Philip Edward Kearney

Excelling at youth level in competitive track and field athletics is not a prerequisite for later success

ABSTRACT Enhancing our understanding of athlete development would be valuable for coaches, parents and administrators to set realistic performance expectations and to advance youth sport policy. To this end, a database of track and field performances was examined. Records of 134,313 performances by athletes aged between 12 and 35 years in sprinting, throwing, jumping and middle distance events were analysed. Results revealed that a minority (Male, 9%; Female, 13%) of top 20 ranked senior athletes were also ranked in the top 20 at Under 13 (U13). These results were supported by the finding that a minority of athletes retained their top 20 ranking at subsequent age grades (36.3% U13-U15; 23% U13-U17; 13% U13-U20; 43.3% U15-U17; 22.1% U15-U20; 41.8% U17-U20). By U20, less than 30% of athletes who had been ranked in the top 20 at U13 were still listed on the national rankings. Examining a broader sample of athletes revealed weak to moderate correlations between performances at different age grades until at least Under 17-Under 20. These findings reinforce the message that excelling at youth level in competitive athletics is not a prerequisite for senior success.

A distal focus of attention leads to superior performance on a golf putting task

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the optimal focus of attention for novice golfers performing a putting task. Previous research has advocated that novices should adopt a proximal external focus, but this advice has been drawn from research on a relatively complex task (i.e. pitch shot). Research examining golf putting specifically has failed to find an advantage of adopting either a proximal or an internal focus, but experiments have not included a distal focus condition. The present research investigated if adopting a distal external focus of attention would lead to superior putting performance in novices. Following familiarisation with the task, general putting technique, and the concept of attentional focus, 18 participants completed 3 sets of 15 putts in a counter-balanced, within participant design, adopting a different focus of attention for each set (internal, proximal external, and distal external). After every five putts, participants were asked to answer three questions concerning how much they focused on internal, proximal or distal cues. On the completion of the trials, participants were asked to identify if they had a preference for one or other focus. The self-reports indicated that participants adhered to the three instructional conditions. Performance in the distal focus condition was significantly better than performance in the proximal or internal conditions, which did not differ. Significantly more participants preferred a distal focus of attention than would be expected by chance. Task complexity appears to be an important variable in the selection of the optimal external focus of attention for novices.

Implementing technical refinement in high-level athletics: exploring the knowledge schemas of coaches

ABSTRACT This paper explores the approaches adopted by high-level field athletics coaches when attempting to refine an athlete’s already well-established technique (long and triple jump and javelin throwing). Six coaches, who had all coached multiple athletes to multiple major championships, took part in semi-structured interviews focused upon a recent example of technique refinement. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis. The coaching tools reported were generally consistent with those advised by the existing literature, focusing on attaining “buy-in”, utilising part-practice, restoring movement automaticity and securing performance under pressure. Five of the six coaches reported using a systematic sequence of stages to implement the refinement, although the number and content of these stages varied between them. Notably, however, there were no formal sources of knowledge (e.g., coach education or training) provided to inform coaches’ decision making. Instead, coaches’ decisions were largely based on experience both within and outside the sporting domain. Data offer a useful stimulus for reflection amongst sport practitioners confronted by the problem of technique refinement. Certainly the limited awareness of existing guidelines on technique refinement expressed by the coaches emphasises a need for further collaborative work by researchers and coach educators to disseminate best practice.

Football coaches’ perceptions of the introduction, delivery and evaluation of visual exploratory activity

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to examine how visual exploratory activity (VEA) is introduced, delivered, and evaluated by football coaches. Further, this study aimed to explore whether distinct groups of football coaches existed who differed in their approach to the delivery of VEA training and, if so, whether there were differences in the demographics of the coaches across these differentiated groups. The participants in the study consisted of 303 current football coaches who completed an online survey comprised of three sections and 12 items. Cluster analysis identified three clusters of coaches, which were distinguished by the extent to which they engaged in the delivery of VEA training: Low delivery of VEA training (n = 68), Moderate delivery of VEA training (n = 153) and High delivery of VEA training (n = 82). The High delivery of VEA training cluster were likely to provide more feedback/instruction on VEA; they designed an activity or part of a session to focus on VEA more often; and the percentage of sessions they would primarily focus on VEA was higher compared to the Moderate delivery of VEA training and Low delivery of VEA training clusters. It appears that a higher coaching qualification and experience (years coached and number of hours coached per week) leads to a positive attitude of coaching VEA. Future research regarding VEA should involve direct observations of coaching behaviour in relation to VEA, as well as interviewing the coaches on the delivery of VEA training. From a practical perspective, there is a need for further research to explore practice design and how this can be developed to enhance the use of VEA by performers. HighlightsFootball coaches engage in different amounts of VEA delivery.Higher coaching qualification and experience leads to increased coaching of VEA.Future research to explore practice design to enhance the use of VEA by performers.

Faster, higher, stronger, older: Relative age effects are most influential during the youngest age grade of track and field athletics in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT The relative age effect (RAE) is a common phenomenon in youth sport, whereby children born early in the selection year are more likely to experience success and to sustain participation. There is a lack of research investigating variables which influence RAEs within track and field athletics. Such information is vital to guide policies in relation to competition structure, youth development squads and coach education. A database of competition results was analysed to determine the extent to which RAEs were present in track and field athletics in the United Kingdom. Subsequent analyses examined whether age, sex, event and skill level influenced the RAE. Examination of 77,571 records revealed that RAEs were widespread, but most pronounced during Under 13 (U13) competitions; that is, during athletes’ first exposure to formal track and field competition. Sex, event and skill level further influenced the existence and magnitude of RAEs at different age grades. Relative age is a key influencing factor within track and field athletics, especially at the youngest age category. Consequently, national governing bodies need to consider what administrative and stakeholder initiatives are necessary to minimise the effects of RAEs on young athletes’ early experiences of competition.

Investigating inspirational leader communication in an elite team sport context

The purpose of this study was to examine how leader communication inspires athletes in a team sport context. Footage of elite rugby coaches and athlete leaders delivering genuine speeches were used as a stimulus. Team sport athletes (n = 20) watched this footage and identified which aspects of the communication inspired them. Follow-up interviews were conducted to explore what the participants were inspired by and why. Thematic analyses revealed six main dimensions of what was inspiring within the content of the speech, including showing how the team can be successful, embracing and reinforcing the underdog status, and creating pride and unity within the team. In addition, a number of features of effective delivery were identified, including the tone of voice, fluency of speech, and the way key ideas were emphasised.

Further evidence against eye–hand coordination as a general ability

A number of companies are marketing general eye–hand coordination training devices, which are purported to enhance performance on the device and in a sporting domain. An act comprising eye–hand coordination involves the complex combination of a number of distinct functions, and an investigation of what tasks share this common factor has not been completed. There is also a lack of evidence investigating the interrelationship between different tests to assess eye–hand coordination using these devices. A number of different eye–hand coordination abilities, rather than one common factor, could potentially underpin any range of tasks involving eye–hand coordination and visual stimuli. Therefore, the present study investigated the theoretical assumption upon which such eye–hand coordination training devices are based, that is, whether eye–hand coordination is a general ability. Eighty-seven currently active sportspeople (age: 18.6 ± 0.9 years; 58 males and 29 females) completed four tests of eye–hand coordination: three laboratory tasks (the Sports Vision Trainer™; Batak Pro™; and Graded Pegboard) and a field task (wall catch test). Intercorrelations between the tasks ranged from weak to strong, but the percentage of shared variance was typically low. Overall, the results do not support the existence of a common eye–hand coordination ability underpinning the performance on general eye–hand coordination training devices. Consequently, coaches and sport scientists should be aware that training on general eye–hand coordination training devices is unlikely to transfer to sporting performances. Instead, practitioners are encouraged to explore sport-specific assessment and training of eye–hand coordination.

The identity, epistemology and developmental experiences of high-level adventure sports coaches

ABSTRACT The aim of this research was to further the literature on the identity and practices of adventure sports coaches (ASCs). Current research indicates that these coaches hold well-defined epistemic beliefs that underpin their approaches to coaching. We sought to explore whether these findings applied to a more diverse sample and to examine their working practices and developmental experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on high-level ASCs. Inductive thematic analysis showed that (1) the coaches share similar working practices which are unpredictable and varied, (2) that the coaches possess and can articulate sophisticated epistemological beliefs and (3) the coaches consider themselves to be on a constant learning journey.

Can Achievement Goals be Primed in Competitive Tasks

Abstract This study examined whether achievement goal priming effects would be observed within an overtly competitive setting. Male soccer players (N = 66) volunteered to participate in a soccer penalty-kick taking competition during which they took 20 penalty-kicks on 2 occasions. Following a pretest, participants were allocated to 1 of 5 priming conditions. Immediately prior to the posttest, participants in the priming conditions were asked to complete what was presented as an ostensibly unrelated task that took the form of either a computer task (subliminal priming) or wordsearch task (supraliminal priming). Results revealed that priming had no significant influence on performance.