Episode 14 (Pt2): The role of cognition in sport performance with Duarte Araujo
Aug 14, 2024
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Duarte Araujo, director of Expertise in Sport at the University of Lisbon, dives into the fascinating interplay of cognition and sport. He discusses how conscious and unconscious learning impact performance, challenging traditional coaching methods. The conversation explores 'active perception', urging athletes to engage dynamically with their environment, and rethinks coaching strategies to foster autonomy and self-organization in athletes. Araujo also critiques conventional performance metrics, advocating for a holistic understanding of intelligence in sports.
Emphasizing the importance of unconscious and subconscious learning, the podcast highlights how overthinking can hinder athletic performance.
The conversation advocates for training environments that promote skill adaptation over acquisition, fostering athletes' problem-solving and autonomy in dynamic contexts.
Deep dives
Consciousness and Performance
The discussion covers the relationship between consciousness and performance, emphasizing the contrasting views on thinking during execution. The speakers argue that unconscious and subconscious learning can lead to better performance outcomes, as athletes should ideally operate without overthinking their movements. They reference Bernstein's levels of control, indicating that automatic adjustments and self-organization play a critical role in effective movement. By focusing on skill adaptation rather than mere acquisition, practitioners can enhance athletes' ability to adapt to dynamic environments, allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness.
Skill Adaptation vs. Skill Acquisition
A distinction is made between skill adaptation and skill acquisition, suggesting that coaches should prioritize continual adaptation during training. The importance of recognizing that skill is not a static entity to be stored but rather a dynamic process that evolves through practice is emphasized. Coaches who focus on repetition in a rigid manner may hinder athletes' ability to adapt to real game scenarios, whereas varied practice environments encourage problem-solving and engagement. This perspective shifts the goal of training from simply mastering techniques to fostering an athlete's capability to adapt skillfully in diverse contexts.
Intelligence in Performance
The notion of intelligent performance is discussed, focusing on functionality rather than merely cognitive ability or academic knowledge. An intelligent performer effectively interacts with their environment, solves problems, and adjusts actions based on situational demands. This definition underscores the importance of somatic awareness and the interplay between perception and action, which is critical for achieving athletic success. Coaches are encouraged to foster athletes’ autonomy by helping them develop a keen awareness of their surroundings and the capacity to recognize and act upon various affordances.
The Role of Coaches in Performance
Coaches play a vital role in linking their intentions with those of the athlete, facilitating the development of the athlete's problem-solving capabilities. Rather than imposing solutions, a coach's aim should be to encourage autonomy, enabling athletes to discover their own effective methods of tackling challenges. The discussion critiques traditional coaching methods that prioritize technical instructions over experiential learning, highlighting the need for training environments that mimic real competition. Understanding performance as a complex interaction between athlete, environment, and context serves to improve training efficacy and promote a deeper engagement with the sport.
Part 2 of the episode with Duarte Araújo, where we discuss the role of cognition in sport performance.
Duarte is the director of Expertise in Sport at the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Duarte is also the head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for the study of Human Performance (CIPER) a national research unit funded by the Portuguese Government. His research influences applied practice all over the world, which includes sport expertise, decision-making, cognition and affordances for physical activity.
Duarte has published more than 200 papers in scientific journals mainly about expertise, team performance, variability, cognition and decision-making.
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