Good morning! Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this cross-sectional study surveyed 786 university engineering…

Kyle Boas Author of the Tactics Journal

In today’s email:

• Teachers who feel ready for AI report more innovative work in their teaching
• Hamstring injuries may involve trunk and gluteal deficits even after recovery
• Why measuring perception accelerates learning
• Tony Nicalo on why measuring perception accelerates learning

Teachers who feel ready for AI report more innovative work in their teaching

Artificial intelligence readiness and innovative work behavior among university engineering teachers: parallel indirect effects of creative self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy study by Li, Yi, Jiang and Man:

Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this cross-sectional study surveyed 786 university engineering teachers in Chongqing, China. We examined the association between AI readiness and innovative work behavior and tested parallel indirect effects through creative self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy.

AI readiness was positively associated with innovative work behavior. The indirect paths through creative self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy were both significant. AI readiness remained significantly associated with innovative work behavior after both mediators were included, indicating partial mediation.

[…] Universities can support quality education by linking AI training to course design, laboratory teaching, project development, and research tasks, while using guided practice and feedback to build teachers’ confidence.

[…] AI readiness was positively associated with innovative work behavior among university engineering teachers in Chongqing. The indirect paths through creative self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy were both significant. AI readiness remained significantly associated with innovative work behavior after both mediators were included, indicating partial mediation.

[…] AI readiness includes knowledge of AI principles, applications, trends, and ethical requirements (Wang X. et al., 2023). This knowledge may help engineering teachers judge where AI is useful, how it should be applied, and what risks require attention.

If you are not utilizing AI in your work as a coach you are do a disservice to the players in your team.

There are so many creative ways to use things like 3D graphics, small video games, TikTok style reels to show your team created only with a few simple prompts.

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Hamstring injuries may involve trunk and gluteal deficits even after recovery

British Journal of Sports Medicine:

[…] the Nordic hamstring exercise cut injury risk by 49% across 15 trials […]

[…] less than 70% of maximum EMG activity recorded during overground sprinting.

It is not always the spike in the load that causes the hamstring injury. Reduction of match exposure in the 2 preceding matches has been identified as a significant injury risk factor, suggesting chronic under-preparation is equally dangerous.

[…] Athletes who have had previous hamstring strains display significantly lower mean frequency of hamstring activation compared to the uninjured during jumping and landing tasks, with the activation deficit associated with higher landing forces and loading rates.

This means the athlete lands harder and loads the joint more despite subjectively feeling recovered (14).

Weak trunk and gluteal support: footballers who went on to injure their hamstrings showed lower gluteus maximus, erector spinae and oblique activity during swing. The opposite iliopsoas can add more than 25mm of stretch to the biceps femoris long head, while gluteal and oblique contraction reduces it (7).

[…] The Askling H-test earns its own line. It is a ballistic active straight-leg raise that exposes the insecurity an athlete can still feel after strength, range and palpation look clear.

[…] athletes reported marked insecurity on the injured leg despite a normal common clinical examination; the authors also reported that 95% of athletes in their clinical use of the test felt insecurity before final clearance (23).

[…] However its evidence base is limited to two studies led by its own developer, so findings need further validation (41).

Hamstring injury risk isn’t just about hamstring strength. Trunk and gluteal activation during sprinting may matter, while altered muscle activation and landing mechanics can persist after symptoms resolve.

Original research: Prospective study of gluteal and trunk activation in footballers.

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Why measuring perception accelerates learning

Author of The Weasel Way and presenter of United Soccer Coaches’ Reading the Game series Tony Nicalo:

In perceptual training, measurement does more than become something that is managed. It accelerates learning.

When a player knows you’ll count their scanning, they scan more. Measurement creates attention, and what players attend to is what gets stored.

The instrument becomes part of the training.

I wish coaches taught me how to scan when I was a kid.

It’s exactly how we implemented it with a World Cup-winning coach and his team.

For them, we also built a library of pause-and-quiz videos. We measure the speed and accuracy of the players’ responses to rate their reading ability.

But this is what they measure on the pitch, in training and matches.

This would be a great app idea local to a club, if it doesn’t exist already.

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POLL

Tony Nicalo on why measuring perception accelerates learning

Author of The Weasel Way and presenter of United Soccer Coaches’ Reading the Game series Tony Nicalo:

In perceptual training, measurement does more than become something that is managed. It accelerates learning.

When a player knows you’ll count their scanning, they scan more. Measurement creates attention, and what players attend to is what gets stored.

The instrument becomes part of the training.

I wish coaches taught me how to scan when I was a kid.

Nicalo:

It’s exactly how we implemented it with a World Cup-winning coach and his team.

For them, we also built a library of pause-and-quiz videos. We measure the speed and accuracy of the players’ responses to rate their reading ability.

But this is what they measure on the pitch, in training and matches.

This would be a great app idea local to a club, if it doesn’t exist already.

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