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Since the 1970s, National Football League (NFL) teams have hired attractive women to dance in scantily clad uniforms as a means of entertaining their heterosexual, male fans—offering a reflection of hegemonic gender ideology in the process. In recent years, a handful of these professional cheerleaders have spoken up and taken action against gender discrimination. Yet, little has changed. This study takes a feminist critical discourse analysis perspective to examining how gender ideology is (re)produced in discourse surrounding the employment roles of NFL cheerleaders, contributing to the perpetuation of gender inequality in sport. Findings demonstrate that three distinct gender ideologies are (re)produced in the discourse, competing with each other to define meanings associated with NFL cheerleading employment roles. Additionally, analysis reveals that while NFL teams have made changes to their cheerleading programs in response to feminist critiques, discourse surrounding these changes continues to (re)produce hegemonic femininity.

Purpose:To provide a descriptive analysis of the warm-up (WU) strategies employed by cross-country skiers prior to distance and sprint competitions at a national championship and to compare the skiers’ planned and executed WUs prior to the respective competitions.Methods:Twenty-one national- and international-level skiers (11 women and 10 men) submitted WU plans prior to the distance and sprint competitions, and after the competitions, reported any deviations from the plans. Skiers used personal monitors to record heart rate (HR) during WU, races, and cooldown. Quantitative statistical analyses were conducted on WU durations, durations in HR-derived intensity zones, and WU loads. Qualitative analyses were conducted on skiers’ WU plans and their reasons for deviating from the plans.Results:Skiers’ planned WUs were similar in content and planned time in HR-derived intensity zones for both the distance and sprint competitions. However, 45% of the women and 20% of the men reported that their WU was not carried out as planned, with reasons detailed as being due to incorrect intensities and running out of time. WU activities including skiing across variable terrain, muscle-potentiating exercises, and heat-maintenance strategies were missing from the skiers’ planned routines.Conclusions:Skiers favored a long, traditional WU approach for both the sprint and distance events, performing less high-intensity and more moderate-intensity exercise during their WUs than planned. In addition, elements likely relevant to successful performance in cross-country skiing were missing from WU plans.

This cultural-interpretive essay offers critical commentary on Koreanness, racial ideology, hegemonic racial power, and racialized cultural taste with the aim of interpreting the sport–music nexus by examining a case of the interface between music and sport: The authors focus on the case of the Olympic ice dance that the South Korean team performed for the Korean traditional folk song Arirang at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. The authors argue that music and sport can be understood as a semiological system that shapes non-Whites’ ideological belief system. In addition, this essay engages with a discussion of cultural classification that often racializes skaters of color as the aforementioned are informed by Orientalism.

Flikikammo is a troubling phenomenon in which athletes lose the ability to perform previously automatic backward moving gymnastics skills as a normal part of a routine. To better understand the effects of flikikammo over time, the confidence, perceived pressure, physical well-being, energy, and stress levels of gymnasts (n = 6) and cheerleaders (n = 4) were assessed weekly over 10 weeks. Half of the participants reported experiencing flikikammo at the start of the study, and half served as age, skill level, and sport-matched controls. Athletes with flikikammo indicated that pressure from coaches and higher energy levels were related to more severe flikikammo. For participants under the age of 18, higher levels of life stress positively correlated with flikikammo, but for those over 18, higher life stress was negatively correlated with flikikammo. These findings highlight the complexity of flikikammo and suggest that complex solutions may be needed to address flikikammo issues.

In this paper, I examine the place of the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan’s political history. Drawing on Canadian political econo...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of functional progressive resistance training (PRT) and high-intensity circuit training (HICT) on the mechano-morphological properties of the plantar flexor muscle-tendon unit in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Methods: Twenty-two children (12.8 [2.6] y old, Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I/II = 19/3) were randomly assigned to either a PRT group or an HICT group. The interventions consisted of functional lower limb exercises, which were performed at home 3 times per week for 8 weeks. Measurements at baseline, preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up were taken to assess ankle joint range of motion and the properties of the gastrocnemius medialis, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, and Achilles tendon (eg, thickness, strength, stiffness). Results: Despite a nonsignificant increase in active torque in the HICT group, neither gastrocnemius medialis morphology nor Achilles tendon properties were significantly altered after the interventions. Vastus lateralis thickness increased following PRT only. Conclusions: Functional home-based strength training did not lead to significant changes at the muscular level in children with cerebral palsy. We therefore assume that a more specific stimulus of higher intensity combined with a longer training duration might be necessary to evoke changes in muscles and tendons in individuals with cerebral palsy.

In 1962, the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), an arm of the Canadian federal government responsible for broadcasting, made the unprecedented move to force the national public broadcaster to televise the Grey Cup, the championship game of Canadian football, ostensibly because it was in the national interest. However, research reveals that this decision was not necessarily made because it was in the national interest, but more so to assist the new struggling private television network, CTV. The important content, allegedly linked to cultural citizenship, was not the national championship, but the television commercials. This paper explores why the BBG intervened and how the dispute was settled.

Even though goal-directed self-talk is a key element in self-regulated learning, providing instruction and giving feedback during technical skill acquisition, few studies have explored the specific functions with which it might enhance learning and improve performance. Therefore, immediately after a training session, 32 novice Ultimate Frisbee players (Mage = 22.88,SD = 9.71) were asked to report as many self-instructions as they remembered using before task execution, after unsuccessful throws, and after successful throws. A hierarchical content analysis indicated that players used mainly instructional self-talk in all situations. However, instructional self-talk was aimed at technical aspects before their throws; at negative reinforcement, error detection, and technical adjustment after unsuccessful throws; and at positive reinforcement and technical transference after successful throws. Other functions of self-talk were confidence-enhancement and goal-promotion. Overall, we discussed that goal-directed self-talk is a relevant self-regulated learning strategy employed by novice Ultimate Frisbee players when acquiring technical skills.

High intensity functional training (HIFT) emphasizes constantly varied, high intensity, functional activity by programming strength and conditioning exercises, gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and specialty movements. Conversely, traditional circuit training (TCT) programs aim to improve muscular fitness by utilizing the progressive overload principle, similar movements weekly, and specified work-to-rest ratios. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if differences exist in health and performance measures in women participating in HIFT or TCT after a six-week training program. Recreationally active women were randomly assigned to a HIFT (n = 8, age 26.0 + 7.3 yrs) or TCT (n = 11, age 26.3 + 9.6 yrs) group. Participants trained three days a week for six weeks with certified trainers. Investigators examined body composition (BC), aerobic and anaerobic capacity, muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, power, and agility. Repeated-measures ANOVA were used for statistical analyses with an alpha level of 0.05. Both groups increased body mass (p = .011), and improved muscular endurance (p < .000), upper body strength (p = .007), lower body power (p = .029) and agility (p = .003). In addition, the HIFT group decreased body fat (BF) %, while the TCT group increased BF% (p = .011). No changes were observed in aerobic or anaerobic capacity, flexibility, upper body power, or lower body stair climbing power. Newer, high intensity functional exercise programs such as HIFT may have better results on BC and similar effects when compared with TCT programs on health and fitness variables such as musculoskeletal strength and performance.

Feminist sociologists of sport have critiqued cheerleading for perpetuating gendered divisions of labor and dismissing women’s athleticism. However, no research has centered the experiences of black college cheerleaders or cheerleaders with formal feminist education. Through ethnography and interviews with cheerleaders who attend a historically black college (HBCU) for women, this research reveals how race, class, gender, and ideological perspective mutually inform the HBCU cheerleading style and how cheerleaders interpret their own performances. Squad members deploy womanist language, adopt a sexual politics of respectability off the court, and emphasize the cultural constraint of choreography to negotiate a perceived contradiction between being upwardly mobile black college women and participating in sexualized extracurricular athletics. This intersectional analysis makes visible limits to the liberal feminist ideal of individual empowerment for women in sport and the importance of institutional context in race and gender theory.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate high school coaches’ knowledge in sports nutrition and the nutritional practices they recommend to their athletes. Forty-seven high school coaches in “leanness” and “non-leanness” sports from the greater region of Quebec (women = 44.7%) completed a questionnaire on nutritional knowledge and practices. “Leanness sports” were defined as sports where leanness or/and low bodyweight were considered important (e.g., cheerleading, swimming and gymnastics), and “non-leanness sports” were defined as sports where these factors are less important (e.g., football). Participants obtained a total mean score of 68.4% for the nutrition knowledge part of the questionnaire. More specifically, less than 30% of the coaches could answer correctly some general nutrition questions regarding carbohydrates and lipids. No significant difference in nutrition knowledge was observed between coaches from “leanness” and “non-leanness” sports or between men and women. Respondents with a university education scored higher than the others (73.3% vs. 63.3%, p < .05). Coaches who participated in coaching certification also obtained better results than those without a coaching certification. The most popular source of information about nutrition used by coaches was the Internet at 55%. The two most popular nutrition practices that coaches recommended to improve athlete performance were hydration and consumption of protein-rich foods. Recommendation for nutritional supplements use was extremely rare and was suggested only by football coaches, a nonleanness sport. Findings from this study indicate that coaches need sports nutrition education and specific training.

Purpose:To describe the internal training load (ITL) of common training sessions performed during a typical week and to determine the relationships between different indicators of ITL commonly employed in professional football (soccer).Methods:Session-rating-of-perceived-exertion TL (sRPE-TL) and heart-rate- (HR) derived measurements of ITL as Edwards TL and Stagno training impulses (TRIMPMOD) were used in 9 players during 3 periods of the season. The relationships between them were analyzed in different training sessions during a typical week: skill drills/circuit training + small-sided games (SCT+SSGs), ball-possession games + technical-tactical exercises (BPG+TTE), tactical training (TT), and prematch activation (PMa).Results:HR values obtained during SCT+SSGs and BPG+TTE were substantially greater than those in the other 2 sessions, all the ITL markers and session duration were substantially greater in SCT+SSGs than in any other session, and all ITL measures in BPG+TTE were substantially greater than in TT and PMa sessions. Large relationships were found between HR >80% HRmax and HR >90% HRmax vs sRPE-TL during BPG+TTE and TT sessions (r = .61−.68). Very large relationships were found between Edwards TL and sRPE-TL and between TRIMPMOD and sRPE-TL in sessions with BPG+TTE and TT (r = .73−.87). Correlations between the different HR-based methods were always extremely large (r = .92−.98), and unclear correlations were observed for other relationships between variables.Conclusion:sRPE-TL provided variable-magnitude within-individual correlations with HR-derived measures of training intensity and load during different types of training sessions typically performed during a week in professional soccer. Caution should be applied when using RPE- or HR-derived measures of exercise intensity/load in soccer training interchangeably.

Dominant analyses of sporting subjectivities suggest the contemporary athletic subject embodies a win-at-all-costs instrumental rationality. Yet, as Carless and Douglas (2012) argue, athletes are able to find less problematic alternatives to this understanding of sport. In this article, I use Foucault’s concept of “practices of the self” to undertake a sociological analysis of ethical subjectivities within Ultimate Frisbee. I focus specifically on ascetic, or self-controlling, practices of the self through which players create relationships between their self, Ultimate’s moral code and others. I use this case study to argue that ethical subjectivities offer a productive perspective for sociology of sport.

Without exception, all professional sport teams in North America use social media to communicate with fans. Sport communication professionals use Twitter as one of the strategic tools of engagement, yet there remains a lack of understanding about how users are motivated and gratified in their Twitter use. Drawing on a specific sample from the Twitter followers of the Canadian Football League, the researchers used semistructured in-depth interviews, content analysis, and an online survey to seek an understanding of what motivates and satisfies Twitter followers of professional sport teams, measured through the gratifications sought and the fulfillment of these motives through the perceived gratifications obtained. The results add to the sport communications literature by finding 4 primary gratifications sought by Twitter users: interaction, promotion, live game updates, and news. Professional sport teams can improve strategic fan engagement by better understanding how Twitter followers use and seek gratification in the social-media experience.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a 12-wk functional circuit-training program (FCT) could alter markers of physical frailty in a group of frail community-dwelling adults. Fifty-one individuals (31 women, 20 men), mean age (± SD) 84 (± 2.9) yr, met frailty criteria and were randomly assigned into groups (FCT = 26, control group [CG] = 25). FCT underwent a 12-wk exercise program. CG met once a week for health education meetings. Measures of physical frailty, function, strength, balance, and gait speed were assessed at Weeks 0, 12, and 36. Physical-frailty measures in FCT showed significant (p < .05) improvements relative to those in CG (Barthel Index at Weeks 0 and 36: 73.41 (± 2.35) and 77.0 (± 2.38) for the FCT and 70.79 (± 2.53) and 66.73 (± 2.73) for the CG. These data indicate that an FCT program is effective in improving measures of function and reducing physical frailty among frail older adults.

In the past 38 years since the passage of Title IX legislation girls' sports participation has grown to more than 3 million participants per year at the high school level (National Federation of State High School Associations) but questions remain. * How much progress has been made, and what additional progress needs to be made? * What expertise needs to be provided to female athletes to support their sport experience? * How can this audience be effectively reached? A 2006 Girl Scouts of the USA report, The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living addressed issues facing girls today regarding obesity and active living. The report cited CDC statistics reporting that since 1980 obesity rates have tripled for children ages 6-11 and doubled for children ages 12-19. Today approximately 9 million children over the age of six are obese. Over the past 25 years the percentage of overweight girls has more than doubled with low income and minority girls at highest risk. Effects of childhood obesity are multi-fold: * Increased risk of becoming overweight adults * Increased chance of diseases such as Type II diabetes, hypertension, cancer, cholesterol abnormalities, and orthopedic problems * Increased chance of psychological problems including depression * Increased feelings of stigmatization including teasing and low self-esteem An active child is more likely to be more fit, but girls in 1972 were far behind boys in participation in sports. Title IX is education legislation passed that year which provided protection for equity in educational opportunities including sport. The language of Title IX states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program receiving Federal financial assistance. When Title IX was passed, just under 300,000 girls participated in high school sports; today more than 3 million girls participate (NFHS). Most popular sports for girls in the US in 2008-09 were Track & Field (Outdoor), Basketball, Volleyball and Softball (Fast Pitch) followed by Soccer, Cross Country, Tennis and Swimming & Diving. Competitive Spirit Squad was the tenth most popular sport. Competitive Spirit Squads are included as a sport listing by NFHS. There is a distinction between Competitive Spirit Squads and Cheerleading that is important to note: a Competitive Spirit Squad would have a trained coach, regularly scheduled practices, and a competition schedule in which there is scoring. A cheer squad that simply serves as sideline pep squad is not a Competitive Cheer Squad. (NOTE: A July 21, 2010 ruling by U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill established that competitive cheer is NOT an official sport that schools can use to meet gender equity requirements. The complaint was filed in Connecticut against Quinnipiac University in Case 3:09-cv-00621-SRU.) According to NFHS's 2008-09 Participation Report, North Carolina was 13th in the country in girls' sports participation with just under 80,000 participants reported. Sports ranked in order of popularity in the state are Competitive Spirit Squad, Track & Field (Outdoor), Softball (Fast Pitch), Volleyball, Basketball and Swimming & Diving followed by Cross Country, Tennis, Soccer and Indoor Track & Field. Despite the significant increase in participation numbers overall, understanding of Title IX and its impact is still unclear. No institution has lost federal funding due to Title IX violations although lawsuits and complaints have been filed. Critics of Title IX claim that the law forces men's boys' sports to be cut. In today's tough economic climate, many schools are being forced to evaluate which sport programs they offer, and understanding of Title IX is critical in that process. According to information retrieved from Women's Sports Foundation (WSF), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported in 2003-04 that girls comprised about 49% of the high school population. …

College cheerleaders (73 females and 51 males) participated in the current study on eating disorders and weight-related concerns within cheerleading. The participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), and CHEER, a measure of weight-related stressors within cheerleading. Significant gender differences were identified through a one-way MANOVA with these measures. As expected, female cheerleaders reported more weight-related concerns and had higher scores on SPAS, EDI Drive for Thinness and Body Dissatisfaction than did male cheerleaders. Both males and females reported weight-related concerns, although the actual stressors were different. Based upon these data, we suggest that males, as well as females, face unique pressures in cheerleading related to body weight.

The impact of participation in recreational activities on perceptions of the physical and social selves of individuals with physical disabilities was explored. Eleven women (ages 19 to 54) and 12 men (ages 20 to 36) participated in individualized recreational programs including horseback riding, swimming, fitness, weightlifting, racquetball, bowling, tennis, fishing, walking, and tai chi. Tape-recorded interviews were conducted with these individuals following participation. Content analyses of the interview responses indicated that participation impacted four aspects of the physical self: (a) experiencing the body in new ways, (b) enhancing perceptions of physical attributes, (c) redefining physical capabilities, and (d) increasing perceived confidence to pursue new physical activities. Modifications in respondents’ perceptions of the social self were reflected in two themes: (a) expanding social interactions and experiences, and (b) initiating social activities in other contexts. The gains discussed by respondents suggest that individuals developed an enhanced sense of control in both their physical and social lives.

Hypnotic susceptibility and prior experience were investigated as correlates of flowlike states during exercise. Heart rate was also examined as a potential correlate of flow. Circuit trainers (N = 96) completed a 10-item flow questionnaire and recorded their heart rates as they moved between exercise stations. Results indicated that self-reports of flowlike states increased from early to late in the exercise sessions, but that the magnitude of change was greater for participants high in hypnotic susceptibility than for those low in hypnotic susceptibility. Prior experience was also significantly related to flow ratings, with participants having more than 6 months of prior experience providing higher ratings than those with less than 6 months of prior experience. No significant relationship was observed between exercise heart rate and self-reports of flow. The findings are discussed in relation to the model of flow proposed by Kimiecik and Stein (1992).

Seventy-three college female and 84 high school female cheerleaders participated in the current study on eating disorders and pressures within cheerleading. The participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), and CHEER, a measure developed by the authors to identify pressures within cheerleading. A one-way MANOVA indicated significant differences between high school and college cheerleaders on CHEER and SPAS. Correlational analyses revealed a strong relation between SPAS, body dissatisfaction scores, and eating behavior, suggesting that body image is an important predictor for eating disorders in cheerleaders. Moreover, although high school cheerleaders reported fewer pressures than their college counterparts, they exhibited greater body dissatisfaction and disordered eating patterns.

Despite the advocacy of a confidence-enhancing function of mental imagery, the relationship between confidence and imagery has received little attention from sport researchers. The primary purpose of the present study was to identify the specific image content of confident athletes. Fifty-seven elite competitive rollerskaters completed the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R), the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), and the State Sport Confidence Inventory (SSCI). Results revealed that high sport-confident athletes used more mastery and arousal imagery, and had better kinesthetic and visual imagery ability than low sport-confident athletes did. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that mastery imagery accounted for the majority of variance in SSCI scores (20%). The results of this study suggest that when it comes to sport confidence, the imaged rehearsal of specific sport skills may not be as important as the imagery of sport-related mastery experiences and emotions.

Little information is available on the safety of supervised exercise programs for children. This retrospective case review describes the experience over 5 years in a private, outpatient, physician-directed therapeutic exercise program. Observations were made on a total of 47 patients referred by their physicians or parents for exercise programs for diseases, including obesity (26), cystic fibrosis (10), cardiac disease (3), asthma (3), and others (5). Patients performed circuit training with an exposure that consisted of 2,646 total sessions (56.3 ± 63.3 sessions/patient), equivalent to 1,507.9 hours (32.1 ± 35.5 hr/patient) of exercise time. There were three minor accidents (1.9/1,000 patient hours). Physical examination by the attending physician was negative in all three cases: No treatment was indicated, and no patient missed any training time due to these incidents. No significant injuries or cardiorespiratory complications were observed in this exercise program.

The present study answered Lirgg's (1991) call for confidence studies employing a feminine-typed task by assessing self-confidence and gender appropriateness in college cheerleading. Questionnaires assessing self-confidence and the gender appropriateness of cheerleading and its five subtasks (cheers and motions, partner stunts, jumps, tumbling, and cheerleading dance) were administered to college cheerleaders and to noncheerleader college undergraduates. It was hypothesized that females would possess more self-confidence in their ability at cheerleading and its various subtasks than would males, and that cheerleaders would rate their sport as less gender-stereotyped than would noncheerleaders. MANOVA results supported these hypotheses. On only two subtasks, partner stunts and tumbling, males possessed as much confidence as females did. Females reported more self-confidence on cheerleading and all other subtasks. Furthermore, cheerleaders of both sexes were aware of the stereotypes held by others, but viewed cheerleading and the tasks within it as more gender neutral than did noncheerleaders.

Wheelchair racquetball players in the A and B divisions of the 1989 Canadian Racquetball Championships were videotaped and their performances were analyzed. The results indicated that the athletes had an exercise-to-pause ratio of 1:1.5 at the A level and 1:2.3 at the B level. Rallies were slightly longer at the higher level, with substantially longer pause periods at the B level. There was a higher percentage of longer rallies at the A level, although both divisions of play had comparable percentages of forehand and backhand shots. A-level players demonstrated greater distances covered per rally, greater wheelchair speed, and a higher degree of wheelchair maneuverability measured by the number and magnitude of directional changes. In particular, A-level players showed a greater tendency to use small directional corrections, particularly turns to the right of less than 45 °. It is suggested that this action allowed a less restricted backswing for powerful forehand shots.

In the past few years there has been a change from emphasizing the classical cross-country ski technique to introducing the skating technique. Use of the skating stride has led to the adoption of roller skates instead of the ratchet-type roller skis for dryland training. Therefore the question arises as to whether the roller skates simulate the movement pattern observed on snow. This study attempted to answer this question and to evaluate the movement similarity between a newly designed skating-specific roller ski and snow skis in performing the skating stride. The marathon skate was chosen for analysis as it was the most established and consistent skating stride. Biomechanical cinematography was used to acquire a sagittal and anterior view of the skiers. Temporal and angular kinematic data were collected. Both dryland devices approximated the snow skiing pattern, yet it was found that due to the discrepancies in the propulsion phase between the roller skates and the snow skis, the “Nordic Skate” roller skis proved to more closely simulate the on-snow technique.

The major purpose of this study was to determine the importance of being able to assign ability to self in interpreting outcomes as success or failure in a sport context. The relationship between self-assessments of demonstrated ability and subjective perception of success and failure was investigated for both males and females. This study also entailed a preliminary examination of the variables that lead to perceptions of ability in sport among males and females. A field study was conducted with men and women racquetball players. Prior to a two-person racquetball game, subjects were given a questionnaire assessing their own and opponent's perceived ability, self-confidence, reasons for enrolling in racquetball class, and the importance placed on winning. Immediately after the contest a second questionnaire was administered which tapped perceived satisfaction in the game (subjective success and failure), perceptions of own and opponent's demonstrated ability, and the causal attributions of winners and losers. Regression analyses revealed that perception of demonstrated ability was significantly related to perceptions of success and failure for both men and women. Results indicated, however, that men and women used different information variables to determine whether ability had been displayed.

The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the relationship between exercise, massage, and positive mood enhancement. Subjects were students in physical education classes including swimming, jogging, tennis, and racquetball, with each separate activity comprising a level of the primary independent treatment variable. In addition, subjects from other classes made up a control rest condition and a massage treatment condition resulting in a one-way design. All subjects completed the profile of mood states, state anxiety, and an activation checklist just prior to and immediately after 30 minutes of activity. Instructors in the classes agreed not to schedule any competitions between students but rather just let them play or exercise. Subjects in the control rest condition read or rested for 30 minutes, while in the massage treatment condition a certified massage therapist gave a 30-min Swedish massage. Results indicated that the running and massage conditions consistently produced positive mood enhancement with significant decreases in tension, confusion, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and anger while maintaining high levels of vigor, which is representative of positive mental health. None of the other experimental activity conditions significantly influenced the dependent variables. Practical applications of the use of massage both before and after competition and exercise are discussed, and future directions for research are offered.

Previous research in the attributional analysis of individuals involved in athletic settings has typically used objective outcome as the primary determinant of causal attributions. Recent theorizing has suggested that objective outcome may not be the most adequate way of defining success and failure. Rather, success and failure may be more aptly described in terms of an individual's subjective perception of the implications of outcome for desirable personal qualities, especially ability. A field study was conducted to assess the effects of perceived outcome on the causal attributions of racquetball players. Prior to participating in a competitive two-person racquetball game, individuals indicated their expectancy of success against their opponent. Following the game, individuals rated their performance satisfaction, own competency, their opponent's competency, as well as rating the extent to which the outcome was due to internal or external factors. The results showed that the clearly perceived outcomes were attributed internally, while the ambiguous outcomes were attributed externally. The finding suggests that objective outcome may not be the best determinant of success and failure causal attributions.