Roll Tide PDFE #3

On Saturday September 18th at 3:30 p.m., I watched ESPN on ABC broadcast the University of Alabama vs. Duke college football game.

An example of Reaction Time (RT) is when the center snaps the ball to the quarterback and the minute amount of time it takes before the center and the rest of the offense moves into play (whether that be tackling or sprinting off to receive the thrown ball). The offense has to listen carefully for the center to command "hike" and are not allowed to move before he snaps the ball. Though they can't move prior to the snap, once the ball is snapped, they strive to have a quick reaction time as the ball goes into play. A quick reaction time is important to the guards so that the intended receivers have time to get open and receive the ball. Similar with the receivers, a fast RT will help ensure them to outrun the defense and be open for a pass. Sometimes lag can be beneficial for a tight end or wide receiver in order to fake out the defense, but usually a quick RT is more beneficial. Guards should always practice and perform a quick RT to keep the defense in check.

An example of Hick's Law is shown in college football when a receiver on offense tries to break free for a catch, but has to deal with the defense as well. There is an uncertainty about how well or where the defense is going to cover, and this affects how fast the receiver can react. Another example could also be the uncertainty of when a punt or kick returner catches the ball and has to quickly decide which was he is going down the field as an intimidating defense is bearing quickly down on him. After he catches the ball, there is a delay (though a very short one) before he starts to sprint as he looks up and makes his strategy to gain as many yards as possible. In addition, sometimes before he even starts running the defense is already right in front of him ready to tackle.

An example of Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) in the game is when a running back has to dodge in and around players. As he is strategically making his way towards the endzone, a experienced and athletic player fakes the defense out by spinning around or cutting another direction quickly. The defensive player than has to react when he notices that the running back has quickly changed directions. The defensive player is exhibiting the PRP as there is a delay in the time he is able to react to the runners change in direction.

Inaccurate anticipation occurred when Duke quarterback Sean Renfree threw an interception to Alabama. He inaccurately predicted what was going to happen (spatial anticipation) and over threw the ball right into the hands of an Alabama player. This could also be considered temporal anticipation because he inaccurately predicted when the Duke player was going to be in that area. However, correct temporal anticipation occurred throughout the game when Alabama running back (and Heisman trophy winner!) Mark Ingram accurately anticipated when the defense would attempt to tackle him and was able to dodge their tackles.

Men's and Women's Club Soccer PDFE 2

On Wednesday September 8^th at 6:00 p.m., I visited the Berry men’s and women’s club soccer practice on the intramural fields. The team started with open warm-ups by doing a variety of different exercises: individuals dribbling the ball, taking shots at the goal, passing to each other, jogging laps around the field, and stretching. After the entire group was warmed up, they divided into 3 teams of 8 for shirts vs. skins scrimmages.

All players on the field during the three scrimmages were experienced soccer players, so the games were well played for teams that hadn’t ever played together before. Soccer is a skill sport, where anyone can play, but usually in order to play well you must have had experience.

The one-dimension systems I observed were loco-motor and manipulative. Depending on their position on the field, most players were constantly moving up, down, and side to side on the field, which characterizes the loco-motor system. They were crossing, cutting back and forth, chasing down offenders, sprinting, and slide tackling – all with the primary purpose of traveling toward (or away) from the goal. Soccer is equally manipulative as it is loco-motor. Dribbling, passing, shooting, heading, throwing, kicking, and blocking the ball are all manipulative behaviors. The players worked to have constant control of the ball – to manipulate it where the wanted to go. In addition to moving the ball down the field, the throw in after a ball sailed out of bounds was also manipulation. Stability could also be a third system incorporated in soccer. Though it is not the main goal of the game, it takes balance and careful maneuvering around players to retain balance, while also keeping control of the ball.

While playing soccer, both fine and gross muscle groups were used. The majority of movement was running, which is gross motor skills, because large muscle groups are used and this skill is learned fairly early in life. Fine motor skills became a factor when a player handled the ball and had to use practiced coordination to keep control of it. Sometimes small taps to the ball were made as a player traveled, and other times large kicks were necessary to pass the ball or take a shot at the goal.

The scrimmages exhibited continuous skills, with no definite beginning or end. Most of the movements only required motor skills; however it took some cognitive ability to strategically and successfully get the ball from player to player down the field. I would classify soccer as mostly motor, with some cognitive elements, so on the scale it falls between the two.

In soccer, as in this practice scrimmage, the environment is unpredictable. Players are constantly moving and the situations are very fluid and very changing. They did not incorporate penalty shots into these scrimmages (because there were no referees), which would be an closed environment, one that does not change.

In the two-dimension system, throw ins would have no environment variation, no context variation, the body does not move out of place, but there is object manipulation. Foul shots have no environment variation, no context variation, but there is some body transport and object manipulation. Without a defender, dribbling the ball down the field has environment variation, body transport, and object manipulation, but no context variation. With a defender, there is environment variation, context variation , body transport, and object manipulation.

Ultimate Frisbee Tournament PDFE #1

On August 28th, starting at 2 p.m. the Vikings Intramural Program hosted a one day ultimate Frisbee tournament for Berry students. It was held on the Berry intramural fields, and consisted of 5 co-rec teams each made up of at least 4 men and 3 women, with the option of having extra players on sidelines to rotate into the game. Each game had two 12 minute halves with a 2 minute half time in between. Official ultimate Frisbee rules and regulations were enforced to ensure the safety of the players and plenty of officials were present to monitor the games.

The skills of the participants varied, from obviously inexperienced players, to seasoned veterans of the sport - though all players appeared to be familiar with how the game was to be played. For most of the athletes, this tournament helped to enhance their skills, but I could identify a few players who were still learning the tricks and techniques of handling a disk. In each game, almost all of the players on the field were actively engaged in every drive down the field, though some of the teams had players sitting on the sidelines waiting to exchange out. The players on the field were consistently on the move up and down the field creating space or opportunities to receive or throw the Frisbee.

During the two games that I watched, the teams seemed to be more focused on accuracy then on speed. At the beginning of a drive, the offense would start to move the disk quickly, with short passes, until the defense had run to meet them on the field. Once the defense started coverage of the offense, the offensive side would focus on accurately passing from one team mate to another to prevent a turn-over. Time was often sacrificed in order to be accurate. However, at the end of both games when the score was close, accuracy seemed to decrease as players frantically flicked the disk as fast as they could in order to score.

The fundamental skills used were locomotor and manipulative. The teams primary purpose was to move down the field, so the players were doing a lot of running and cutting back and forth. However, the teams were also manipulating an object (the disk) to get it down the field. They were using fine motor skills - focusing on small muscle movements of the core and arms, and the game involved muscle coordination and hand/eye coordination. This sport involved both cognitive and motor elements. The players were jogging back and forth around the field, yet it took some strategy to get the Frisbee into the end zone.