Category Archives: Science

News and articles on Sports Science.

Encouraging proper practice

By Paul Phillipson - Cricket coaching and education specialist | Published: June 24, 2012
Swimmer

One of my favourite books of the last few months is The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle; an American who won awards for his 2006 biography of Lance Armstrong. This is a must-read for all those involved in coaching sport and should also be most valuable for parents. The author offers some very real insights [...]

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Conditioning in young sports people

By Shona Hendricks - Sport Scientist and Strength and Conditioning Coach | Published: April 30, 2012
DSC00597 St Peters Runners

There are many misconceptions about training young sports people. While certain of these may have some truth to them, there are general guidelines to training young sports people. In this article we will be focusing on athletes in late childhood/early puberty phase. In this age group children will be experiencing normal growth development as this [...]

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Strength training exercises for children

By Licinda Liebenberg - Biokineticist and Sport Scientist | Published: February 6, 2012
Strength 1

Last week we introduced you to the principles and safe guidelines to strength training for children. In this article we provide you with 4 examples of some exercises that children can safely undertake as long as the guidelines are adhered to. To re-emphasis some of the key points to remember: The exercises should be age [...]

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Strength training guidelines for children

By Licinda Liebenberg - Biokineticist and Sport Scientist | Published: January 27, 2012
Strength 1

Can children participate in strength training programmes? A collaboration between Licinda Liebenberg and Dr. Kim Nolte (PhD – Human Movement Sciences) Strength training can be defined as a method of improving muscular strength by gradually increasing the ability to resist force through the use of free weights, machines, or the person’s own body weight. Strength [...]

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To win requires mastery of skills

By Mary Ann Dove - Performance Coach | Published: January 23, 2012
Roger Federer

Following on an earlier article, “Winning vs Learning: Which is more important” as well as the sentiments expressed in “Bigger playing fields”, this article tackles the importance of developing mastery of skills. The one thing we all seem to agree on is that the objective of sport is to win. What we don’t agree on [...]

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Simple exercises for improving your kids’ balance in sport

By Hannah Oguz - Exercise Physiologist | Published: November 13, 2011
Ultimate Balance

A collaboration between Hannah Oguz and Jeff Malan (Biokineticist) Last week we shared with you information pertaining to balance and its importance in daily physical activity and sport. This week we provide some tips for you on how to improve your child’s balance through a simple training sequence that can be done daily at home. [...]

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Body awareness and balance in sport

By Hannah Oguz - Exercise Physiologist | Published: November 13, 2011
Ultimate Balance

A collaboration between Hannah Oguz and Jeff Malan (Biokineticist) What is balance? Athletic movement is first and foremost about human movement. As humans we use motor programs to allow us to repeat an activity without having to relearn the mechanics. In early infancy, motor programs are first used in movement, whether rolling, crawling, or walking. [...]

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Do’s and don’ts of stretching

By Jeff Malan - Biokineticist | Published: October 6, 2011
Stretching 1

A collaboration between Guillaume (Jeff) Malan and Dr. Kim Nolte (PhD – Human Movement Sciences).   Most people know that stretching can be beneficial specifically in terms of injury prevention and sports performance. However, it is important that stretches are performed correctly in order to get the benefits of the stretches therefore this article addresses [...]

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Visual performance training for all scholars

By Dr Sherylle Calder - Visual Skills and Performance Specialist | Published: September 20, 2011
Eye

EYEGYM – THE PROGRAM THAT WON 2 RUGBY WORLD CUPS Have you ever thought about training your eyes like you train your body? The Springbok (2007) and England Rugby (2003) teams did and it played a role in winning the World Cup. “Since our squad started using the Visual Performance Training drills, our accuracy of [...]

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Are our children doing enough physical exercise?

By Patrick Lees | Published: September 8, 2011
KIds playing football

The importance of sport in the lives of the South African youth has never been greater. Increasing popularity of television, computer, video games and cellular telephone technology contribute to children’s inactive lifestyles. This time could be spent doing some recreational or physical activity. Physical activity has also been associated with psychological benefits in young people [...]

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Long-Term Participant/Athlete Development (LTPD)

By Mary Ann Dove - Performance Coach | Published: August 1, 2011
Pathway 2

As parents we recognise that sport and physical activity play an important role in the healthy physiological and psychological growth and development of our children. Unfortunately over the past number of years there has been a decline in physical activity in South Africa resulting in an increased risk for diseases such as diabetes and obesity [...]

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25 Practical Tips for Parents to Guide their Children’s Sporting Endeavours

By Mary Ann Dove - Performance Coach | Published: May 16, 2011
Soccer on beach

As society has transformed over the past 30 years there have been significant paradigm shifts in physical activity and sport. On the one hand changing childhood behaviour patterns has resulted in decreasing physical activity levels whilst at the other end of the spectrum the increasing professionalism of sport has exacerbated the pressure placed on young [...]

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At What Age Should My Child Specialise in a Specific Sport?

By Mary Ann Dove - Performance Coach | Published: February 21, 2011
Young Baseball Player

Children need to develop as athletes before they become specialized as players. This can be achieved by teaching children the fundamental skills required as a foundation for more complex physical activities and sports. These basic skills form the basis of “physical literacy” – fundamental movement and fundamental sport skills which permit a child to move [...]

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