Personale docente:

Emanuela Pierantozzi, Tenured Researcher

Luca Puce, Fixed-time Researcher

Research topics:

The main lines of research in the field focus on a wide range of topics related to the analysis and understanding of sports performance, didactic methodologies, training and evaluation of the athlete, both pre- competitive and competitive, with particular attention to:
- Sports performance models: study of the parameters that determine athletic performance. 
- Physiological adaptations to training and competition: analysis of the body's responses to training stimuli. 
- Specific needs of different age groups and types of athletes, including athletes with disabilities. 

Research focuses on:

• Factors affecting sports performance, including:
  - Technique and tactics
  - Psychological aspects
  - Training environment and competition
  - Body weight management

• Differences in performance among athletes based on:
  - Age
  - Experience level
  - Physical condition, including disabilities

• Improving teaching, training and evaluation methodologies, through:
  - Innovative didactics for technical-tactical teaching
  - Advanced technologies such as computer simulation, biomechanical analysis and functional magnetic resonance imaging
  - Injury prevention strategies

“Combat Sports” research lines:

• Didactics in martial arts: teaching methods to optimize technical and tactical learning. 

• Adaptations induced by motor and sport activity protocols, with a focus on intellectual and relational disabilities (particularly in autistic individuals) 

• Body weight management and performance in combat sports, analyzing 

Lines of Research “Paralympic Swimming”: 
this group is conducting an ambitious research project aimed at improving the classification system of Paralympic athletes, with the goal of:

• Ensure a more fair and scientifically based classification, considering the athletes' actual abilities and not just the type of disability. 

• Analyze the physical and psychological responses to exercise, for each specific disability, in order to:
  - Better understand the physiological adaptations induced by training 
  - Develop more effective athletic training methodologies 
  - Tailor training programs to the specific needs of athletes, helping them to reach their maximum potential

Third Mission Activities:
Organizing and participating, free of charge, in at least two to three conferences, workshops or meetings per year, either in-person or online. The events are aimed at citizens, exercise and sports science teachers in schools, and sports coaches, and cover current topics such as: long-term sports career management; the elite athlete's end-of-career transition; injury prevention in athletes; burnout prevention in sports; benefits of adapted sports activity for frail groups (such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and patients with specific conditions)