Perceptual-cognitive-motor skills, such as visual anticipation, are pivotal for superior performance in sport. However, there are only a limited number of skill acquisition specialists working with coaches to develop these skills in athletes. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief reflection on the use of psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment to embed a skill acquisition research project in high-performance sport. The research project was conducted with the Australian national field hockey high-performance unit and investigated individual differences in expert goalkeepers’ visual anticipation. The paper first discusses the role of a skill acquisition specialist, how they collaborate with coaches and athletes, and barriers to collaboration. The paper then outlines how psychological strategies can be used to create an autonomy-supportive environment to build a relationship and establish a research collaboration with a team. Further, the paper discusses the importance of continually involving coaches and athletes in the research process to facilitate their engagement and self-determined motivation to complete the project. By applying psychological strategies to create an autonomy-supportive environment, sports scientists may have greater success in overcoming the many barriers to conduct research in an elite sport setting, with the outcomes highly valuable for athlete development.
- Implementing skill acquisition research in High-Performance Sport: Reflecting on the importance of Autonomy-Support for successful collaboration
- K. Morris-Binelli (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityS. Müller (Author/Creator) - Federation UniversityF.E.C.A. van Rens (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityD. Staniforth (Author/Creator) - Hockey Australia, Perth, AustraliaB. Appleby (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University, School of Allied HealthS.M. Rosalie (Author/Creator) - Curtin University
- Journal of Sport Psychology in Action
- Taylor & Francis
- 991005540844207891
- © 2026 Informa UK Limited
- School of Allied Health
- English
- Journal article