How do emotional tones, involvement in the situation, perception and technical adaptations interplay in elite athletes’ performance optimization? A case study in Formula Kite

Terrien E., Huet B., Iachkine P., Saury J.

Formula Kite is a high-speed sailing sport using hydrofoils, recently included in the Olympic sports list. In Formula Kite, the riders’ technical abilities to reach and maintain high speed are key to achieving performance. The aim of the present study was to analyze Formula Kite riders’ performance during speed tests in practice sessions by combining qualitative descriptions of their lived perceptual experiences “from the inside” with measured correlates of performance. The courses of experience of four expert Formula Kite riders’ speed tests were analyzed, compared, and discussed in relation to their measured Velocity Made Good. Results of the qualitative analyses provide original insight into the fine technical adaptations of the riders in their pursuit of performance. Furthermore, the comparison between the evaluated performance using speed measurements and the perceived performance assessed by the qualitative analysis shows interindividual differences as well as inconsistencies between the two modes of analysis. Based on these results, the present study opens practical perspectives for improving training practices, consisting in “calibrating” the sailors’ perceived performance with measured performance.

Poizat G., Flandin S., Theureau J.

In the context of this special issue on the course-of-experience framework, we were fortunate to receive far-reaching commentaries from a wide variety of disciplines including enaction, phenomenology, ecological psychology, ecological dynamics, cognitive anthropology and archaeology and the philosophy of mind. The result is an extraordinarily rich set of reflections that critically engage in debate and lay the groundwork for future discussions and empirical research. In this reply, the authors try to highlight the originality of the course-of-experience framework, which is not yet widely known but has the potential to offer a breakthrough in the present-day international ecological-enactive mainstream and an alternative to (Husserlian) phenomenologically inspired enactivist approaches. They also try to set things right concerning the critical dimensions of cognitive ecology, such as the role of material and ‘others’ that they didn’t mention in their original article (in view of the objectives pursued).

Terrien E., Huet B., Iachkine P., Saury J.

Traditional theories of motor learning emphasize the automaticity of skillful actions. However, recent research has questioned this principle of automaticity by emphasizing the role of pre-reflective self-consciousness accompanying athletes’ unfolding activity. Yet empirical documentation and analysis of athletes’ pre-reflective self-consciousness are associated with epistemological discussion and methodological challenges. In the present paper, we present the course-of-experience framework as a means of studying elite athletes’ pre-reflective self-consciousness in the unfolding activity of performance optimization. We carried out a synthetic presentation of the ontological and epistemological foundation of the course-of-experience framework, rooted in an enactive approach of human cognition. Then we illustrated the methodology associated with this framework by an in-depth analysis of two elite windsurfing riders’ courses of experience. The analysis of global and local characteristics of the riders’ course of experience reveal (a) the meaningful activities accompanying the experience of ongoing performance optimization; (b) the multidimensionality of attentional foci and the normativity of performance self-assessment; and (c) a micro-scale phenomenological description of continuous improvement. These results highlight the fruitfulness of the course-of-experience framework to describe the experience of being absorbed in an activity of sport performance optimization by documenting and analyzing athletes’ pre-reflective self-consciousness.

Petiot O., Visioli J., Kermarrec G.

Terrien E., Huet B., Saury J.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the role of shared sport equipment in the collective coordination of a team. It was conducted within an enactive approach of human cognition by mobilizing the methodological tools and methods of the Course of Action framework. Six crew members of hydrofoil sailing catamarans participated in this study. Data collection consisted in video-recording training sessions followed by individual self-confrontation interviews. A qualitative analysis of the data allowed typical modes of regulation of the flight to be characterized from each crew member's perspective. Three main modes of regulation were identified. All of them involved either salient perception of the boat's movements, or actions directed to regulating the boat’s movement. In the discussion, we propose a distinction between three types of collective sport situations, regarding the role of the material environment of athletes in their coordination. This distinction opens new perspectives both for future research on team coordination, and for pedagogical and training implications. • Shared sport equipment plays an active role in the process of collective coordination. • In the sailing of double-handed foiling catamarans, the boat can be considered as a “third partner”. • Research on team coordination should take into consideration different levels of implication of the material environment.

Poizat G., Flandin S., Theureau J.

The article presents the course-of-experience framework and how it contributes to studying cognition in practice. The aim is twofold: (a) to argue for a phenomenologically and semiotically inspired enactivist approach to practice and cognition in practice and (b) to describe research methods that provide rigorous first-person data in relation to practice—in other words, a view “from within” of practice. Practice is considered to be a relevant unit of analysis for studying cognition-in-the-world and is defined as enacted, lived, situated, embodied, and enculturated. Practice is not viewed as a “context for” but as “constitutive” of the cognitive process itself. This article describes (a) the epistemological foundation and general assumptions of the course-of-experience framework, (b) the associated way of looking at pre-reflective self-consciousness and its relation to practice, (c) the analytical hypothesis derived from Peirce’s semeiotic, and (d) some methodological considerations related to data collection, data processing, and analysis. In the concluding section, we outline the added value of the course-of-experience framework for cognitive science, and we indicate possible directions for further research.

Vernazza-Martin S., Ferrel-Chapus C., Fautrelle L., Lachaud L., Dru V.

Two sources of emotions influence directed actions, namely, those associated with the environment and those that are consequences of the action. The present study examines the impact of these emotions on movement preparation. It invokes theories from psychology, i.e., ideomotor theory and motor control's cognitive approach through movement analysis. In addition to their action readiness, emotions related to the environment can interfere with actions directed towards a goal. However, intentional action involves a goal that will cause satisfaction when achieved. While most studies consider each emotion's influence separately, few studies confront them to study their respective impact. In the current study, thirty-two right-handed young adults reach for a left target with a stylus that will reduce or enlarge an emotional picture that is initially present (nontarget stimulus). Kinematic analyses show that anticipating the pointing's emotional consequences impacts the final pointing position. All other results emphasize the impact of reducing or enlarging on the preparation and control of movement depending on the direction of movement. The emotional consequences of the action is a weighting factor that is relevant to the action goal and subject's intention, but it is less important than the action's visual consequences.

Feletti F., Brymer E., Bonato M., Aliverti A.

Hydrofoil technology has changed sailing, significantly increasing its speed and resulting in spectacularity and mass media interest. Although high speed can expose participants to a risk of high-energy trauma, there are no scientific studies related to trauma in dinghies that exploit this technology. Therefore, this study aims primarily to measure the injury rate, and identify the kind and anatomical distribution of most common injuries and secondarily identify the traumatic dynamics most often involved and the main risk factors. This descriptive epidemiology study examined data relative to injuries and illnesses suffered by 77 sailors (91% males) from 13 nationalities during three international, gathered through a specifically designed questionnaire. The prevalence of illnesses and overuse injuries during the regatta week were 6.5% and 18.2%, respectively, while the incidence of acute injuries was 16/1000 sailor-hours. Upper limbs, lower limbs and lumbar spine were involved in 34.6%, 26.9% and 15.4% of cases of musculoskeletal injuries, respectively. None of the acute injuries reached the maximal score of severity, while the higher score value was 63/100. Most of the reported illnesses (80%; n = 4) were upper respiratory tract infections with a prevalence in the week of the regatta of 5.2% and an incidence of 0.51/1000 sailor-hours. Environmental factors played a role in 77% of the incidents resulting in acute injuries. This study provides valuable information for regatta organizers, boat builders, athletes, coaches, and doctors. In addition, it fosters the importance of ergonomics of boats, adequate clothing and specific physical training for injuries and illnesses prevention.

Caraballo I., González-Montesinos J.L., Casado-Rodríguez F., Gutierrez-Manzanedo J.V.

Formula Kite is an Olympic sport that mainly differs from other kitesurfing modalities for the use of a hydrofoil. It is considered an extreme sport due to the great technical ability required. Regarding performance, the variables that determine performance in a real competition situation have not been studied, and even less so with Olympic sailors. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the technical and tactical variables that differentiate elite sailors. The sample consisted of 42 Olympic sailors of the Formula Kite class, who were evaluated in three World Cups. Using a GPS device, the speed, distance traveled, maneuvers, and time spent on the courses of upwind, downwind, and beam reach were recorded. The highest-level sailors presented a higher speed in upwind/downwind/beam reach and a shorter time in upwind and beam reach. Performance seems to be more strongly influenced by technical variables, such as speed, than by tactical variables.

Schweickle M.J., Swann C., Jackman P.C., Vella S.A.

Improved performance under pressure in sport and exercise has been termed clutch performance. The aim of this study was to systematically review, synthesise, and evaluate existing research on clutc...

Rochat N., Gesbert V., Seifert L., Hauw D.

Using an enactive approach to trail runners’ activity, this study sought to identify and characterize runners’ phenomenological gestalts, which are forms of experience that synthesize the heterogeneous sensorimotor, cognitive and emotional information that emerges in race situations. By an in-depth examination of their meaningful experiences, we were able to highlight the different typologies of interactions between bodily processes (e.g., sensations, pains), behaviors (e.g., actions, strategies) and environment (e.g., meteorological conditions, route profile). Ten non-professional runners who ran an ultra-trail running race (330 kilometers, 24,000 meters of elevation gain) volunteered to participate in the study. Data were collected in two steps: (1) collection of past activity traces (i.e., race maps, field notes and self-assessment scales) and (2) enactive interviews using the past activity traces in which the runners were invited to relive their experience and describe their activity. The enactive interviews were coded using the course-of-experience methodology to identify the phenomenological gestalts that emerged from activity and scaffolded the runners’ courses of experience. The results revealed that runners typically enact three phenomenological gestalts: controlling global ease, enduring general fatigue and experiencing difficult situations, and feeling freedom in the running pace. These phenomenological gestalts were made up of specific behaviors, involvements and meaningful situated elements that portrayed various ways of achieving an ultra-endurance performance in the race situation. They also highlighted how runners enact a meaningful world by acting in relation to the fluctuations in physical sensations and environmental conditions during an ultra-trail race. Practical applications for preparation, race management and sports psychology interventions are proposed to enrich the existing recommendations. In conclusion, this approach provides new research perspectives by offering a more holistic grasp of activity in trail running through an in-depth analysis of athletes’ experience. In doing so, we may expect that runners can connect these typical gestalts to their own personal experiences and stories as trail runners in order to sustain a viable approach to their sport.

Smith B.

Generalisation in relation to qualitative research has rarely been discussed in-depth in sport and exercise psychology, the sociology of sport, sport coaching, or sport management journals. Often t...

Swann C., Crust L., Jackman P., Vella S.A., Allen M.S., Keegan R.

This study investigated the psychological states underlying excellent performance in 26 athletes (Mage = 29 years, SD = 7.7) across a range of sports (team, net/wall, sprint, endurance, adventure) ...

Jordet G., Hartman E.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between shot valence, avoidance behavior, and performance in soccer penalty shootouts. Video analyses were conducted with all penalty shootouts ever held in the World Cup, the European Championships, and the UEFA Champions League (n = 36 shootouts, 359 kicks). Shot valence was assessed from the potential consequences of a shot outcome as follows: Shots where a goal instantly leads to victory were classified as positive valence shots and shots where a miss instantly leads to loss as negative valence shots. Avoidance behavior was defined as looking away from the goalkeeper or preparing the shot quickly (thus speeding up the wait). The results showed that avoidance behavior occurred more with negative valence shots than with positive shots and that players with negative valence shots performed worse than those with positive shots. Thus, avoidance motivation may help explain why professional athletes occasionally choke under pressure.

Lazarus R.S.

In this article, I have attempted to apply my cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion, on which I have been working for over 50 years, to an understanding of performance in competitive sports. I begin with four metatheoretical and theoretical positions: (a) stress and emotion should be considered as a single topic; (b) discrete emotion categories offer the richest and most useful information; (c) appraisal, coping, and relational meaning are essential theoretical constructs for stress and emotion; and (d) although process and structure are both essential to understanding, when it comes to stress and the emotions, we cannot afford to under-emphasize process. These positions and elaborations of them lead to my examination of how a number of discrete emotions might influence performance in competitive sports.