Measurement of spinal range of motion is frequently used objective approach in
assessment of patients with low back pain, also because of the ease of use. Although
emphasized, stretching of hip flexors and extensors is often performed inappropriately. We
hypothesized that subjects with reduced hip mobility will probably compensate with pronounced
spine mobility and that a significant negative correlation exist between these two entities. Fifty
one healthy adults (age 43.7 ± 15.1 years) that are regularly involved in moderate physical
activity (agility and endurance) participated in this study. Range of motion was measured by
means of goniometry and adjusted Schober method that were previously shown to be reliable
methods for spine and hip mobility assessment. The correlation between spine movements in
different anatomical planes and correlation between spine and hip mobility was calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between pairs of flexibility variables. Contrary
to our expectations, analysis revealed absence of the correlation between the flexion of the trunk
and flexion of the hip. However, moderate correlations were found between flexibility parameters
related to trunk movements in different direction. Ranges of motion of the hip and of the trunk
give complementary information and cannot be predicted from one another. Therefore, mobility
of both joints/regions should be evaluated in order to get insightful information about movement
function of the lumbo-pelvic region either in the context of low back pain or sports performance.

The aim of this study was to compare the somatotype of youth Croatian female volleyball
players (mean age 14.05 years) in terms of playing performance. All players evaluated were
classified into a less successful group (N=53) and a group of more successful players (N=61). The somatotype means of the whole sample were 4.41 ñ 2.79 ñ 3.68±1.02 ñ 1.04 ñ 1.29, of less
successful players 4.69 ñ 2.94 ñ 3.40 ± 0.95 ñ 0.96 ñ 1.21, and of more successful players 4.17 ñ
2.69 ñ 3.87 ± 1.03 ñ 1.07 ñ 1.30. Based on a Category Chart, 7 somatotype categories were
obtained. A significantly higher proportion of balanced ectomorph somatotype category was
established in more successful players, and a significantly higher proportion of ectomorphic- endomorph somatotype category was found in less successful players.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate, the effectiveness of a balance
training program in male professional handball players. Thirty professional handball players
were randomly divided into experimental and control group. The experimental group (N=15), additional to the training program, followed an intervention balance program for 12 weeks. All
subjects performed a static balance test (deviations from the horizontal plane). The results
revealed that the 12-week balance training program improved (p<0.01) all balance performance
indicators in the experimental group. Thus, a balance training program can increase balance
ability of handball players, and could used as a prevent tool for lower limbs muscular skeletal
injuries.

The results of the Hungarian and the Serbian male handball national teams are similar on
the international level; in the same time, the Hungarian club teams have more success in club
competitions. However, general supposition is that the Serbian handball players are more
successful and more acknowledged across the top European handball leagues. This is confirmed
by numerous Serbian internationals that play at high level in Hungary and other European
countries. We suppose that results of the youth national teams have considerable influence in
later success rate. In this article we were searching for the influential factors behind the success
of one Serbian youth team. Since there were no considerable differences in physical performance
and anthropometric parameters (the Hungarian players were even taller), we assumed the main
differences were in their relation and attitudes to coach and to training. In our study we support
this explanation with an analysis of the attitudes to the head coach, work and physical training. Our samples were selected from one Serbian (Crvenka) and one Hungarian (KomlÛ) youth team. For attitudes assessment a standardized PASSES scale was used (Hagger et al., 2007). The
results show that the Serbian youth players have better relations with their head coach and have
better stance for work and training, which might be an explanation for their better success.

It is well established that warm-up sessions are very important and essential part of every
swimming competition. There is much evidence which tells how strong the influence of these
sessions on swimming performance is. Although there are many suggestions about content of
warm-up sessions in swimming, their duration and intensity, there are no clear conclusions about
all segments of warm-up. Because of that many researchers tried to reveal how good warm-up
sessions should look like. In this study 8 male and 4 female competitive swimmers aged 19 to 26
were tested. They were asked to swim three different warm-up sessions followed by 100 meters
performance with maximal intensity. Before trial number 1 they performed long duration warm- up session, before trial 2 short duration warm-up session and before trial 3 they were asked to
perform warm-up session with high intensity. The recovery time between each warm-up session
and the performance was 5 minutes and during these 5 minutes. ANOVA with Repeated
Measures was used to test the differences in the performance that swimmers achieved after three
different warm up sessions. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The results showed that
there was not significant difference in the performance after long duration and short duration
warm-up sessions (p=1). On the other hand the difference in the performance on the trial 1 and
trial 3 was significant (p=.02). Furthermore, the difference between trial 2 and trial 3 was
significant as well (p=.03). Duration of the warm up session did not have significant influence on
the performance. On the other hand, the results showed that the intensity of the warm-up has big
influence on the performance. High intense warm-up without appropriate recover can cause drop
in the result. More research needs to be done on this topic with many different conditions.

This study compared self reported physical activity (PA) (MET min/week) with
pedometer determined PA (steps/day). Participants in this study were 300 adults, (25 - 56 years
of age). PA was assessed with the IPAQ long form and the number of steps was assessed with
the Yamax model SW-200. Participants wore the pedometer for 7 consecutive days. Data
(categorical score) was analyzed using cross-tabs analysis. Two-way ANOVA (gender 2 x level
of PA 3) was performed on the number of steps/day. Significant main effect was reported only
for the factor ìlevel of PAî with adults in the moderate and the high activity group performing
more steps/day than adults in the low PA group. Adults in Greece performed less steps/day than
the international recommendations PA suggest even though the majority of them were assigned
by IPAQ long form at the moderate and very high PA groups.

The risks of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease could be reduced by increasing the number of individuals receiving adequate levels of physical activity (PA). Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that about 30% of Americans do not engage in any PA and about 40% engage in some levels of PA, but still not meeting the recommended levels defined by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Studies have shown that the greatest declines in PA occur during the transitions from high school to college and beyond. Thus, it is important to identify students at young age that are at health risk due to lack of PA, so that specific steps could be taken toward helping these individuals develop a healthier lifestyle. We used data on 100 college students to develop a preliminary computer program (using a backpropagation multilayer neural network approach) to automatically identify individuals at risk of being not sufficiently physically active. Besides various types of demographic variables, data included information on the association between studentsí self-reported levels of PA and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs (e.g., self- efficacy, self-regulation, social support, expectations), as predictors of participation in PA. The results of this study indicated that the backpropagation multilayer neural network identified and classified individuals at risk of being not sufficiently physically active into right categories (atrisk individuals or not at-risk individuals) 77% of the time. Collecting additional data points that contain more at-risk individuals will improve the neural network's prediction of at-risk individuals.

Skeletal muscle is extremely adaptable to various stresses which can be placed upon it. In spite of importance of skeletal muscles, little is known about genetic factors which demonstrate high influence to muscle size, function, strength and adaptation to various environmental factors. Because endurance performance is a multifactorial trait, the list of candidate genes which could account for human variation in related phenotypes is extensive. One of the first characterized and most frequently studied genetic variant is a polymorphism in the angiotensin converting enzyme I gene. The ACTN3 gene is the first structural skeletal muscle gene with a relation between its genotype and elite sprinterí performance. Nevertheless, current genetic testing cannot provide an extra advantage over existing testing methods in determining sports selection in young athletes. The main challenge still remains to identify other, complex polygenetic variants and their interactions with environmental factors which could provide benefit in the sports selection and existing talent identification.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a 7-week shoulder specific strength training program additional to tennis training sessions on the service velocity of junior tennis players. Initially 60 junior tennis players (29 boys and 31 girls) with at least 2 years of tennis experience and never followed a routine strength program, volunteered to participate in the study. All the subjects followed a regular tennis training session (75 min). The subjects were randomly assigned into three groups: i) group-A, which practiced in addition 15 min service after the tennis session, ii) group-B which practiced a 7-week strength training program (15 min per session, 3 times per week) after the tennis session, and iii) a group-C, control group, which did not follow any extra programs after the tennis session. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to detect differences in each group before and after the experimental period. The independent variable was the group (two experimental groups with different training protocol and the control group with only tennis training), and the repeated factor was the ìtestî (pre and post test, before and after the training period). Statistical significance was accepted at p<.05. It was measured an overall significant quantitative improvement on service performance while, the qualitative findings showed significant improvement in service technique only in group A. 

The Outdoor activities course is an important and very specific segment of study programs which prepare future teachers of physical education and recreation, instructors and similar professional profiles. With the purpose of creating a new concept of course or improve the existing one according to the attitude college students have to the Outdoor activities course, students of the Faculty and Sport and Physical Education were surveyed. The sample consisted of 191 college students of both gender who attended the Outdoor activities courses during the academic years 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003. The sample was evaluated by the Likert scale and the following aspects were included: attitude towards the conditions of course delivery, content, organisation and implementation of the lessons of skiing and camping. Majority of students expressed the affirmative attitudes towards skiing and camping. The obtained results were used in a new conceptualisation of the Outdoor activities course.