The Perception & Action Podcast

Exploring the hiring of skill acquisition specialists for sports teams, flexibility and multidimensionality in skill acquisition, and the role of specialists in training and team consistency. Insights from a specialist working with the Boston Red Sox

Exploring how the Yips affect muscle synergies in throwing, examining coordination differences in affected players. Understanding muscle synergies in achieving consistency in throwing. Delving into disruptions in muscle coordination in baseball players with Yips-like symptoms during pitching motion. Highlighting the impact of external pressures on muscle synergies in throwing, emphasizing the importance of self-organization for optimal movement coordination.

Expert coaches' ability to judge sporting actions like tennis serves is explored, considering factors like viewing angle, age, and gender. The challenges of observing movement in coaching, the reliability of expert coaches in evaluating tennis serve mechanics, and the importance of diverse observation angles are discussed. The role of expert coaches in assessing movement quality and key information in movement analysis, including the focus on shoulder internal rotation speed, is emphasized.

Delving into why some affordances are more inviting than others, exploring how coaches can influence these invitations. Discussing the impact of perceived effort on decision-making, the experiential aspect of affordances, and coaching strategies for athletes to enhance their perception of affordances.

Topics include movement variability in rowing technique, struggles with technique instructions, the constraint-led approach in rowing, approaches to movement training and feedback, benefits of an ecological approach in rowing, and honoring individual styles and variation in rowing.

A study examines task constraint manipulations to improve accuracy and discipline in cricket bowling. Targets are effective for improving accuracy but not discipline. Task manipulations like clear goals, constraints, and feedback can enhance performance in cricket bowling training environments.

This podcast explores the concept of degrees of freedom in joint actions. It discusses a study on joint action learning and its relation to degrees of freedom. The results reveal improvements in performance and changes in freezing and complimentary ratios with practice. Analyzing an experiment, it shows that switching from joint to solo tasks increases freezing. The podcast emphasizes the influence of task constraints, practice, and experience on degrees of freedom in joint action learning.

Exploring the connection between the yips and motor imagery ability in baseball, including examples of players who experienced inaccurate throws, the potential of imagery as an intervention for athletes with the yips, and the concept of negative affordances in sports

Exploring the difference between technique and skill in sports, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and skill development. Discusses the benefits of movement variability, using constraints, and a representative practice environment.

Explore coaches' experiences in adopting a nonlinear approach to skill development, including common themes and recommendations. Learn about the challenges faced by coaches in going against established coaching practices within organizations. Discover the importance of frameworks and flexibility in athlete development, and the need for coaches to stay updated with research while maintaining their coaching philosophy.