scholarly journals Theory to Practice: Performance Preparation Models in Contemporary High-Level Sport Guided by an Ecological Dynamics Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl T. Woods ◽  
Ian McKeown ◽  
Mark O’Sullivan ◽  
Sam Robertson ◽  
Keith Davids
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Performance Preparation ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Practice Performance ◽  
High Level

A Novel Application of Levenshtein Distance for Assessment of High-Level Motor Planning Underlying Performance During Learning of Complex Motor Sequences

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa C. Hauge ◽  
Garrett E. Katz ◽  
Gregory P. Davis ◽  
Kyle J. Jaquess ◽  
Matthew J. Reinhard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Workload ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Reference Sequence ◽  
Levenshtein Distance ◽  
Complex Action ◽  
Action Sequence ◽  
Motor Efficiency ◽  
Practice Performance ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
High Level

Few studies have examined high-level motor plans underlying cognitive-motor performance during practice of complex action sequences. These investigations have assessed performance through fairly simple metrics without examining how practice affects the structures of action sequences. By adapting the Levenshtein distance (LD) method to the motor domain, we propose a computational approach to accurately capture performance dynamics during practice of action sequences. Practice performance dynamics were assessed by computing the LD based on the number of insertions, deletions, and substitutions of actions needed to transform any sequence into a reference sequence (having a minimal number of actions to complete the task). Also, combining LD-based performance with mental workload metrics allowed assessment of cognitive-motor efficiency dynamics. This approach was tested on the Tower of Hanoi task. The findings revealed that throughout practice this method could capture: i) action sequence performance improvements as indexed by a reduced LD (decrease of insertions and substitutions), ii) structural modifications of the high-level plans, iii) an attenuation of mental workload, and iv) enhanced cognitive-motor efficiency. This effort complements prior work examining the practice of complex action sequences in healthy adults and has potential for probing cognitive-motor impairment in clinical populations as well as the development/assessment of cognitive robotic controllers.

Flow and music performance: Professional musicians and music students’ views

2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562110309
Author(s):  
Roberta Antonini Philippe ◽  
Céline Kosirnik ◽  
Esther Ortuño ◽  
Michele Biasutti
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Performance Preparation ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Technical Mastery ◽  
High Level

Performing music at the highest levels involves great competitiveness. When each performance represents a major personal challenge, success is no longer solely dependent on a high level of technical mastery: the psychological aspects of the performance also have a decisive impact. The concept of flow is presented as a phenomenon associated with significant improvements in the musician’s performance and well-being. This work explores musicians’ positive experiences in performance situations and studies the factors that promote the emergence of flow during competitions. Eleven musicians, both professionals and students, were interviewed to consider ways of promoting the emergence of flow that help them to produce high-quality performances. Our analysis revealed several different factors promoting the emergence of flow: social standing, performance preparation, connection to one’s body, awareness of skills and self-confidence, intrinsic motivation, attentional focus, and transcendence. These findings enhance our understanding of the conditions influencing the emergence of flow. We consider work pathways which might facilitate the emergence of flow experiences and thus help musicians to produce high-quality performances while protecting them from the harmful effects of stress and anxiety.

scholarly journals Specialist role coaching and skill training periodisation: A football goalkeeping case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian W Otte ◽  
Keith Davids ◽  
Sarah-Kate Millar ◽  
Stefanie Klatt
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Skill Training ◽  
Talent Development ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Performance Preparation ◽  
Role Based ◽  
Training Professional

In sports like association football, professional teams are increasingly devoting resources to the role-based development of individual athletes and sub-groups. By employing ‘specialist coaches’ into athlete-support structures, clubs aim to facilitate individualised athlete training programs to enhance performance preparation as well as skill learning and talent development. Here, we discuss how contemporary pedagogical training approaches, like Nonlinear Pedagogy and the Constraints-Led approach, can enhance effectiveness of specialist role-based athlete development programs to facilitate performance functionality. We argue the need for a model of specialist role-based coaching practice in high performance sports organisations, based on a unified theoretical rationale, such as ecological dynamics. To exemplify the nature of specialist role-based coaching, a case study addresses how Nonlinear Pedagogy and Constraints-Led approach are being used for training professional football goalkeepers in an U23 years age group. Integrating key concepts from ecological dynamics, allied to principles of Nonlinear Pedagogy and the Constraints-Led approach, common skill training principles for specialist role coaches are highlighted. These illustrate the use of the recently introduced ‘Periodization of Skill Training’ framework for specialist role coaching, practically exemplifying a way to harness opportunities for performance enhancement and individualised talent development in the football goalkeeping context.

scholarly journals Can Exergames Be Improved to Better Enhance Behavioral Adaptability in Older Adults? An Ecological Dynamics Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Jacques Temprado
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Simulated Environments ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
Effective Training ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Cognitive Exercise ◽  
High Level ◽  
Behavior And Cognition

Finding effective training solutions to attenuate the alterations of behavior and cognition in the growing number of older adults is an important challenge for Science and Society. By offering 3D computer-simulated environments to combine perceptual-motor and cognitive exercise, exergames are promising in this respect. However, a careful analysis of meta-analytic reviews suggests that they failed to be more effective than conventional motor-cognitive training. We analyzed the reasons for this situation, and we proposed new directions to design new, conceptually grounded, exergames. Consistent with the evolutionary neuroscience approach, we contend that new solutions should better combine high level of metabolic activity with (neuro)muscular, physical, perceptual-motor, and cognitive stimulations. According to the Ecological Dynamics rationale, we assume that new exergames should act at the agent–environment scale to allow individuals to explore, discover, and adapt to immersive and informationally rich environments that should include cognitively challenging tasks, while being representative of daily living situations.

Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) participation as a means to physician engagement, performance improvement, and delivery of safe and high-quality cancer care.

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 80-80
Author(s):  
Gurkamal S. Chatta ◽  
David Michael Aboulafia ◽  
Amy Brockmeyer ◽  
Molly Bumpus ◽  
Irina Dimitrova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Quality Metric ◽  
Practice Performance ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
High Level ◽  
Reporting Rates

80 Background: High quality and safe medical care has been a consistent goal of the medical community at Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC). The Am Soc of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has set out a list of criteria as part of Its Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), which are increasingly being adopted as standards for quality measurement in the Oncology community. Our practice at VMMC participated in the QOPI quality metric survey, with the intent of measuring and enhancing cancer care delivery. Methods: We participated in the web-based QOPI quality metric during the September, 2013 and April, 2014 sessions. Chart abstraction was shared by the providers. Following the Sept session, our performance was analyzed, and targeted areas of improvement were collectively identified by all providers. Following the April session, the clinical note format was changed to incorporate a standard template, addressing areas of underperformance. Results: In the September 2013 session, the primary areas of underperformance were assessment of: a) pain, b) emotional distress, c) performance status (PFS), and d) documentation of staging. Following the April 2014 session, we noted improved performance in all these assessments. Thus, pain reporting rates improved from 40.6 to 61.2%; emotional distress screening from 37.3% to 42.8%; PFS documentation from 42.6 to 53.7%; and staging at initial diagnosis from 74.6% to 80.9%. However our areas of underperformance continued to lag 10 to 30% behind QOPI aggregate reporting rates. With the introduction of a structured note in the electronic medical record (EMR), further improvements are expected the results of which will be reported at the time of the meeting. On the positive side, chemotherapy education and discussion of risk/benefit were consistently areas of superior performance in our practice with our reporting rates being 10 to 40% higher than the QOPI aggregate. Conclusions: QOPI participation is a useful tool for improving and sustaining a high level of practice performance in oncology. Structured notes in the EMR maybe indispensable for maintaining a high level of compliance with performance measures.

scholarly journals Transnational Postgraduate Study for Development Workers

2010 ◽  
pp. 103-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Beckmann ◽  
Patrick Kilby
Keyword(s):  
Development Program ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Participatory Development ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Cultural Isolation ◽  
National University ◽  
Development Workers ◽  
High Level

This case describes social, technological, economic and political factors impacting on transnational learning in the Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development program at the Australian National University. Using the experiences of students working in areas of conflict, poverty and injustice across the world, this case shows how flexible delivery of postgraduate education not only allows development workers to continue their career progression while remaining fully active in the field, but also enables them to engage in stimulating high-level discourse with their development practitioner peers as they apply theory to practice. Giving development workers the opportunity to engage in advanced study in a stimulating and peer-supported learning environment without leaving home both enriches their career functionality and long-term prospects, and enhances their day-to-day work activities. As a bonus, host communities benefit from a development worker with greater access to expertise, experience and support, and a reduced sense of professional and/or cultural isolation.

scholarly journals Effectiveness and efficiency of virtual reality designs to enhance athlete development: an ecological dynamics perspective

2018 ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Anthony Stone ◽  
Ben William Strafford ◽  
Jamie Stephen North ◽  
Ciaran Toner ◽  
Keith Davids
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Performance Preparation ◽  
Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Developing Area ◽  
And Training ◽  
Scientific Rationale

A rapidly developing area of research is focused on the use of virtual reality (VR) systems to enhance athlete performance in sport. The assumption is that, implementation of such technologies will enhance skill acquisition and expedite athlete development. However, application of such technologies for enriching athlete development and performance preparation needs to be efficiently and effectively used by coaches and athletes to save time, energy and other resources in practice and training. Here, we argue that implementation of VR systems needs to be grounded in theory, with learning designs informed by a clear scientific rationale. We discuss how the full potential of VR systems can be utilised through implementing a theoretical framework, like ecological dynamics, to shape their application. We outline how an ecological dynamics framework can underpin research and applications of VR in athlete development through: (i) individualised training and assessment programmes; (ii) supporting exploration of variable and creative practice environments; (iii) ensuring context-dependent perception and decision making, and actions, where technology permits. An ecological dynamics rationale proposes how VR systems, when carefully implemented, can enrich and enhance learning designs, but can never replace coaching support for learning during physical practice.

scholarly journals Conceptualising Rugby League Performance Within an Ecological Dynamics Framework: Providing Direction for Player Preparation and Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tannath J. Scott ◽  
Colin E. Sanctuary ◽  
Matthew S. Tredrea ◽  
Adrian J. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Rugby League ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Linear Processes ◽  
Match Play ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Performance Preparation ◽  
And Performance

AbstractAcross team sports, it is critically important to appropriately define, evaluate and then aptly describe individual and team performance. This is of particular significance when we consider that performance models govern the direction of player preparation (short term) and development (long term) frameworks. Within the context of rugby league, this has traditionally been undertaken through hierarchical and linear processes. Such approaches have resulted in research and performance analysis techniques which aim to support these operational outcomes. Yet, these methods may deliver limited application on how or why match-play unfolds and therefore might be sub-optimal in providing insights to truly support coaches. In this paper, we propose the conceptualisation of rugby league performance through the lens of ecological dynamics, which may offer a different view to this traditional approach. We propose that this approach eliminates the silos of disciplinary information (e.g. technical, physical and medical) that may currently exist, allowing for a holistic approach to performance, preparation and development. Specifically, we consider that through the implementation of this ecological approach, all performance coaches (technical, physical and medical) may (co-)design learning environments that more collaboratively develop players for rugby league match-play. As a result, we put forward a new rugby league performance model from which preparation and development programs can be anchored toward. We conclude the paper by offering practical examples where these concepts are contextualised within the landscape familiar to practitioners working within rugby league.

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