Where are they now? Blog series
The HRI Director and Stream Leaders have had the privilege of supervising a number of higher degree by research students since the Holsworth Research Initiative began in 2019. These students now work across a broad range of industries including academia, applied sports science and clinical practice.
In this new series, we will update our subscribers on where our past HDR students are now and how their research degree with the La Trobe Health School and the Holsworth Research Initiative helped shape their career.
Part 5: Miss Jodie Palmer, High Performance Manager Old Scotch Football Club and Strength and Conditioning Coach Camberwell Grammar School
Part Five of our Where Are They Now blog series features Miss Jodie Palmer, a current PhD candidate of the HRI and the current High Performance Manager at Old Scotch Football Club.
Miss Palmer is a current PhD student of the HRI and is supervised by HRI Director Professor Michael Kingsley and Human Performance stream leaders Dr Rodrigo Bini and Dr Daniel Wundersitz. Miss Palmer completed her pre-submission review presentation in July this year and expects the conferral of her doctorate degree in the coming months. A unique aspect of Miss Palmers research has been her involvement with the Bendigo Basketball Association. Thanks to an industry partnership between La Trobe University and the Bendigo Spirit and Braves, Miss Palmer was embedded with the teams in a mutually beneficial arrangement that saw Miss Palmer provide Sport Science services while collecting data for her PhD.
Exercise intensity in professional basketball
Miss Palmers PhD is investigating on-court exercise intensity in professional basketball and how basketball performance can be improved using 3D Microtechnology. Although her thesis is not yet available publicly, Miss Palmer has published a number or original studies from her thesis in peer-reviewed journals.
Criterion validity of an automated method of detecting live play periods in basketball
Effect of player role and competition level on player demands in basketball
Residual neuromuscular fatigue influences subsequent on-court activity in basketball
So far, Miss Palmer and her supervisory team have published a paper establishing the criterion validity of an automated method using accelerometry technology to detect the start and end of live play periods in professional basketball matches. Once this was established, Miss Palmer was then able to use the live play detection technique to further investigate factors that influence on-court activity in professional basketball including player role, competition level, scoring streaks and neuromuscular fatigue. Conclusions from these studies include;
# In regard to player role, professional basketball players should prepare for the greatest match demands they could encounter during a season to improve performance and reduce injury risk.
# Basketball players might need their training volume managed when transitioning from a semi-professional to a professional season to reduce the injury risk from sharp increases in training demands.
# Maintaining high levels of exercise intensity in professional and semi-professional basketball matches assists in reducing the chance that an opposing team will engage in a scoring streak (when a team scores three times in a row)
# To maximise the probability of a scoring streak, a basketball team should aim to shoot more 2-point shots, at a 3:1 2-point to 3-point ratio.
# Residual neuromuscular fatigue can influence the amount of supramaximal activity players perform in a subsequent training session or match.
# Practices should be implemented to minimise residual neuromuscular fatigue carried into matches while maintaining a sufficient training volume to elicit physiological adaptations.
A passion for women’s sport
Miss Palmer is very much looking forward to receiving her doctorate degree and stated that she needs a break from academia, a sentiment expressed by many higher degree by research students at the conclusion of their PhD journey. Miss Palmer has transferred the skills she learnt during her PhD studies and her time embedded within the Bendigo Braves and Spirits teams, to her current roles as the High-Performance Manager of the Old Scotch Football club in Melbourne, Victoria and the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Camberwell Grammar School. When asked about her career aspirations, Miss Palmer reiterated her passion for women’s sport and her desire to work at the elite level in a Sports Science or High-Performance role.
Up next week is Part six of our 8-part blog series. We will be following up with Dr Paul Xanthos, ateaching-focused Lecturer in the discipline of Sport and Exercise Science at La Trobe University.
Missed our previous posts in this series? Read them at the HRI blog using the links below and while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you can stay informed of all the latest HRI news.
Bendigo local GP Dr Stephen Bovalino
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Mid-Sweden University Dr Craig Staunton
Allied Health Education & Research Manager at Goulburn Valley Health, Dr Emma Macdonald
Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation Lead, Bendigo Health, Dr Stephen Barrett
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