Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology最新文献

Ideas and concepts taken from ecological dynamics might provide an alternative perspective on physical literacy assessment. The aim of this paper was to pilot an assessment of physical literacy conceptualised in an ecological dynamics theoretical rationale. The assessment that was designed has a number of unique features: its scale of analysis is captured at an individual-environment interaction level during game play and it captures key affordances that a child is attuning to and how they are functionally playing the game. Data collection involved observing primary school children playing invasion games in physical education classes. Digital, video-based tagging (Dartfish Pro) of children's behaviours using the emergent game-based assessment tool was completed. Pilot data provided insights on the potential rich interpretations possible, such as readily differentiating between low and high physical literacy learners’ behaviours when playing small-sided games. Greater knowledge of the performance environment was observed in children with higher physical literacy, noted through a greater capacity to favourably regulate their relative positioning between competing and cooperating players, adopting more varied offensive functionality, and exhibiting greater attunement to key affordances. Better understanding children's knowledge of the environment during games play, provides practitioners novel insight into how physical literacy reveals itself through embedded actions. This appreciation can help inform practice more holistically, contributing to richer learning environments and task design.

For practitioners working in high performance sport, the primary goal is to ensure that precious preparation time is utilised efficiently, effectively and resourcefully to provide maximal impact on the performance potential of the individual or team. To achieve this goal, there is a need to treat athlete learning and development as an integral part of performing with a key focus on increasingly aligning the relation between the perfomer(s) and their environment, which may differ according to practice and performance (Button et al., 2020b). This article critiqued the weaknesses and limitations of traditional learning approaches in sport, seeking to highlight instead the value of adopting a contemporary ecological dynamics perspective, informing how practitioners should design practice to support a greater connectivity between the contexts of performance and learning.

The specificity and generality of practice effects are central issues in motor learning, retention and transfer. The current study implemented the piecewise linear map model to analyze practice effects on five different target time conditions in discrete timing tasks. Five individualized target times were constructed and tested for eighteen adult healthy participants. After the pre-test, all participants practiced the mid-fast condition for 7 sessions before the post-test and the one-week retention-test were performed. In addition to the stochastic and deterministic model parameters, the success rates and ratios of absolute errors to the target windows were analyzed for the task performance. The results showed the general performance improvements as well as reduction of the noise amplitudes in the stochastic component of the map model for the mid-fast, median, mid-slow, and slow conditions but not the fast condition. The decreased absolute value of the trial-to-trial slopes that indicated a more efficient target time adjustment was only observed for the mid-fast condition. The practice effects of generality and specificity in performing sequential timing tasks were revealed in the stochastic and deterministic components of the piecewise linear map model.

Sport science has increasingly witnessed use of contemporary ecological approaches to athlete development, preparation, and skill acquisition, providing alternatives to traditional pedagogical approaches. Here we examine an ecological perspective on transferring theory into coaching practice for athlete self-regulation and performance preparation, by presenting the case example of one lead coach and three athletes representing Team GB in the sport of Canoe Slalom at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The aims of this case exemplar are: (1) to offer insights into how an ecological dynamics rationale supported integration of nonlinear pedagogy and (skill) training periodisation, underpinning athlete preparation for world class Canoe Slalom competition; and (2), to provide a first-hand perspective on transfer of theory to support self-regulation, skill learning, and performance preparation in high-performance sport. In the case example, the ‘Periodisation of Skill Training’ framework (i.e., termed ‘PoST’ framework) for venue specific preparation at the Tokyo Olympics was applied and adapted. Principles of co-design, the Constraints-Led Approach, perception-action coupling and representative learning design were embedded within collaborative application of the framework across a support team including athlete, coach and psychologist. To conclude, facilitating athlete self-regulation is highlighted in practical exemplars to support paddlers to cope with the dynamic environments in canoe slalom.

Skill acquisition research has great potential to inform coaching practices and can impact skill development, especially at the youth developmental stage. However, it is not always easy for coaches to envision how research findings can be applied on the ground. The Skill Acquisition Framework for youth sport in Singapore is aimed at providing an easy to understand evidence-based resource for coaches on the topic of skill acquisition. The framework consists of 3 dimensions (i.e., Desirable characteristics of youth athletes, Key Concepts and Key Design Principles). Each of these dimensions will enable coaches to reflect on their current practices and facilitate discussions in a systematic manner. The first dimension provides coaches with the opportunity to think about the most important characteristics that they want to develop in youth athletes (motivated, adaptable, robust under pressure). The second dimension of the framework introduces Key Concepts related to skill acquisition that are crucial for coaches to consider when working with athletes. Finally, the third dimension presents the Key Design Principles that can underpin the design of training sessions.

COVID-19 pandemic has radically impacted and altered the lives of billions of people around the world. Due to strict government policies, most individuals now find themselves confined at home with limited movement permissible. Although these measures are enforced to help abate the rate of infection, such restrictions have huge implications for the psychophysiological health, lifestyle, and overall well-being of individuals. The COVID-19 confined circumstances, coupled with the gradually declining levels of physical activity and rising levels of sedentarism that is prevalent in the modern society, can have deleterious effect on the psychological, physical, and social health of individuals. This paper argues for essential alternative measures to be introduced that would not only assuage the detrimental effects of COVID-19 confinement, physical inactivity, and sedentarism in the short-term, but also promote psychophysiological health and well-being in the long-term. In particular, this paper recommends the practice of mindfulness as a viable option under the current circumstances. This paper further outlines the health benefits of mindfulness practice and illustrates two effective and efficient practices — mindful breathing and mantram chanting — that could be suitably utilized under the current altered and confined COVID-19 arrangement by individuals across the life span. Potential benefits, recommendations, and risks have also been addressed.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between athletes’ mindfulness and discrepancy in their self-evaluated and teammate-evaluated performance decrement. The participants in this study were 120 university athletes who took part in a longitudinal survey at three time points. The participants first answered a survey to rate their mindfulness and own performance decrement. Then, they partnered with a teammate and evaluated each other's performance decrement. The participants were classified into a high mindfulness group and low mindfulness group based on their mindfulness score. A three-factor analysis of covariance (group × time × evaluator) was conducted. The two-way interaction between group and evaluator was significant. A simple main effect analysis showed that the low mindfulness group scored higher on performance decrement than the high mindfulness group in self-evaluation, whereas no difference was observed between the groups in terms of teammate evaluation. Therefore, it was inferred that athletes with low mindfulness are more likely to evaluate their own performance negatively compared to athletes with high mindfulness, even when their teammates do not.

The aim of this study is to examine the structural relationship in the transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavioural change constructs among undergraduate students. A cross-sectional study was carried out by randomly selecting students participating in campus co-curricular activities. Questionnaires, comprising queries on the stages of change (SOC) — an 18-item self-efficacy (SE) scale, a 10-item decisional balance (DB) scale, and 30-item processes of change (PoC) scale — were distributed to the students. Their answers were analysed using Mplus 8 software for structural equation modelling. There were 562 participants comprising 118 males (21.0 %) and 444 females (79.0 %) with average age of 19.81±1.22 SD. Most of them were involved in sports (46.3 %) and non-sports (46.6 %) programmes, and exercised at least three times per week for approximately 43 minutes per session. Minority of the undergraduate students (7.1%) are involved in uniform group. The initial hypothesized structural equation modelling showed that the data fitted well. The fit indices were within recommended values (CFI= 0.967; TLI= 0.939; SRMR= 0.034; RMSEA (CI: 90%) = 0.049 (0.028, 0.070); RMSEA p= 0.495). There were three hypothesized path relationships in this model. From the final structural model, the SOC had significant direct effects on SE (p = 0.001), DB (p < 0.001) and PoC (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the study showed a positive relationship between TTM constructs. It could act as an excellent baseline model for physical activity intervention or motivational intervention.

Wu-wei is an important construct but is rarely discussed in the sport psychology literature. The present discussion fills the gap in literature and provides a conceptual overview of the wu-wei alternative. After explaining wu-wei briefly, the current state of mindfulness research is discussed to highlight the lack of research in understanding wu-wei and non-striving in sport psychology. In addition, the links between wu-wei and relevant constructs including mindfulness, non-striving, flow, nonduality, Zen, Mushin, motivation, goals, and implicit learning were clarified. Furthermore, suggestions on incorporating wu-wei as part of mindfulness training for athletes and possible future research directions are provided. In this difficult time of the global pandemic, wu-wei or non-striving mindset can help supporting athletes’ well-being and pursuit of goals beyond winning and striving.