Sports Dispatch

Chaoyang Park
Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground

Big Beach Sports
Another casual sports minigame fest for Wii, Big Beach includes six games: cricket, volleyball, soccer (football), American Football, disc golf and bocce.

Motor Learning in Children: Feedback Effects on Skill Acquisition
Background and Purpose

Reduced feedback during motor skill practice benefits motor learning. However, it is unknown whether these findings can be applied to motor learning in children, given that children have different information-processing capabilities than adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different relative frequencies of feedback on skill acquisition in children compared with young adults.

Subjects

The participants were 20 young adults and 20 children.

Methods

All participants practiced 200 trials of a discrete arm movement with specific spatiotemporal parameters. Participants from each group (adults and children) were randomly assigned to either a 100% feedback group or a reduced (62% faded) feedback group. Learning was inferred from the performance on the delayed (24-hour) retention and reacquisition tests.

Results

All participants improved accuracy and consistency across practice trials. During practice, the adults performed with significantly less error than the children. Adults who practiced with reduced feedback performed with increased consistency during the retention test compared with those who practiced with 100% feedback. In contrast, children who received reduced feedback during practice performed with less accuracy and consistency during the retention test than those who received 100% feedback. However, when feedback was reintroduced during the reacquisition test, the children in the reduced feedback group were able to improve their performance comparable to those in the 100% feedback group.

Discussion and Conclusions

During motor learning, children use feedback in a manner different from that of adults. To optimize motor learning, children may require longer periods of practice, with feedback reduced more gradually, compared with young adults.

Bone Mineral Density of the Tarsals and Metatarsals With Reloading
Background and Purpose

Bone mineral density (BMD) decreases rapidly with prolonged non–weight bearing. Maximizing the BMD response to reloading activities after NWB is critical to minimizing fracture risk. Methods for measuring individual tarsal and metatarsal BMD have not been available. This case report describes tarsal and metatarsal BMD with a reloading program, as revealed by quantitative computed tomography (QCT).

Case Description

A 24-year-old woman was non–weight bearing for 6 weeks after right talocrural arthroscopy. Tarsal and metatarsal BMD were measured with QCT 9 weeks (before reloading) and 32 weeks (after reloading) after surgery. A 26-week progressive reloading program was completed. Change scores were calculated for BMD before reloading and BMD after reloading for the total foot (average of all tarsals and metatarsals), tarsals, metatarsals, bones of the medial column (calcaneus, navicular, cuneiforms 1 and 2, and metatarsal 1), and bones of the lateral column (calcaneus, cuboid, cuneiform 3, and metatarsals 2–5). The percent differences in BMD between the involved side and the uninvolved side were calculated.

Outcomes

Before reloading, BMD of the involved total foot was 9% lower than that on the uninvolved side. After reloading, BMD increased 22% and 21% for the total foot, 16% and 14% for the tarsals, 29% and 30% for the metatarsals, 14% and 15% for the medial column bones, and 28% and 26% for the lateral column bones on the involved and uninvolved sides, respectively. After reloading, BMD of the involved total foot remained 8% lower than that on the uninvolved side.

Discussion

The increase in BMD with reloading was not uniform across all pedal bones; the metatarsals showed a greater increase than the tarsals, and the lateral column bones showed a greater increase than the medial column bones.

Undiscovered Activities at Walt Disney World
Few days ago, in a nice October afternoon of 2007, I was channel hopping on TV, and found a travel documentary tv show about the many undiscovered activities in Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. For a lot of people like myself, we see the Disney World as a theme park with rides, novelty shops, food bars, and shows, but the tv show travel documentary revealed that there are a lot more to Disney World that just a theme park.

I cannot remember exactly what channel the show was aired, but I realized that there are plenty of other activities in Disney World that were not known by majority of the people, i guess, not until the tv show documentary got aired this year (2007). Until then, I never realized that Disney World offers the following activities for the visitors:

Private surfing lessons and surfing in the laggoon
Para-sailing in the lake
Scuba diving in one of the biggest tank in the world and see most sea creature all in one day
Special trip to the Safari before the park opens and have close encounter with the animals in the Animal Kingdom
Nascar driving experience where you can drive fast race car at 140+ miles/hour legally
A luxury yatch for rent, to celebrate a special day

I honestly could not remember everything that were revealed in the tv show, but it sure was amazing to find out that there are a lot more that Disney World are offering to the public, and all of it sounds really fun! I had a blast during our visit to Disney World few years ago, but trying out some of the activities mentioned above would be great experience.

NOTE: This article was written by JAZEVOX on October 12, 2007

The Best Alternative to Driving Is California Train Travel

 This has been cold winter in many parts of the country, and I bet many people in the upper Midwest are thinking about going on a vacation, just to see some green, get some fresh air, and get away from the crippling cold. California train travel is a good way to see this beautiful state, and Amtrak has some wonderful options for seeing this state, without the hassle of driving. Many Californians prefer California train travel to driving vacations because they know the hassles that freeway closures and tie ups cause, so they elect to leave the car at home and hop on a train.

California train travel, especially along the coast, is wonderfully relaxing and the scenery is second to none. Imagine hour after hour of watching the Pacific Ocean and its beautiful cliffs, sea birds, pounding waves, and surfers from the comfort of a train as you speed by at 60 to 70 miles an hour. California train travel affords many luxuries, and not just the views. The food in the dining cars is really good, the sleeping cars are comfortable, and best of all, you do not have to do any of the driving.

California Travel Guide
Let us show you around one of the largest states in the United States (behind only Alaska and Texas in size) and be your California travel guide.  Travel to California, which is also called the Golden State originating from the Gold Rush of 1849, and you are entering the U.S. west coast and one of the most visited places in the world.  Why do so many travel to California?  Because it is a fantastic state with rich diversity of regions, weather and beauty.  You have got well populated metropolitan big cities, laid back beach and surfing scenes, wildly diverse climates, pristine lakes, towering mountain ranges and serene desert areas.  You really can find it all when you travel in California!

Beijing Olympics Temporary Venues
Beijing Olympics Temporary Venues

News Bytes of the Week–In Judo, Blue Is Not Best [News]

Blue duds win judo matches? Maybe notResearchers scored a takedown this week on a 2005 study that found an inexplicable advantage for judo players in blue outfits squaring off against contenders wearing white in the 2004 Olympics. The finding implied that maybe the blue was more intimidating or made blows harder to see coming. Skeptical, evolutionary biologists from Scotland and the Netherlands took a closer look at the Olympic matchups and noticed that because of the way the tournament was structured, higher-seeded grapplers wore blue more often than white (they alternated outfits, or judogi, between matches), and blue-clad contestants were more likely to have had extra rest between matches as well as more matches to that point than their white-garbed opponents. When the researchers controlled for these effects in the Olympic matches, the advantage of donning a blue judogi disappeared. (Proceedings of the Royal Society B) [More]

Make Your Own Olympics
Create your own olympics using these fun game ideas and more.

25 Nov 2007 - WIN A ‘BORDZ-UP
WIN A " BORDZ-UP " RACK ! Board the World and Bordz- Up are you giving you the chance to win a GSR-1000 Snowboard Rack this Christmas. We have 5  x GSR -1000 racks to give away and all you have to do is send us an email here at Board the World and let us know where you are going to hang your snowboard.. Simple ? Entries close Sunday 16th December.

Wearable Electronics
Motorola and Burton Snowboards have teamed up before releasing their Audex Bluetooth Jacket Series, it was a success, so they are doing it again. Expanding their wearable electronics collection, enabling easy wireless communication and music entertainment from snowboard apparel. The new electronic fashion for 2007 will include Audex Bluetooth Stereo System that streams downloaded music

09 Jan 2008 - Project Uzbekistan: Snowboarding and Vodka
"Do you know that places only yield up their secrets, their most profound mysteries, to those who are just passing through?" - Salman Rushdie Our pommie mates former Whitelines Snowboard Magazine Editor Matt Barr and partner in crime Photographer James McPhail were at it again after hitting up Russia and drinking copious amounts of Vodka last year, they pulled together a new crew and headed further into the X - Soviet Union to the Republic of Uzbekistan. I’m not sure if they were heading out for the snow or the chance to drink more straight vodka and yellow snow … Check this great account of a hidden nation - welcome to Uzbekistan!

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Skateboards just for girls take off
The first time Frank Davern got an order for a girl’s skateboard, he didn’t have one quite ready to ship. In fact, he had never made a skateboard in his life.

Lawmaker Pushes For Ban Of Toughman Bouts
After the February death of a Toughman fighter in Texarkana, an Arkansas lawmaker is working to ban the events.

Xiaolin Showdown
A toon-based four player fighter that answers the age-old question: “How do you make a competitive brawlfest as boring as possible?”

Ovechkin breaks tie, forces Game 7
Held without a goal for four straight games, Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the third period to lift the Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night and send the series back to Washington for a decisive Game 7.

Ultimate Hockey Resources Updated
Click Here For Latest Additions - Fantasy Hockey Lessons II (PuckJunkie) - Fantasy Hockey Lessons I (PuckJunkie) - Rookie Watch (About.com) - NHL Quick Fix (About.com) - Latest NHL Player News (RotoWorld) - Advancers & Decliners (RotoWorld)

Michael Kors Spring 2008
Michael Kors has certainly captured the privileged, leisurely life look. Tennis shorts and a white cashmere hoodie under a navy blazer. A white cable-knit v-neck sweater with navy trim under a navy blazer paired with white shorts. But the whole collection didn’t have this kind of predictability. What really caught my eye though was a silver button down polo with a silver metallic belt and silver sharkskin pants. See the highlights from the Michael Kors spring 2008 collection.

U.S. Women Beat Japan; Galaxy Falls, Beckham Sits
Christian Gimenez scores on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to help CF Pachuca tie FC Dallas, 1-1, in the second match of SuperLiga 2007 Group A play for both teams.