What could an ecological dynamics rationale offer Quiet Eye research? Comment on Vickers

In this commentary, we respond to suggestions in previous Quiet Eye (QE) research that future work is needed to understand how theories of ecological psychology and nonlinear dynamics might frame empirical and practical work. We raise questions on the assumptions behind an information processing explanation for programming of parameters such as duration, onsets and offsets of QE, and we concur with previous calls for more research considering how visual search behaviours, such as QE, emerge under interacting personal, task and environmental constraints. However, initial work needs to frame a more general ecological dynamics explanation for QE, capturing how a process-oriented approach is needed to address how perceived affordances and adaptive functional variability might shape emergent coordination tendencies, including QE, in individual performers

The (Sport) Performer-Environment System as the Base Unit in Explanations of Expert Performance

In this article we propose that expertise can be best explained as the interaction of the varying constraints/characteristics of the environment and of the individual, framed by the ecological dynamics approach. This rationale of expert performance is contrasted with the typical way that science has approached the study of expertise: i.e., by looking for constraints, located in the individual, either nurture- or nature-based, and related to high performance levels. In ecological dynamics, the base unit of analysis for understanding expertise is the individual-environment system. Illustrating this perspective with Bob Beamon’s 8.90 m long jump, whose 1968 world-record jump was substantially longer than any previous, we argue that expert performers should not be seen as an agglomeration of genes, traits, or mental dispositions and capacities. Rather, expert performance can be captured by the dynamically-varying, functional relationship between the constraints imposed by the environment and the resources of each individual performer

Innate Talent in Sport: Beware of an organismic asymmetry – comment on Baker & Wattie

Of fundamental, theoretical and practical, relevance to sport science is the conceptualisation of talent, skill and expertise. Revisiting the question of innate talent is timely, given current pressure on young children selected to specialise in sport at an early age. Here, we re-iterate the conceptualisation of talent, skill and expertise in sport as an increasingly functional relationship between an athlete and a specific performance environment, developed over the macro-timescale of years and decades. This ecological dynamics rationale avoids an organismic asymmetry, the bias towards explanations of human behaviour which over-emphasise the role of inherent properties and qualities, identifiable through early selection. An ecological dynamics rationale, eschewing the organismic asymmetry of innate talent, in favour of exploiting and developing individual functionality in specific performance environments, challenges coaches and sport scientists to collaborate in new models for developing talent, skill and expertise

Harnessing socio-cultural constraints on athlete development to create a form of life

The role of task constraints manipulation in pedagogical practice has received considerable attention in recent years, although there has been little focus on the role of socio-cultural constraints on an athlete's development to elite performance. Here, we aim to integrate ideas from a range of scientific sub disciplines to consider why certain behaviours and cultures (socio-cultural constraints) may exist in sport performance and coaching. Using recent conceptualisations of affordances in ecological dynamics, we explore how socio-cultural constraints may influence an athlete's development and relationship with a performance context. We also highlight how workplace practices emanating from the industrialisation of the nineteenth-century in countries like the UK may have influenced coaching practice and organisational behaviours from that time on. In particular, features such as strict work regimes and rigid role specification may have reduced personal autonomy, de-skilled performers and induced a 'body as machine' philosophy within sporting organisations.These traits could be considered counter to expert performance in sports where creativity and adaptive decision-making are important skills for athletes to possess. We propose that ecological dynamics is a theoretical framework that enhances the understanding of the influential nature of socio-cultural constraints on the development of athlete performance. Key ideas suggest that sport pedagogists and practitioners could develop methodologies which help design practice landscapes rich in information to encourage athlete autonomy to search for relevant affordances which invite functionally relevant actions for competitive performance with physical, psychological, emotional and social dimensions. Future research is needed to explore a range of sports to identify and clarify the relationship between socio-cultural constraints and expertise acquisition

The impact of nonlinear pedagogy on physical education teacher education students’ intrinsic motivation

Background: Providing motivationally supportive physical education experiences for learners is crucial, since empirical evidence in sport and physical education research has associated intrinsic motivation with positive educational outcomes. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a valuable framework for examining motivationally supportive physical education experiences through satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. However, the capacity of the prescriptive teaching philosophy of the dominant traditional physical education teaching approach to effectively satisfy the psychological needs of students to engage in physical education has been questioned. The constraints-led approach (CLA) has been proposed as a viable alternative teaching approach that can effectively support students’ self-motivated engagement in physical education. Purpose: We sought to investigate whether adopting the learning design and delivery of the CLA, guided by key pedagogical principles of nonlinear pedagogy (NLP), would address basic psychological needs of learners, resulting in higher self-reported levels of intrinsic motivation. The claim was investigated using action research. The teacher/researcher delivered two lessons aimed at developing hurdling skills: one taught using the CLA and the other using the traditional approach. Participants and setting: The main participant for this study was the primary researcher and lead author who is a PETE educator, with extensive physical education teaching experience. A sample of 54 pre-service PETE students undertaking a compulsory second-year practical unit at an Australian university was recruited for the study, consisting of an equal number of volunteers from each of two practical classes. A repeated measures experimental design was adopted, with both practical class groups experiencing both teaching approaches in a counterbalanced order. Data collection and analysis: Immediately after participation in each lesson, participants completed a questionnaire consisting of 22 items chosen from validated motivation measures of basic psychological needs and indices of intrinsic motivation, enjoyment and effort. All questionnaire responses were indicated on a 7-point Likert scale. A two-tailed, paired-samples t-test was used to compare the groups’ motivation subscale mean scores for each teaching approach. The size of the effect for each group was calculated using Cohen's d. To determine whether any significant differences between the subscale mean scores of the two groups was due to an order effect, a two-tailed, independent samples t-test was used. Findings: Participants’ reported substantially higher levels of self-determination and intrinsic motivation during the CLA hurdles lesson compared to during the traditional hurdles lesson. Both groups reported significantly higher motivation subscale mean scores for competence, relatedness, autonomy, enjoyment and effort after experiencing the CLA than mean scores reported after experiencing the traditional approach. This significant difference was evident regardless of the order that each teaching approach was experienced

Effects of Lawn Tennis Association mini tennis as task constraints on children’s match-play characteristics

The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) Mini Tennis (MT) is a modified version of tennis consisting of progressive stages, however, there have been few attempts to evaluate how MT might shape performance behaviours. Here, we examine effects of playing MT on the emergence of children’s match-play behaviours in forty-eight junior tennis players. Performance in 1010 match-play points were filmed and coded across four tennis stages (MT Red, MT Orange, MT Green and Full Ball), using a notational analysis system. Recorded performance variables included rally length, first serve percentage and shot type, for the purpose of analysing inter-stage comparisons. Results showed a series of specific adaptations to playing characteristics across the stages, including rally length, shot variety and serve success. MT Red rallies (7.36 ± 6.06) were longer than Full Ball rallies (3.83 ± 2.40), and a higher percentage of forehands were played at MT Red (66.40% ± 8.49%) than at Full Ball stage (45.96% ± 6.47%). Findings suggested that MT stages can afford children more opportunities to develop their skills and elicit different match-play characteristics than Full Ball task constraints. Coaches, therefore, should consider the nature of emergent adaptations when designing practice environments to facilitate learning in young tennis players. Key Words: Mini Tennis, task constraints, representative learning design, adaptations, emergent behaviour

Locomotor adaptations during RaceRunning in people with neurological motor disorders

The aim of this study was to examine strategies to absorb impact shock during RaceRunning in participants with neurological motor disorders. For this purpose, eight RaceRunning athletes (four males and four females) voluntarily took part in this study. Each participant performed a series of 100-m sprints with a RaceRunning bike. Acceleration of the tibia and head was measured with two inertial measurement units and used to calculate foot impact shock measures. Results showed that RaceRunning pattern was characterized by a lack of impact peak in foot–ground contact time and the existence of an active peak after foot contact. Due to the ergonomic properties of the RaceRunning bike, shock is attenuated throughout the stance phase. In conclusion, the resultsrevealed that RaceRunning athletes with neurological motor disorders are capable of absorbing impact shock during assisted RaceRunning using a strategy that mimics runners without disabilitie

Co-adaptation of ball reception to the serve constrains outcomes in elite competitive volleyball

How impactful is volleyball’s ‘serve-reception game’? Its efficacy has been found to discriminate between winning and losing a match. But how does reception become (in)effective? Based on the theoretical rationale of ecological dynamics, we e hypothesized that skilled receivers in volleyball would not display ready-made responses, but rather would co-adapt action modes during serve-reception to deal with the specific, emergent constraints of service to achieve ttask goals. In order to examine this issue we investigated whether the co-adaptation of serve and reception action modes was a significant predictor of set outcome in elite volleyball performance (win or loss), analysing the first and last sets of the 2014 World League Finals matches (897 game-sequences). The power-jump and jump-float were the serving modes observed and the overhand, underhand-lateral and underhand-frontal passes were the reception modes categorized. We found that the co- adaptation of serve and reception action modes predicted set outcome in the final set of a match. Receiving the jump-float serve with an overhand pass or underhand-lateral pass increased the odds of winning the final set by 200 per cent. Results suggested that, at an expert level, mastering the overhand pass and the underhand lateral pass gives teams a competitive edge. Receivers showing flexibility in action mode selection improved a team’s odds of successfully winning the final set of a match

Effects of scaling task constraints on emergent behaviours in children's racquet sports performance

Manipulating task constraints by scaling key features like space and equipment is proposed as an effective method for enhancing development and refinement of movement patterns in sport. Despite this, it is currently unclear whether scaled manipulation of task constraints would impact emergent movement behaviours in young children, affording learners opportunities to develop functional movement behaviours. Here, we sought to investigate how scaling task constraints during 8-weeks of mini tennis training shaped emergent movement behaviours, such a backhand stroke development. Two groups, control (n = 8, age = 7.2 ± 0.6 years) and experimental (n = 8, age 7.4 ± 0.4 years), underwent practice using constraints-based manipulations, with more specific affordances for backhand strokes designed for the latter group. To evaluate intervention effects, pre- and post-test match-play characteristics (e.g. forehand and backhand percentages) and measures from a tennis-specific skills test (e.g. forehand and backhand technical proficiency) were examined. Post intervention, the experimental group performed a greater percentage of backhands out of total number of shots played (46.7 ± 3.3%), and a significantly greater percentage of backhand winners out of total backhand strokes observed (5.5 ± 3.0%), compared to the control group during match-play (backhands = 22.4 ± 6.5%; backhand winners = 1.0 ± 3.6%). The experimental group also demonstrated improvements in forehand and backhand technical proficiency and the ability to maintain a rally with a coach, compared to the control group. In conclusion, scaled manipulations implemented here elicited more functional performance behaviours than standard Mini Tennis Red constraints, suggesting how human movement scientists may scale task constraint manipulations to augment young athletes' performance development. Keywords: Scaling task constraints, intervention, tennis, affordances, emergent behaviour