13B The second installment of My Head Training Journey where I examine whether a smart phone app can improve sports performance. Does the luge game race to the finish or going flying off the track? My first episode on this topic can be found here. Download link Articles/links: Head Trainer App As soon as the…

13A How prevalent are superstitious rituals in sports e.g., always wearing the same socks, eating the same meal or listening to the same music on game day? Do they serve actually serve a purpose? Download link Articles: Superstitious behavior in sport: Levels of effectiveness and determinants of use in three collegiate sports Superstitious Behavior Among…

13 Recovering from an injury can be one of the most difficult challenges an athlete can face. In this episode I discuss two topics related to this issue. First, I look at the growing epidemic that is sport related concussions and consider issues related to detection, assessment, multiple concussion syndrome, and when an athlete can…

12D Sports Science Shorts: Dynavision is a visual training device that has been marketed for improving sports performance and has been around for roughly 25 years. It has received a lot of anecdotal support from athlete but what does the research say about its effectiveness. Surely, in 25 years there must be a ton of…

A discussion with Alana D’Andrade, Director of Business Development for Fitlight Sport Corporation whose main product is the Fitlight Trainer, a system designed to improve an athlete’s reaction time, speed, agility and awareness. Along with exploring the Fitlight Trainer in detail, we also discuss the value of research validation for products like this and what…

12B News: Do sports help protect against the effects of ageing? Can observing the performance of a novice hurt the actions of an expert? Download link Articles: Sports can protect dynamic visual acuity from aging: A study with young and older judo and karate martial arts athletes Watching novice action degrades expert motor performance: Causation…

12A Sports Science Shorts: Does making an athlete wait longer to perform a high pressure action (e.g., icing the kicker in football) increase the chance of them choking? If so, why does it occur? Download link Articles: Haste does not always make waste: Expertise, direction of attention, and speed versus accuracy in performing sensorimotor skills…

12 I tackle what has been one of the most interesting and contentious issues in sports psychology: hot and cold streaks in performance. Does the hot hand exist? What is the best way to get out a slump? Is an athlete’s ability to perform under pressure influenced by the streak they are on? What Grinds…

11D Sports Science Shorts: Can training with the new HeadTrainer app make you a better athlete? The beginning of My Head Training Journey where I dig into the science behind this first game in this app. Download link Articles: Reaction times and anticipatory skills of karate athletes Perceptual-cognitive skill training and its transfer to expert…

11C A discussion with Robert Gronbeck, owner and coach at Cairns Sport Performance Clinic in Australia. Covering topics including: being an entrepreneur in sports psychology, perceptual-cognitive training using multiple object tracking, evaluating concussions, and the relationship (and often lack thereof) between basic research and practice in sports. Download link More information about my guest: Cairns…