Daniel Chalkley

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of elite surfing athletes, coaches, and performance support practitioners regarding sprint paddling technique, a critical aspect of high-performance surfing. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed four major themes: (a) the paddle stroke, (b) the kick, (c) strength and mobility, and (d) body position on the surfboard. Concerning the paddle stroke, participants advocated for longer strokes to enhance forward propulsion, emphasising the importance of reach, hand entry, catch, pull and push phases, and hand exit, aligning with established front crawl swimming principles. The benefits of a forward-weighted body position and minimal trunk movement to optimise paddling efficiency were also highlighted. Moreover, participants unanimously stressed the significance of an explosive kick for generating speed, improving pitch, and enhancing confidence in challenging conditions. Perspectives also underscored the pivotal role of shoulder and core strength, back mobility, and their impact on stroke efficiency. These findings provide novel insights into paddling technique conceptualization within the high-performance surfing community and offer a valuable framework for enhancing surfing performance, advancing knowledge, and providing future applied research endeavours.

Female surfing is evolving rapidly with increasing expectations for athletes aspiring to qualify for the Olympics and World Championship Tour. Sprint paddling is a critical component of surfing performance, and paddling velocity in a pool setting has been shown to be a strong predictor of competition level in the ocean environment. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance sprint paddling performance among female surfers through a technique training intervention utilising a constraints-led approach. Experimental design included baseline testing prior to a 6-week control period, assessments pre and post the approximately 6-week training intervention, and a 6-week non-trained retention period with a final follow-up testing session. Pool-based testing consisted of a 15-m sprint-paddle test with video analysis for spatiotemporal data, a 12-s paddling force test, and a perception of paddling proficiency questionnaire. Additionally, internal and external shoulder strength and range of motion, and a 1RM maximum pull-up test were assessed in the gym. The training intervention applied Newell's Model of Constraints by manipulating task constraints to enhance paddling technique. Results showed significant improvements in sprint time to 15 m (PRE: M = 10.79 ± 0.40 s, POST: M = 10.50 ± 0.32 s) and average velocities (PRE: M = 1.57 ± 0.07 m/s, POST: M = 1.63 ± 0.04 m/s), stroke efficiency (decreased stroke count and increased stroke length), maximal and average force in the pool, and perceived paddling proficiency. These findings suggest that coaches should integrate this novel training into the daily training environment to continue to advance female surfing performance.

Although paddling has been widely studied, there remains a limited understanding of how a surfer's paddling ability directly influences their wave-riding performance. Using an ecological approach, this study examined the importance of paddling to surfing performance from the perspective of elite Australian athletes, coaches, and performance support practitioners. Ten elite Australian surfing coaches, ten elite Australian surfing athletes, and eight performance support practitioners completed semi-structured interviews. This approach underscores the significance of incorporating experiential knowledge from coaches, athletes, and performance support practitioners, particularly in surfing where the nature of high-performance sport requires a multi-disciplinary approach and highlights the potential value of qualitatively exploring expert perspectives. Findings showed that all participants agree that paddling is an integral aspect of surfing performance despite not being directly scored in competition. The ecological dynamics approach provided a framework for understanding the function of paddling as a tool that enables surfers to exploit the affordances of the environment and support positive performance outcomes under highly variable conditions. The findings highlight the complexities of the performer-environment relationship in surfing and draw attention to the potential for improvements in surfing performance that may be elicited by enhancing a surfer's paddling ability. This study contributes to a growing body of sports science literature investigating paddling performance in surfers and underscores the importance of paddling to surfing performance.

The visual exploratory actions (i.e. scanning head movements) used by football players to perceive their surrounding environment have recently gained interest. While this has resulted in important findings relating to visual exploration during natural match-play, often the study designs lacked the experimental control of laboratory-based experimental settings. We aimed to investigate whether visual exploratory action is associated with passing performance for high-level U13 and U23 players in a controlled skill assessment setting. Fourteen U13 and 13 U23 football players from a Bundesliga club completed a standardised 32-trial sequence in the Footbonaut. Exploratory head movements were recorded with a head-worn inertial sensor, from which the count, frequency and excursion of head movements were extracted before and during ball possession. Ball reception and disposal were coded for each trial, and performance was operationalised as the time taken to complete each trial. Across all players, visual exploratory action was associated with passing performance. The variables that best explained faster performance were 1) a higher number of head turns before receiving the ball, 2) a lower number of head turns when in possession of the ball, and 3) being an U23 player. However, different combinations of variables explained performance for U13 and U23 players. The findings demonstrate the value of scanning before receiving the ball to prospectively control passing actions in the Footbonaut. Future research should investigate the shared and contrasting characteristics of scanning actions, as they are observed by players in skill assessment tasks such as the Footbonaut, during training and during match-play.

Visual exploratory action, in which football players turn their head to perceive their environment, improves prospective performance with the ball during match-play. This scanning action, however, is relevant for players throughout the entire match, as the information perceived through visual exploration is needed to guide movement around the pitch during both offensive and defensive play. This study aimed to understand how a player’s on-pitch position, playing role and phase of play influenced the visual exploratory head movements of players during 11v11 match-play. Twenty-two competitive-elite youth footballers (M = 16.25 years) played a total of 1,623 minutes (M = 73.8). Inertial measurement units, global positioning system units and notational analysis were used to quantify relevant variables. Analyses revealed that players explored more extensively when they were in possession of the ball, and less extensively during transition phases, as compared to team ball-possession and opposition ball-possession phases of play. Players explored most extensively when in the back third of the pitch, and least when they were in the middle third of the pitch. Playing role, pitch position and phase of play should be considered as constraints on visual exploratory actions when developing training situations aimed at improving the scanning actions of players.

Visual exploratory action – scanning movements expressed through left and right rotation of the head – allows perception of a surrounding environment and supports prospective actions. In the dynamically changing football environment, the extent to which exploratory action benefits a player’s subsequent performance with the ball is likely influenced by how and when the exploratory action occurs. Although few studies have examined the relationship between visual exploration and on-pitch football performance, it has been reported that a higher frequency of exploratory head movement up to 10-s before receiving the ball increases the likelihood of successful performance with the ball. This study investigated the relationship between head turn frequency and head turn excursion, and how and when exploratory head movement – within 10-s before ball possession – is related to performance with the ball in 11v11 match-play. Thirty-two semi-elite football players competed in 11v11 match-play. Head turn frequency and head turn excursion before ball possession were quantified with wearable inertial measurement units, and actions with the ball were coded via notational analysis. Odds ratio calculations were conducted to determine the associations between exploration variables and on-ball performance outcomes. A total of 783 actions with the ball were analyzed. Results revealed a strong relationship between head turn frequency and head turn excursion. Further, a higher than average head turn frequency and head turn excursion before receiving the ball resulted in a higher likelihood of turning with the ball, playing a pass in the attacking direction, and playing a pass to an area that is opposite to which it was received from. The strength of these outcomes varied for different time periods before receiving the ball. When players explored their environment with higher than average head turn frequency and excursion, they used more complex action opportunities afforded by the surrounding environment. Considerations for future research and practical implications are discussed.

Little is known about the actions supporting exploration and their relation to subsequent actions in situations when participants are surrounded by opportunities for action. Here, the movements that support visual exploration were related to performance in an enveloping football (soccer) passing task. Head movements of experienced football players were quantified with inertial measurement units. In a simulated football scenario, participants completed a receiving–passing task that required them to indicate pass direction to one of four surrounding targets, as quickly as they could after they gained simulated ball possession. The frequency of head movements before and after gaining ball possession and the pass response times were recorded. We controlled exploration time—the time before gaining simulated ball possession—to be 1, 2, or 3 seconds. Exploration time significantly influenced the frequency of head movements, and a higher frequency of head turns before gaining ball possession resulted in faster pass responses. Exploratory action influenced subsequent performatory action. That is, higher frequencies of head movements resulted in faster decisions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Wearable sensors are becoming widely used in the sport sciences to assess the performance of athletes. Advances in Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, in particular inertial measurement units (IMUs), provide researchers and practitioners with a portable means of capturing performance in representative task scenarios. Of recent interest to sport scientists in team-sports is how athletes perceive their surroundings and how visual (and other) information is used to select appropriate actions during a match. Collectively, the movements athletes make to gather information from their environments is referred to as exploratory action. An important aspect of this behavior is typically measured by notating (counting) the number of head turns from a third-person video perspective. Notational analysis is a labor-intensive task and prone to human error, especially when activity takes place over long durations. IMUs are well suited to resolve these issues; they are highly accurate, very efficient, and have an adequate output data rate. Currently no gold standard method exists to automatically detect head turn events from IMUs. In the current study, a novel algorithm is presented that utilizes data captured from a head-mounted IMU to count the number of head turns performed by an athlete during a controlled experimental task. Results demonstrate the presented algorithm is an appropriate and efficient method for assessing the number of head turns as a measure of exploratory actions.

For an athlete to make an appropriate decision and successfully perform a skill, they need to perceive opportunities for action by visually exploring their environment. The head movements that support visual exploration can easily and accurately be recorded using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) in research and applied settings. However, for IMU technology to be effective in applied settings, practitioners need to be able to communicate data to coaches and players. This paper presents methods of visualising and communicating exploratory head movement data, with the aim of giving a better understanding of (a) individual differences in exploratory action, and (b) how IMUs can be used in applied settings to assess and monitor visual exploratory action.

Global Positioning System (GPS) along with micro-electrical mechanical system (MEMS), technology is now commonplace in today’s sporting environment. Little has been published utilising this combination of technologies to quantify the postures of athletes during match-play. This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation into developing a methodology that allows practitioners to use the technology readily available to them to quantify the postural demands of field hockey players during match-play.