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Assessing the intensity characteristics of specific soccer drills (matches, small-side game, and match-based exercises) could help practitioners to plan training sessions by providing the optimal stimulus for every player. In this paper, we propose a data analytics framework to assess the neuromuscular or metabolic characteristics of a soccer-specific exercise in relation with the expected match intensity. GPS data describing the physical tasks' external intensity during an entire season of twenty-eight semi-professional soccer players competing at the fourth Italian division were used in this study. A supervised machine-learning approach was tested in order to detect difference in playing positions in different sport-specific drills. Moreover, a non-supervised machine-learning model was used to profile the match neuromuscular and metabolic characteristics. Players' playing positions during matches and match-based exercises are characterised by specific metabolic and neuromuscular characteristics related to tactical demands, while in the small-side game these differences are not detected. Additionally, our framework permits to evaluate if the match performance request is mirrored during training drills. Practitioners could evaluate the type of stimulus performed by a player in a specific training drill in order to assess if they reflect the matches characteristics of their specific playing position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in running shoe technology over the last 5 years have sparked controversy in athletics as linked with clear running economy and performance enhancements. Early debates mainly surrounded 'super shoes' in long-distance running, but more recently, the controversy has filtered through to sprint and middle-distance running with the emergence of 'super spikes'. This Current Concepts paper provides a brief overview on the controversial topic of super shoes and super spikes. The defining features of technologically advanced shoes are a stiff plate embedded within the midsole, curved plate and midsole geometry, and lightweight, resilient, high-energy returning foam that – in combination – enhance running performance. Since the launch of the first commercially available super shoe, all world records from the 5 km to the marathon have been broken by athletes wearing super shoes or super spikes, with a similar trend observed in middle-distance running. The improvements in super shoes are around 4% for running economy and 2% for performance, and speculatively around 1% to 1.5% for super spikes. These enhancements are believed multifactorial in nature and difficult to parse, although involve longitudinal bending stiffness, the 'teeter-totter effect', the high-energy return properties of the midsole material, enhanced stack height and lightweight characteristic of shoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athletes' energy distribution over a race (e.g. pacing behaviour) varies across different sports. Swimming is a head-to-head sport with unique characteristics, such as propulsion through water, a multitude of swimming stroke types and lane-based racing. The aim of this paper was to review the existing literature on pacing behaviour in swimming. According to PRISMA guidelines, 279 articles were extracted using the PubMed and Web of Science databases. After the exclusion process was conducted, 16 studies remained. The findings of these studies indicate that pacing behaviour is influenced by the race distance and stroke type. Pacing behaviours in swimming and time-trial sports share numerous common characteristics. This commonality can most likely be attributed to the lane-based racing set-up. The low efficiency of swimming resulting from propulsion through the water induces a rapid accumulation of blood lactate, prompting a change in swimmers' biomechanical characteristics, with the goal of minimising changes in velocity throughout the race. Although the literature on youth swimmers is scarce, youth swimmers demonstrate more variable pacing profiles and have more difficulty in selecting the most beneficial energy distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkour landing techniques differ from performances of other sports as they are practiced in urban spaces with uncontrolled surfaces and drop heights. Due to the relatively young age of the sport, few studies have tried to understand how practitioners - called traceurs - succeed at performing these dynamic performances. In this paper, we focus on the precision landing technique, which has a fundamental role in most of the Parkour motions. We analyzed the lower limbs motion of traceurs executing the precision landings from two different heights and compared their performance with untrained participants. We found that traceurs perform a soft landing extending its duration twice than untrained participants do , increasing the range of motion and generating more mechanical energy to dissipate the impact. In the Parkour technique, the knee accounted for half of the energy dissipated. The peak joint torques and power were reduced in the Parkour technique. The increase of the landing height did not modify the proportion of individual joint mechanical energy contribution for dissipation. Our results could be used to enhance Parkour performance, and to understand new ways in which sport practitioners can land in order to prevent injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]