Congratulations to all of our MOvES Research Team members who presented at the 2022 Midwest American College of Sports Medicine conference in Indianapolis!

Julie Young, ATC PhD, Nathan Edwards, MS TSAC-F, Arjun Dhankani, Ayush Mehra, and Darshan Patel

Presentations:

A Systems Science Approach to Well-Being in Helping Professions

Julie Young, ATC, PhD

Nathan Edwards, MS, TSAC-F

James Onate, ATC, PhD FNATA

Special Weapons and Tactics Officers have Equal Loaded and Unloaded Countermovement Jump Performances

Nathan Edwards, MS, TSAC-F

Emaly Vatne, BS CSCS

Thomas Beach

Jaclyn Caccese, PhD

Justin Merrigan, PhD CSCS*D

Josh Hagen, PhD

Jason Stone, MS

James Onate, ATC, PhD, FNATA

Sensorimotor BOLD Response Decreases Over the Course of Rehabilitation: A Case Study

Ayush Mehra

Adam Culiver, PT, MPT, PhD

Laura Schmitt, PT, MPT, PhD

James Onate, ATC, PhD, FNATA

Irons and Seams: A Case Report Comparing Firefighting to Baseball Pitching

Arjun Dhankani

Ricky Miller

Cody Mansfield, PT, DPT, AT

Nathan Edwards, MS TSAC-F

Nicholas Gulla, PT, DPT

Sam Marunowski, PT, DPT

Matt Briggs, PT, DPT, AT, PhD

James Onate, ATC, PhD, FNATA

Saccades and Reaction Time in Special Weapons and Tactics Officers

Darshan Patel

Gregory Edwards, PT, DPT, OCS

Nathan Edwards, MS TSAC-F

James Onate, ATC, PhD, FNATA

Jaclyn Caccese, PhD

Check out Makayla’s full presentation by clicking on the following link: https://osu.box.com/s/y5xc7vu6lq9ehucxn6f31dkxykoiny77

We held our first ever undergraduate research symposium this spring, allowing students to present what they have been working on this year. The students delivered virtual poster presentations to their peers, graduate mentors, and proud faculty members. We are looking forward to holding more opportunities for students to present their work and allowing everyone to learn and grow! Check out the topics and the Powerpoint below with the posters and presentation audio!

uSTARS presentation_May2020_audio

Our state-of-the-science research facility contains cutting-edge equipment, now including an immersive virtual reality system consisting of a 4k wide-angle projector and a 180-degree spherical screen. The immersive virtual reality system allows full control of the visual scene to investigate the role of visual information during standing and walking. The visual screen surrounds a fully instrumented, split-belt treadmill. The split-belt treadmill can operate in belt-driven or subject-driven mode, the latter using measurements from the motion capture system to adjust belt speed and maintain the subject in the center of the treadmill during walking. The motion capture system is a 9-camera Vicon motion capture system for measurement of 3D kinematics. Auxiliary digital inputs/outputs allow synchronized integration with external devices, such as galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and electromyography (EMG). Installed directly over the treadmill is a safety harness to prevent falls.

Congratulations to Cody Mansfield, Matthew Briggs, Laura Boucher, and James Onate for their newest grant award! They received the grant from The Ohio Physical Therapy Association in September of 2019 for The Effects of Bilateral Knee Pain and Dry Needling on Laterality Recognition, Movement and Function.

Receiving the award, September 2019

Also, check out their latest publication on the Sharp-Purser test! Click here for the article and take a look at the handy infographic below.
Sharp-Purser Test

This summer the MOvES lab had the opportunity to work with the Men’s basketball testing with both dual-task and functional movement testing. Check out the video highlight below!

View this post on Instagram

Full Strength 🔋 . We look forward to continuing our work with the MOVES Lab this season 💪 #Team121

A post shared by Ohio State Hoops (@ohiostatehoops) on Jun 6, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT

The MOvES Lab would like to recognize senior Katie Jira, who is graduating in December of 2018 with her B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Human Development and Family Science. Through her two years spent in the lab, Katie has been involved in a multitude of projects ranging from concussion to dual-task paradigms. For her senior thesis project, Katie chose to focus on the effects of a cognitive and motor dual-task paradigms on a healthy population by creating her own testing procedure. After graduation, Katie is planning on pursing her Doctorate of Physical Therapy and is interested in specializing in Sports Medicine. Because of her personal experience with sports-related injuries and love for anatomy, she chose to pursue physical therapy to help those recover from injuries both physically and mentally.

During her time in the lab, Katie expanded her communication and teamwork skillsets. Through her position as our Undergraduate Research Coordinator, Katie was able to participate in administrative tasks such as hiring new lab personal, leading meetings, and working one-on-one with doctoral students. She was also able to participate in many practical experiences in the field of sports medicine and biomechanics that she would not have been exposed to without the MOvES Lab.

“Through my time with the MOvES Lab, I was able to apply what I have learned in the classroom to real-life, clinical scenarios. By working with very goal-oriented and passionate peers, I feel as though my critical thinking and communications skills have grown and left me feeling more confident in my ability to become a great physical therapist. I am so thankful for all the opportunities that Dr. Onate and his team members have provided me with over the years and hope that other future medical professionals are able to channel their interests into exploring research.”

Update: Katie has been accepted in to OSU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and will start in the Summer of 2019, Congradulations Katie!

What’s your favorite Ohio sports team?

Photo by Dana Lewin on Unsplash

The Buckeyes.  Browns.  Bengals.

Blue Jackets.  Cavaliers.  Columbus Crew.  FC Cincinnati.  Indians.  Reds…

All these teams play in leagues where congested match schedules, season length and travel can negatively impact performance and potentially increase injury risk.

Photo by ÁLVARO MENDOZA on Unsplash

Let’s look at the challenges the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati face playing in Major League soccer.

Major League Soccer

• MLS has aggressively expanded from 10 teams in 1996 to 23 teams in 2018.¹

• So, what has Major League Soccer done to the season schedule to accommodate so many teams?

• In order to accommodate more teams, Major League Soccer has lengthened the season. ¹
• The number of games played during regular season has not changed dramatically since 1996, however some teams experience congested weeks of the season due to regular season games and tournament or friendly games being scheduled in the same week. ¹
• Research shows increased injury rates with congested schedules and longer seasons.²
• Although a longer season may help increase the amount of rest between games in a season, this has potential to limit the amount of off season time and shorten the amount of time for an adequate preseason. ¹
• Learn more and read the full article from Physical Therapy in Sport by clicking here. ¹

Let’s look at the challenges the Reds and the Indians face.

Major League Baseball

• MLB has 30 teams across the United States with 162 games played from March to October.
• The United States is one of the largest countries in the world forcing teams to travel long distances to play other teams.
• Traveling across time zones can result in detriments to performance and a team’s record.³
• Teams traveling from the eastern time zone to play a team on the west coast tend to have suboptimal performances, likely due to east coast teams playing closer to their normal bed times.⁴
• In MLB, teams who had an advantage in regard to time zones had a higher winning percentage. ⁴

Photo by Keith Johnston on Unsplash

What challenges do the Browns and Bengals face?

National Football League

• One potential issue with the NFL is the lack of recovery time for teams that have to play on Thursday Night Football.
• Some teams have to play Sunday afternoon and then again Thursday evening giving players only three full days of rest.⁵
• Although the NFL cites that injury rates are lower on Thursdays than other game days, it’s unknown if playing with less recovery effects player performance or effects the results of games thereafter.⁶
• More research is needed on the effects of Thursday Night Football.

Photo by Andy Hall on Unsplash

How about the Blue Jackets?

National Hockey League

• The NHL season typically starts in September/October and finishes in April, with each team playing approximately 82 games.
• NHL has many of the same challenges as other leagues (congested weekly schedule, long season, etc), but the sport requires increased physicality.⁷

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

How about the Cavaliers?

National Basketball League

• The commissioner of the NBA has criticized many teams for benching star players during congested times in the season.
• However, back to back games (3-4 games in five days) was predictive of injury during the 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 NBA seasons.⁸
• Although the commissioner’s concern about fan experience are valid, occasionally resting star players may be a good strategy for teams to avoid injury during congested times in the season.

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

What about sports that hit a little closer to home, like high school baseball?

Ohio High School Baseball

• Compared to surrounding states, Ohio had the shortest length of season to play the permitted number of contests and the earliest State
• Ohio: *42 Days to play 27 games – this has changed for 2019 to include an extra week of play
• Indiana: 59 Days to play 28 games
• Kentucky: 74 days to play 36 games
• Michigan: 69 days to play 38 games
• Pennsylvania: 72 days to play 20 games

• The concept of providing more rest time between games allows for the coaches to have more options to allow for rest between games and adhere to the recently imposed pitch count rules, but what happens if practice time is increased and the players spend more time throwing and playing?

• The OHSAA has been tracking pitch counts for 2 years now on a voluntary basis, so more enforcement of tracking pitches and also injuries with the new season extension would be of great interest to researchers across the country.

So, in the end what can we make of these season extensions and additional games?  Sports is a business at many levels, but the idea of increasing injury potential or reducing performance levels needs to be strongly considered in light of revenue generation.

Another consideration is maybe sports will completely change and everyone will be playing League of Legends or NBA2K or some other esports game and watch their favorite athletes play continuously.  Of course, esport athletes are the next generation of high level performers that needs investigation.

Gotta run, time to get back to the lab and look at how we can help high level performers optimize and sustain performance daily and throughout their lifetimes.

Post Credit:

Cody Mansfield and James Onate

MOvES Lab Team

References:

¹ Mansfield CJ, Ferkovic-Mack C, Eibensteiner J, Zwolski C. A review advocating caution with major league soccer expansion and investment in more rehabilitation professionals. Physical Therapy in Sport. 2018 May 9.

²Dupont G, Nedelec M, McCall A, McCormack D, Berthoin S, Wisløff U. Effect of 2 soccer matches in a week on physical performance and injury rate. The American journal of sports medicine. 2010 Sep;38(9):1752-8.

³Leatherwood WE, Dragoo JL. Effect of airline travel on performance: a review of the literature. Br J Sports Med. 2012 Nov 1:bjsports-2012.

⁴Winter WC, Hammond WR, Green NH, Zhang Z, Bliwise DL. Measuring circadian advantage in Major League Baseball: a 10-year retrospective study. International journal of sports physiology and performance. 2009 Sep;4(3):394-401.

⁵Simmons, B. (2012). A hierarchy of hypocrites. Grantland.

⁶Florio, M. (2016). What does the future hold for Thursday night Football?. Pro-FootballTalk. NBC sports.

⁷Kneeland AT. Man Games Lost in the NHL: A Correlation between Travel, Rest Periods and Injuries in the National Hockey League.

⁸Teramoto M, Cross CL, Cushman DM, Maak TG, Petron DJ, Willick SE. Game injuries in relation to game schedules in the National Basketball Association. Journal of science and medicine in sport. 2017 Mar 1;20(3):230-5.

Approximately 60 million children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 18 years participate in some form of organized athletics in the United States (Fig 1).¹ Single sport specialization is a growing topic of discussion in youth athletics. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) characterizes sport specialization as year round intense training in only one sport at the exclusion of other sports.² Recent reports found that within a group of 1200 youth athletes, approximately one third participated in a single sport year-round.^3,4 

Figure 1. Youth sports participation in the US. Adapted from the National Council of Youth Sports.¹

Sports specialization, high intensity training, and participating in competitive events outside of the regular season are byproducts of an increasingly competitive nature of youth sports fueled even further by big business ventures from personal coaches, showcase events, etc.² For several decades, it has been well documented that developing bones, specifically during puberty or growth, are more prone to injury from tensile, shear, and compressive forces.^5-7 Bones more prone to injury, combined with the high intensities or frequencies of training that potentially accompany specialization, may contribute to a possible increase in risk of overuse injuries, albeit not directly.² Studies have suggested that exceeding 16 hours of intense training per week^8-10 (Fig 2)¹¹ may increase injury rates. Year-round participation in sports, defined as playing sports over 4 seasons, may also increase risk of overuse injury among high school athletes.¹² Although young athletes can often tolerate stress, there is a limit to the stress a youth athlete should experience and therefore proper time off and rest from sport activity is recommended to reduce risk of injury while maintaining long-term healthy athletic performance.²

Figure 2. Relationship of injury to exposure hours in high school athletes. Adapted from Jayanthi et al.¹¹

Future research in this area should focus on what frequencies and intensities of training may correlate with overuse injuries or risk of injury with sport specialization.² Such information could allow athletes to follow training programs that minimize injuries and maximize performance. Additionally, long-term studies comparing the effects of sport specialization with participation in multiple sports could prove worthwhile.² These may allow insight on developmental differences and long-term implications resulting from participation variation.Minimal scientific evidence supporting the notion that earlier single-sport training is beneficial for success currently exists and further research is warranted.¹³ However, based on research that does exist, sport specialization may have some benefits. There is a general agreement in the sports medicine field that the number of purposeful hours spent in either training or practice is correlated with success.¹¹ Some debate exists as to when intense training or practice should begin.¹¹ It is also recognized that some degree of specialization is necessary to attain elite-level skills.^14-18 This becomes more applicable as athletes age for most sports. Peak performance in some individual sports, such as diving or figure skating, may occur before the body matures, making specialization at preadolescent ages common (Figure 3).¹³ However, it is recommended that intense training in one single sport be delayed until late adolescence if possible in order to optimize success and reduce risk for injury and psychological stress.^19-26

Figure 3. Recommendations for stage of specialization and sport. Adapted from Myer et al.¹³

As mentioned, there may be risks associated with specializing including the potential for increased psychological stress and overuse injuries. Although specialization may be appropriate for some athletes, the type of sport and age of the athlete should be considered. Regardless of whether youth choose to specialize or not, it is important to foster an environment that encourages athleticism and builds positive athletic experiences. Athleticism may be built through a variety of sports and training programs which cater to each child’s needs and interests.  The notion of playing multiple sports should not be the sole focus for injury prevention and performance enhancement considerations, the concept of athleticism and physical literacy are factors that should be strongly encouraged.  Individuals need to be provided various avenues for development and some may partake in a single sport, but need to supplement with cross sport sampling or less intense multi-sport  choices (e.g., playing high level baseball but playing recreational or social basketball) while others may choose to play two high level sports. Most importantly, children should enjoy sports and participating in an activity that builds positive healthy individuals who can grow physically and mentally.

Post Credit: Michael Lantz, Dan Clifton, Dr. James Onate

References

1. National Council of Youth Sports. Report on trends and participation in organized youth sports 2008. http://www.ncys.org/pdfs/2008/2008-ncys- market-research-report.pdf. 2008. Accessed January 16, 2018.
2. Difiori JP, Benjamin HJ, Brenner JS, et. al. Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Br J Sports Med. 2014; 48(4), 287-288.
3. Jayanthi NA, Labella CR, Fischer D, et. al. Sports-specialized intensive training and the risk of injury in young athletes. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(4):794-801.
4. Wiersma LD. Risks and benefits of youth sport specialization: perspectives and recommendations. Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2000;12(1):13-22.
5. Alexander CJ. Effects of growth rate on the strength of the growth plateshaft junction. Skel Radiol. 1976;1:67–76.
6. Bright RW, Burstein AH, Elmore SM. Epiphyseal-plate cartilage. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1974;56(4):688-703.
7. Flachsmann R, Broom ND, Hardy AE,et. al. Why is the adolescent joint particularly susceptible to osteochondral shear fracture? Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2000;381:212-221.
8. Rose MS, Emery CA, Meeuwisse WH, Sociodemographic predictors of sport injury in adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008;40(3):444-450.
9. Jayanthi N, Dechert A, Durazo R, et. al. Training and sports specialization risks in junior elite tennis players. J Med Sci Tennis. 2011;16:14-20.
10. Loud KJ, Gordon CM, Micheli LJ, et. al. Correlates of stress fractures among preadolescent and adolescent girls. Pediatrics. 2005;115:e399-e406.
11. Jayanthi N, Pinkham C, Dugas L, et. al. Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence based recommendations. Sports Health. 2012;5(3):251-257.
12. Cuff S, Loud K, Oriordan MA, Overuse injuries in high school athletes. Clin Pediatr. 2010;49(8):731-736.
13. Myer GD, Jayanthi N, Difiori JP, et al. Sports specialization, part II alternative solutions to early sport specialization in youth athletes. Sports Health. 2016;8(1):65-73.
14. American Academy of Pediatrics . Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Intense training and sports specialization in young athletes . Pediatrics. 2000; 106: 154-157.
15. American College of Sports Medicine . The prevention of sport injuries of children and adolescents . Med Sci Sport. 1993; 25(8): 1-7.
16. FIMS/WHO Ad Hoc Committee on Sports and Children. Sports and children: consensus statement on organized sports for children. Bull World Health Organ. 1998;76(5): 445-447.
17. Hughson R, Children in competitive sports: a multi-disciplinary approach. Can J Appl Sport Sci. 1986;11(4):162-172
18. McLeod TCV, Decoster L, Loud KJ, et al. National Athletic Trainers’ Association position statement: prevention of pediatric overuse injuries. J Athl Train. 2011;46(2):206-220.
19. Baker J , Côté J , Abernethy B . Sport-specific practice and the development of expert decision-making in team ball sports . J Appl Sport Psychol . 2003;15:12-25 .
20. Barynina II , Vaitsekhovskii SM. The aftermath of early sports specialization for highly qualified swimmers. Fitness Sports Rev Int. 1992;27:132-133.
21. Carlson R . The socialization of elite tennis players in Sweden: an analysis of the players’ backgrounds and development. Sociol Sport J. 1988;5:241-256 .
22. Helsen WF , Starkes JL , Hodges NJ. Team sports and the theory of deliberate practice. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 1998; 20:12-34
23. Hodges NJ, Starkes JL. Wrestling with the nature of expertise: a sport specific test of Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesh-Romer’s (1993) theory of “deliberate practice.” Int J Sport Psychol. 1996;27:400-424.
24. Hume PA, Hopkins WG, Robinson DM, et. al. Predictors of attainment in rhythmic sportive gymnastics. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1994;33(4):367-377.
25. Law M, Côté J, Ericsson KA. Characteristics of expert development in rhythmic gymnastics: a retrospective study. Int J Exerc Sport Psychol. 2007;5:82-103.
26. Moesch K, Elbe AM, Hauge ML, et. al. Late specialization: the key to success in centimeters, grams, or seconds (cgs) sports. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2011;21(6):e282-e290.

The MOvES Lab would like to recognize alumnus Kristen Looman, who graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2016. In her three undergraduate years spent in the lab, Kristen was involved in various projects with a main focus in prediction and prevention of musculoskeletal injury in collegiate athletes. Currently, Kristen is working full-time as an Anesthesiology Technician at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and volunteers Monday evenings with the Physician’s Care Connection. Her future aspirations are to attend a physician assistant program.

During her time in the lab she gained hands-on experience in the field of sports medicine and biomechanics, and learned about the fundamentals of scientific research. Furthermore, she learned how to overcome adversity, approach issues in new ways, and gain new confidence in academic settings.

“As a scientist and young professional, I understand the importance to advance the field of medicine. With sports being a huge part of my life growing up, I felt an interest in sports medicine, and this led me to join Dr. Onate’s team. During my time, I was able to learn about issues that fascinated me with other like-minded individuals. I found a group of mentors who guided me to communicate my own ideas while analyzing and critiquing others’ work. With their help, I gained confidence in myself and overall became a self-sufficient individual. I did the classwork to earn a Bachelor of Science, but it was through this lab that I became scientist.”

We are very proud of Kristen and wish her the best of luck on her future endeavors!