Considerations for application of skill acquisition in Sport : an example from tennis
- Müller, Sean, Fitzgerald, Cody, Brenton, John
- Authors: Müller, Sean , Fitzgerald, Cody , Brenton, John
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Expertise Vol. 3, no. 3 (2020), p. 175-182
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- Description: Skill acquisition principles are crucial to prepare athletes for superior performance in sport, but, in training athletes, coaches have focused less on these principles than they have on the design of training. This paper provides an overview of how a skill acquisition specialist disseminated scientific knowledge to amateur and professional coaches and initiated collaboration to improve practice design. First, a framework of representative task design is outlined, which considers perception and action components of sports skills in practice tasks relative to the competition setting. Second, with elite tennis as an example, steps are described as to how the skill acquisition specialist can initiate collaboration with coaches to evaluate practice tasks and make recommendations using representative task design. This approach includes delivery of a seminar to educate coaches, observation of practice tasks to rate representative task design with recommendations made, and factors identified by coaches that should be considered when applying skill acquisition principles. Factors identified by coaches related to presentation of anticipatory cues, practice variability, individualization of practice, skill complexity, and consistency of skill tests. Collectively, this paper provides insight into how skill acquisition specialists can collaborate with coaches to disseminate knowledge, and it presents some of the challenges and solutions of designing representative practice tasks in sport.
- Authors: Müller, Sean , Fitzgerald, Cody , Brenton, John
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Expertise Vol. 3, no. 3 (2020), p. 175-182
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Skill acquisition principles are crucial to prepare athletes for superior performance in sport, but, in training athletes, coaches have focused less on these principles than they have on the design of training. This paper provides an overview of how a skill acquisition specialist disseminated scientific knowledge to amateur and professional coaches and initiated collaboration to improve practice design. First, a framework of representative task design is outlined, which considers perception and action components of sports skills in practice tasks relative to the competition setting. Second, with elite tennis as an example, steps are described as to how the skill acquisition specialist can initiate collaboration with coaches to evaluate practice tasks and make recommendations using representative task design. This approach includes delivery of a seminar to educate coaches, observation of practice tasks to rate representative task design with recommendations made, and factors identified by coaches that should be considered when applying skill acquisition principles. Factors identified by coaches related to presentation of anticipatory cues, practice variability, individualization of practice, skill complexity, and consistency of skill tests. Collectively, this paper provides insight into how skill acquisition specialists can collaborate with coaches to disseminate knowledge, and it presents some of the challenges and solutions of designing representative practice tasks in sport.
Embedding of psycho-perceptual-motor skills can improve athlete assessment and training programs
- Müller, Sean, van Rens, Fleur, Brenton, John, Morris-Binelli, Khaya, Piggott, Benjamin, Rosalie, Simon, Burgin, Matthew
- Authors: Müller, Sean , van Rens, Fleur , Brenton, John , Morris-Binelli, Khaya , Piggott, Benjamin , Rosalie, Simon , Burgin, Matthew
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Expertise, 2 (1), 14-22. Vol. 2, no. 1 (2019), p. 14-22
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- Description: Practitioners in a variety of sports seek unique ways to train athletes to better prepare them for competition. In this position paper, we argue that inclusion of psycho-perceptual-motor skills, from the fields of sport psychology and sport expertise, is crucial, but underutilized in the assessment and training of athletes. First, a brief introduction is provided as to why psycho-perceptual-motor skill is vital for training athletes. Second, examples are discussed relating to key concepts. These include the following: assessment of expertise discriminators such as visual anticipation under pressure contexts, incorporation of sports analytics and performance analysis to aid reflection upon previous experiences of good anticipation and coping with pressure, use of qualitative and quantitative measures to understand processes underlying performance and learning, as well as design of representative tasks for assessment and training anticipation under pressure contexts. Third, some recommendations are made to practitioners of sports teams to assist them in taking advantage of psycho-perceptual-motor skill to better prepare athletes for competition. Collectively, we hope this paper stimulates collaboration between practitioners of sports teams and scientists to create a greater focus upon integrated sport psychology and sport expertise in the training of athletes.
- Authors: Müller, Sean , van Rens, Fleur , Brenton, John , Morris-Binelli, Khaya , Piggott, Benjamin , Rosalie, Simon , Burgin, Matthew
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Expertise, 2 (1), 14-22. Vol. 2, no. 1 (2019), p. 14-22
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Practitioners in a variety of sports seek unique ways to train athletes to better prepare them for competition. In this position paper, we argue that inclusion of psycho-perceptual-motor skills, from the fields of sport psychology and sport expertise, is crucial, but underutilized in the assessment and training of athletes. First, a brief introduction is provided as to why psycho-perceptual-motor skill is vital for training athletes. Second, examples are discussed relating to key concepts. These include the following: assessment of expertise discriminators such as visual anticipation under pressure contexts, incorporation of sports analytics and performance analysis to aid reflection upon previous experiences of good anticipation and coping with pressure, use of qualitative and quantitative measures to understand processes underlying performance and learning, as well as design of representative tasks for assessment and training anticipation under pressure contexts. Third, some recommendations are made to practitioners of sports teams to assist them in taking advantage of psycho-perceptual-motor skill to better prepare athletes for competition. Collectively, we hope this paper stimulates collaboration between practitioners of sports teams and scientists to create a greater focus upon integrated sport psychology and sport expertise in the training of athletes.
Implementing skill acquisition research in high-performance sport : reflecting on the importance of autonomy-support for successful collaboration
- Morris-Binelli, Khaya, Müller, Sean, van Rens, Fleur, Staniforth, Dave, Appleby, Brendyn, Rosalie, Simon
- Authors: Morris-Binelli, Khaya , Müller, Sean , van Rens, Fleur , Staniforth, Dave , Appleby, Brendyn , Rosalie, Simon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sport Psychology in Action Vol. 13, no. 3 (2022), p. 143-154
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- Description: Perceptual-cognitive-motor skills, such as visual anticipation, are pivotal for superior performance in sport. However, there are only a limited number of skill acquisition specialists working with coaches to develop these skills in athletes. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief reflection on the use of psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment to embed a skill acquisition research project in high-performance sport. The research project was conducted with the Australian national field hockey high-performance unit and investigated individual differences in expert goalkeepers’ visual anticipation. The paper first discusses the role of a skill acquisition specialist, how they collaborate with coaches and athletes, and barriers to collaboration. The paper then outlines how psychological strategies can be used to create an autonomy-supportive environment to build a relationship and establish a research collaboration with a team. Further, the paper discusses the importance of continually involving coaches and athletes in the research process to facilitate their engagement and self-determined motivation to complete the project. By applying psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment, sports scientists may have greater success in overcoming the many barriers to conduct research in an elite sport setting, with the outcomes highly valuable for athlete development. © 2021 Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
- Authors: Morris-Binelli, Khaya , Müller, Sean , van Rens, Fleur , Staniforth, Dave , Appleby, Brendyn , Rosalie, Simon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sport Psychology in Action Vol. 13, no. 3 (2022), p. 143-154
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Perceptual-cognitive-motor skills, such as visual anticipation, are pivotal for superior performance in sport. However, there are only a limited number of skill acquisition specialists working with coaches to develop these skills in athletes. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief reflection on the use of psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment to embed a skill acquisition research project in high-performance sport. The research project was conducted with the Australian national field hockey high-performance unit and investigated individual differences in expert goalkeepers’ visual anticipation. The paper first discusses the role of a skill acquisition specialist, how they collaborate with coaches and athletes, and barriers to collaboration. The paper then outlines how psychological strategies can be used to create an autonomy-supportive environment to build a relationship and establish a research collaboration with a team. Further, the paper discusses the importance of continually involving coaches and athletes in the research process to facilitate their engagement and self-determined motivation to complete the project. By applying psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment, sports scientists may have greater success in overcoming the many barriers to conduct research in an elite sport setting, with the outcomes highly valuable for athlete development. © 2021 Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
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