Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: An extension of behavioral skills training for heading.

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.

Comparing forward and backward chaining in teaching Olympic weightlifting.

The popularity of Olympic-style weightlifting in fitness routines is growing, but participating in these exercises with improper technique places lifters at increased risk for injury. Fitness training professionals have developed multiple teaching strategies, but have not subjected these strategies to systematic evaluation, particularly with novice lifters. Two strategies recommended by professional training organizations are akin to forward and backward chaining, which have been shown effective at teaching other novel, complex behaviors. The present study compared these forward- and backward-chaining-like strategies to teach novice lifters "the clean" and "the snatch," two Olympic weightlifting movements frequently incorporated into high-intensity training programs. Participants performed lifts taught with forward chaining more accurately than lifts taught with backward chaining.