Sport Cyberpsychology in Action During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Possibilities): A Narrative Review

LDA-based topic modeling for COVID-19-related sports research trends

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic could generate a turning point for introducing a new system for sports participation and business. The purpose of this study is to explore trends and topic structures of COVID-19-related sports research by analyzing the relevant literature.

Methods

Sports studies related to COVID-19 were collected in searching international academic databases. After the pre-processing step using the refinement and morpheme analysis function of the Net Miner program, topic modeling and social network analysis were used to analyze Journal Citation Reports found using the search term 'COVID-19 sports'.

Results

As a result, this study used subject modeling to reveal important potential topics in COVID-19-related sports research articles. 'Sports participation', 'elite players', and 'sports industry' were macroscopically classified, and detailed research topics could be identified from each division.

Conclusion

This study revealed important latent topics from COVID-19-related sports research articles using topic modeling. The results of the research elucidate the structure of academic knowledge on this topic and provide guidance for future research.

Athletes and Coaches through the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative View of Goal Management

Since the end of 2019 and throughout 2020, the world has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports world suddenly had to deal with a massive reorganization of events with important implications for the physical and psychological preparation of athletes and coaches. The purpose of this study was to explore how these changes impacted coaches' and athletes' goal-setting strategies and their experience of goal adjustment. As part of a wider mixed-method project involving 2162 coaches and 1354 athletes, an online qualitative survey was used, and data collected were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings highlighted three overarching themes, in response to goal adjustment: "Moving on toward new goals", "Letting go of goals", and "Trying to hold on", with several themes and sub-themes identifying different nuances of athletes' and coaches' experiences. The implications of such findings for the mental preparation of high-level athletes are discussed in two ways. Firstly, in light of existing literature on goal setting from an applied perspective; secondly, in the broader perspective of the sports culture and the application of our themes to other challenging moments that sports professionals might encounter.

Tennis Coaches’ Perceptions of Covid-19 Impact on Their Health and Professional Activity: A Multi-Cultural Approach

Tennis coaches are facing considerable challenges as the game is disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The long tradition of tennis in the Latin American region and in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking European countries makes comparing these regions particularly interesting. The purpose of this research was to study the perceptions of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking tennis coaches working in Latin American and European countries regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their health, professional, and economic circumstances. The perceptions of 655 coaches from 19 Latin American and European countries were collected using an ad-hoc questionnaire. Coaches reported on the incidence of the virus in terms of infection and quarantine, the impact on their coaching programs, and on their professional development, training, and education. They were also asked about their perception of the overall situation as a threat. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the health and the profession of tennis coaches. Although Latin American coaches reported a greater impact on their health, economic, and professional circumstances, they viewed the pandemic as an opportunity for professional improvement and training as compared to the perceptions of European coaches. In light of these results, implications, practical applications, and future research are proposed.