Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Implementing Skill Acquisition Research In High Performance Sport: Reflecting On The Importance Of Autonomy-Support For Successful Collaboration, Khaya Morris-Binelli, Sean Müller, Fleur E.C.A. Van Rens, Dave Staniforth, Brendyn Appleby, Simon M. Rosalie

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

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 …