ISSN : 1598-2920
PURPOSE This study analyzes the elementary physical education (PE) instructor system and identifies patterns of change and their underlying causal mechanisms. METHODS The study examines the systems that define the qualifications and roles of elementary school instructors, focusing on the subject specialist teacher system, the secondary-to-elementary teacher system, and the sports instructor system. These systems are analyzed using an integrated approach that combines morphogenetic theory and historical institutionalism. RESULTS First, during the implementation of the subject specialist teacher system, structural and institutional conditions created a necessary/incompatible relationship between the government and the education sector. This led to a compromise interaction, resulting in the implementation of the subject specialist teacher system. This change represents a case of morphogenesis, following a pattern of gradual change through displacement. Second, during the implementation of the secondary-to-elementary teacher system, structural and institutional conditions produced a contingent/incompatible relationship between the government and the education sector. Consequently, a competitive interaction occurred, leading to the establishment of the secondary-to-elementary teacher system. This change is also classified as morphogenesis, with a pattern of gradual change through layering. Third, during the implementation of the sports instructor system, structural and institutional conditions fostered a contingent/compatible relationship between the government and the education sector. This resulted in an opportunistic interaction, culminating in the adoption of the sports instructor system. This change is considered morphogenesis and exhibits a pattern of radical change. Fourth, during the coexistence period of multiple elementary PE instructor systems, structural and institutional conditions created a necessary/compatible relationship between the government and the education sector. As a result, a defensive interaction occurred, leading to institutional path dependency and morphostasis. CONCLUSIONS This study presents three key findings. First, the education sector's role as an active agent in shaping changes to the elementary PE instructor system has gradually diminished. Second, institutional changes have been implemented in ways that promote openness and enhance PE expertise. Third, these changes have not addressed the fundamental challenges facing elementary PE.
PURPOSE This study examines factors surrounding the work environment of Korean professional baseball coaches and provides implications from practical and policy perspectives. METHODS Data were obtained from 14 experts consisting of baseball coaches, front office staff, professors, and a sports journalist using Delphi technique and analytic hierarchy process analysis from September to October 2024 and were analyzed using SPSS WIN 24.0 and MS Excel 2019. RESULTS First, this study ranked the main factors “performance evaluation and contracts,” “workload,” “organizational culture,” and “support” in order of importance. Second, “enhancing job stability” was observed as the key subfactor under the “performance evaluation and contracts” domain, while “improving the work atmosphere” was prioritized in the “workload” category. Under “organizational culture,” the “elimination of nepotism and school-tiebased inequality” was the most significant, while “increasing staff and strengthening cooperation” was prioritized in the “support” domain. Third, analysis of the weighted priorities highlighted “enhancing job stability,” “raising salaries,” “increasing transparency in performance evaluation criteria,” “improving the work atmosphere,” and “elimination of nepotism and school-tie-based inequality.” CONCLUSIONS This study provides meaningful empirical data for developing the KBO League and is expected to help improve the working environment for professional baseball coaches.
PURPOSE This study investigated the neurophysiological and emotional impact of exercise in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. METHODS Fourteen participants, aged 10–18 years, completed a 12-week rehabilitation program. The program consisted of 60-minute aquatic or land-based exercise sessions, conducted three times per week. RESULTS EEG analyses revealed that the aquatic exercise group experienced significant increases in theta, low-alpha, and high-alpha activity over time. Positive changes were also observed in several subscales of the Exercise-Emotion Scale, specifically fun, pride, vitality, catharsis, and achievement. These results suggest that the unique sensory characteristics of the aquatic environment—buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, and temperature—may promote emotional stability and neural activation. However, frontal alpha asymmetry (FAS) did not differ significantly between the groups, indicating that neither intervention produced marked changes in motivational tendencies such as approach or withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS These findings support the potential of aquatic rehabilitation as an effective emotional intervention and emphasize the importance of incorporating long-term, neurophysiologically integrated approaches in future research.
PURPOSE This study explored foot angle control’s influence on lower extremity joints’ kinematic variables during bodyweight squats in adult women. The study compared correlation variances among kinematic variables to evaluate foot angle control’s impact on knee stability and movement performance. METHODS Participants included 29 healthy adult women over 20 years old. Each participant completed three sets of five repetitions under two conditions: foot angles of 0° and foot external rotation angle of 30°. Data analysis used Cortex 8.0 software. A paired sample t-test compared lower limb joint angles and center of mass (COM) height of the pelvic region based on foot angle. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to assess correlations between each dependent variable; to analyze differences, Fisher’s Z transformation was applied to significantly correlated pairs. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS Findings indicated that, compared to 0° (p < 0.05), at a foot external rotation angle of 30°, hip joint abduction, knee joint flexion, and ankle external rotation angles significantly increased, whereas the knee valgus angle significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Moreover, at the foot external rotation angle of 30° (p < 0.01), pelvic COM’s vertical movement range increased, resulting in deeper squats. Correlation analysis among lower extremity joint kinematic variables under different foot angle conditions showed no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS At a foot external rotation angle of 30°, adult women performed bodyweight squats with reduced knee valgus angle and potentially decreased knee joint loading, indicating lower risk of injury and increased squat depth due to enhanced lower extremity joint freedom. Thus, adjusting the foot angle to 30° during adult women’s bodyweight squats can be recommended to enhance knee stability and movement performance.
PURPOSE Recently, local governments have demonstrated an increased interest in sports cities to strategically ensure sustainable urban competitiveness, revitalize the local economy, and improve residents’ quality of life. Therefore, this study identifies key factors and their priorities for building a sustainable sports city image in noncapital local governments based on city branding and local governance theories. METHODS Data were collected from a panel of 15 experts in sports cities using modified Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process and analyzed using SPSS 23.0, Excel, and the cloud-based research automation platform SSRA, obtaining means, standard deviations, content validity ratios, interquartile ranges, stability, convergence, consensus, and consistency ratios. RESULTS The Delphi survey produced 6 key factors and 27 items. The key factors, according to relative importance, were as follows: “securing adequate financial resource,” “support from local government,” “revitalization of community-based sports activities,” “establishment governance among stakeholders,” “efforts toward sports city branding,” and “promotion of sports industry.” For each factor, important items were “mayoral interest and commitment,” “building cooperative networks with sport federations, local sports associations, and education offices,” “sufficient budgetary support from the local government,” “development of sports infrastructure,” “attracting professional sports teams,” and “designation and development of locally specialized sports.” CONCLUSIONS Local governments should first establish structural foundations by securing sufficient budgets and providing administrative support, among other tasks, as a starting point for designing sports city policies. When branding strategies that systematically strengthen a sports city’s identity and symbolism are organically linked based on these structural conditions, the effectiveness and sustainability of sports city policies can be further enhanced.
PURPOSE This study optimized stopword removal to enhance topic modeling performance. We propose an objective method combining normalized pointwise mutual information (NPMI) with median-based term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF–IDF) to automatically generate stopwords. METHODS Using text data from 443 research papers on “Taekwondo sparring,” we selected stopword candidates based on NPMI and identified 30 words with the lowest TF–IDF scores. We examined the impact of removing 1–30 stopwords on u_mass coherence scores. RESULTS The NPMI–TF–IDF method significantly improved coherence (R² = .456; p < .001). However, excessive removal led to diminishing returns, with the optimal coherence score (−11.442) achieved at 200 stopwords. In contrast, manually selected stopwords yielded a lower coherence score (−16.001). The findings indicate that integrating TF–IDF with NPMI effectively preserves meaningful words and outperforms PMI2 and PMI3 approaches. CONCLUSIONS Manual stopword selection can reduce reproducibility. Optimizing stopword removal based on domain-specific characteristics is essential. Future research should validate this method across diverse fields to establish a more generalizable standard.
PURPOSE This study investigated how mental rotation ability affects diving referees’ judgment accuracy through two experiments. METHODS Experiment 1 involved 32 certified diving referees and examined the relations among their prior experience, mental rotation ability, and judging error. Experiment 2 randomly assigned nine novice referees to one of the following training conditions: (1) observational + mental rotation training (OMRT), (2) observational + imagery training (OIT), and (3) observational training only (OT). The effects of each intervention were assessed using a multiple baseline design. RESULTS Experiment 1 showed significantly reduced judging errors due to motor experience and object-centered mental rotation accuracy, whereas no significant effect was observed from refereeing and visual experience. Experiment 2 showed that the OMRT group had the greatest improvement in judgment accuracy and mental rotation performance, while the OIT group displayed moderate improvement, particularly in egocentric mental rotation. CONCLUSIONS Judges’ decision-making accuracy is closely linked to their mental rotation ability. Referee education programs that incorporate mental rotation and imagery training may significantly enhance judging precision and consistency in competitive diving.
PURPOSE This study examined the marathon boom in contemporary Korean society through Baudrillard’s concepts of simulacra, signs, and difference. Specifically, it identified consumerist meanings and sign consumption patterns associated with marathon participation from the perspective of female runners. METHODS Fifteen female marathoners in their 20s and 30s who have participated in at least three marathons and have been actively involved in running-related social media activities were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were obtained from two rounds of in-depth interviews (including photo elicitation) and participant observation during marathon events. Thematic analysis was performed based on Baudrillard’s theoretical framework. RESULTS First, the traditional competitive image of marathons has shifted toward a consumer-oriented leisure activity that features different race distances and festival-like elements, illustrating the replacement of its original reality with the simulacrum of running. Second, participants treated medals and souvenirs not as mere tokens of participation but as symbols of achievement, health, and self-management and identified design, size, and brand value as key criteria for selecting events. Third, sharing photos, certification posts, and other social media practices functioned as a means of expressing social differences and concurrently as a tool for constructing a collective identity, positioning marathon participation as a setting where sign consumption facilitates social differentiation. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the evolution of marathon participation in contemporary Korean society from mere physical activity to a symbolic practice of sign consumption in which individuals construct and express their identities and social positions. The findings highlight how cultural meanings of marathons change as they are increasingly integrated into consumer society.
PURPOSE This study sought to classify the playing styles of KPGA players based on performance-related technical factors and develop a supervised learning model that automatically predicts and classifies these styles. METHODS Performance data were gathered from KPGA Korean Tour players between 2015 and 2024, focusing on six key technical indicators. Distinct playing styles were identified by standardizing the variables using z-scores and then clustering them using the K-means algorithm. Based on the clustering results, predictive classification models were built by applying five supervised learning algorithms—decision tree, random forest, K-nearest neighbors (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), and multinomial logistic regression. Model performance was then evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, with generalizability assessed via five-fold cross-validation. RESULTS Four playing style clusters were obtained, each labeled according to players’ technical characteristics: “overall weakness type,” “distance-deficient but technically proficient type,” “accuracy-oriented type,” and “power and risk-management type.” The multinomial logistic regression model showed the highest predictive performance, followed by SVM, KNN, random forest, and decision tree. CONCLUSIONS This study confirmed that KPGA players can be characterized into four distinct playing styles based on their technical performance data and that these styles can be effectively classified and predicted by supervised learning models. These findings highlight the models’ practical applicability in personalizing training strategies, developing course-specific game plans, and contributing to the advancement of AI-based sports analytics systems.
PURPOSE This study aimed to analyze the differences in center of pressure (COP) and sample entropy (SampEn) between the right and left supporting legs during a single-leg stance task involving vertically and horizontally moving visual stimuli tracking. The objective was to examine the directional processing of visual information and functional asymmetry of the feet in postural control, providing foundational data for balance training design. METHODS This study recruited 20 right-footed adult men (mean age = 26.84 ± 4.47 years) who scored >7 on the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire-Revised. The participants performed a 30-second single-leg stance while tracking visual stimuli with their gaze under different directional conditions. RESULTS Significant differences were observed across gaze directions in all COP and SampEn variables, with the left–right condition yielding the highest values (p < .05). Regarding the supporting leg, a significant difference was observed only in SampEn values in the anteroposterior direction. Moreover, a significant interaction effect between gaze direction and supporting leg was noted in SampEn in the mediolateral direction. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the right and left supporting legs use different postural control strategies. Specifically, the left supporting leg demonstrated a tendency to adopt more complex and adaptive control mechanisms under horizontal gaze shifts, indicating functional asymmetry in postural regulation.
PURPOSE This study identified physical activity patterns among adolescents using latent class analysis (LCA) and examined their associations with mental health outcomes. METHODS Complete data were obtained from 53,350 middle and high school students who participated in the 2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Physical activity variables were moderate-intensity activity, vigorous-intensity activity, muscle-strengthening exercise, and sedentary behavior. Mental health indicators were stress, postsleep fatigue, depression, suicide risk, loneliness, and anxiety. Physical activity patterns were identified using LCA, and their associations with mental health outcomes were assessed using logistic regression. Model selection was based on the Bayesian information criterion, and statistical significance was set at p < .05. RESULTS Male students reported significantly higher physical activity levels than female students (p < .001), whereas female students reported higher vulnerability to stress, depression, suicide risk, loneliness, and anxiety (p < .001). Through LCA, two distinct classes were identified in all groups: “sedentary behavior-centered” and “physical activity-centered.” Notably, most adolescents failed to meet national physical activity guidelines. Logistic regression results showed that the sedentary group was more likely to experience stress (male middle school students: OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.07–1.25; male high school students: OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.26–1.53; female high school students: OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.21–1.83), and male high school students experienced worse anxiety (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.20–1.89). CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight the importance of tailored interventions promoting adolescent mental health through improved physical activity. Studies may adopt gender-specific approaches to account for distinct activity and mental health profiles and increase the effectiveness of health promotion strategies.
PURPOSE This study explores strategies for enhancing the qualitative development of Korean school sports clubs by analyzing the institutional frameworks of school sports clubs in the United States. METHODS Data were collected between October and November 2024. The primary resource included the websites, annual reports, and code books of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). In addition, studies on NFHS and AAU conducted in South Korea and other countries were used to supplement findings from the primary data. RESULTS The analysis identified the roles, organizational structure, educational program, budgetary systems, and website content of NFHS and AAU as the key themes. Specifically, both institutions are non-profit organizations that aim to foster students’ holistic growth as members of society through interscholastic sports competitions. Their parent organizations comprise various regional bodies responsible for overseeing sports club competitions within their jurisdictions. Furthermore, NFHS and AAU offer dedicated or collaborative educational programs that support psychomotor development, social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as academic advancement. Both institutions maintain independent budget structures and operate autonomous systems that are accessible and manageable through their websites. CONCLUSIONS Based on the findings, we recommend establishing a dedicated institution with specialized expertise to manage school sports clubs in Korea, ensuring effective utilization of educational programs, fostering stronger connections between school sports clubs and local communities, and developing diverse business models to support independent budgeting. We also propose follow-up research to further promote the qualitative growth of Korean school sports clubs.
PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate energy availability and dietary intake among female Korean national handball players and to examine the effects of sports nutrition on their dietary habits. METHODS Sixteen players from the 2024 Korean women’s national handball team participated in the study. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to assess body composition. Low energy availability (LEA) was assessed using the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q). Dietary intake was evaluated before and after a sports nutrition education program using seven consecutive 24-hour recalls. Professional nutrition analysis software was utilized to assess weekday and weekend intakes of major macro- and micro-nutrients. A face-to-face nutrition education session was provided after the first dietary intake survey. The program covered the functions and recommended levels of macro- and micronutrients, specifically focusing on their link to sports performance. RESULTS Based on the LEAF-Q assessment, 37.5% of female national handball players were classified as being at risk, with particularly high tendencies of suffering injuries (62.5%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (75%). Following the nutrition education intervention, fat-free mass and skeletal muscle mass increased significantly, while fat mass and body fat percentage decreased (p < .05). Improvements were also observed in dietary intake of the players, with a significant increase in carbohydrate and protein consumption and a reduction in fat intake, along with achieving recommended levels on both weekdays and weekends. However, intakes of vitamin D, calcium, and iron remained below recommended levels before and after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that female national handball players faced insufficient energy availability and nutrient imbalances, particularly in vitamin D, calcium, and iron. Nutrition education prompted favorable changes in body composition and macronutrient intake, confirming its effectiveness. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring adequate energy intake, while persistent micronutrient gaps underscore the need for sustained, specific nutritional strategies.
PURPOSE This study examines changes in sport-team employees’ job satisfaction over their tenure and how these are moderated by their organizational identification and team identification, formed through their concurrent roles as fan and employee. METHODS A total of 292 sport-team employees participated in a survey, and their self-reported tenure length served as the time variable. This study estimated the nonlinear pattern of job satisfaction and tested the moderating effects of dual identification using generalized additive mixed models with random effects at the individual level. RESULTS Job satisfaction followed a honeymoon–hangover–rebound curve, rising during the first 0–29.4 months, declining between 29.4 and 76.8 months, and increasing again after 76.8 months. Higher levels of organizational and team identification positively moderated this pattern. CONCLUSIONS Applying a time-based job satisfaction model from organizational behavior to the sport management setting extends the model’s generalizability. This study empirically demonstrated that the fan–employee dual identification can significantly amplify or attenuate the job satisfaction pattern, highlighting the need for sport organizations to develop human resource strategies specific to one’s tenure phase.
PURPOSE Previous research has rarely examined foot segment motion and muscle activity simultaneously in relation to foot type. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how foot type influences segmental foot kinematics and lower limb biomechanics during walking. METHODS Fifty-eight healthy adults were sorted into normal group (NG), pes planus group (PPG), or pes cavus group (PCG) using the Foot Posture Index, navicular drop, normalized navicular height, and normalized instep height. Furthermore, three-dimensional foot kinematics and lower limb muscle activity were recorded during 12-meter, self-paced walking using an optical motion capture system and surface electromyography. Kinematic analysis during the stance phase included measurement of joint angles and ranges of motion (ROM) for the following segments: foot relative to the shank, forefoot relative to the midfoot, lateral forefoot relative to the midfoot, medial forefoot relative to the midfoot, and hallux relative to the medial forefoot. Moreover, muscle activity analysis included the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius. RESULTS Compared with the NG and PPG, the PCG exhibited greater ROMs in the frontal plane for the forefoot relative to the midfoot and medial forefoot relative to the midfoot. Additionally, the PPG exhibited a greater ROM in the frontal plane for the hallux relative to the medial forefoot compared with the NG. The intersegmental angles according to foot type demonstrated distinct kinematic differences between the PPG and NG in the transverse plane, specifically in the forefoot relative to the midfoot and medial forefoot relative to the midfoot relationships. However, no significant differences were observed in lower limb muscle activity during the stance phase. CONCLUSIONS This study provides insights into kinematic changes according to foot type during walking. Moreover, the findings of this study may deepen our understanding of the intrinsic risk factors for lower extremity injuries and tissue stress associated with variations in foot type.
PURPOSE This study investigated how resistance training affects foot pressure during gait in older women with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS A total of 10 older women with knee osteoarthritis underwent a four-week resistance exercise intervention, and their step length, anterior–posterior center of pressure (COP) displacement, and foot pressure were measured before and after the intervention. Step length and anterior–posterior COP displacement data underwent paired t-tests, while time-series foot pressure data of the rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot during the stance phase underwent paired t-tests based on statistical nonparametric mapping (SnPM). RESULTS After the intervention, a significant increase in step length (P = .020) and anterior–posterior COP displacement (P = .001) was observed. SnPM showed increased rearfoot pressure during early to mid-stance (6%–29%), increased midfoot pressure during mid- to terminal stance (20%–57%), and increased forefoot pressure during terminal stance to preswing (74%–89%). CONCLUSIONS Resistance exercise training improved altered foot pressure during gait in older women with knee osteoarthritis.
PURPOSE This study empirically analyzes the relationship between injury prevention factors and injury outcome indicators (treatment costs and injury frequency) among recreational sports participants in order to propose practical policy recommendations for safer sports environments. METHODS The raw data of 6,615 recreational sports participants registered under 64 member sport organizations of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee as of October 2024, drawn from the Korea Sports Safety Foundation’s 2024 Sports Safety Accident Survey, was analyzed. The key injury prevention factors were categorized as environmental factors, sports activity habits, and emergency response factors. Their validity and reliability were verified using exploratory factor analysis and reliability testing. RESULTS Environmental factors significantly reduced injury treatment costs and frequency. Contrary to expectations, sports activity habits showed a positive association with injury frequency, suggesting reverse causality. Emergency response factors were positively associated with treatment costs but showed no significant relationship with injury frequency. CONCLUSIONS Participants without injury experience demonstrated higher safety awareness than those with it, underscoring the importance of systematic safety education and awareness initiatives. However, because the cross-sectional design of this study does not allow the determination of causality, the proposed policy recommendations should be implemented gradually through pilot programs and evaluation and their effectiveness need to be validated by future intervention studies.
PURPOSE This study aimed to develop and validate sex-specific maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) prediction equations for Korean elite athletes aged 10–20 years using physiological and fitness variables derived from the standardized KISS treadmill protocol. METHODS This study used data from 526 elite athletes (373 boys, 153 girls), including adolescents and adults in the Gyeongnam region. VO2max was measured over 2 years using the KISS protocol. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with measured VO2max as the dependent variable and age, height, body weight, body fat percentage, total exercise time, maximal heart rate (HRmax), and reasons for test termination as independent variables. RESULTS The regression equation for male athletes was: VO2max = 45.233 + (0.024 × total time) − (0.097 × body weight) − (1.260 × reason for termination) − (0.112 × body fat percentage). The regression equation for female athletes was: VO2max = 22.913 + (0.024 × total time) − (0.220 × body weight) + (0.106 × HRmax). When compared with five existing prediction models, the proposed equations demonstrated the highest correlation coefficients (male r = 0.743; female r = 0.749). The standard error of estimate for the developed models was 4.27 and 3.57 mL·kg−1·min−1 for males and females, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The sex-specific VO2max prediction equations developed in this study can serve as reliable alternative tools for evaluating cardiorespiratory endurance in elite athletes. Further research incorporating a broader range of physiological variables and age groups is warranted to validate and refine these models.
