Professor Ben Jones
Professor | Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, West Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Ben is an accredited strength and conditioning coach and works in a consultancy capacity with sports teams and national governing bodies.
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Biography
Ben completed his BSc (Hons), MSc and PhD at Leeds Beckett University, before becoming a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology in 2013. Ben received his Professorship in 2017, at the age of 31.
Ben is also an accredited strength and conditioning coach and works in a consultancy capacity with sports teams and national governing bodies. In 2015, he was joint-awarded the Researcher of the Year at Leeds Beckett University with Dr Kevin Till, and in 2017 was awarded the UKSCA Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year for Research and Education.
Industry Expertise (4)
Research
Sport - Amateur
Education/Learning
Sport - Professional
Areas of Expertise (6)
Fatigue and Recovery
Fluid and Electrolyte Balance
Sport
Sport Science
Physical Education
Youth Athletes
Accomplishments (2)
Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year for Research and Education, UKSCA
2017
Researcher of the Year, Leeds Beckett University
2015
Education (3)
Leeds Metropolitan University: Ph.D., Fluid Balance and Sodium Homeostasis in Rugby Players 2013
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Leeds Metropolitan University: M.S., Sport and Exercise Science 2008
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Leeds Metropolitan University: B.S., Health-Related Exercise and Fitness 2007
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Affiliations (2)
- Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club : Pathway Performance Director
- The Rugby Football League : Head of Performance
Links (6)
Languages (1)
- English
Media Appearances (5)
RFL approves concussion-detecting mouthguards across rugby league
The Guardian online
2021-11-18
“The guards measure head acceleration profile and track impact to the head and rotational force,” Prof Ben Jones, who works for the Rhinos and has helped lead the study, told the Guardian. Other governing bodies such as union’s World Rugby have introduced the mouthguards but Jones insists rugby league is breaking barriers by rolling the concept out across an entire sport, including the professional and amateur games at the same time.
England Wheelchair rugby league squad begin World Cup preparations with Leedsground-breaking tests at Leeds Beckett University
Yorkshire Evening Post online
2021-10-14
Professor Ben Jones, from Carnegie School of Sport said: “It’s the first time we’ve been able to put this group of athletes through testing like this. “We’ve pulled a big research team together with different areas of expertise to lead each of the sections.
Concussion in rugby league: Professor Ben Jones on how the sport is tackling the dangers posed by head injuries
Sky Sports online
2021-07-01
Professor Ben Jones, who works with the Rhinos and the England performance unit at the RFL, believes rugby league is taking the right steps in researching and understanding both the risks posed by head injuries and how to reduce them. "I think everyone is open, everyone is aware, and everyone takes concussion seriously," Professor Jones told Sky Sports News.
Stevie Ward still struggling with dizziness and migraines a year after suffering concussion
ITV online
2021-03-31
Professor Ben Jones from Leeds Beckett University said. 'Instrumented mouth guards which are a new technology which have emerged in the last 12 months allows us to understand loads players are exposed too, the collision loads and how that effects head impacts which then better allows us to monitor players.'
Leeds Rhinos forward Stevie Ward retires following long-term concussion issues
The Mirror online
2021-01-05
Professor Ben Jones - who is also pathway performance director at the Rhinos and head of performance for England - explained: “Rugby league has always been a sport that is open to research and change to improve both the performance and wellbeing of players. We all recognise that rugby league is tough, and that players train hard week in week out, to perform at their best.
Event Appearances (5)
Countermovement jump qualities of elite academy rugby union players
2019 NSCA National Conference Washington D.C., USA
2019-07-10
Descriptions and definitions for the rugby league tackle
8th International Workshop and Conference of the International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport (ISPAS) Budapest
2019-09-11
Strength and Speed Characteristics of Women's Super League Players
2019 NSCA National Conference Washington D.C., USA
2019-07-10
Relationships between jump and sprint force-velocity profiles and performance
2019 NSCA National Conference Washington D.C., USA
2019-07-10
Training Loads and Exposure in Late specialization Sports; Challenges and Solutions
2019 NSCA National Conference Washington D.C., USA
2019-07-10
Articles (5)
Team Sport Risk Exposure Framework-2 (TS-REF-2) to identify sports activities and contacts at increased SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk during the COVID-19 pandemic FREE
British Journal of Sports Medicine2021 The Team Sports Risk Exposure Framework (TS-REF) was developed in July 2020 by experts in sports medicine, virology, sports science and public health to facilitate the safe return of sport during the COVID-19 pandemic. The TS-REF was developed at the time when the outdoor transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 during sport was unknown. The TS-REF has been adopted by Public Health England and the UK Government (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), for use within both elite and community sports, to both determine the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission during specific sporting activities (eg, rugby tackle), and to identify and isolate increased risk contacts during sport. The TS-REF classified increased risk contacts as player-to-player interactions ‘within 1 m, directly face to face, for 3 or more seconds’.
The Frequency and Intensity of Representative and Nonrepresentative Late Adolescent Team-Sport Athletes' Training Schedules
The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research2021 This study aimed to identify and compare the training frequency and intensity (via session rating of perceived exertion load [sRPE load]) of representative and nonrepresentative late adolescent athletes. Thirty-six team sport athletes completed a web-based questionnaire daily over an 8-month period, reporting their training/match activities from the previous day. Athletes were categorized as representative (academy/county/international) or nonrepresentative (club/school) depending on the highest level of their sport they participated. Mean weekly frequencies and sRPE load of different training/match activities were quantified for each athlete across 5 school terms.
Longitudinal changes in Super League match locomotor and event characteristics: A league-wide investigation over three seasons in rugby league
PLoS ONE2021 Longitudinal changes in Super League match locomotor and event characteristics: A league-wide investigation over three seasons in rugby league — the University of Bath's research portal Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content the University of Bath's research portal Home the University of Bath's research portal Logo Help & FAQ Home Profiles Research Units Research output Projects Datasets Student theses Equipment Search by expertise, name or affiliation Longitudinal changes in Super League match locomotor and event characteristics: A league-wide investigation over three seasons in rugby league.
459 Knowledge of the importance of proper tackle contact techniques does not translate to proper tackle contact technique for injury prevention and performance FREE
British Journal of Sports Medicine2021 Background In rugby union and sevens, the tackle is the most frequently occurring contact event and carries the greatest risk of causing injury. Proper tackle technique has been shown to reduce the risk of injury during the tackle and increase likelihood of success. As such, national rugby injury prevention programmes aim to provide coaches, trainers and players with knowledge of proper tackle technique. This knowledge is intended to modify players behaviours towards safety in the tackle, and ultimately improve their tackle technique in training and matches. Objectives To determine the association between knowledge of the importance of proper tackle contact techniques and actual proper tackle contact technique for injury prevention and performance.
Sequential movement pattern-mining (SMP) in field-based team-sport: A framework for quantifying spatiotemporal data and improve training specificity?
Journal of Sports Sciences2021 Athlete external load is typically quantified as volumes or discretised threshold values using distance, speed and time. A framework accounting for the movement sequences of athletes has previously been proposed using radio frequency data. This study developed a framework to identify sequential movement sequences using GPS-derived spatiotemporal data in team-sports and establish its stability. Thirteen rugby league players during one match were analysed to demonstrate the application of the framework. The framework (Sequential Movement Pattern-mining [SMP]) applies techniques to analyse i) geospatial data (i.e., decimal degree latitude and longitude), ii) determine players turning angles, iii) improve movement descriptor assignment, thus improving movement unit formation and iv) improve the classification and identification of players’ frequent SMP.
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