Paul Perkins

Coaches play a highly influential role across the whole spectrum of sport. Their proficiency is crucial to the progression, welfare and even the personal development of the athletes under their charge. Maximising the development of that proficiency is therefore a crucial concern of numerous sporting and community organisations. Effort must be directed to continuous improvement of learning and development programs for coaches, with consideration given to the differing requirements of coaches operating in different contexts. Historically, most coach education initiatives have entailed formal instruction in "classroom" situations, but feedback from participants suggests that this is sub-optimal. Better outcomes might be achieved through methods designed to promote informal learning within real-world coaching environments. There is evidence that experiential learning resulting from repeated cycles of action and reflection can contribute substantially to the development of expertise. Observation and imitation of significant others is also a powerful learning mechanism. Here, we review and summarise literature relating to these matters, while also addressing topics such as the nature of coaching, the characteristics of expert coaches, and the ways in which coaches currently learn. We touch upon the concepts of situated learning, cognitive apprenticeship, and mentoring, and identify known barriers and facilitators to adult learning. We then provide a suggested framework for the practical design, implementation, evaluation, and continual refinement of a program emphasising informal but guided nurturing of coach learning and development. The suggested approach is consistent with classical learning theories and incorporates the establishment of critical friendships and communities of practice.

A modified boxing program in which youth and adults participated together ran for almost five years at an Australian community youth club. It was initially focused on preparing participants for occasional modified boxing competitions in which impacts to the head and neck were prohibited and any forceful impacts were penalized. The Head Coach of the program initiated regular small-group and individual discussions with participants and used the outcomes to guide program iteration. The participants became co-designers of the program and therefore architects of their own sport experience. This led to substantial changes in the nature of the program, with interpersonal competition progressively de-emphasized and eventually almost entirely removed. Increased attention was directed to building a cohesive, inclusive community and engaging in cooperative endeavours that provided a shared sense of purpose. Natural adult mentors emerged, and some adolescents took on peer leadership roles. Through a partnership between the club and a local university, program participants became involved in diverse research activities aimed at program improvement. Young program participants began to anecdotally report obtaining broad-ranging benefits from the program, and these reports were subjectively corroborated by parents and natural mentors. To determine the nature of any such benefits, we examined records of discussions that the Head Coach had logged in a detailed journal over the course of the program. We targeted a purposeful sample that included six young program participants and twelve adults who had varying program connections. Thematic analysis performed on the records of discussions with the selected subjects revealed that the most common perceived benefits that young people derived from the program were increased determination, increased self-confidence How to cite this paper: Perkins, P. and Hahn, A. (2020) Positive Youth Development through a Co-Designed Modified and enhanced leadership skills. Specific program features most clearly associated with these outcomes were fostering of positive and supportive relationships , collaborative involvement of the young people in determining program directions and provision of opportunities for positive observational learning. These findings are consistent with published literature and contemporary theories on positive youth development. Although positive youth development was not the explicit objective of the modified boxing program, the establishment of functional youth-adult partnerships and co-design procedures in the program environment caused the program to take on characteristics that research has identified as critical to attainment of positive youth development outcomes.

In Australia, a modified form of boxing aimed at maximising participant safety and enjoyment has existed since 2006. Known as Box’Tag, it precludes impacts to the head and neck, in accordance with recommendations of medical and other experts. It also makes use of automated scoring technology.

From 2012-2016, a Box’Tag program was run at a Police Community Youth Club (PCYC) in Canberra, Australia, with the first author of this paper as the coach. It rapidly grew to include more than 100 regular participants, which was ten times the number involved in a conventional boxing program that it replaced. During its term, it gradually evolved to increasingly take on characteristics that seemed to be valued by participants. Upon its closure, participants were asked to complete a Program Evaluation Form as part of standard PCYC procedure. Among participants who met this request, there were 38 (18 F, 20 M) who had been involved in the program for at least three years.

We subsequently carried out thematic analysis of their written feedback to identify which aspects of the program had attracted them and were primarily responsible for their prolonged participation. Four major themes emerged, covering the program environment, the underlying concept, the timetable and the characteristics and outcomes of the training itself. Specifically, the environment was considered friendly, welcoming and supportive. The concept was seen to have extended beyond a sport program to encompass the establishment of a dynamic community brought together by a common interest. The program timetable was regarded as accommodating and flexible, and the training itself was described as safe, fun and beneficial in multiple respects. Overall, the participants expressed deep affection for the program.

Our findings accord with those of other researchers who have sought to discern factors influencing adherence to sport and exercise programs and who now suggest that traditional, highly instructional approaches to the operation of such programs might contribute to participant dropout. Prolonged involvement in the Canberra PCYC Box’Tag program is explicable in terms of self-determination theory, in that the program seems to have provided conditions that supported participant growth in autonomy, competence and related- ness. A strong case exists for replication of these conditions in other settings.

Technology is being increasingly used to aid judging in sport, but its employment as the primary means of scoring is rare. We have developed and implemented a fully automated scoring system in the context of a modified, low-risk form of boxing. The system, which requires contestants to wear vests and gloves incorporating sensor fabrics, has been used in multiple settings over the past five years. During that period, it has undergone progressive iteration guided by action research methodology. Here, we summarise that iteration, reflect on present status and identify possible future directions. We have found that concept of automated scoring has wide appeal, and the wearable technology is almost universally considered comfortable. Nevertheless, some issues remain to be addressed. Use of the technology requires considerable prior and subsequent commitment of time. Apparently valid contacts occasionally fail to score. Causative factors include the configuration of electrical circuitry in the vests and deterioration of that circuitry with repeated vest use and washing. Also, false positive scores are sometimes generated by vest self-shorting and effects of sweat. Many contestants adopt unorthodox styles aimed at exploiting the characteristics of the automated scoring methodology, affecting the aesthetics of the modified sport. There is an expectation that technologically-based scoring should have much greater accuracy than human judging, and should be essentially fail-proof. Disillusionment can occur in situations where this expectation is not met. We have identified potential solutions to all the existing issues, with some now being actively explored.

This study was aimed at improved understanding of the mechanisms of previously reported protective effects of a pneumatic boxing glove. A Motion Capture System was used to obtain velocity data from four different boxing gloves dropped on to a force plate from nine heights ranging from 1 to 5 metres. Two gloves were of the conventional type but differed in mass. The other two were prototype pneumatic gloves. One of these (SBLI) had a sealed bladder while the other (ARLI) incorporated a port allowing air exchange with the external environment. The pneumatic gloves decelerated more slowly than the conventional gloves following impact and compressed through a greater absolute distance. Consequently, they took longer to reach zero velocity. As drop height increased, these trends became more pronounced for the ARLI glove than the SBLI glove. Increase in velocity during rebound was also slower for the pneumatic gloves. The ARLI glove had a lower coefficient of restitution than any of the other gloves at low to moderate drop heights but not at high drop heights. The SBLI glove had a higher coefficient of restitution than the other gloves at all drop heights from 2 metres upwards. This indicated that, overall, the ARLI glove was the most effective, and the SBLI glove the least effective, in dissipating the kinetic energy of impact through conversion to other energy forms. For all gloves at all drop heights, peak positive acceleration at the beginning of rebound was of lower absolute magnitude than peak negative acceleration at the end of compression. The influence of drop height on an index characterising this relationship differed between the conventional and pneumatic gloves, possibly reflecting structural changes to gloves as impact energy increased. The conventional and pneumatic gloves How to cite this paper: Perkins, P., Ja-mieson, A., Spratford, W. and Hahn, A. 473 World Journal of Engineering and Technology differed regarding temporal alignment between key kinematic and kinetic events, and there were some differences between the two pneumatic gloves in this respect. Nevertheless, peak glove deceleration correlated highly with peak impact force, not only for each glove individually but also when data for all gloves were combined. The findings confirmed the potential practical utility of the ARLI glove and identified air cushion thickness, glove compressibility and capacity for air release and subsequent reuptake as critical aspects of its design.

A conventional boxing glove and a prototype pneumatic glove were each fitted to a mechanical fist and dropped 253 times from a height of 3 metres on to a force plate covered by an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) mat. Impact dynamics were measured and modelled. From the outset, peak impact force and peak rate of force development (loading rate) were lower for the pneumatic glove. For both gloves, these variables displayed upward drift during the drop series, but the drift was smaller for the pneumatic glove. Consequently, the magnitude of the protective effect provided by the pneumatic glove increased with the number of impacts. For the conventional glove, change in peak force showed a close inverse relationship to force plate contact time (R 2 > 0.96) and the time from first contact of the glove with the force plate to attainment of peak force (R 2 = 0.85). These relationships were much weaker for the pneumatic glove (R 2 = 0.09 and 0.59 respectively), suggesting the possibility of a more complex impact damping mechanism. Following the 253 drops of the pneumatic glove, the EVA mat covering the force plate was replaced, and another 10 drops then performed. Peak force readings were immediately reduced to an extent suggesting that 26%-34% of the increase that had occurred over the 253 drops was attributable to impact-induced change in mat properties. This has implications for future experimental designs. Overall, the findings provided further evidence of the potential of pneumatic gloves to enable safer boxing.

Design methods were employed over a 5-year period to develop boxing gloves capable of substantially buffering impact forces delivered to an opponent, thereby permitting safer boxing. Multiple concepts were explored, with sophistication of prototypes gradually increasing. The protypes underwent both quantitative laboratory testing and qualitative evaluation in the field. The laboratory testing methods were evolved over time to enhance test reliability and ecological validity. Feedback from the laboratory and field trials was highly instrumental in guiding the process of glove development. It was eventually found that, compared to standard boxing gloves, pneumatic gloves with sealed bladders were effective in reducing peak impact forces and peak rates of force development when impact magnitudes were low to moderate but not when they were high. By contrast, pneumatic gloves incorporating a bladder enabling air exchange with the external environment were protective across the entire range of impact magnitudes likely to be encountered in boxing. These gloves are configured differently from standard gloves in terms of the positioning of the fist relative to the glove padding, but now have close visual resemblance to standard gloves. The aesthetics of the gloves have proven critical to their acceptance. Wearer comfort is also vital and, although we extensively pursued the concept of thumbless gloves, we finally deemed it necessary to include separate thumb compartments to accommodate user advice. There is scope for further glove refinement, but recent experience indicates that the latest version is currently sufficient for use in modified boxing programs that emphasise safety, with such targeted contextual sufficiency realis-ing a fundamental aim commonly associated with projects employing the design approach. Small batches of the gloves have recently been manufactured to cater for modified boxing programs.

The impact damping capabilities of four different boxing gloves were assessed under two different conditions of target padding to determine whether target characteristics might influence previous conclusions concerning potential for impact mitigation through novel glove design. A conventional 10 oz glove (Std 10 oz), a conventional 16 oz glove (Std 16 oz), a prototype pneumatic glove with a sealed bladder (SBLI) and a prototype pneumatic glove with a bladder allowing air exchange with the external environment (ARLI) were each dropped three times on to a force plate from six heights ranging from 2.5 to 5.0 metres. The force plate was covered by a 50 mm thick mat of EVA material and results obtained were compared with those of an earlier experiment involving use of a similar protocol but a 25 mm thick EVA force plate covering. The thicker mat greatly reduced peak impact forces for all gloves, with values for the Std 10 oz glove becoming much closer to those reported by other researchers for punches delivered by elite boxers to crash test manikins. Peak rates of force development were also substantially decreased. Protective effects provided by the ARLI glove relative to the Std 10 oz glove were diminished but still in the order of 17%-22% for peak impact force and 27%-49% for peak rate of force development across the range of drop heights. With the 50 mm mat thickness, the SBLI glove was as effective as the ARLI glove in reducing peak impact force, whereas this was not the case with the 25 mm mat. It was, however, always inferior to the ARLI glove in decreasing peak rate of force development. The ability of the ARLI glove to afford protection across a spectrum of impact conditions could yield important practical advantages.

Two prototype pneumatic boxing gloves of different design were compared against conventional 10 oz (Std 10 oz) and 16 oz (Std 16 oz) gloves in terms of ability to reduce impact forces delivered to a target. One of the pneumatic gloves (SBLI) contained a sealed air bladder inflated to a pressure of 2 kPa. The other (ARLI) incorporated a bladder that allowed release of air to the external environment upon contact with a target, followed by rapid air reuptake. Each glove was placed on to a mechanical fist and dropped 10 times on to an in-floor force plate from each of nine heights ranging from 1.0 to 5.0 metres, with the 5-metre drop generating a peak pre-impact glove velocity close to the reported maximum for elite boxers. Compared to the conventional gloves, the ARLI glove substantially reduced peak impact forces at all drop heights, with the reduction exceeding 30% even at the 5-metre level. The SBLI glove was as effective as the ARLI glove in reducing peak impact forces at drop heights of up to 2.5 metres, but its performance then progressively diminished, and at drop heights of 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 metres it produced peak force readings similar to those recorded for the Std 10 oz and Std 16 oz gloves. The superiority of the ARLI glove was even more evident in relation to peak rate of force development , with reductions relative to the Std 10 oz glove being ~60% at drop heights up to 3.5 metres and still ~47% at 5 metres. Peak rate of force development for the SBLI glove exceeded that for the ARLI glove for all drop heights of 2.0 metres and above, and at 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 metres it was higher than the readings for the Std 10 oz and 16 oz gloves. The protective effect of the ARLI glove was associated with an increase in impact compliance and prolongation of contact time between glove and target. It is concluded that a How to cite this paper: Perkins 457 World Journal of Engineering and Technology P. Perkins et al. pneumatic boxing glove that provides for air exchange with the external environment can greatly reduce impact magnitudes across the whole range of pre-impact glove velocities likely to be encountered in boxing, thereby mitigating risks associated with the sport. While acceptance of the gloves by the boxing community is uncertain, opportunity may exist for almost immediate uptake in modified boxing programs.

The purpose of this review is to establish current knowledge in regard to the legal, medical, ethical and moral concerns of participating in boxing. The review also presents a case for boxing by highlighting the social and physical benefits associated with participation. It summarises, interprets, and critically evaluates the existing literature and introduces a safer alternative Box’Tag.