To err again is human: exploring a bidirectional relationship between pressure and performance failure feedback

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordBackground and Objectives:While the potentially negative effects of pressure on skilled performance have been well studied in laboratory- based research, theoretically driven questions based on real-world performance data are lacking. Design:We aimed to test the predictions of the newly developed Attentional Control Theory: Sport (ACTS), using archived play-by-play data from the past seven seasons of the National Football League (American Football). Methods:An additive scoring system was developed to characterize the degree of pressure on 212,356 individual offensive plays and a Bayesian regression model was used to test the relationship between performance, pressure and preceding negative outcomes, as outlined in ACTS. Results:There was found to be a clear increase in the incidence of failures on high pressure plays (odds ratio = 1.20), and on plays immediately following a previous play failure (odds ratio = 1.09). Additionally, a combined interactive effect of previous failureandpressure indicated that the feedback effect of negative outcomes was greater when pressure was already high (odds ratio = 1.10), in line with the predictions of ACTS. Conclusions:Thesefindings reveal the importance of exploring momentary changes in pressure in real-world sport settings, and the role of failure feedback in influencing the pressure-performance relationship

The wider context of performance analysis and it application in the football coaching process

The evolving role of PA and the associated proliferation of positions and internships within high performance sport has driven consideration for a change, or at least a broadening, of emphasis for use of PA analysis. In order to explore the evolution of PA from both an academic and practitioner perspective this paper considers the wider conceptual use of PA analysis. In establishing this, the paper has 4 key aims: (1) To establish working definitions of PA and where it sits within the contemporary sports science and coaching process continuum; (2) To consider how PA is currently used in relation to data generation; (3) To explore how PA could be used to ensure transfer of information, and; (4) To give consideration to the practical constrains potentially faced by coach and analyst when implementing PA strategies in the future

Challenge and relief : a Foucauldian disciplinary analysis of retirement from professional association football in the United Kingdom

The aim of this study was to consider the retirement experiences of British male professional Association footballers by utilising Foucault’s (1991) analysis of discipline discussed in Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison. Specifically, we drew upon Foucault to consider how, through the various techniques and instruments of discipline, the professional football context produces ‘docile footballing bodies’ and how this might influence a player’s experiences in retirement. We gathered our empirical material using a Foucauldian-informed interview framework (Avner et al., 2013) with 25 former professional male football players between the ages of 21-34. Our analysis suggested that retirement from football was both a challenge and a relief for our participants, and that their extended period of time within football’s strong disciplinary apparatus significantly influenced how they experienced their retirement

Take a walk on the wild side: Exploring, identifying, and developing consultancy expertise with elite performance team leaders

Objectives: Stemming from sport psychology’s recent shift to examine the effective management of elite sports team organizations, the extensive, significant, and complex challenges faced by those with responsibility for team performance have been emphasized. Recognizing that most work in this budding area has been theoretical in nature, our contribution to this special issue consequently identifies and critically evaluates some implications for excellence in practitioners who support leaders of elite sport performance teams. Method: Narrative review and commentary. Results and Conclusions: To survive and succeed, leaders of elite teams must: (a) negotiate complex and contested socio-political dynamics both within and outside their performance department; (b) make impactful and consistent real-time decisions; and (c) continually reinforce and protect their programme. To provide an optimally impactful and valued service, sport psychologists must therefore be able to advise on a broad and politically-astute leadership style and, most critically for consultancy excellence: (a) work within a professional judgment and decision making model; (b) facilitate the leader’s adaptive expertise and nested decision making; and (c) operate a proactive, forthright, and straight approach to ethical considerations. Based on these implications, we conclude by providing suggestions for the training and development of applied consultants

Nerves of Steel? Stress, Work Performance and Elite Athletes

There is a notable shortage of empirical research directed at measuring the magnitude and direction of stress effects on performance in a controlled environment. One reason for this is the inherent difficulties in identifying and isolating direct performance measures for individuals. Additionally most traditional work environments contain a multitude of exogenous factors impacting individual performance, but controlling for all such factors is generally unfeasible (omitted variable bias). Moreover, instead of asking individuals about their self-reported stress levels we observe workers’ behavior in situations that can be classified as stressful. For this reason we have stepped outside the traditional workplace in an attempt to gain greater controllability of these factors using the sports environment as our experimental space. We empirically investigate the relationship between stress and performance, in an extreme pressure situation (football penalty kicks) in a winner take all sporting environment (FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Cup competitions). Specifically, we examine all the penalty shootouts between 1976 and 2008 covering in total 16 events. The results indicate that extreme stressors can have a positive or negative impact on individuals’ performance. On the other hand, more commonly experienced stressors do not affect professionals’ performances.Performance, Stressors, Sport, Behavioural Economics, Work-related stress

A qualitative analysis of the factors that protect athletes against doping in sport

Design: Ten competitive athletes (M = 5, F = 5) representing five different sports (field hockey, boxing, football, triathlon, rugby) were recruited through convenience sampling to undertake a semi-structured interview to enable a qualitative analysis of athletes' lifelong athletic careers. Method: Verbatim transcripts were analysed using an established three-stage coding process to identify the common themes within the narratives. Results: Personal and situational protective factors were identified in the accounts. Personal factors included: (i) a strong moral stance against cheating; (ii) an identity beyond sport; (iii) self-control; and (iv) resilience to social group pressures. Situational factors included secure attachments to people at all stages of the athlete's life. This facilitated both the promotion of moral decision making and assisted in the development of anti-doping attitudes. When situational factors – such as a pro-doping climate – arose, key attachments in the athletes' lives interplayed with personal factors to reduce the risk of doping. Conclusions: These findings offer insights into factors that protect competitive athletes against using PEDs in sport and further our understanding of the complex interaction between risk and protective factors at individual, psychosocial and societal levels among competitive athletes. As a complex behaviour, doping in sport cannot be prevented by solely focussing on the individual athlete; contextual factors beyond the athlete's control also impact on this behaviour. Thus, a paradigm shift is warranted to move beyond an athlete-centred approach to anti-doping

Change management: The case of the elite sport performance team

The effective and efficient implementation of change is often required for both successful performance and management survival across a host of contemporary domains. However, although of major theoretical and practical significance, research to date has overlooked the application of change management (hereafter CM) knowledge to the elite sport performance team environment. Considering that the success of ‘off-field’ sports businesses are largely dependent on the performances of their ‘on-field’ team, this article explores the application of current CM theorizing to this specific setting and the challenges facing its utility. Accordingly, we identify the need and importance of developing theory specific to this area, with practical application in both sport and business, through examination of current knowledge and identification of the domain's unique, dynamic and contested properties. Markers of successful change are then suggested to guide initial enquiry before the article concludes with proposed lines of research which may act to provide a valid and comprehensive theoretical account of CM to optimize the research and practice of those working in the field

Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis

Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills

A sporting chance for women? Exploring gender imbalance on the sports desks of UK national newspapers

Sports journalism has traditionally been seen as a male domain, and a number of researchers suggest that this tradition has not changed (Strong, 2007) . Sports reporters in the United Kingdom remain predominantly male, and despite increasingly more women having entered sports journalism since the women’s movement of the 1970s, the number of women sports writers remains relatively low (Franks, 2013; Chambers et al, 2004). In recent years there has been some considerable progress regarding the visibility of women in broadcast sports journalism and in particular the London Olympics in 2012 was a watershed for UK broadcasting, but there are still very few women sports writers in the UK newspaper industry, and sports journalism remains a largely male-dominated area in countries all over the world. (Hardin & Shain, 2005