Informatics Publishing Limited

Zahari Taha ¹, Rabiu Muazu Musa ², Mohammad Razali Abdullah ², Mohd Azrai Mohd Razman ¹, Chei Ming Lee ¹, Faeiz Azizi Adnan ³, Muhammad Amirul Abdullah ¹, Mainul Haque ⁴

Affiliations
1 Innovative Manufacturing Mechatronics and Sports Lab (iMAMs), Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pekan Campus 26600, MY
2 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300, Terengganu, MY
3 University Malaysia Pahang, Pekan Campus 26600, MY
4 National Defense University of Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, MY

Abstract

The requirement for objective techniques to observe physical action in its distinctive measurements has prompted the improvement and broad utilisation of motion sensors called Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), which measures bodily movements. However, although these sensors have been utilised to measure postural balance in both clinical and some specific sports, little or no effort have been made to apply these sensors to the measurement of other physiological indicators in the sport of archery. This study aims to ascertain the postural balance, hand movement, muscular activation as well as heart rate of an archer. An archer was instructed to perform two balance standings, two hand movements and his muscular activations of flexor and extensor digitorum, as well as heart rate, were recorded using Shimmer sensors. The mean movement of x and y-axis of the archer was used to correlate with the Pearson correlation for testing the validity of the sensors. Kolmogorov/Smirnov test was utilised to measure the reliability of the sensors over test re-test in two different tests. The coefficient of determination indicates some positive and negative significant relationships between some indicators. The Kolmogorov/Smirnov test re-test reveals a significant difference between all the indicators in both tests A and B, p < 0.001. The archer was able to present two types of postural standings and exhibited two hands movement while holding the bow. However, his heart rate demonstrated some variability during the executions of the movement in both tests. Thus, it could be concluded that the fusion sensors are reliable in measuring the a fore mentioned physiological indicators.

Keywords

Archery, Inertial Measurements Units, Movement Analysis, Physiological Indicators, Wearable Sensors.

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Rabiu Muazu Musa ¹, Isyaku Hassan ², Mohamad Razali Abdullah ³, Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi ², Siti Musliha Mat-Rasid ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Credited Core-Curriculum, Center for Fundamental and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus - 21030, Terengganu, MY
2 Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, MY
3 East Coast Environmental Research Institute, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampung Gong Badak, 21300, Terengganu, MY
4 Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Perak, MY

Abstract

The increase in demand for football players to perform at their best during training and competition results in the escalation of a varying number of football-related injuries. Media reports provide readily as well as timely information on injury-related issues that could assist the stakeholders in decision making before and after a competition. Although, many attempts have been made to quantify football-related injuries in many countries via media, however, little is known on its prevalence, types and mechanisms as reported in Nigerian media. The present study employed a content analysis technique through which 94 football-related news articles from Nigerian newspapers were examined and the most frequently reported injuries are identified. It is demonstrated from the chi-square analysis that the occurrences of football-related injuries are distributed amongst players regardless of their positional role in the game [χ²(60) = 41.401; p > 0.05]. Moreover, the prevalence in the mechanisms of injuries are disseminated across injury types [χ²(30) = 32.203; p > 0.05]. A total of 94 different injuries are reported with knee, ankle, and thigh as the most affected locations. The findings further revealed that strikers have a higher rate of injury occurrences with a total of 52% as compared to midfielders 20%, defenders 14%, and goalkeepers 12% whilst 2% are unidentified. Many of the injuries reported are either fresh 48% or recurrent 50% with only 2% recovery. The present findings could be useful to stakeholders in projecting injury-related problems in football which could guide appropriate action.

Keywords

Football, Injury Mechanism, Injury Prevalence, Nigerian Media, Sports News.

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