Ross Tucker Profile picture
Apr 14, 2021 8 tweets 3 min read Read on X
The focus is on evidence, not emotion. And it’s about being as systematic as possible, relying on data, freed from “side of the field” bias, which means:
- Identifying problems
- Understanding the cause
- Seeking solutions from experts
- Ongoing evaluation
The biggest challenges are:
- How do you know if it worked?
- How do you know if it caused a set of unintended consequences that are undesired?
Trying to understand those in a complex, dynamic environment is challenging. Too many “simple” solutions offered without thought of “B"
Classic example now is the desire to limit substitution numbers. It’s easy to understand the theory for why you’d want this. It’s less obvious to consider that it *might* make things worse, or replace one issue with another, depending on what creates injury risk (fatigue vs size)
Another great example was head injury risk. Once we’d found, pretty clearly, that:
- The player most at risk is the tackler,
- The risk is higher for upright tacklers & higher contacts,
the approach to focus on law (as advised by expert coaches) was meant to carry a MESSAGE
That message would be carried by sanction, its intention being to change A (high risk) into B (low risk), or to modify A through better technique, as illustrated below. The alternative is total removal of the risky behaviour, which is what comes if this doesn’t work.
In this instance, the principle is informed by evidence, and is really simple:
- Protect the BC by avoiding their head as much as possible;
- Protect the tackler by ensuring the head is in the least risky position possible

This means appreciating the root issue - head contact
Naturally, there will be unavoidable head contact in the sport. The issue is whether it’s high risk or not? We knew where risk was higher - evidence was clear. It just wasn't always what was thought to be obvious. This was a great illustration of “intuition/emotion” vs evidence
More on this in the video, including some other explanations and examples of how the sport is trying to manage risk without creating new (or returning to old) problems: vimeo.com/531690887

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More from @Scienceofsport

Sep 3
There's a whole interview with Malcolm Gladwell that I hope you'll listen to (it's great! link below), but part that is getting a lot of attention is this clip right near the start, and I thought I'd share some context & thoughts

Here's the full podcast: podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/mal…
So context, he's talking about a panel that happened in Boston at @SloanSportsConf a few years ago. I was a panelist, and he was the moderator/chair. I was significantly outnumbered on that panel, and my main recollection was that it was a bit of a car crash! speaking for myself!
I recall murmurs & dissent to just about everything I said (male advantage is real, enormous and should be excluded from women's sport, testosterone suppression doesn't take it away, no such thing as meaningful competition), and cheers when trans advocates spoke! I wasn't happy!
Read 11 tweets
Aug 5
Two things these men (& very occasionally women) have in common when offering these 'insights' are: 1) Ignorance (perhaps chosen) of the policy leads them to criticize a straw man or fiction 2) They never offer a solution of any kind for women's benefit 🧵 theconversation.com/world-athletic…
For example, he writes the following. But the WA policy, from its origin, has been CLEAR that it's not simply the SRY gene, but the complete journey from that gene through to androgenization that is being excluded. That's why WA explicitly states the exception, as shown (blue) Image
Image
He doubles down on his simplistic understanding of the process - SRY is step one, and then "further medical assessments" establish a diagnosis, which would very quickly identify the detail he asserts as if nobody has thought of it. He appears not to understand how 'screens' work Image
Image
Image
Read 11 tweets
Nov 11, 2024
At some point in the future, I'll share a presentation that goes through male vs female physiological differences and the biological reality of sport, to explain what some have (wilfully) misunderstood. But for now, here's a pen review of this absurdity promoted by @BJSM_BMJ Image
Number 1 (summary conclusions only, mind) Image
Number 2. This might be the most egregious straw man ever erected. As if anyone really believes it is all muscle size and strength Image
Read 8 tweets
Aug 5, 2024
The IOC appear unsure of why sport would test the sex of athletes. In a bonus (short 16min) podcast, I explain the reasons, how categories only work when excluding some people and why screening is not arbitrary but essential to fairness & safety for women: open.spotify.com/episode/0nhX9D…
It strikes me that the IOC response to the controversy is to ignore the test results, instead choosing to criticize the reason for testing. This enables them to deflect the implication of the test results. The reasons for testing, more generally, is what I cover in the podcast 1/
An organization that is sincere about the integrity of women's sport would deal with BOTH issues. By all means, criticize targeted testing & seek a better way to do it (also in the podcast), but recognize that those test results are telling you that males are fighting females 2/
Read 6 tweets
Aug 2, 2024
I have some thoughts on this, if I may. First, the cheek swab for those not in the know is a simple and non-invasive test that allows them to distinguish between people who are XX and XY, by scraping cells off the inside of the cheek, and checking under microscope. However...
...the problem for sport is that when it's applied this test in the past, it has produced some controversies. Here's an account from one athlete on their failed test, having previously passed it: What this, and other cases (Ewa Klobukowska) remind us is...thelancet.com/journals/lance…
...that "tests" are not perfect, and this has important implications. However, sport can quite easily work around this, simply by understanding that the cheek swab should not be thought of as a test, but rather a "SCREEN". The difference is that you don't act on the screen result
Read 7 tweets
Apr 16, 2024
Basically, IOC paid tens of thousands to show that a small slice of the female population overlaps in performance with a small slice of the male population, and now try to spin it as proof of no advantage. Could’ve watched Boston yesterday to see overlap. It is totally irrelevant
If that slice of the female population happens to come from further towards the “high” end of athleticism, and the male slice is further to the “low” end, of course you’ll find similar performances. Look at the VO2, BMI, Fat %, and you know exactly how this “similarity” was made
And so look at the most crucial section of the paper - participant recruitment & eligibility. It says basically nothing of value for matching 2 populations of interest. I fit these criteria, and I have no expectation that anyone would reasonably compare me to F to assess M adv Image
Read 9 tweets

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