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The second edition of the Special Issue titled "Efficiency in Kinesiology: Innovative approaches in enhancing motor skills for Athletic Performance" has been effectively concluded, significantly enriching the discourse on "efficiency in kinesiology" by presenting a diverse array of innovative research findings and methodologies aimed at optimizing athletic performance and motor-skill development (https://www [...].

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PURPOSE: Monitoring performance athletes' training responses can be efficiently completed at competitive events. This study aimed to explore the changes in swimming, countermovement-jump (CMJ), and pull-up (PU) performance following training across a competitive phase, as well as immediately before and after each race. METHODS: Fourteen well-trained male sprint/middle-distance swimmers (height 179 [7] cm, mass 70 [8] kg, age 18 [2] y), from 3 regional training groups, completed CMJ and PU tests before and after the national competitions in October and May, when race performance was also assessed. RESULTS: Swimming race performance was significantly improved from before the national competitions in October to after the national competitions in May (1.8% [3.2%], P = .044, d = 0.60, moderate effect). Although there were no significant changes in PU velocity, CMJ performance significantly improved from before the national competitions in October to after the national competitions in May (mean difference 2.29 cm, P = .004, d = 3.52) and showed before-to-after race decreases (mean difference -1.64 cm, P = .04, d = 2.28). CONCLUSION: Swimming performance and CMJ performance improved as the season progressed, although these improvements were not directly correlated. PU performance did not appear to be sensitive to training or race-induced fatigue, in contrast to CMJ, in this group of male swimmers.

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The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether a specific approach regarding active swimming recovery could better promote psycho-physiological recovery right after competing in a high-level swimming race. To achieve this, we recruited 50 national level youth swimmers, randomly and equally assigning them to two groups, named "experimental" and "coach prescribed". Each group performed a specific post-competition recovery protocol, consisting of different swimming paces, rest times, self-management of the exercises. We gathered data about blood lactate (BL), heart rate (HR), and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) at two different moments, the first moment right after the swimming competition (named post-competition phase), the second moment right after swimming the respective recovery protocol assigned (named post-recovery phase). A mixed MANOVA with Tukey HSD post-hoc analysis revealed no significant differences between the experimental and coach-prescribed groups in BL, HR, and RPE at the post-competition phase. At the post-recovery phase, however, the experimental group presented lower BL levels than the coach-prescribed group (2.40 ± 1.18 vs. 4.29 ± 2.07 mmol/L, p < 0.05). Finally, we found no interaction of swimming race ranking on recovery capacities. We conclude that for immediate improvement of BL in a wide range of high-level swimmers, an efficient recovery protocol should consist of several paces, high volumes, fixed and short rest times, whereas the widely popular self-managed, lower intensity approach does not seem as equally effective. Our study advances the development of novel recommendations for optimizing immediate fatigue management in competitive swimming.

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Introduction: This study aimed to determine if adjusting the loads via velocity-based training (VBT) in each session is more efficient in monitoring the relative intensity than programming loads assessing 1RM pre-training. Methods: To achieve this, six national level sprinters were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., adjusting loads (AL, n = 3) and not adjusting loads (NAL, n = 3), during twelve sessions of a squat training (ST) program. During this training intervention, the AL group adjusted the intensity for each session in the squat exercise depending on the speed the load was lifted after warmup. The NAL group, instead, progressed in the squat exercise referring to the 1RM estimated at pre-test. In addition, Parallel Squat (PSQ), Countermovement Jump (CMJ), Squat Jump (SJ), 30 m sprint standing start (30S) and 30 m sprint flying start (30F) tests were carried out before and after conducting the ST program. Results: Interestingly, AL performed the ST near their estimated velocities at 70%-75% 1RM, however with a wider gap at 80%-85% 1RM. The NAL group, instead, did not presented such a detectable behaviour across the whole ST. Moreover, both groups demonstrated improved performances in PSQ, CMJ, and SJ, whereas there were little changes in 30S and 30F after ST. Additionally, AL obtained a greater effect size than NAL in PSQ (0.60 vs. 0.35) but lower effect size in CMJ, SJ, 30S, and 30F (0.41 vs. 0.63, 0.30 vs. 0.40, 0.04 vs. 0.28 and 0.22 vs. 0.24). However, percentage change was greater in AL in all tests. Discussion: Based on these findings, we can conclude that further investigation into the AL strategy in VBT is warranted for sprinter athletes' daily strength practices. The AL technique shows promise as a valuable tool for accurately adjusting and monitoring medium-high training loads to ensure they align with the intended intensity.

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The inaugural edition of the Special Issue titled "Efficiency in Kinesiology: Innovative approaches in enhancing motor skills for Athletic Performance" has been effectively concluded [...].

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Evaluating force-velocity characteristics on dry-land is of the utmost importance in swimming, because higher levels of these bio-motor abilities positively affect in-water performance. However, the wide range of possible technical specializations presents an opportunity for a more categorized approach that has yet to be seized. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify feasible differences in maximum force-velocity exertion based on swimmers' stroke and distance specialization. To this scope, 96 young male swimmers competing at the regional level were divided into 12 groups, one for each stroke (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and front crawl) and distance (50 m, 100 m, and 200 m). They performed two single pull-up tests, 5-min before and after competing in a federal swimming race. We assessed force (N) and velocity (m/s) exertion via linear encoder. There were no significant differences between pre-post maximum force-velocity exertions, despite the decreasing trend. Force-parameters highly correlated with each other and with the swimming performance time. Moreover, both force (t = -3.60, p < 0.001) and velocity (t = -3.90, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of swimming race time. Sprinters (both 50 m and 100 m) of all strokes could exert significantly higher force-velocity compared to 200 m swimmers (e.g., 0.96 ± 0.06 m/s performed by sprinters vs. 0.66 ± 0.03 m/s performed by 200 m swimmers). Moreover, breaststroke sprinters presented significantly lower force-velocity compared to sprinters specialized in the other strokes (e.g., 1047.83 ± 61.33 N performed by breaststroke sprinters vs. 1263.62 ± 161.23 N performed by butterfly sprinters). This study could provide the foundation for future research regarding the role of stroke and distance specializations in modeling swimmers' force-velocity abilities, thus influencing paramount elements for specific training and improvement towards competitions.

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Two observational learning approaches have been shown to be successful in improving children's motor performances: one is "technique-focused", another is "goal-focused". In this study, we sought to compare the effectiveness of these two strategies, thus testing for the more efficient method of observational learning to enhance motor skills in primary school children. To this end, two experiments were designed. Experiment 1 involved a precision ball throwing task. Experiment 2 involved a standing long jump task. A total of 792 subjects (aged 6-11) participated in this study and were divided into technique-focus (Experiment 1 n = 200; Experiment 2 n = 66), goal-focus (Experiment 1 n = 195; Experiment 2 n = 68), and control groups (Experiment 1 n = 199; Experiment 2 n = 64). The experiments were divided into pretest, practice, and retention phases. During the practice phase, the technique-focus and goal-focus groups were given different visual instructions on how to perform the task. The results showed that children aged 10-11 belonging to the technique-focus group performed significantly better in the practice phase than both the goal-focus and the control group (p < 0.001), but only for the precision ball throwing task. These findings could be useful for training adaptation in the context of motor learning and skills acquisition.

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Gross and fine motor competence have a close relationship during development and are shown to correlate to some extent. However, the study of the interaction between these domains still requires further insights. In this study, we investigated the developmental changes in overall motor skills as well as the effects of gross motor training programs on fine motor skills in children (aged 6-11, n = 240). Fine motor skills were assessed before and after gross motor intervention using the Box and Block Test. The gross motor intervention was based on the Test of Gross Motor Development-3rd Edition. Results showed that gross and fine motor skills correlate across all years of primary school, both significantly improving with age. Finally, the gross motor intervention appeared to not influence fine motor skills. Our findings show that during primary school age, overall motor development is continuous, but non-linear. From age nine onward, there seems to be a major step-up in overall motor competence, of which teachers/educators should be aware of in order to design motor educational programs accordingly. While gross and fine motor domains might be functionally integrated to enhance children's motor performances, further research is needed to clarify the effect of gross motor practice on fine motor performances.

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