The Perception & Action Podcast

What is hysteresis in movement coordination? How can it be use to explain how the sequence of events influence an athlete's performance – without the need to bring in memory or inference processes?   Articles: Baseball Catching Patterns Differ According to Task Constraints The application of co-ordination dynamics to the analysis of discrete movements using table-tennis as a paradigm skill More in...

Is there one ideal gaze strategy for performing a sports skill as has been suggested by the quiet eye research? My interview with Ben Franks from Oxford Brookes University looking at some of his research taking an ecological, individualized view of the quiet eye.   Articles: A Descriptive Case Study of Skilled Football Goalkeepers During 1 v 1 Dyads: A Case for Adaptive Variability in the Quiet Ey...

Can athletes perceive which balls, sticks, bats, racquets, etc afford the greatest opportunity for hitting, throwing, etc? What information do they use for this and how does it relate to Gibson's concept of dynamic touch? How can we use this better design and fit sports equipment?   Articles: Perceiving the sweet spot Learning to throw to maximum distances Attunement to haptic information helps sk...

So, by now we all know movement variability is good!  But it's not all good. A look at a framework for categorizing different types of movement variability and how it might allow us to better design training to enhance the good.   Articles: A Proposed Framework to Describe Movement Variability within Sporting Tasks: A Scoping Review   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate...

How do instructions about task constraints influence how a performer searches for a movement solution? Is movement variability still beneficial even when you guide a performer towards the optimal solution?   Articles: Instructions on Task Constraints Mediate Perceptual-Motor Search and How Movement Variability Relates to Performance Outcome More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Researc...

What are the combined effects of manipulating practice variability (for example, blocked vs random) and errorful versus errorless practice, which know influence implicit learning.   Articles: An Examination of the Contextual Interference Effect and the Errorless Learning Model during Motor Learning More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU We...

My interview with James Vaughn discussing his recent case study of the role of social and cultural constraints on skill development in team sports.   Articles: Social and Cultural Constraints on Football Player Development in Stockholm: Influencing Skill, Learning, and Wellbeing More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Faceb...

Do external focus of attention instructions promote more movement variability? Do we have to prescribe the fundamentals to an athlete before we allow athletes to explore movement solutions?   Articles: Female Athletes Exhibit Greater Trial-to-Trial Coordination Variability When Provided with Instructions Promoting an External Focus Is Prescription of Specific Movement Form Necessary for Optimal Sk...

How can we apply the principles of ecological dynamics to coaching ice hockey goaltenders? What has research shown about skill acquisition in goalkeeping?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support the podcast and receive bonus co...

My interview with Harry Ramsey and Matt Dicks to discuss their interesting new paper - Maximising Grip on Deception and Disguise: Expert Sports Performance During Competitive Interactions. How can we understand deception in an ecological approach? How should we be studying these phenomena?   Articles: Maximising Grip on Deception and Disguise: Expert Sports Performance During Competitive Interacti...

My interview with Tyler Yearby and Shawn Myszka about their new paper looking at an ecological approach to practice design in American football.   Articles: Applying an ecological approach to practice design in American football: some case examples on best practice   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (vi...

Can you improve an athlete's ability to anticipate the actions of an opponent by guiding their gaze to particular locations using sound?     Articles: The effect of eye movement sonification on visual search patterns and anticipation in novices   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Su...

Does training with lighter or heavier than regulation balls improve performance? What adaptations to coordination patterns do they encourage? Do they increase the chance of injury?   Articles: Weighted-Ball Velocity Enhancement Programs for Baseball Pitchers Effect of a 6-Week Weighted Baseball Throwing Program on Pitch Velocity, Pitching Arm Biomechanics, Passive Range of Motion, and Injury Rates...

What are the invariant and variant properties in accurate throwing actions? How do skilled performers exploit redundancy in ball release and body level degrees of freedom?   Articles: Utilizing hierarchical redundancy for accurate throwing movement   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)...

What effect does blurring your vision have on sports performance? Can blur actually be used as a training tool to help learners educate their attention to better information sources?   Articles: Using Blur for Perceptual Investigation and Training in Sport? A Clear Picture of the Evidence and Implications for Future Research   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (p...

To celebrate the 400th episode of the podcast, I was joined by a few friends to discuss something I am very passionate about: the role of skill acquisition theory in coaching. Is it just "psychobabble that confuses coaches"? Is it effective (or even possible) to pick and choose and theory for different situations?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my a...

I am joined by Rajiv Ranganthan to discuss his recent paper looking at individual differences in motor learning. How effectively can we predict differences in the ability of individuals to learn a new motor skill? What are the best predictor variables?   Articles: Predicting individual differences in motor learning: a critical review   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gat...

A little post game analysis of my discussion/debate with Mike Ashford about ecological vs information processing-based approaches to decision making in sports.   Links: Rugby Coach Weekly Podcast More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   S...

How do golfers reorganize the action of putting in response to changes in the task constraints? How does this depend on their own individual constraints?   Articles: The re-organization of action in golf putting under different task constraints   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Su...

My interview with Otto Lappi and Alan Dove, authors of the new book The Science of the Racer's Brain. What makes a skilled racing driver?     Links: http://racersbrain.org/   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support the podcast an...

What are the key principles of the ecological approach to skill and how do they relate to each other?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support the podcast and receive bonus content   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies – Shake\Some Ac...

A review of "Always Pay Attention to the Which Model of Motor Learning You Are Using?" How can we classify different models of motor learning? Can we ever truly replicate findings in this area?     Articles: Always Pay Attention to Which Model of Motor Learning You Are Using   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Faceboo...

How can we reconcile the findings from the large body of research on focus of attention instructions (which has shown a clear benefit for an external focus over an internal one) and the findings from Differential Learning studies (which frequently employ internal instructions)?   Articles: External Focus or Differential Learning: Is There an Additive Effect on Learning a Futsal Goal Kick? Superior...

I was joined by Andrew Wilson from Leeds Beckett to discuss a question we both get a lot: what role does memory play in the ecological approach? Is it really the case that skillful action involves no memory?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anr...

Is the advance information we get from an opponent's kinematics, their body language, used to predict/anticipate what is going to happen next as traditionally proposed? Or is it used as information to continuous control preparatory movements?   Articles: Hitting movement patterns organized by different pitching movement speeds as advanced kinematic information   More information: http://perception...