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A free throw in basketball will have every eye glued to one person. It's an intensely stressful situation. A research team led by the University of Basel studied whether a friendly tap on the shoulder increases the odds of making a shot. In difficult situations, physical touch like a hug or a pat on the back can reduce stress.

Physical activity is good for young people with volatile temperaments or living in dysfunctional families - but only under certain conditions, UdeM researchers find. A new study has found that high levels of physical activity in early adolescence can reduce depressive symptoms in young people who have difficult temperaments, come from low-income families or are exposed to family dysfunction.

Waterloo researchers get an assist from AI in identifying hockey players with greater accuracy and speed Researchers from the University of Waterloo got a valuable assist from artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help capture and analyze data from professional hockey games faster and more accurately than ever before, with big implications for the business of sports.

Researcher Marine Carpentier (Laboratoire de physiologie cardio-respiratoire à l'effort) tackles a blind spot in motor science research: the influence of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception on sports performance. On this International Women's Rights Day, she shares her findings, initial hypotheses and research prospects with us .

Researchers from the Universitat de València and the Catholic University of Valencia have demonstrated a change of mentality towards gender stereotypes in sport in young men.

Yes, they can, says Mathieu Cournoyer, a master's student in human kinetics who's done a review of 19 studies on the topic. Did you know that the scent of peppermint can make you run faster? That a whiff of ammonia will make you do a few more push-ups than usual? Or that the fragrance of jasmine can improve your bowling score? Those and other findings were made by Mathieu Cournoyer, a master's student in UdeM's School of Kinesiology and Human Kinetics, who reviewed 19 studies on the effect of olfactory stimulation on physical activity.

School uniform policies could be restricting young people from being active, particularly primary school-aged girls, new research suggests. Social norms and expectations tend to influence what they feel they can do in these clothes. Unfortunately, when it comes to promoting physical health, that's a problem Esther van Sluijs The University of Cambridge study used data about the physical activity participation of more than a million five-to-17-year-olds internationally.

On January 8, professor and cardiologist Hareld Kemps will hold his oration within the Department of Industrial Design. To improve supervision of patients with chronic heart failure, Hareld Kemps, a cardiologist specializing in sports, took inspiration from the professional soccer players and cyclists that come see him.

First longitudinal study following Australian children's sports participation and academic outcomes As school and summer sports resume, a new study from the University of Sydney finds links between kids' long-term participation in sport and increased academic performance, including impacts on NAPLAN scores, absenteeism and likelihood to attend university.

Study reveals longer term impact of sport-related brain injuries Almost half of people who suffer a sports-related traumatic brain injury are still experiencing physical symptoms after six months, according to new research Almost half of people who suffer a sports-related traumatic brain injury are still experiencing physical symptoms after six months, according to new research.

Good news for anyone who wants to quit smoking in the new year: In a recently published study, Innsbruck scientists show that ten-minute brisk walking sessions reduce the cravings of temporarily abstinent smokers and improve their overall well-being. The study is the first to compare the effect of indoor and outdoor activity on smoking cessation.

Cruciate ligament injuries are among the most common injuries in sport. Researchers from the ZHAW and ZHdK have developed the ExerUp game in collaboration with a practice partner to help people return to their previous level of activity in addition to physiotherapy . A movement-based game is designed to support injured athletes after a cruciate ligament injury as part of physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

Brain scans of former NFL players show lasting impact of collision sports New research from Johns Hopkins Medicine adds to a growing stack of evidence that collision sports including football, soccer, and boxing may lead to dementia and other forms of cognitive disorders Kristen Crocker / Published Nov 29, 2023 In a new study using brain scans of former NFL athletes, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found high levels of a repair protein present long after a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion takes place.

Many young people struggle with somber feelings, stress or anxiety symptoms. In a large-scale study, with support from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) and in the context of Red Noses Day (now "Jez!"), KU Leuven investigated whether mindfulness at school could help. For eight weeks, several class groups in eleven Flemish secondary schools followed mindfulness training.

GyroTrainer with artificial intelligence Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in cooperation with partner companies have developed a device to provide back muscle training adapted to users' individual fitness levels. With the GyroTrainer, back strengthening exercises are adapted to the strength and ability of the individual user.

Researchers from the Universities of Innsbruck and Waterloo have studied the environmental impact of artificial snowmaking and its effect on the sustainability of ski tourism with Canada as an example. High water and energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions are a burden on the environmental balance sheet; energy from renewable sources can make winter sports considerably more sustainable.

Left-handedness is not linked to better spatial skills, despite some previous evidence of a performance gap, according to a large international study led by UCL and University of York researchers. The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , also sheds light on how left-handedness varies by country, with the highest rates in the Netherlands and lowest in China.

Simon Fraser researchers are learning more about how the scenarios for head impacts in hockey-from player clashes to contact with the boards or glass-affect impact severity. Their findings, reported in the journal Scientific Reports , should help to inform improvements in injury prevention. In a follow-up to their previous study on how hockey head impacts occur, researchers returned to a Burnaby rink to follow 43 university men's hockey players over another three seasons (2016-2019).

Ciara Burns crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat - and collected scientific data about her own body under stress. Now the scientific analysis of the results has been published. Ciara Burns spent 42 days rowing across the Atlantic in 2021 as part of a team of twelve. Clearly, whoever ventures on such an adventure has to go to the extreme limits both physically and mentally.

Two studies by computer scientists at the University of Bath make a case for using deepfakes in training videos. Published on Thursday 5 October 2023 Last updated on Thursday 5 October 2023 Watching a training video featuring a deepfake version of yourself, as opposed to a clip featuring somebody else, makes learning faster, easier and more fun, according to new research led by the REVEAL research centre at the University of Bath.