 188). In 2020, the most popular topics were PA and health meanwhile in 2021 behavior, lifestyle, social media and in 2022 habits, long COVID, sleep quality topics were in the foreground. Studies in 2023 focus on how COVID-19 affects PA habits and the associations between COVID-19-based anxiety and sleep patterns. These studies focused especially on effects of sport participation on life quality, diet, depression, mental health on young athletes, children, adolescent persons, older adult groups. Conclusions: An important gap in the study area is research on effect of changing lifestyle due to pandemic on individuals and the society during the Post COVID-19 period. If benefits of PA will not be limited to only physical benefits and psychological emotional, cognitive and social benefits are also taken into consideration, it is important that researchers conduct long-term and widescale observations.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of 10-week heart rate variability biofeedback training on basketball skills, free throws, and heart rate variability parameters. Twenty-four basketball players (experimental, n = 12 and control, n = 12) aged 18–24 years volunteered to participate in this study. The experimental group participated in a 10-week heart rate variability biofeedback and basketball training program, while the control group only participated in the 10-week basketball training session. Basketball free-throw performance, basketball skills, and heart rate variability tests were conducted on the experimental and control groups before and after the 10-week intervention. Consequently, we discovered that basketball free-throw performance, breathing frequency, and heart rate variability parameters, which reflect vagal modulation of parasympathetic activity, improved in participants who underwent the 10-week heart rate variability biofeedback and basketball training, and not in those who took basketball training only. Our findings propose that heart rate variability biofeedback, alongside basketball workouts, can contribute to better basketball free-throw performance potentially through improved autonomic nervous system functioning.

Physical activity (PA) can provide self-control in regulating individuals’ nutritional behaviors and physically active individuals tend to adopt healthier dietary habits compared to less physically active ones. There is a growing interest in the concept of mindful eating (ME) and intuitive eating (IE) in modulating healthy dietary habits. The significance of PA on IE and ME as well as the relationship between them is not clear in the literature. Thus, this study evaluated the effects of PA level on IE and ME. Using convenience sampling, a total of 423 participants, with n = 205 healthy females (M =26.00, SD =7.33 years; M =21.96, SD =3.40 kg/m−2) and n= 218 healthy males (M =25.95, SD =6.32 years; M =24.56, SD =3.41 kg/m−2), participated in this study. Participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, Intuitive Eating Scale-2, Mindful Eating Questionnaire, and Eating Attitudes Test. Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U test for two-group comparisons, as well as Kruskal–Wallis H test or one-way ANOVA for three-group comparisons, were conducted for statistical analyses, and a multiple linear regression analysis was used. However, IE and ME total scores were not significantly different among inactive, minimally active, and sufficiently active participants in both genders. According to multiple linear regression analysis, the effect of the total PA score on IE and ME was not found to be significant. The relationship between PA, IE, and ME is not visible. Thus, further studies are needed to develop effective intervention strategies in both general and clinical populations.