Back to Basics

Businesses

Playing games with business people? At first it sounds incongruous, but games have become well established for team building. New Games in general don’t have quite the same hard edge as traditional team-building exercises because they are played first for fun. After doing the initial games just for fun, however, you can employ games for the specific purpose of team building (and certain games are especially appropriate). Players have to cooperate in several of the games in order to make them work. It makes sense, after getting players to relax by playing just for fun, to use games as a way of studying the behavior and interactions of the whole group and individuals in the group. This can lead to better group work, but the games and the following discussion must be sensitively and properly led.

The game of Knots is a good example. While it allows everyone to touch in a safe way, thereby building trust, it requires people to think and be imaginative to get out of the knot. Further, afterwards the group can start by talking about what went on in the game—who came up with ideas, who felt listened to, who felt they weren’t heard. At this point, people are relaxed from playing the game and talking; the next step for the presenter is to relate the game to the work experience. Is this like what happens at work? Or is it completely different, and how? For this to be effective, management has to be prepared to act on some (if not all) of the suggestions people come up with to improve operations. Otherwise, they will become frustrated and feel manipulated by the whole process.

In Meetings

There are other ways in which New Games can be used for business purposes, such as in meetings. Starting a meeting with a brief game can lighten the atmosphere so that participants relate to each other in a productive way. When the heaviness of the task at hand is lifted, workers do better work. The games also work well as revitalizers when the group’s energy is flagging, and they’re instrumental in getting creative juices flowing. The games call for imaginative input, and a skilled leader can channel that creativity into the work process and discussions.

At Conferences

New Games have been used often to open and close conferences. Immediately a relaxed atmosphere is established when opening a conference with a game. People who don’t know each other and who appear nervous at the start of a game are friendly toward each other at the end. Every session afterward goes better when this initial mood is established. Suggestions of openers are made in the Game Finder in the “Appropriate social purposes” column. Which one to choose depends on your group, the space available, the number of participants, and the mood they’re in. However, this is not the only way to use New Games at conferences. They can be used as energizers at any point when the attention level is flagging. Participants perk up after even one game. Also, the games are a great way to bring closure to the conference, letting people leave with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

For Social Events

Finally, businesses can take the more lighthearted approach to using the games for social gatherings and picnics. The activities create a good feeling and reduce inhibitions without having to resort to alcohol. Having fun together, perhaps even with whole families included, may be the best team builder of all!

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/four-places-to-use-best-new-games-outside-of-school

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 59th Annual Meeting and 3rd World Congress on Exercise is Medicine will be held May 29 – June 2, 2012, in San Francisco, California. If you plan to attend, please make plans to stop by the Human Kinetics booth #309! We will be displaying and selling a wide range of products and offering attendees the following:

• Special discounts on items purchased at the conference
• Free shipping in the U.S. and Canada and half price international shipping
• A demonstration of our online courses approved for ACSM CECs
• Free copies of our catalogs, featuring information on upcoming titles, e-books, online courses, and more

Several Human Kinetics authors will be presenting Named and President’s Lectures, Highlighted Symposia and Featured Science Sessions, and various other sessions. We are proud to support these authors by displaying their books at the HK booth. Hours are limited, though, so don’t forget to schedule time to visit the exhibit hall:

• Wednesday, May 30: 1:30 – 6:00 pm
• Thursday, May 31: 9:30 – 5:00 pm
• Friday, June 1: 9:30 – 2:00 pm

See you in San Francisco!

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/join-us-at-the-2012-acsm-annual-meeting-and-world-congress-on-exercise-is-medicine

My interests lie in medicine, science, and sports, not necessarily in that order, for which there is no apparent ancestral precedent. Both my maternal and paternal grandfathers as well as my father were involved in commerce in the northwest English seaport of Liverpool. My father’s commercial interests brought him to Zimbabwe in 1946, immediately after the end of World War II, three years before I was born. In 1954 we relocated to Cape Town, South Africa, where I began my schooling. I have lived in Cape Town ever since.

My fate was to begin my medical training and a postadolescent interest in endurance sports in 1969, when the prevailing belief was that humans should not drink during exercise. Drinking during exercise, we were taught, was a sign of weakness. And should we succumb to our weakness, we would immediately feel discomfort and our pace would slacken. Our knowledge came from those whose wisdom, forged in the heat of athletic competition, had yet to be tested in the laboratory.

At the time, I was learning to row, not yet to run long distances. In training for rowing, we seldom ran farther than 3 km and then always at maximum pace. But one day when the wind was so strong that we could not venture onto the water, I opted to run around the lake on which we trained. That run was decisive: After 40 minutes I experienced the runner’s high, seemingly touching heaven. I knew then that one day I would run a long-distance race, most especially the uniquely South African ultradistance running event, the 90 km (56 mile) Comrades Marathon. But that would happen only 4 years later.

In between these bouts of running, I rowed without ever considering whether or not drinking before, during, or after exercise was of any importance. We drank only after each workout, guided by our thirst. Our coach did not restrict our daily fluid intake to 1 L as happened to the Oxford rowing crew of 1860 whose “outraged human nature rebelled against it; and although they did not admit it in public, there were very few men who did not rush to their water bottles for relief, more or less often, according to the development of their conscientiousness and their obstinacy” (Hughes, 1861/2008, p. 108). Perhaps the author of those English classics Tom Brown’s Schooldays and Tom Brown at Oxford understood that thirst is an extremely powerful sensation not easily overridden or ignored, for the body knows what it needs better than the coach.

Later I discovered that a century ago marathon runners received essentially the same advice: “Don’t take any nourishment before going seventeen or eighteen miles. If you do, you will never go the distance. Don’t get into the habit of drinking or eating in a marathon race: Some prominent runners do, but it is not beneficial” (Sullivan, 1909, p. 39).

The advice of American Joseph Forshaw, who finished third in the 1908 London Olympic Marathon in 2:57:10, was the same: “As to the taking of stimulants during the race, I will say that I know from actual experience that the full [marathon] race can be covered in creditable time without so much as a single drop of water being taken or even sponging of the head—I have done it myself. This of course is when in perfect trim” (Martin and Gynn, 1979, p. 45; Sullivan, 1909, p. 73). He continued, “I do not believe in eating during the race, as it can scarcely benefit one, as no nourishment can come from the food till digested, and the race will be finished before the food would be digested” (p. 73). We now know that this part of his advice is wrong: Eating does aid performance during prolonged exercise, at least in part because the digestion of food is not impaired during prolonged exercise.

Forshaw also wrote, “To cool the head and the blood in general on a hot day, sponge the head with bay rum, as its rapid evaporation produces a cool sensation, but be careful not to get it in the eyes” (p. 73).

Another U.S. runner, Matthew Maloney, who established a world record of 2:36:26 in the 1908 New York Evening Journal Christmas Marathon, wrote, “As to what I use when in a Marathon race: I only chew gum. I take no drink at all, but it is well to have a little stimulant on hand, such as beef tea, should it be needed and when I am running I try to get some competent men as handlers on the track, as good ones are needed there” (Martin and Gynn, 1979, p. 45; Sullivan, 1909, p. 57).

The man who reinvigorated interest in ultramarathon running in the 1920s, South African resident Arthur Newton, who won the Comrades Marathon five times and set world records at distances from 48 to 160 km (30 to 100 miles) as well as the world 24-hour running record, had a similar opinion: “You can’t lay down a hard and fast rule (about fluid ingestion during exercise, my addition). Even in the warmest English weather, a 26-mile run ought to be manageable with no more than a single drink or, at most, two” (Newton, 1948, p. 15).

From his experiences in the 1928 and 1929 5,510 km (3,422 mile) American Transcontinental races between New York and Los Angeles (Berry, 1990), Newton noticed that the runners focused more on eating than on drinking during the race: “as big a breakfast as they could tuck away immediately before the start” (Newton, 1947). Only after 24 km (15 miles) would they begin to drink “highly sweetened drinks . . . every 4 or 5 miles to keep them going” (pp. 2 and 19).

This advice had not changed by 1957 when Jim Peters, former world-record holder in the 42 km (26 mile) marathon and arguably the greatest marathoner of all time, wrote, “[in the marathon race] there is no need to take any solid food at all and every effort should also be made to do without liquid, as the moment food or drink is taken, the body has to start dealing with its digestion and in so doing some discomfort will invariably be felt” (Peters et al., 1957, p. 114). Indeed a special conference on nutrition and sport held in London before the 1948 London Olympics included no reference to any need to drink during exercise (Abrahams, 1948; Leyton, 1948).

South African Jackie Mekler, who won the 90 km (56 mile) Comrades Marathon on five occasions and set world records at 48 km (30 mile), 64 km (40 mile), and 80 km (50 miles) in 1954, confirmed that Peters spoke for all runners: “In those days it was quite fashionable not to drink, until one absolutely had to. After a race, runners would recount with pride, ‘I only had a drink after 30 or 40 km’” (Noakes, 2003, p. 252) (box 2.1, page 40).

In the 60 years between 1921 and 1981 that Comrades Marathon runners adopted this approach and before drinking stations were provided at increasingly frequent intervals after the mid-1970s, there were no cases of exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) or exercise-associated hyponatremia encephalopathy (EAHE) in Comrades runners. Nor is there any recorded evidence that a large number of runners had to be treated for dehydration or heat illness after the Comrades Marathon in those years. Only after the introduction of frequent (every 1.6 km) drinking stations in 1981 did it become increasingly necessary to provide medical care at the finish of that and other marathon and ultramarathon races to treat the growing proportion of collapsed runners seeking medical care for “dehydration” and “heat illness.”

The most likely reason that treatment was necessary was the changing nature of the runners entering marathon and ultramarathon races. Before the running boom that began after 1976, only those who were reasonably trained would ever consider entering those races. But the culture became very different thereafter. The new generation of runners was not told to train more to ensure that they did not suffer harm during those races.

Instead they were advised to drink more.

Soon drinking, especially a sports drink, would be marketed as the universal panacea. A failure to drink properly during competition became the runner’s convenient explanation for why he ran less well than expected; certainly in this new era of entitlement it could never be because of something that was under the runner’s personal control, specifically that he had simply not trained enough. Doctors, too, would use this reason to rationalize the dramatic increase in the number of athletes seeking medical care at the end of marathon and ultramarathon races and Ironman triathlons. Surely these ill runners had simply drunk too little during these races. If only they could be encouraged to drink more, the problem would surely disappear.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/thirst-as-a-signal-for-fluid-intake

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/take-proper-steps-to-be-thorough-with-your-fundraising-budget

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group’s favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group’s members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/using-social-networks-to-increase-your-donations

Ink Cartridge Recycling

Activity Description

This activity will not only raise a low to moderate level of funds but also benefit the environment and teach young people their role in protecting the world they live in. Millions of ink cartridges are thrown away every day, and several cups of oil are required to produce new ink cartridges from scratch. Refunds for used cartridges can range from a few cents to as much as $3 depending on the brand and ink color. A simple web search will identify where your group can turn in used ink cartridges. Most large chain business supply stores accept used cartridges and offer remuneration in the form of gift cards or cash rewards. Independent companies also found on the web offer cash or checks for your used cartridges.

This activity involves low-level knowledge, skills, and abilities on the part of young participants and adult leaders. It is a great beginner project and can be run concurrently with other fundraising projects.

Educational Objectives

Students will:

• Understand the impact of recycling and reusing everyday materials.
• Create their own announcements soliciting empty ink cartridges from their neighbors.
• Interact and communicate with others (neighbors and other students).
• Set and meet individual performance goals, and demonstrate productivity and accountability (i.e., when creating and distributing flyers and collecting used cartridges).

Adults will:

• Mobilize students and organize their efforts with minimal hands-on time.
• Model socially responsible behavior as well as environmental literacy.

The community will:

• Benefit from the interest of local citizens in maintaining the integrity of the environment.
• Experience increased cohesiveness from citizens working together.

Targeted Dimensions of Health

Social Mental Emotional Environmental

Standards Met

National Health Education standards 4, 6, and 8

21st century student outcomes:

Life and Learning and Information, Media, Career Skills Innovation Skills and Technology Skills

21st century interdisciplinary themes: Global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; health literacy; environmental literacy

Age Level

7+

Materials

Paper for flyers

Access to computer and printers

Markers or crayons

Recycling container (cardboard box or clean trash receptacle)

Plastic bags for collected cartridges

Recommended Procedures

1. This activity takes place over the course of nine weeks.

2. Identify a site or company that recycles ink cartridges.

3. Choose how the cartridges will be collected (door to door, at drop-off sites, or both).

4. Create and edit flyers. This can be done by students.

5. Decide when, where, and how to distribute flyers (e.g., neighborhoods, supermarkets, houses of worship, community centers).

6. Set a date for cartridge pickup. Choose two days in case of inclement weather, and instruct donors to leave cartridges on their doorsteps or porches for easy collection.

7. Volunteer collectors meet at the organization’s central site (e.g., school, church, community center) to pick up their bags for collecting cartridges and to be assigned a collection area. They then go door to door in groups of two or three chaperoned by an adult if they are underage. Once their targeted areas have been canvassed, collectors return to the organization and turn in their cartridges.

8. The event director collects the cartridges, takes them to the recycling center, and collects the funds.

Event Preparation Time Line

Because this fundraiser is likely to be ongoing, we have set up the time line starting with the first activity going forward. All other activities have time lines that count backward.

Week 1

Young volunteers create the flyer soliciting donations of ink cartridges. They can make this on a computer or handwrite it. Flyers should provide a brief explanation as to who (e.g., Cub Scout group) is doing what (ink cartridge recycling) and why (e.g., to raise funds for a camping trip) and in what time frame (i.e., cartridges to be collected from doorsteps on [date] between the hours of [time] and [time]). Always provide an alternate means of contribution, such as monetary donations or donations of needed supplies.

Week 2

Young volunteers distribute flyers, and adult chaperones keep track of the addresses and businesses that have received flyers.

Weeks 3 through 8

This activity requires patience. We suggest that you allow six to eight weeks to elapse before collecting cartridges. You may want to distribute flyers to local businesses as well and direct them to a central drop-off site. E-mail blasts and automated phone messages can be sent a week before the collection date.

Week 9

Before sending them out to collect the cartridges, coach young volunteers in social skills such as shaking hands and expressing gratitude. After all the cartridges are collected, the director can bring or send them to the company chosen for reimbursement. Most companies give a check immediately. Find out ahead of time whether the company wants the cartridges to be separated by color, model, or make.

Postevent Processing and Evaluation

Discussion Questions for Students

What is the impact of recycling and reusing everyday materials?

What new computer skills did you learn from this activity?

How can community groups work together?

What is the appropriate salutation when greeting a neighbor?

Discussion Questions for Adults

What did you learn about mobilizing students and organizing their efforts?

Did you model socially responsible behavior?

Was the community supportive of this event?

How could this event have been more successful?

Sustainable Extension

This event can continue year round if community groups are aware of the event and your group has well-identified, clearly marked, and centrally located drop-off zones and collection points. Reminder notices can be sent out via e-mail blasts or signage in community areas.

Forms and Templates

Informational Flyer

Collection Data Sheet

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/learn-how-ink-cartridge-recycling-can-help-you-raise-money

Resistance Training

Compared with endurance exercise, resistance exercise consists of much higher intensity contractions (e.g., usually 70% to 80% of one repetition maximum) repeated at high frequencies (referring again to motoneuron firing frequency) that can only be sustained for short durations due to the fatiguing nature of the exercise. Therefore, the pattern of cytoplasmic [Ca2+] oscillations and changes in [AMP]/[ATP] and ROS production with skeletal muscle contractions is different between endurance and resistance exercise. For example, endurance exercise likely results in extended periods of moderately elevated [Ca2+], while resistance exercise would generate short cycles of significantly higher intracellular [Ca2+] in skeletal muscle (Chin 2010). Therefore, differences in the magnitude and pattern of these primary signals generated by endurance and resistance exercise will result in the activation of different signaling pathways and different gene-expression and protein-synthesis responses in skeletal muscle. A number of studies have shown that resistance exercise results in increased rates of muscle-protein synthesis, about two- to fivefold after exercise for periods up to 48 h before declining to baseline values. Although acute resistance and endurance-type exercise result in a similar global anabolic response in untrained skeletal muscle, increases in muscle mass (i.e., hypertrophy) and strength are significantly greater following chronic resistance training compared with chronic endurance training. This means that chronic resistance training, but not endurance training, increases the rate of muscle-protein synthesis to levels above the rate of protein degradation.

Activation and differentiation of muscle satellite cells into new muscle cells that fuse with existing muscle fibers can also contribute significantly to the hypertrophic response to resistance exercise. Muscle fibers are large multinucleated cells. They are also postmitotic cells in that they no longer have the ability to divide and reproduce themselves. Additionally, in order to significantly increase in size or hypertrophy, muscles have to add more nuclei, since a nucleus is only able to supply mRNA for new protein synthesis to a limited amount of cytoplasm in its vicinity. Hence, a specific ratio of nuclei to cytoplasm must be maintained. In order to do this, skeletal muscles have small specialized satellite cells,or myogenic precursor cells, located at the periphery of their outer membranes. When stimulated by resistance training or by exercise-induced muscle damage, these specialized cells will be activated and induced to create daughter cells or proliferate. These new satellite cells will then fuse with the existing muscle fibers and add their nuclei to the cells to support greater protein synthesis and increase muscle hypertrophy or repair.

It is well known that the primary factor determining the hypertrophic response to contractile activity is the load across the muscle or the mechanical stretch/strain imposed on the muscle fibers, which is higher in resistance exercise than in endurance exercise. Ultimately, these mechanical/force signals are transduced by signaling pathways that regulate transcriptional and translational processes and satellite-cell activation.

For several years, researchers have focused on the role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 as a primary signaling molecule that mediates skeletal-muscle growth in response to resistance exercise, given that resistance exercise stimulates the secretion of IGF-1. IGF-1 is known to induce muscle hypertrophy by binding to its receptor on the muscle-cell surface and activating the classical growth factor pathway (see figure 3.27). IGF-1 binding to the receptor activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), which leads to the activation of Akt, a serine/threonine protein kinase. Akt phosphorylates and inactivates tuberosclerosis complex (TSC2), resulting in the activation of the ras homologous protein enriched in brain (Rheb) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). mTOR phosphorylates and suppresses the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein (4E-BP1) to blunt 4E-BP1 inhibition of translation-initiation cap-binding protein eIF4E (see figure 3.21). mTOR also phosphorylates the 70KDa ribosomal S6 protein kinase (p70S6K1), resulting in an increase in protein synthesis.

It is well accepted that mTOR signaling plays a dominant role in the adaptive response to resistance training; however, researchers have questioned the importance of IGF-1 signaling in mediating this response, based on evidence from several studies employing pharmacological and knockout-mouse approaches to systematically manipulate the IGF-1-PI3K-Akt pathway (Philp, Hamilton, and Baar 2011). It appears that the IGF-1 signaling pathway is not required for mTOR activation or increased protein synthesis that is induced by resistance-type exercise. It is possible that mechanical signals working through stretch-activated membrane channels, for example, might be able to activate mTOR and its downstream targets. However, this hypothesis needs to be examined experimentally (Philp, Hamilton, and Baar 2011).

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/resistance-training-increases-the-rate-of-muscle-protein-synthesis

MicroRNAs and the Adaptive Response to Exercise Training

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short, noncoding RNA molecules that bind to mRNA molecules and play a central role in regulating gene expression through posttranscriptional gene silencing (reviewed in Bushati and Cohen 2007). Most miRNAs are encoded in introns of protein-coding genes and are transcribed by RNA polymerase II as long primary-miRNAs (pri-miRNA) that encode a single miRNA or a cluster of miRNA species. Processing of pri-miRNA species in the nucleus produces stem-loop structures of ?70 nucleotides, termed precursor-miRNA (pre-miRNA). These pre-miRNAs are transported to the cytoplasm where they are further processed, giving rise to the mature ?19 to 22 bp of miRNA. The mature miRNA is incorporated into a ribonucleoprotein complex known as the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Generally, miRNAs inhibit protein synthesis by binding (base-pairing) in the 3‘ untranslated regions of target mRNAs, either repressing translation or bringing about deadenylation and subsequent degradation of mRNA targets. Individual miRNAs can target hundreds of genes, while individual mRNAs can be targeted by multiple miRNAs, making this one of the most complex gene-regulatory processes.

Studies have uncovered a cluster of muscle-specific miRNAs that regulate muscle differentiation and modulate diverse aspects of muscle function (reviewed in van Rooij, Liu, and Olson 2008). The most highly studied are miR-1, miR-133 and miR-206, which are induced during differentiation of myoblasts into myotubes (Callis et al. 2008) and play an important role in muscle mass maintenance. Other miRNA species (miR-23, miR-103, miR-107, and so on) are proposed to play an important role in regulating expression of genes encoding metabolic pathway enzymes in skeletal muscle and other tissues (Wilfred, Wang, and Nelson 2007). Interestingly, studies have shown the potential importance of miRNA regulation in skeletal-muscle adaptations to exercise (reviewed in Roth 2011). For example, miR-1 and miR-133a are downregulated in mouse skeletal muscle during functional overload–induced hypertrophy of the plantaris muscle (McCarthy and Esser 2007). In response to endurance exercise, miR-23, a putative negative regulator of the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator a coactivator 1 (PGC-1a), was downregulated in mouse skeletal muscle (Safdar et al. 2009). Importantly, downregulation of miR-23 was associated with increased expression of PGC-1a mRNA and protein, along with several downstream targets of PGC-1a signaling.

You are no doubt aware that the ability to increase muscle size in response to resistance and strength training is greater for some people than others. Have you ever wondered why strength training causes large gains in muscle mass in some people (i.e., high responders), whereas others gain very little muscle mass in response to the same training stimulus (i.e., low responders)? This is true even after accounting for differences in age, training status, exercise adherence, and diet. A study by Davidsen and colleagues (2011) helps to shed some light on this issue. In their study, vastus lateralis biopsies were taken from the top and bottom 49 responders, in terms of muscle mass gain, of 56 men who completed a 12-week strength-training program. The expression level of 21 abundant miRNAs was measured to determine whether variation in these miRNAs was able to explain the variation in resistance training–induced gains in muscle mass. They indentified 4 miRNAs that showed uniquely different responses between high responders and low responders. MiR-378, miR-29a, and miR-26a were downregulated in low responders and were unchanged in high responders, while miR-451 was upregulated only in low responders. Therefore, the regulation of protein synthesis by miRNAs may play an important role in explaining the variability in strength training adaptations. However, further research is required to uncover how these miRNAs themselves are regulated and whether they can be targeted for therapeutic interventions.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/micrornas-and-the-adaptive-response-to-exercise-training

Cellular Damage From RONS

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are sometimes collectively referred to as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). RONS, and particularly the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, can react with many molecules in cells, including DNA, proteins, and lipids. The slow buildup of threats to mitochondrial and nuclear DNA over years of oxidative damage is thought to be a factor in aging. The relatively rapid turnover (breakdown and resynthesis) of proteins is also partly due to their susceptibility to oxidative damage and their need to ensure structural integrity to maintain optimal function. The free radical theory of aging was first proposed in the 1950s by the American scientist Denham Harman. It has continued to receive scientific support over the years, and it is now well established as an integral component of the aging process. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are important components of the phospholipids found in cell membranes, are particularly susceptible to damage by RONS. It has been known for more than 200 years that exposure of fats to air or oxygen will turn them rancid. This rancidity is caused by peroxidation of the fatty acids by RONS. During peroxidation, RONS such as the hydroxyl radical can react with the phospholipids by abstracting a hydrogen from one of the double bonded hydrogen molecules in the unsaturated fat, and in so doing, forming water. In the following equation, LH represents the lipid and OH* represents the hydroxyl radical, with the * representing the electron that is donated:

LH + OH* ? L* + H2O

The lipid radical (L*) can then spontaneously propagate a chain reaction, which can result in peroxidation and breakdown of a number of phospholipids in a cell membrane and damage and disruption of cellular function. Similar damage also results from RONS-induced oxidation of proteins and DNA. As will be discussed in the following section, endogenous antioxidants (e.g., glutathione) and antioxidant vitamins (e.g., vitamin E) can help stop these reactions and prevent peroxidative damage to membranes and other cellular molecules, including proteins and DNA. Limiting oxidative stress may be important in limiting various conditions associated with aging (Pourova et al. 2010)

Protection From Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species

Our bodies produce a number of endogenous oxidants that we have categorized as RONS. Added to this is a host of exogenous substances, such as pollution, ozone, automobile exhaust, solvents, pesticides, and cigarette smoke. Foreign molecules that may pose a hazard to us are generally categorized as xenobiotics. Some xenobiotics are free radicals or can produce RONS. Three approaches to maintaining control over RONS are principal. First, reducing the formation of or exposure to RONS and xenobiotics is an essential step. Second, our endogenous scavenging systems, including antioxidant enzymes and other antioxidant molecules, can scavenge those RONS already present. Finally, mechanisms in cells can upregulate antioxidant defenses in the face of persistent problems (Halliwell and Gutteridge 1999). A failure to maintain a balance between the formation of oxidants (e.g., RONS) and their removal by our various antioxidant systems produces a state known as oxidative stress. Powerful oxidants such as those just discussed can damage proteins, DNA, and the unsaturated fatty acid molecules in membranes. It is no wonder, then, that aging and a variety of diseases, such as cancers, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and type 2 diabetes, have a relationship to oxidative
stress.

Figure 5.20 summarizes a number of important reactions that produce and remove ROS, such as SOD, catalase, and GPX. In addition to specific antioxidant enzymes, the body contains a number of nonprotein antioxidant molecules. For example, the essential nutrients vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotenoids such as b-carotene can by themselves scavenge free radicals. Minerals such as selenium, zinc, manganese, and copper are constituents of antioxidant enzymes. Finally, a host of non-nutrient antioxidants from a wide variety of foods of plant origin are important. The general name phytochemical is applied to those molecules that can function in our bodies as antioxidants. Fruits, vegetables, and grains, as well as common products derived from these such as tea and wine, are the major sources. Flavonoids, polyphenols, and lycopene are common examples of phytochemicals.

Exercise and Oxidative Stress

It is extremely difficult to directly measure free radical formation in a human being. Rather, we use indirect measures to point to increased or decreased ROS formation; from this, we make inferences. From a theoretical perspective, during exercise, we should expect a greater formation of superoxide, and therefore hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals, simply because of an increased flux through the electron transport chain with the increased need for ATP. Since we can greatly increase oxygen consumption and oxidative phosphorylation during exercise, it has been postulated that exercise can increase the generation of oxygen radicals and the possibility of oxidative damage or stress in muscles and other tissues.

Even though the proportion of oxygen that undergoes one- instead of four-electron reduction should decrease with increased activity of the electron transport chain, the fact that the overall flux may increase 10- to 20-fold above resting levels when we exercise should lead us to suspect an increase in superoxide formation. Bailey and colleagues (2003) were the first to actually measure increased formation of free radicals in venous blood of humans during a single-leg exercise task, using an expensive technique known as electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. In this study, the researchers noted that the outflow of free radical species in the venous blood increased as exercise intensity increased.

The active muscle is not the only source of increased RONS formation during exercise. It has been observed that RONS production by white blood cells increases with exercise. However, the effect of RONS production by white blood cells is increasingly blunted the more trained the person is for the particular exercise activity (Mooren, Lechtermann, and Völker 2004). This is likely a consequence of increased antioxidant enzyme activity in white blood cells with training (Elosua et al. 2003). Some types of exercise, such as intense isometric or eccentric contractions, can create inflammation in muscle. Part of the inflammatory response is caused by neutrophils (white blood cell subset) accumulating in the muscle. As mentioned earlier, these cells produce superoxide that can cause damage within the muscle and can also produce other reactive species (Nguyen and Tidball 2003). Obesity, a major public health problem, is characterized by elevated markers of oxidative stress. When people who are obese perform either aerobic or resistance exercise, they produce higher levels of lipid peroxidation products than normal-weight individuals (Vincent, Morgan, and Vincent 2004). Acute feeding of high-fat diets also increases RONS production in rodents. Such a response suggests either an enhanced production or a reduced ability to scavenge free radicals, or both, in the obese state. Aging is also characterized by increased RONS production and oxidative stress, and increased RONS are associated with various diseases of senescence (Pourova et al. 2010).

Rested muscle produces RONS. When muscle becomes more active, formation of RONS increases. Having some RONS in muscle confers a benefit, since they are often important signaling agents that help regulate acute responses to exercise as well as positive adaptations to training in the muscles. Animal studies have demonstrated that inhibiting RONS production during exercise training actually blunts the signaling pathways that regulate adaptations to training, such as increasing mitochondria and aerobic capacity in skeletal muscle (Gomez-Cabrera et al. 2005). Important signaling pathways such as NFkB can help regulate antioxidant adaptations and mitochondrial synthesis consequent to endurance training. The inhibition of RONS production during exercise can blunt the response of these pathways and, consequently, positive training-induced adaptations (Powers et al. 2010). However, a study involving endurance training in humans failed to demonstrate a short-term negative effect of antioxidant supplements on endurance training adaptations (Yfanti et al. 2010).

Dietary antioxidants such as vitamin E and vitamin C have been touted as important for minimizing muscular damage from exercise. Athletes have often been encouraged to supplement their diets with a variety of antioxidants. While eating a diet high in antioxidants would likely have health benefits and could influence longer term effects of oxidative stress such as aging, studies have demonstrated that it is unlikely that large intakes of antioxidants will have significant physiological effects in diminishing exercise-induced muscle damage; instead, they may inhibit positive adaptations to training (McGinley, Shafat, and Donnelly 2009; Gomez-Cabrera et al. 2008). In addition, studies have demonstrated that antioxidant supplements taken during training may also suppress health-promoting benefits such as improved insulin resistance (Ristow et al. 2009).

Unaccustomed exercise and overtraining lead to muscle soreness, inflammation, and damage. This can be reduced by repeated exposure to the activity or through training. Attempts to limit the amount of stress by taking anti-inflammatory medication such as NSAIDs can potentially reduce oxidative stress in muscles that results from infiltration of white blood cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages. However, since the presence of white blood cells, particularly macrophages in muscle following exercise, is obligatory for the activation of muscle satellite cells and their role in stimulating muscle hypertrophy, reducing inflammation may also limit the amount of muscle repair, adaptation, and hypertrophy that would be induced by the training.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/the-negative-effect-of-reactive-oxygen-and-nitrogen-species-rons-on-human-cells

The technique in this video is found in Sport Taping Basics DVD, Second Edition, by David Perrin. As the perfect complement to the popular text Athletic Taping and Bracing, Third Edition, the DVD provides a simple, straightforward tutorial on using tape to help prevent injuries and to rehabilitate injured athletes.

If you are unable to view the video player below, visit our YouTube channel.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/support-a-strain-with-a-hip-spica

Using a Season to Promote Fairness and Competition

A well-planned season can deliver a structure for fair competition. Both fairness and competition are required for a successful season. Yet for many teachers, competition is a bit of a dirty word, especially when it comes to physical education, because it can engender behaviours that are antisocial. However, we believe that in many physical education classes this is caused by a mismanagement of competition, particularly in the way competition is planned for.

Many physical education lessons do not involve ongoing teams or seasons of games. One reason for this is that some teachers believe that this way of doing things reduces competition. They believe that a season of games with the same teams will simply result in one team being successful while most others are unsuccessful. But, paradoxically, this will always be true when the ‘season’ is composed of only one game. When teams are only valid for one lesson and only play one game together, it may be experienced as a one-game season. The winner takes all with no chance for the losing team to improve.

In most situations, someone, some team, has to lose a game. In the situation of the one-game season, this team never gets a chance to focus that feeling of disappointment into improvement. And even if there is another game, there is not much point focusing on improvement if there is no opportunity or structure provided through which to improve. If the next physical education lesson is simply another game, then the competitive aspect is exacerbated as the losing team will most likely lose again, and so on. The one-game season only works to reduce competition because the team is less meaningful. The team lasts for only one game. So while the teacher has achieved a reduction in competition, this is done by reducing the meaning of the event for the students. They have no need to get competitive over something that means very little.

Additionally, in this circumstance, emphasis usually shifts away from the team to talented individuals. These are the players who carry the undeveloped team because they can generally perform without a team, especially when no team involved in the competition is well developed. In this form of team, there is an I. The game becomes a battle of the good players. Here a team of champions defeats all other teams because no other team can be a champion team. Yet these good players are not the ones who really need this high level of access to the majority of opportunities in physical education. And everyone is missing out on the learning that comes from forging a good team focused on improving across a season of games, a season that provides significant time and structure for practice.

The urge to invest in practice does not exist without the meaning provided by team, game and season. All good sporting teams spend more time practicing than playing competition games. But they practise because they are a team, the team is involved with a game, and the game is played across a season in competition with other teams. If a team loses, they look to how they can improve their performance in the next game by practicing in the interim. This is how we usually understand sport to be structured. Yet in physical education we tend to characterise sport by simply listing the names of adult sports rather than the structures that are part of all sports. These structures are well documented in the sport education model.

In creative PE we develop our own teams and games with a significant level of student input. These teams and games are the building blocks of sport as it is played through a season of games. It is through these structures that sport is meaningful for physical education, not just as training for adult sports. Physical education should not simply be about preparing students for adult organised sports. Physical education should help young people to understand how best to work with these structures of sport, of which a season is a major one. In the lives of many young people, informal seasons structure the playing of a game over numerous lunchtimes.

Various Forms of Season

There are many forms of season. The most common is the round robin, or versions of it, in which all teams play each other at least once. This form of season is usually perceived as fair, as long as each team plays each other team an equal number of times. Another type of season or fixture is that used in competition tennis. This is usually a knockout (or single elimination) competition that is not as fair in participatory terms as a round robin. Single elimination is structured to determine which is the best team or individual. Fairness is introduced by seeding the players and then spreading these through the draw. But in the adult world, these knockout competitions are usually part of a larger series; if you get knocked out of one, then you prepare for the next one. Still another form of season is that used in many boxing competitions, often called a challenge cup. One person or team holds the cup at any one time and others challenge this person or team; whoever wins the challenge gets to hold the cup until the next challenger comes along.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/using-a-season-to-promote-fairness-and-competition

Game Skills

Many traditional physical education lessons focus intently on movement or motor skill development because these are seen as the building blocks of improved performance. However, teachers of these lessons usually assume that the students can see the connections between these skills and the games they are playing; they also often assume that this connection is so obvious that the students will put effort into developing their skills in drills and other small group activities before they have even played a game. However, in these typical situations, there is little or no team affiliation, and there is no season; thus many students see this form of skill development as something they just have to do for the teacher in order to stay out of trouble.

When team performance in the game is analyzed, a key area that is usually identified for improvement, apart from tactics, relates to skills. Students should be given the time to think about which skills are important to the game via the Game Skills Review. The skills that the teacher deemed must be included in the game when it was created should be amongst these. Other skills will, of course, also emerge as important in relation to the design of the class game.

Game Skill Analysis and Feedback

When students realize that they, as a team, need to develop a particular game skill in order to improve their team’s performance in a season of games, then they are usually much more motivated to engage in the effort required for practice. But improving performance of a game skill usually involves more than just doing it repetitively. It requires developing a better understanding of how the skill works (the techniques of the skill) and receiving feedback on how the student is actually performing the techniques.

The basic techniques or parts of a game skill are usually fairly obvious to students, and yet they are often conveyed to students as if they are teacher-derived facts to be learnt. This situates these techniques outside the everyday experience of young people. However, these techniques are familiar to many of them although many would not have stopped to observe and think about them.

Thus the first task in helping students to develop a game skill is to have them observe each other executing it in a controlled setting, such as throwing a ball to a partner to catch and return (or passing and receiving for older students). In this early analysis, the situation they observe will be fairly static: standing still. As their understanding progresses, these observations may be more accurately contextualized in mini-games and eventually in the season games. You will probably find that when the skill is contextualized in the game it changes subtly (or even significantly). This is why we have called them game skills rather than fundamental or foundational skills.

When students are observing each other, they should be watching the main parts of their teammate’s body for what is going on:

Eyes—where are they looking or what are they looking at?

Arms and hands—what are their arms and hands doing?

Legs and feet—what are their legs and feet doing?

Torso—what is the main part of their body doing?

These observation activities can involve experimentation; they shouldn’t simply be aimed at somehow determining the right answers. Trying different ways to perform the skill by doing different things with eyes, arms and hands, legs and feet, and torso, involves much more thought. Students will recognise amongst their teammates and classmates a range of techniques from which to choose. And for older students especially, it should become apparent that different techniques, even though part of the same skill, may be better used in different parts of the game. For example one type of throw may be important when scoring, another type when passing.

Drawing stick figures to portray the movement can be helpful. This is a task that could be supported by teams using their whiteboard and then sharing these drawings in class, for instance by the teacher taking photographs of the whiteboards and displaying them on a large screen. Multiple versions of this sheet can be used for the same game skill as students refine their understanding of this skill as it is used in the game.

Once the skill has been analyzed in a basic way, students in their teams can be asked to develop ways of practising this game skill. These activities may be drills or mini-games. The important thing is for the activity to involve repeated use of the skill in ways that are similar or identical to those of the class game. During these activities, students can be watching each other perform the skill.

Curriculum Integration Activity

Technology

Students can use a technology tool such as a digital camera, flip camera, video camera or something similar to record each other performing the game skills. Create a checklist of all the steps required in the skill and rate each other on each performance against those steps.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/learning-game-skills-to-improve-team-performance

Game Fitness

Fitness is a very broad topic, as seen in the various interpretations of health-related fitness; these encompass cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition. In creative PE, we are most concerned with game-related fitness, meaningful because it is associated with performance in the game although this can always have general health benefits. Game-related fitness usually concerns endurance, strength and flexibility. In terms more easily understood by younger students, this translates into fitness activities, strength exercises and flexibility stretches.

The benefits from strength exercises and flexibility stretches will vary according to the age of the student. However, we believe that incorporating them into a fitness circuit will help introduce younger students to some of these activities, an advantage for them in later years at school and beyond.

A circuit is a relatively simple activity to manage. Students can develop their own activities for fitness, strength and flexibility. These can be as simple as running around the perimeter of the game space for fitness, doing sit-ups for strength and touching toes for flexibility. Other exercise and stretching ideas can be developed by each team, possibly as homework. Thus the fitness circuits can evolve under direction of each team.

When a fitness circuit is devised, the number of repetitions of each activity that each teammate will do should be decided upon. In this way individuals set their own goals for the activity; these can always be amended as improvement is achieved. Indeed the entire fitness circuit can be regularly changed by a team as new ideas for activities are developed. Taking one’s pulse is another way of measuring improvement in fitness.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/game-related-fitness-has-positive-effect-on-performance

If you are unable to view this video, click here to watch it through YouTube.

The Exercise Technique Manual for Resistance Training, Second Edition, has been formatted for use on your iPad! As NSCA’s Exercise Techniques, this app makes exercise techniques even more assessable for quick reference, or to demonstrate proper technique to your clients on the spot.

Like the book, the app offers detailed explanations of technique for 57 free-weight and machine exercises, but rather than searching on the DVDs to find the sample demonstration, the 74 video clips are integrated right into the apprpriate exercise checklists. A table of contents and video directory contain active links to help you navigate directly to the exercise you are looking for.

Order now — NSCA’s Exercise Techniques is available through the Apple App Store at half price for a limited time!

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/nscas-exercise-techniques-app-half-price-for-a-limited-time

Drag Bunt

The drag bunt is an essential tool for a complete slapper. The threat of the drag bunt forces the infield corner players to move closer to the plate, thereby opening up more infield gaps to slap through. The footwork described earlier for the crossover step should be used for the drag bunt.

Technique

During the crossover step, the slapper should slide her top (left) hand up the bat as far as possible while remaining comfortable (see figure 2.8a). The bottom (right) hand should remain near the knob of the bat on the grip. Separating the two hands allows for greater bat control. The slapper wants to bring her bottom hand to her right side and keep it close to her body. A common mistake made in bunting is to extend the bottom hand away from the body too much (see figure 2.8b). This causes the barrel to angle toward foul territory, and the batter will bunt the ball foul.

Slappers should have the barrel at the top of the strike zone when they bring it into the contact area. This gives them a guideline for identifying the strike zone. If the barrel is at the top of the zone, the slapper knows that any pitch above the barrel is a ball and that she should let it go. If a pitch is below the barrel but above the knees, the pitch is a strike, and the slapper may want to bunt it. For a low pitch, the slapper will bend her knees to bring the barrel down to the height of the pitch. She does not want to drop the bat head because that will increase her chances of popping up the ball.

At contact, the bat should be level in the zone; the barrel should be even with the handle or slightly out in front. Keeping the barrel out in front of the handle will help ensure that the ball is bunted fair. The slapper needs to “catch” the ball on the bat and should not try to push, drop, or pull back the barrel of the bat. A common mistake that batters make on a drag bunt is to move the barrel at contact in an attempt to direct the ball or deaden it so that it doesn’t go too far. Movement creates the opportunity for a foul ball or pop-up. To help avoid this, batters can pretend that there is a fielder’s glove on the end of the bat and simply catch the ball.

Slappers can do two things to help deaden a drag bunt: slide their top hand farther up the barrel (see figure 2.9a), and bunt the ball on the top 5 inches of the bat (away from the sweet spot). An easy way to practice bunting the ball on the top 5 inches (12.7 cm) is to place a piece of tape around the barrel 5 inches from the top (figure 2.9b). The slapper must make contact in the area between the end of the bat and the tape. Another trick that some players use to help deaden bunts is to point their index finger up the barrel of the bat. (figure 2.9c).

Placement and Strategy

Unless the slapper is trying to bunt to a specific infielder, the ideal placement for a drag bunt is approximately 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3.0 m) directly in front of home plate. A drag bunt placed an equal distance from the catcher, pitcher, and third- and first-base players will require communication between all four players about who is going to field the bunt. Whenever a batter can create communication issues for the defense, she has also created the potential for miscommunication and mistakes.

The Cones for Placement Targets drill on page 22 is a great way to work on placement for the drag bunt too. Create a circle with either cones or field chalk around the area where you want the ball to be bunted; the slappers then work on placing drag bunts in that area. We like to have contests to see who can place the most bunts in the target zone. There is nothing like competition between players to increase the intensity level and performance.

Article source: http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/how-to-slap-hit-using-the-drag-bunt