https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-016-0552-7 

Article Title: Effects of Psychological and Psychosocial Interventions on Sport Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Authors: Brown, Daniel J. and Fletcher, David

Content: This article was essentially one giant analysis of a bunch of trials to look at how psychological and psychosocial interventions affected athletic performance. These “interventions” ranged from mental training to the implementation of pre-performance routines. The findings showed that there were moderate positive effects immediately after intervention, and more so after follow up, with the strongest effects generally being found in coach-delivered interventions applied to male athletes, which surprised me.

One thing learned in this study is that there needs to be a better standardized criteria for reporting and assessing sports psychology research. The findings are relevant to my experiment as it shows that mental performance and preparation can impact physical performance, especially under pressure, while suggesting that consistently using mental training can improve consistency and effectiveness long-term. Since mental fatigue is a contributor to overall fatigue levels, improving this (which is often under focused on), may benefit overall performance and reduce measurable levels of fatigue. While my study is not comprehensive enough to test this, it is useful information that other studies could build on moving forward.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261684707_Descriptive_Analysis_of_the_Rip_Entry_in_Competitive_Diving

Article Title: Descriptive Analysis of the Rip Entry in Competitive Diving
Authors: Janet G. Brown, Lawrence D. Abraham, and John J. Bertin

Content: This article went in-depth about rip entries, which are splash-less entries in diving that (depending on height) cause athletes to make a “ripping” sound, similar to tearing paper, when they hit the water. Historically, rip entries are considered the epitome of a diving entry, and a clear marker of a successful dive, as they take hours upon hours of practice to perfect, and typically a lot of the technique of the dive overall must be very good to achieve this. Despite its reputation, the mechanics of rip entries are commonly misunderstood among coaches and athletes. The authors in this study went into more depth about the mechanics that benefit the successful execution of these entries, including splash, water cavity formation, surface closure, upjet, and seething. All of these factors can be influenced by a diver’s orientation in the air, body shape, and velocity. The article puts a lot of focus on the influence of hydrodynamic principles as well as hydroballistic research to help explain what makes entries successful and why. They argue that body shape and technique both play a role in achieving a rip entry, giving extra focus to the component of cavity formation as a primary reducer in surface splash. The primary benefit of their research is to bridge the gap between theoretical physics and actual athletic application and improvement.

The application to my study in particular is in determining the role that technique, body orientation, and performance play under different physical conditions.This supports the theory that performance can be significantly improved if movement mechanics are refined, as well as using analysis methods that I can use in my experiment, like the impact of shape and velocity on entry quality.