This qualitative review of systematic reviews consolidates current knowledge on stress fractures among endurance athletes and sprinters, including epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment strategies. A search across PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, limiting results to articles published within the last year, yielded 90 relevant articles. Initial search results were narrowed down to 56 articles following abstract screening, with an additional article obtained through direct author correspondence. Stress fractures, a subset of bone stress injuries, result from persistent mechanical pressure surpassing bone regeneration capacity. They predominantly affect lower extremities, notably the tibia and metatarsals in endurance runners, and the toe phalanx in sprinters. Various risk factors contribute to stress fracture susceptibility, including gender, nutritional deficiencies, biomechanical factors, and psychological aspects like perfectionism and fear of failure. Diagnosis involves detailed patient history, clinical examination, and imaging modalities such as MRI, which remains the gold standard. Treatment emphasizes rest, gradual return to activity, and addressing underlying risk factors. Surgical intervention is reserved for high-risk fractures or cases of non-union. Preventive measures encompass nutritional optimization, biomechanical assessment, appropriate footwear, and psychological support. Notably, strategies targeting the Female Athlete Triad and ensuring adequate energy availability are crucial in both endurance and sprinting athletes. While more research directly comparing distance runners to sprinters is warranted, along with more sprinting-related research in general, this review provides a comprehensive understanding of stress fractures in endurance athletes and sprinters, aiding clinicians in diagnosis, management, and prevention strategies to optimize athlete health and performance.

Handball is a globally popular and physically demanding sport that requires high-intensity intermittent activities, with a particular emphasis on frequent ball throwing or shooting. The primary aim of this systematic review was to identify the risk factors for shoulder injuries in professional male handball players. The secondary aim is to propose preventive measures for reducing shoulder injuries in professional or elite handball players. This study followed the guidelines provided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar were used to identify relevant studies. Only 8 studies met the eligibility requirements and were incorporated into the review. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) was assessed for the methodological quality of studies. Seven of the total eight studies were considered moderate quality, however, only one study was considered low quality. Based on this review findings, the following risk factors for shoulder injury are prominent among professional and elite male handball players. The primary factors for eventual shoulder injury are shoulder muscle imbalances, range of motion (ROM) discrepancies, glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD), and scapular dyskinesis. Also, in one study authors specified player position as a potential risk factor.

The purpose of the present study was to compare game-related statistics between men's and women's under-17 (U-17) basketball teams and to identify game-related statistics that discriminate between winning and losing teams for both sexes. Games with a final score difference greater than 30 points were excluded from the analysis, so the final sample consisted of 196 games (109 men's and 87 women's games) from the 2022/2023 season of the Triglav Cadet League of Serbia. The following game-related statistics were gathered from the official box scores of the Basketball Federation of Serbia: 2- and 3-point field-goals (successful and unsuccessful), free throws (successful and unsuccessful), defensive and offensive rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers, blocks (committed and received), and fouls (committed and received). Men's teams had significantly better values than women's teams in successful and unsuccessful 2-point field-goals, successful 3-point field-goals, successful and unsuccessful free throws, assists, and turnovers. Women's teams had statistically better values than men's teams in unsuccessful 3-point field-goals, offensive rebounds, steals, and committed fouls. The discriminant factors between winning and losing teams in close games, were successful 2-point field-goals, defensive rebounds and assists for both sexes, and offensive rebounds for men's teams. In balanced games, discriminant factors were assists for both sexes and successful 2-point field-goals for women's teams. In unbalanced games, discriminant factors were assists for both sexes, defensive rebounds for men's teams, and successful 2-point field-goals for women's teams. These findings suggest that there are notable differences in game-related statistics for U-17 men's and women's basketball teams.

Many different anthropological parameters contribute to achieving top success in handball. Morphological characteristics and repetitive strength have been shown through scientific and practical work to be one of the most important indicators of success. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine the differences in some morphological characteristics and repetitive strength in relation to the age of handball players. This research includes subjects of three age categories, handball players born in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The sample of measuring instruments consisted of three independent variables - age category of handball players, three variables for the assessment of morphological characteristics (body height, body mass, body mass index) and three variables for the assessment of repetitive strength (sit ups until failure, push-ups until failure and chin ups until failure). All statistical analyzes were implemented within the statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 20). In all tests of morphological characteristics, significant differences were found (body height, body mass, body mass index) were at the level of p<0.005, while repetitive strength test differences were not found in the push-ups until failure test (p>0.005), but in the sit ups until failure and chin ups until failure tests, significance was determined (p<0.005).

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of motor abilities development in blind students and students without visual impairments, as well as to examine whether there are differences in motor abilities development between these two groups of participants. The research included 22 blind student (11 girls and 11 boys) and 22 students without visual impairments, aged 11-17 years. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2) was used to assess motor abilities. The analysis of the results revealed that the motor abilities development of blind students was significantly below average, while students without visual impairments showed an average level of motor abilities development. When comparing the achievements of blind students and students without visual impairments, it was observed that blind students had poorer performance on both the overall motor test and the subtests of bilateral coordination, upper limb coordination, and balance. On the other hand, students without visual impairments achieved good results on all tested subtests.

Swimming speed depends on anthropometric characteristics, biomechanics factors, physical fitness, physiological components, and genetics. Therefore, this study aimed to identify which anthropometric characteristics influence swimming speed in adolescent competitive swimmers. Thirty-eight male swimmers (aged 16.94 ± 0.8 years; body height: 178.3 ± 5.4 cm; body weight 67.7 ± 9.6 kg) and thirty-five female swimmers (aged 17.12 ± 0.7 years; body height: 175.1 ± 6.6 cm; body weight 59.9 ± 7.1 kg) participated in the study. All swimmers have competed at the national level in Serbia for at least three years and have at least five years of training experience. Fifteen variables were measured: arm length, hand length, leg length, foot length, seat height, wrist diameter, ankle joint diameter, elbow diameter, chest circumference, triceps skinfold, forearm skinfold, abdominal skinfold, subscapular skinfold, thigh skinfold, calf skinfold. The measurements were taken by the Martin anthropometer, Omron digital scale BF511, and John Bull caliper. Swimming speed was measured during 50-m and 100-m front crawl swimming. Multiple regression analysis revealed that arm length, wrist diameter, and chest circumference, all together, accounted for 77% of 100-m front crawl swimming speed in male swimmers, while abdominal skinfold accounted for 90% of 100-m front crawl swimming speed in female swimmers. Results showed that anthropometric characteristics could not account for adolescent swimmers' 50-m front crawl swimming speed. However, anthropometric characteristics can influence the result in swimming (100-m front crawl swimming speed) in adolescents and thus should be considered a diagnostic tool in selecting young swimmers.

In sprint disciplines, the start reaction (SR) time affects the final result in the sprint. This research aimed to analyze and examine whether there are significant differences in the SR in the semi-final and final groups in the 60 m and 400 m disciplines at the World Indoor Championships in Athletics, held in Belgrade in 2022 in men's and women's competition. The aim was also to determine if there were statistical differences between men and women in the 400 m event. T-test for independent samples showed statistical differences between the SR in the 60 m and 400 m athletics events in men (t=-4.434, p=0.000) and women (t=-3.210, p=0.004). For the 400 m running events, an independent samples t-test was used to examine differences between men and women in SR. No significant differences were obtained between men and women in the 400 m event (t=0.401, p=0.691). SR is part of all running disciplines and affects the time achieved in the race (result). Although it has been known for a long time that training can influence SR, a few studies still examine training's effects on SR. The question can be about how much it is possible to reduce SR with specific training exercises or to apply certain neurophysiological methods.

The author finds the reason for writing the paper in the current holding of the World Football Championship in Qatar, as one of the biggest sporting events bigger and more significant than the Olympic Games themselves. Often this great global event is seen as the last place where the small can defeat the big, thereby losing the illusion that the rich and the big always win, and that “David can beat Goliath”. Taking the facts into account, football is still primarily a game of the poor, in which the largest number of footballers came from the margins which, according to the author, reflects its greatest social strength. In his work, the author intends to describe and explain the world in which we live through the prism of not only previous championships. It is through the metaphor of football that the author deals with the issue of global order, with the fact that the main issues of this work are more cultural than economic. As the work is of a theoretical nature, the author's intention is to devote special attention to the consideration of physical culture and sport as a factor of socialization within this theoretical analysis, with a special emphasis on the sociology of football.

Monitoring the prevalence of obesity is of great importance for assessing lifestyle interventions aimed at preventing or reducing the health and economic burden of obesity. A sedentary Westerntype lifestyle results in an increase in the incidence of normal-weight (e.g., thin fat) obesity. In the present cross-sectional study, the regional body composition status (using a multifrequency, medically approved electrical bioimpedance monitor) of 844 Slovene adults was examined. The primary aim was to compare the leg fat percentage to total body fat percentage (LEGFAT%-toTOTFAT%) and to trunk fat percentage (TRUFAT%) (LEGFAT%-to-TRUFAT%) ratios of participants in the normal and obese body mass index (BMI) and categories according to the BMI and obesity classifications of the World Health Organization. In addition, examined how correlated with, sex, and age, according to obesity classification cut-offs. Results showed, for the whole sample, that increases by an average of 0.13% each year (ceteris paribus). However, females in the normal BMI and TOTFAT% categories, but not males, had significantly higher LEGFAT%-to-TOTFAT% and LEGFAT%-to-TRUFAT% ratios than those in the obese category. Furthermore, adjusted R2 (linear regression) showed that 82.5% of the variation in LEGFAT% was explained by variations in TOTFAT%, sex, and age. The present results indicated the increasing importance of studying the regional body composition status, especially of TRUFAT% and LEGFAT% compared with TOTFAT% (beyond the known sex differences). The clinical relevance of the increasing disproportionality in the regional body composition status of females with normal BMI and TOTFAT% needs to be further clarified.

Y-balance test for lower limbs (LQYBT) and upper limbs (UQYBT) are frequently used to assess dynamic single-leg balance. In this study, we aimed to examine the test-retest reliability of both tests, to compare scores on the dominant and nondominant sides and report on the magnitude of asymmetry, as well as assess any gender differences. A sample of 30 healthy, recreationally active individuals (15 men and 15 women; age, 22.83 ± 8.78 years; height, 175.46 ± 8.29 cm; body mass 72.08 kg ± 12.60 kg) completed the LQYBT und UQYBT measurements twice 12 to 14 days. Reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (absolute agreement, two-way random), paired-samples t-test, and typical error (expressed as coefficient of variation, CV). Both tests showed moderate to good relative reliability (ICC = 0.62 – 0.85) and acceptable absolute reliability (CV = 3.54 – 7.20 %), with a possible learning effect for certain reach directions. Men tended to score better than women, but statistically significant differences were confirmed in only 3 of 12 comparisons. Differences between dominant and non-dominant sides were mostly very small and statistically significant in only 2 of 6 comparisons. Mean asymmetry scores were in the range of ~3-6%. These results contribute to the evidence on the utility of LQYBT and UQYBT testing in healthy adults.