This is really important point. I made a similar one towards the very end of Tennis Note 31. I used the analogy of the gluten-free phenomena: Novak Djokovic went gluten-free and won 40+ matches in a row and everyone thought, ‘Oh man! I should go gluten-free.’ When they did, it had negative effects because in reality, Novak Djokovic had an allergy to gluten. It seemed as if the decision was made because of an appearance of a trend — a bunch of Eastern European athletes were taking some random drug and thus, it must be suspicious activity. It appeared that many papers would mention this judoka paper, determining from the title, it must have the proof, but not actually seeing the paper and realizing the lack of science protocol. Of course, if this turns out to have a significant effect on performance, then case closed and all of these athletes should have read their email. However, if they expect to catch athletes doping, they need to make sure the science side of their motivations is legitimate.
Some have proof that they do nothing at all. Yet people will swear by these substances or methods.
Really informative.
Jasmine Richards
11