SENSE - Issue 3

ISSUE4

SPRING 2015 EDITION

WELCOME

We are now half way through the academic year and talking to many it is apparent you are highly satisfied with all the investment in learning resources over the summer.

Finishing touches are a being carried out on our half a million pound refurbishment of the the sport and exercise labs and qualitative analysis labs and this has really enhanced the learning experience.

Similarly, it’s also good to see Prozone match analysis being used a lot more this year and the new AstroTurf pitch is setting in well and getting a lot of use from our Coaching and PE students.

Last semester I sat in on a couple of Masterclasses from external expert; Carl Bennett at Stoke Public Health spoke about the health of the region while David Sutton from Northampton County Cricket worked with the Strength and Conditioning students for half a day. Both sessions were really inspiring.

SENSE SPORT AND EXERCISE NEWS, STORIES, AND EVENTS

Sport and Exercise are also celebrating being ranked 22nd in the whole of the UK for the quality of our research, with only Birmingham in the West Midlands scoring higher than us. This is a magnificent achievement as it is an improvement of 6 places on our previous position and demonstrates the International standard of the research we produce. This of course which feeds into your teaching and makes our courses intellectually stimulating.

We did a lot of staff development last summer around learning and teaching and using technology to enhance learning. I know the use of iPads and using software like Nearpod and Socrative has been really popular and well received by Sports Therapy students. It’s also great to see Matt Slater and Martin Turner innovating and pioneering the use of VoiceThread on the undergraduate sport psychology modules.

Have a great semester. Make sure you get involved, read, work hard, read some more, be organised and enjoy.

Dr Peter Jones Head of School of Psychology, Sporty and Exercise @pgwjones_dr

Students highly satisfied with new Sport and Exercise laboratories Finishing touches are now taking place to the new and refurbish Sport and Exercise laboratories with new showering facilities complete in January. Costing over half a million pounds there is a new physiology laboratory, specialist sports nutrition facility and kitchen, upgraded qualitative analysis laboratories where our Prozone and coaching software is set up as well as a purpose built blood analysis room and muscle function room.

We have also created a new specialist strength and conditioning laboratory to support the new BSc Sports Strength and Conditioning Fast Track degree. The later will also have a lot of use by our student scholars who are part of the Team Staffs Elite programme (www.staffs.ac.uk/ teamstaffs/scholarship). This room has also been sponsored by Johnson Health Tech as part of our partnership with Matrix Fitness Academic Group Leader Trevor Barter

comments “This investment will make a massive difference to the student experience. It also helps us further develop our highly successful research and commercial offers, allowing us to expand the work we already do in our Sport Therapy SUST Clinic and Sport Science Peak Condition Clinics into other areas.

These new facilities complement the Sports Therapy and Sport Psychology labs in the Brindley building that were completed eighteen month ago.”

Follow our sport injury and sport science clinics on twitter at: @SUPeakCondition or @SUSTclinic

Find out more about our Sport and Exercise awards at: www.staffs.ac.uk/pse

SENSE

Students testing RAPHA CONDOR Pro-Cyclists in Peak Condition Clinic Professional cyclists from Rapha Condor-JLT, a British UCI Continental cycling team (www. raphacondor.cc/home) attended our studentled Peak Condition clinic in December, 2014, accompanied by John Herety, Directeur Sportif, and Ken Matheson, Head Coach.

The students benefit enormously from their experiences working with these athletes: “..absolutely brilliant and such valuable knowledge, enjoyed getting to know a new piece of kit too. Its great getting involved.”

Shane Hall, Level 6 Sport and Exercise Science Student.

Ken Matheson, Head Coach, gave an inspirational talk to our current level 4 students, explaining his career history. As well as coaching Rapha condor cyclists, he has also coached professional cyclists, Charly Wegelius and Yvonne McGregor, and is a strong advocate of sports science support.

Peak Condition is a sport and exercise support service run by Staffordshire University students. We provide a comprehensive range of tests, as well as advice on sports performance, exercise and health. We attract all people from top athletes to those wishing to improve their lifestyle. We are able to offer our services at highly reduced rates, due to our teaching status.

Further information about our Peak Condition Clinic can be found on our website: www.staffs.ac.uk/peak-condition peakcondition@staffs.ac.uk @SUPeakCondition

Using Smarter Thinking with GB Archery

LIFESTYLE APPRAISALS How is it that a sporting performer, who boasts an athletic physique, is technically proficient and has good tactical awareness, can be so inconsistent during competition especially when under great amounts pressure? Here at Staffordshire University whilst teaching on the Advanced Sport and Exercise Psychology Module Andrew Wood (PhD Student) is conducting a line of research which aims to explore how an athlete’s belief can influence how they perform under pressure.

Recently he has been working with the Great Britain Paralympic Archery Team, providing one-to-one sessions aimed at developing their smarter thinking. Specifically, this involved enhancing the archers’ logical beliefs, which produces healthy feelings and helpful behaviours, whilst reducing their illogical beliefs which has the opposite effect.

To test whether this impacted performance, scenarios were created which mimicked competition pressure, recording how the archers felt and performed during the scenario. Interestingly, they

were also able to measure their bodies response before the simulation, which research has shown can predict whether athletes are challenged or threatened - the former being a more helpful response.

Similarly in the New Year Andrew will be carrying out an exciting research project with the England Blind B1 Football Team looking to develop the players’ ability to perform under pressure, specifically when taking penalty kicks.

Andrew Wood @Woodington89

12 and 19 December 2014 A number of University staff will be volunteering this year for a lifestyle appraisal. The appraisals are conducted by supervised, Level 6 students in Sport and Exercise, as part of their Module – Sport and Exercise Physiology for Health and Fitness. The appraisal includes a battery of tests to measure fitness, a dietary analysis, and a written report outlining results and providing recommendations for improvements to lifestyle.

For further information about lifestyle appraisals: Dr Jacky Forsyth @JackyForsyth

SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY, SPORT AND EXERCISE

Cardiac Rehab and Respiratory Placements at Royal Stoke University Hospital BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science graduate, HAYLEY EVANS, gave an inspirational talk to undergraduate students about her career path since leaving University. Hayley undertook a voluntary work placement at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in her final year as an undergraduate, which led her to gaining her current, full-time position as an exercise physiologist at the hospital.

‘I fell in love with it,’ she said. ‘Without this placement, I wouldn’t have known that all these jobs existed.’ Hayley has inspired this year’s cohort of students to follow in her footsteps; students have signed up for a 5-day placement opportunity, either in Cardiac Rehab, or at the Respiratory Physiology, Heart and Lung Clinic. Staff at the hospital are keen to take our students on placement,

because of their excellent interpersonal and communication skills, which they have gained through undertaking real-life practical assessments of their technical competencies and critical knowledge as part of their degree award. Hayley is one of many students who has been successful in securing employment as an exercise physiologist, either with the NHS, or with private companies such as Bupa and Nuffield Health.

Further information about Hayley, see: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/news/firstclass-route-to-healthcare-for-hayleytcm4251076.jsp Dr Jacky Forsyth @JackyForsyth

OSTEOPOROSIS Awareness Day at Peak Condition To raise awareness of osteoporosis and to help staff identify any health issues at an early stage, Personnel Services offered free osteoporosis checks to staff last month (October 2014). Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones that leads to an increased risk of breakages. Almost 3 million people in the UK are estimated to have osteoporosis and annually there are 230,000 fractures due to osteoporosis in the UK. Whilst osteoporosis is most common in women aged over 50, the disease can also affect men and younger people.

The osteoporosis checks were conducted by BSc Sport and Exercise students as part of Peak Condition, which is a sport and exercise support service run by Staffordshire University students. We provide a comprehensive range of tests, as well as advice on sports performance, exercise and health. We attract all people from top athletes to those wishing to improve their lifestyle. We are able to offer our services at highly reduced rates, due to our teaching status.

Further information on osteoporosis can be found by following the link below to the National Osteoporosis Society’s website www.nos.org.uk Dr Jacky Forsyth @JackyForsyth

British Science Festival

Why being in the green can stop you from feeling blue Four Staffordshire academics presented at the British Science festival on Tuesday 9 September discussing their work on the role of natural environments in health. Dr Chris Gidlow, Professor Marc Jones, Dr Gemma Hurst and Daniel Masterson presented data from the European funded ‘PHENOTYPE’ project (see www.phenotype.eu), explaining why being in a natural environment, such as a park or coastal area, has such positive effects on health and well-being.

As part of this research, participants went for three separate 30-minute walks in a country park, near a canal and around some residential streets, completing a range of measures before, during and afterwards. The data, which has not yet been published, suggests that walking in a country park and next to a canal made participants feel less stressed, more revitalized and afterwards performed better on complex mental tasks, compared to walking in the residential area.

These findings are relevant to both Birmingham where the British Science Festival is being held (and which is famous for having more miles of canals than Venice) and Stoke-on-Trent where the research is taking place.

Not only are these canals a reminder of these cities industrial past but they can help the well-being of its inhabitants by providing pleasant routes to walk and distress, but they can also link green spaces, which can provide similar effects.

ISSUE4

Associate Professor Jamie Barker voted Chair-elect of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Dr Jamie Barker, Associate Professor of Applied Performance Psychology in the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, and a member of Staffordshire University’s Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research was recently voted as Chair-elect of the BPS’s Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology (DSEP) at the division’s Annual General Meeting held in December 2014. Jamie joins fellow colleague Professor Karen Rodham in becoming Staffordshire University’s second member of staff to be recently elected Chair-elect of a BPS Division.

“It is a real honour and privilege to have been voted Chair Elect. I am really looking forward to working with the current Chair, Professor Richard Mullen for the next year before taking up the role of Chair for two years from December 2015.

This appointment is an exciting challenge and an opportunity to further promote sport and exercise psychology for the interests of the Divisions membership.”

Dr Jamie Barker, Associate Professor of Applied Performance Psychology Jamie’s election as the upcoming chair of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology was based on nominations and votes from his peers and is recognition of his

hard-work, enthusiasm and impact on Sport and Exercise Psychology as a profession.

Head of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise Dr Peter Jones comments “I think this testament to all the great research and applied work Jamie has done over the course of his career, working with elite teams and athletes in a range of sports, as well his impressive work in industry with blue chip companies. It also demonstrates the respect he is held in by his peers in academia and industry alike. I have no doubt Jamie will be an excellent Chair. As Head of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise it is also particularly pleasing to see Jamie and Karen chair two of ten BPS disciplines and illustrates the great depth in Psychology we have here at Staffordshire University.”

Staffordshire University has a strong reputation for research-led teaching in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Within the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise staff provide expert teaching to students completing their Stage 1 (MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology). Staff members of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Team also conduct internationally renowned research into various aspects of sport and exercise psychology including stress, pressure, leadership, group dynamics. Staff also apply their research to a number of external partners and organisations (including Sony, Sony Mobile, The Football Association, and Great Britain Rowing) to maximise human performance.

OPEN DAY DATES Open Days are a great way to find out more about the courses you are interested in and to see what university life will be like.

Come and see us at one of our next open days.

Wednesday 18 February 2015 Saturday 28 February 2015 Sunday 15 March 2015

HAVE A STORY? We are always looking to share news from the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise from students and staff. If you have a story you would like to share please email: psemarketing@staffs.ac.uk

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