[Effect of mental imagery on performance elite athletes' in youth and adult age groups: a randomized trial]

Athletes are usually skilled in physical aspects of sports; they are widely involved in physical conditioning, technical and tactical training. However they usually ignore the psychological and cognitive skills linked to their performance. Sport imagery is a well known fundamental skill that has a critical role in how a player performs and shows his/her competency during a real world game. On the other hand football as a complex team sport includes several skills linked to physical and psychological properties. We aimed to study the effect of cognitive imagery on elite football players through league competitions in two separate studies. Twenty two youth players and Twenty two adult players randomly assigned to imagery and control groups. Players in intervention group received 12 weeks training program for specific cognitive imagery and general cognitive imagery. Imagery training program focused on an important component of football performance as "successful passing". Players in control group were assigned to a waiting list with no intervention. In order to evaluate outcome variable we assessed successful passing in real competetions as player performance in both pre and post test occasions. Findings of study in youth participants showed that young players in intervention group improved the performance of passing compared to control players [OR=1.41, P<0.000, CI 95%: 1.17, 1.69]. In contrary, Imagery performance in adult group remained unchanged in spite of an increasing trend in performance [OR=1.07, P>0.05, CI 95%: 0.82, 1.4]. These results showed that cognitive imagery intervention can affect elite soccer players' performance. This effect is more prominent in youth age football players.

Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity of the autism treatment evaluation checklist in Persian

The objectives of the current study were to translate and adapt Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist [ATEC] into Persian language and to investigate its reliability and validity in an Iranian autistic sample. A total sample of 134 children with autism spectrum disorders aged 6-15 years were assigned to the study. The process of cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to international methodological steps as following: translation, back-translation, revision by an expert committee and pretest. A sample of 20 primary caregivers of autistic children were pretested. The content validity of the ATEC was reviewed by the expert committee all through the stages. The construct quality of the questionnaire was evaluated by comparison of the adapted version of the instrument with similar tests assessed similar factors. Moreover, the reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated through stability and homogeneity assessments. The results showed good content validity and internal consistency [Cronbach's alpha: 0.86-0.93]. In relation to construct validity, there was significant correlation between ATEC subscales and raw data obtained from Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised [ADI-R] [r=0.38-0.79]. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for the test-retest reliability was excellent for all the subscales and also for total scores [ICC: 0.79 -0.93]. Cross-cultural adaptation of ATEC was successful. The psychometric properties were verified and indicated that the adapted questionnaire is valid and reliable to use in Iranian culture

effect of an ecological imagery program on soccer performance of elite players

Despite the acknowledged impact of imagery on performance, ecologically sound studies investigating imagery and its effects on performance subcomponents in real games are surprisingly limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of imagery training on passing improvement in elite soccer players. Sixty nine soccer players taking part in the national championship leagues in four age categories including U16, U19, U21 and over 21 randomly assigned to the imagery and control groups. Interventional group participants completed 8 weeks, video-aided, cognitive imagery program on how to make a perfect soccer pass. Performance analysis through close video analysis showed that successful pass rate increased significantly in intervention group compared to control [OR=1.19, P=0.002, [95%]CI=1.06, 1.33]. Further analysis revealed that the results are statistically significant in U16 and U21 but not other categories. We concluded that successful soccer passing through real competitions as a multidimensional and critical open skill could be enhanced by an ecologically sound method of mental imagery

Anger in adolescent boy athletes: a comparison among judo, karate, swimming and non athletes

Karate and judo are originally Japanese martial arts which may have different influences on adolescents' behavior. This study was conducted to examine the total anger rate and its subscale-reactive anger, instrumental anger, and anger control-rates in young karateka and judoka. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 11 to 19-year old boys. Adolescents included in the study were judoka [n=70], karateka [n=66], swimmers [n=59], and non athletes [n=96]. One stage cluster sampling method was used to select judoka, karateka, and swimmers from sport clubs in Tehran. Students of governmental schools at the same area were chosen as the non-athletes group. The "Adolescent Anger Rating Scale" questionnaire was utilized to assess the anger rate. The mean age of participants was 12.90[ +/- 2.06] years. The total anger rates were 45.40 [ +/- 5.61] in judoka, 41.53[ +/- 5.63] in karateka, 41.19[ +/- 5.33] in swimmers, and 45.44 [ +/- 8.58] in non athletes. In total anger scale karateka and swimmers had a significantly lower score compared to judoka and non athletes. In instrumental anger subscale the difference was significant just between karateka and non athletes. In reactive anger subscale judoka showed higher scores than swimmers. In anger control subscale the difference was significant between judoka and swimmers and also judoka and karateka. The difference of anger control between karateka and non athletes was significant. The findings of this study propose a difference in the anger rate between judoka and karateka. In contrary to the results of previous studies, judo training may have no influence on anger control, while karate training could be beneficial

Effect of Ramadan fasting on body composition and physical performance in female athletes

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Ramadan fasting on body composition, calorie intake and physical performance in young female athletes undertaking training sessions during Ramadan. Twelve voluntary female athletes [15-27 years old] were assigned to the research. A prospective study was conducted to investigate the athletes on four different occasions: one week before Ramadan [T1], the second [T2] and fourth [T3] weeks of Ramadan, and two weeks after the end of Ramadan [T4]. Food intake, body composition and physical performance [agility, balance and explosive leg power] were investigated on each occasion. Further, Physical performance was assessed by agility, vertical jump and balance tests. There was a significant main effect for time for body composition indices. A significant decrease was observed in weight [P=0.01] and body mass index [BMI] [P=0.01] in T2 compared with T1, further decrease in weight [P<0.001] and BMI [P<0.001] was observed in T3 compared to T1. Calorie intake decreased significantly in T3 compared with T1 [P=0.008], and increased significantly in T4 compared with T3 [P=0.04]. There was a significant main effect for time for agility performance [P=0.03], but no significant main effect for time was observed for vertical jumping [P=0.1] and balance performance [P=0.3]. This study has found that Ramadan fasting could affect the body composition, but not physical performance in female athletes during Ramadan

Investigating two different training time frames during Ramadan fasting

Muslim athletes may continue training and competing while they are fasting. There is a concern about negative effects of fasting on sports performance. This study aimed to investigate the influence of two training time frames on athletes' body composition and performance during Ramadan fasting. An observational study was conducted and thirty four male volunteer athletes from different sports including volleyball, karate, taekwondo and football were assigned in two groups. The first group included 14 elite athletes who during Ramadan voluntarily participated in training sessions at 1 hour before Iftar [BI] and the second group of 20 elite athletes who during Ramadan participated in training sessions at 3 hours after Iftar [AI]. Testing was performed one week before; in the first and fourth weeks of Ramadan and one week after Ramadan. Weights, heights and skinfold thickness were assessed at each time point and body mass index was calculated. Each player was assessed for agility and explosive strength as well. The mean weight and body mass index of both groups decreased significantly during Ramadan [P<0.001]. Performance variables were not negatively affected by fasting in BI or AI group athletes. Weight reduction might come with either BI or AI training schedules in Ramadan. Daytime or evening training did not inversely affect the agility and power performances in a group of elite athletes during Ramadan fasting