Application of Stress Coping Ability as a Conduit between Goal Orientation and Play Effectiveness among Polish Soccer Players.

BACKGROUND: Athletes should be distinguished by their capacity to deal with stress effectively. Motivated soccer players will employ stress-coping strategies that are linked to their ability to perform at a high level. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between a player's specific goal orientation, coping in sports, and the effectiveness of play during competition. METHODS: The study enrolled 122 male elite soccer players at the championship level who were between the ages of 16 and 19. All participants completed the Polish version of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Polish version of the Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport Questionnaire, the CISS questionnaire, and Szwarc's observation sheet for evaluating soccer performance. RESULTS: The results showed that the task-based stress-coping mode partially mediated the relationship between task motivation and the observed effectiveness of players in soccer. CONCLUSION: From an applied perspective, the data on the relationship between selected mental factors and soccer performance point to a possible direction of work for players aspiring to the highest level of performance.

The Effect of Exercise on the Skin Content of the Reduced Form of NAD and Its Response to Transient Ischemia and Reperfusion in Highly Trained Athletes.

Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is synthesized in the cellular nucleus, cytoplasm and mitochondria but oxidized into NAD+ almost exclusively in mitochondria. Activation of human skin by the 340 nm ultraviolet light triggers natural fluorescence at the light length of 460 nm, which intensity is proportional to the skin NADH content. This phenomenon is used by the Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) which measures changes in the skin NADH content during transient ischemia and reperfusion. We examined the effects of exercise to exhaustion on the skin changes of NADH in response to 200 s forearm ischemia and reperfusion in 121 highly trained athletes (94 men and 27 women, long-distance running, triathlon, taekwondo, rowing, futsal, sprint running, fencing, and tennis). We found that exercise until exhaustion changes the skin content of NADH, modifies NADH turnover at rest, during ischemia and reperfusion in the most superficial living skin cells. Compared to the pre-exercise, there were significant increases in: mean fluorescence recorded during rest as the baseline value (B mean) (p < 0.001), the maximal fluorescence that increased above the baseline during controlled forearm ischemia (FImax) (p < 0.001, only in men), the minimal fluorescence after decreasing below the baseline during reperfusion (FRmin) (p < 0.001 men; p < 0.01 women) and the difference between B mean and FRmin (R min) (p < 0.01), and reductions in the difference between FImax and B mean (I max) (p < 0.001) and I max/IRampl ratio (CImax) (p < 0.001) after the incremental exercise test. There was no statistical difference between pre- and post-exercise the maximal range of the fluorescence change during ischemia and reperfusion (IRampl). In conclusion, exercise to exhaustion modifies the skin NADH content at rest, during ischemia and reperfusion as well as the magnitude of changes in the NADH caused by ischemia and reperfusion. Our findings suggest that metabolic changes in the skin NADH accompanying exercise extend beyond muscles and affect other cells and organs.