title: Rugby placekicking mechanics to inform coaching strategies and enhance performance

authors: Hébert-Losier, Kim

abstract: Introduction
The ability to score from placekicks is a trait discriminating winning and losing in elite Rugby Union1. Placekicks account for 45% of points in international Rugby Union, with match outcomes reliant on placekicking success2. Clearly, improving placekicking success can alter match outcomes and should be a key focus in rugby skills coaching. Currently, coaching placekicking techniques mainly relies upon practical experience or findings from other sports or non-elite Rugby Union players tested in laboratory environments. These studies provide limited real-world guidance for placekickers and coaches. Our aim was to determine biomechanical variables that discriminate good and bad placekicking attempts in an ecologically valid environment.

Methods
Three competitive male placekickers performed 10 kicks outdoors, 35-meters from the goalposts. Placekicker and ball 3D biomechanics were collected at 300-Hz using a Qualysis 3D motion capture system. Coach and player perceptions and placekick outcomes were recorded to define the three best and three worst kicks for each placekicker. Differences between the best and worst kicks were examined using standardised effect sizes (ES).

Results
Seven variables meaningfully and consistently differentiated the best from worst placekicks in all three players (‘core variables’, Figure 1). In the best kicks, resultant and forward speed of centre of mass were slower at ball contact, but maintained better through contact; the kicking leg reached greater knee flexion during swing and was more flexed at the hip and knee at ball contact; and the trunk was less rotated outwards relative to the kicking direction. Twenty-seven variables were consistently associated with better kicking performance in all players, with a large ES in at least one player (‘meaningful variables’, Figure 1). These variables indicated that the best kicks demonstrated less sideways ball spin, speed, and direction; greater change in vertical and sideways foot speed during ball contact; a more “C” than “J” shape footpath; larger shoulder-to-hip separation; and less ankle motion during swing.

text: Rugby placekicking mechanics to inform coaching strategies and enhance performance Introduction
The ability to score from placekicks is a trait discriminating winning and losing in elite Rugby Union1. Placekicks account for 45% of points in international Rugby Union, with match outcomes reliant on placekicking success2. Clearly, improving placekicking success can alter match outcomes and should be a key focus in rugby skills coaching. Currently, coaching placekicking techniques mainly relies upon practical experience or findings from other sports or non-elite Rugby Union players tested in laboratory environments. These studies provide limited real-world guidance for placekickers and coaches. Our aim was to determine biomechanical variables that discriminate good and bad placekicking attempts in an ecologically valid environment.

Methods
Three competitive male placekickers performed 10 kicks outdoors, 35-meters from the goalposts. Placekicker and ball 3D biomechanics were collected at 300-Hz using a Qualysis 3D motion capture system. Coach and player perceptions and placekick outcomes were recorded to define the three best and three worst kicks for each placekicker. Differences between the best and worst kicks were examined using standardised effect sizes (ES).

Results
Seven variables meaningfully and consistently differentiated the best from worst placekicks in all three players (‘core variables’, Figure 1). In the best kicks, resultant and forward speed of centre of mass were slower at ball contact, but maintained better through contact; the kicking leg reached greater knee flexion during swing and was more flexed at the hip and knee at ball contact; and the trunk was less rotated outwards relative to the kicking direction. Twenty-seven variables were consistently associated with better kicking performance in all players, with a large ES in at least one player (‘meaningful variables’, Figure 1). These variables indicated that the best kicks demonstrated less sideways ball spin, speed, and direction; greater change in vertical and sideways foot speed during ball contact; a more “C” than “J” shape footpath; larger shoulder-to-hip separation; and less ankle motion during swing.

year: 2018

title: Report on the Harry Ransom Center

authors: Nannicelli, Theodore

abstract: The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas – Austin is a fantastic resource for scholars of screenwriting and the humanities in general. The Center groups its collections roughly into the following categories: digital collections, art, books and periodicals, film, French and Italian, manuscripts, performing arts and photography. Within these broad categories, there is material to support research in areas of study ranging from African studies to the history of science, from human rights to women’s studies. Although the Center does not have a dedicated screenwriting archive, several of the archives in its film collection contain screenplays and various other related materials like treatments, outlines and so forth.

text: Report on the Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas – Austin is a fantastic resource for scholars of screenwriting and the humanities in general. The Center groups its collections roughly into the following categories: digital collections, art, books and periodicals, film, French and Italian, manuscripts, performing arts and photography. Within these broad categories, there is material to support research in areas of study ranging from African studies to the history of science, from human rights to women’s studies. Although the Center does not have a dedicated screenwriting archive, several of the archives in its film collection contain screenplays and various other related materials like treatments, outlines and so forth.

year: 2012

title: Death and homelessness on the streets of Aotearoa New Zealand: Sustaining life

authors: Charvin-Fabre, Sandrine

abstract: In high-income countries, homeless people die 20 to 35 years earlier than domiciled populations. Despite this enduring reality, the issue of death inequality remains underexplored, especially in indigenous homeless contexts, facing the ongoing effects of colonisation. This study centres on the perspectives and aspirations of a Māori street homeless community, known as the “Peeps”. Its objective is twofold: to spotlight to unjust, untimely, and avoidable mortality impacting homeless communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to understand how life can be sustained against the adversity of street life. The thesis diverges from conventional public health approaches, which often dichotomise early deaths prevention through improved healthcare access during homelessness, and palliative care provision at the end of life of homeless people. This thesis explores “the temporal space of life prior to death”. Within that temporal realm, the omnipresent “risk of dying” that infiltrates the lives of homeless people, disrupting the linear progression toward death observed in domiciled populations, is recognised. This temporal space is understood as a zone of uncertainty and potentiality, wherein complex life-death dynamics operate, revealing broader political, societal and cultural tensions. This study encountered significant challenges, including the dearth of prior death-related research in Māori homeless contexts, and my non-Māori identity. In response, an indeterminate approach, rooted in relational ethics and complexity and systems thinking — aligned with Māori worldviews — was adopted.  

Part I of the thesis is conceptual and contextual. Part II invites the readers into the fragile “temporal space of life prior to death” and the cyclical research process. Cycle 1 focuses on understanding the local context of death inequality, through relational fieldwork and statistical analysis of coroners’ reports. This analysis uncovers a 30-year life expectancy disparity with domiciled populations, exacerbated by three-quarters of avoidable mortality, mainly due to chronic conditions and suicide. Subsequent cycles sustain relational fieldwork, using collaborative and critical performance ethnography. Cycle 2 reveals the Peeps’ resistance to access healthcare, rooted in experiences of transgenerational trauma and marginalisation of Māori beliefs and values in relation to death and dying within mainstream healthcare institutions. Collaboration with the Peeps leads to the co-creation of a drama, intended to initiate conversations with health professionals from the Peeps’ perspectives and aspirations, to improve the quality of care. This cycle also highlights the impact of disconnection processes with whānau (family, extended family) experienced by the Peeps. Progressing further, cycle 3 illuminates healing processes with whānau using Advance Care Planning, envisioned as a relational space, providing the Peeps with a sense of belonging, and spiritual continuity in the perspective of death and dying. 
 
In addition to shedding light on the profound death inequality that affect Māori homeless people, this thesis argues for homelessness to be recognised as “complex life-threatening conditions associated with serious-related health suffering”. Accordingly, the thesis advocates the shift toward comprehensive care, inclusive of a concurrent prevention and palliation approach over the course of homelessness, to mitigate its impact on the lives of Māori homeless people and enhance holistic wellbeing.

text: Death and homelessness on the streets of Aotearoa New Zealand: Sustaining life In high-income countries, homeless people die 20 to 35 years earlier than domiciled populations. Despite this enduring reality, the issue of death inequality remains underexplored, especially in indigenous homeless contexts, facing the ongoing effects of colonisation. This study centres on the perspectives and aspirations of a Māori street homeless community, known as the “Peeps”. Its objective is twofold: to spotlight to unjust, untimely, and avoidable mortality impacting homeless communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to understand how life can be sustained against the adversity of street life. The thesis diverges from conventional public health approaches, which often dichotomise early deaths prevention through improved healthcare access during homelessness, and palliative care provision at the end of life of homeless people. This thesis explores “the temporal space of life prior to death”. Within that temporal realm, the omnipresent “risk of dying” that infiltrates the lives of homeless people, disrupting the linear progression toward death observed in domiciled populations, is recognised. This temporal space is understood as a zone of uncertainty and potentiality, wherein complex life-death dynamics operate, revealing broader political, societal and cultural tensions. This study encountered significant challenges, including the dearth of prior death-related research in Māori homeless contexts, and my non-Māori identity. In response, an indeterminate approach, rooted in relational ethics and complexity and systems thinking — aligned with Māori worldviews — was adopted.  

Part I of the thesis is conceptual and contextual. Part II invites the readers into the fragile “temporal space of life prior to death” and the cyclical research process. Cycle 1 focuses on understanding the local context of death inequality, through relational fieldwork and statistical analysis of coroners’ reports. This analysis uncovers a 30-year life expectancy disparity with domiciled populations, exacerbated by three-quarters of avoidable mortality, mainly due to chronic conditions and suicide. Subsequent cycles sustain relational fieldwork, using collaborative and critical performance ethnography. Cycle 2 reveals the Peeps’ resistance to access healthcare, rooted in experiences of transgenerational trauma and marginalisation of Māori beliefs and values in relation to death and dying within mainstream healthcare institutions. Collaboration with the Peeps leads to the co-creation of a drama, intended to initiate conversations with health professionals from the Peeps’ perspectives and aspirations, to improve the quality of care. This cycle also highlights the impact of disconnection processes with whānau (family, extended family) experienced by the Peeps. Progressing further, cycle 3 illuminates healing processes with whānau using Advance Care Planning, envisioned as a relational space, providing the Peeps with a sense of belonging, and spiritual continuity in the perspective of death and dying. 
 
In addition to shedding light on the profound death inequality that affect Māori homeless people, this thesis argues for homelessness to be recognised as “complex life-threatening conditions associated with serious-related health suffering”. Accordingly, the thesis advocates the shift toward comprehensive care, inclusive of a concurrent prevention and palliation approach over the course of homelessness, to mitigate its impact on the lives of Māori homeless people and enhance holistic wellbeing.

year: 2024