On-field rehabilitation in football: current practice and perceptions. A survey of the English Premier League and Football League.

Introduction: Return to play related research is increasing rapidly, with two recent competency-based frameworks offering conceptualised support for on-field rehabilitation (OFR) decision-making. It is still unknown, however, who is responsible for OFR and how they typically select, monitor, and progress OFR processes.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate current OFR practice within English professional football to support practitioners with decision-making and highlight opportunities for future research related to the design, monitoring, and progression of OFR.

Research in Another un-Examined (RAE) context. A chronology of 35 years of relative age effect research in soccer: is it time to move on?

It is approximately 35 years since the publication of the first relative age effect paper in sport and despite the volume of empirical studies, book chapters, conference presentations, and column inches dedicated to this topic we appear to be no further on in eliminating or attenuating this discriminatory practice. This commentary argues that the ongoing use of univariate methods, focusing on primary or secondary analyses of birth-date data, unearthed from previously un-examined contexts is not conducive to stimulating discussion or providing empirical to relative age effects. This paper concludes by suggesting a departure from the traditionally narrow view of relative age inquiry and instead consider the role of transdisciplinary research.

Selected, Deselected, and Reselected: A Case Study Analysis of Attributes Associated With Player Reselection Following Closure of a Youth Soccer Academy.

Considering the perceived benefit of early recruitment and the time and resources spent developing youth players, individuals released from talent development programmes are often re-recruited by rival academies. However, due to the contractual nature of many talent development programmes, limited empirical data exists on players deselected from (or reselected to) youth soccer academies. Adopting a novel case study approach, differences in skill, psychological, and physical attributes associated with reselection following closure of a junior-elite soccer academy were explored.

"He's Just a Wee Laddie": The Relative Age Effect in Male Scottish Soccer.

Significant structural, developmental, and financial constraints exist in Scottish soccer that may predicate a different approach to talent identification and development. To our knowledge, no published reports exist evaluating the prevalence of the relative age effect (RAE) in Scottish soccer players. Consequently, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the RAE among varied playing levels and ages of male Scottish youth soccer players.

The Validity of an Updated Metabolic Power Algorithm Based upon di Prampero's Theoretical Model in Elite Soccer Players.

The aim of this study was to update the metabolic power (MP) algorithm (PV˙O2, W·kg) related to the kinematics data (P, W·kg) in a soccer-specific performance model. For this aim, seventeen professional (Serie A) male soccer players (V˙O2max 55.7 ± 3.

A case study of the use of verbal reports for talent identification purposes in soccer: A Messi affair!

Using a two-study approach, the main purpose of this case study was to explore the use of a verbal reporting methodology to better understand the thought processes of soccer talent scouts during an in-situ talent identification environment. Study 1 developed a standardized coding-scheme to examine verbal cognitions during a single soccer game. Study 2 then utilized this methodology to examine two full-time recruitment staff trained in the use of concurrent verbal reporting before undertaking a live, in-game task.

A Coding System to Quantify Powerful Actions in Soccer Match Play: A Pilot Study.

Purpose: The powerful activity profile of elite soccer match play has not been documented appropriately to inform specific maximal power assessment and development criteria. The aims of the current study were to develop a reliable  soccer-specific powerful action (SSPA) notational analysis coding system that could be used to compare frequency and durations of powerful actions during elite youth soccer match play.

Methods: Sixteen elite male English Premier League (EPL) Academy players (19 ± 1 yrs) were recorded by an individual camera during 16 competitive EPL U18 and U21 games.

Why do bad balls get wickets? The role of congruent and incongruent information in anticipation.

Skilled anticipation is underpinned by the use of kinematic and contextual information. However, few researchers have examined what happens when contextual information suggests an outcome that is different from the event that follows. We aimed to bridge this gap by manipulating the relationship between contextual information and final ball location in a cricket-batting task.

What Performance Analysts Need to Know About Research Trends in Association Football (2012-2016): A Systematic Review.

Background: Evolving patterns of match analysis research need to be systematically reviewed regularly since this area of work is burgeoning rapidly and studies can offer new insights to performance analysts if theoretically and coherently organized.

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of published articles on match analysis in adult male football, identify and organize common research topics, and synthesize the emerging patterns of work between 2012 and 2016, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Methods: The Web of Science database was searched for relevant published studies using the following keywords: 'football' and 'soccer', each one associated with the terms 'match analysis', 'performance analysis', 'notational analysis', 'game analysis', 'tactical analysis' and 'patterns of play'.

The Work-Rate of Elite Hurling Match-Play.

Collins, DK, McRobert, A, Morton, JP, O'Sullivan, D, and Doran, DA. The work-rate of elite hurling match-play. J Strength Cond Res 32(3): 805-811, 2018-This study describes the global work-rate of elite hurling match-play and the influence which positional difference has on work-rate is considered.

Effect of expertise on diagnosis accuracy, non-technical skills and thought processes during simulated high-fidelity anaesthetist scenarios.

Background: The expert performance approach can be used to examine expertise during representative field-based tasks, while collecting process-tracing measures such as think-aloud verbal reports. Collecting think-aloud verbal reports provides an insight into the cognitive mechanisms that support performance during tasks.

Method: We examined the thought processes and performance of anaesthetists during simulated environments.

Attacking and defensive styles of play in soccer: analysis of Spanish and English elite teams.

The aim of this study was to define and categorise different styles of play in elite soccer and associated performance indicators by using factor analysis. Furthermore, the observed teams were categorised using all factor scores. Data were collected from 97 matches from the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League from the seasons 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 using the Amisco® system.

Visual search behaviours and verbal reports during film-based and in situ representative tasks in volleyball.

Several researchers have explored the processes underlying perceptual-cognitive expertise, mainly using film-based studies. However, few have compared the extent to which data from film-based settings differ from those obtained through in situ collection. This gap in the literature is a relevant concern, since scientific research is used to provide guidance for designing training programmes.

How experts practice: a novel test of deliberate practice theory.

Performance improvement is thought to occur through engagement in deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is predicted to be challenging, effortful, and not inherently enjoyable. Expert and intermediate level Gaelic football players executed two types of kicks during an acquisition phase and pre-, post-, and retention tests.

The microstructure of practice activities engaged in by elite and recreational youth cricket players.

Practice plays an important role in skill acquisition, although not all practice is of equal quality. We examined the types of team practice activities in four groups of youth cricket players. The groups were recreational- and elite-children (9 to 12 years of age) and recreational- and elite-adolescent players (13 to 17 years of age).

Perceptual-cognitive skills and their interaction as a function of task constraints in soccer.

The ability to anticipate and to make decisions is crucial to skilled performance in many sports. We examined the role of and interaction between the different perceptual-cognitive skills underlying anticipation and decision making. Skilled and less skilled players interacted as defenders with life-size film sequences of 11 versus 11 soccer situations.

Contextual information influences diagnosis accuracy and decision making in simulated emergency medicine emergencies.

Background: It is well documented that adaptations in cognitive processes with increasing skill levels support decision making in multiple domains. We examined skill-based differences in cognitive processes in emergency medicine physicians, and whether performance was significantly influenced by the removal of contextual information related to a patient's medical history.

Method: Skilled (n=9) and less skilled (n=9) emergency medicine physicians responded to high-fidelity simulated scenarios under high- and low-context information conditions.

The perceptual cognitive processes underpinning skilled performance in volleyball: evidence from eye-movements and verbal reports of thinking involving an in situ representative task.

An extensive body of work has focused on the processes underpinning perceptual-cognitive expertise. The majority of researchers have used film-based simulations to capture superior performance. We combined eye movement recording and verbal reports of thinking to explore the processes underpinning skilled performance in a complex, dynamic, and externally paced representative volleyball task involving in situ data collection.

The effect of manipulating context-specific information on perceptual-cognitive processes during a simulated anticipation task.

We manipulated contextual information in order to examine the perceptual-cognitive processes that support anticipation using a simulated cricket-batting task. Skilled (N= 10) and less skilled (N= 10) cricket batters responded to video simulations of opponents bowling a cricket ball under high and low contextual information conditions. Skilled batters were more accurate, demonstrated more effective search behaviours, and provided more detailed verbal reports of thinking.

Identifying the processes underpinning anticipation and decision-making in a dynamic time-constrained task.

A novel, representative task was used to examine skill-based differences in the perceptual and cognitive processes underlying performance on a dynamic, externally paced task. Skilled and less skilled soccer players were required to move and interact with life-size, action sequences involving 11 versus 11 soccer situations filmed from the perspective of a central defender in soccer. The ability of participants to anticipate the intentions of their opponents and to make decisions about how they should respond was measured across two separate experiments.

Developmental activities that contribute to high or low performance by elite cricket batters when recognizing type of delivery from bowlers' advanced postural cues.

We examined the developmental activities that contribute to the development of superior anticipation skill among elite cricket batters. The batters viewed 36 video clips involving deliveries from bowlers that were occluded at ball release and were required to predict delivery type. Accuracy scores were used to create two subgroups: high-performing and low-performing anticipators.

Tracing the process of expertise in a simulated anticipation task.

Skilled perceptual-cognitive performance is assumed to require superior anticipation, yet few researchers have explored how individual differences in processing measures mediate superior performance, particularly when characteristics of the task are systematically changed from trial to trial. This study examined how advance cue information influences anticipation using a simulated cricket batting task. Skilled (n = 10) and less skilled (n = 10) batters moved in response to life-size video images of 36 deliveries by fast and spin bowlers.