Olympic Countdown - Cycling

Are your eyes deceiving you? It’s not uncommon for researchers to give false information to their subjects to see what effect this can have, but it seems particularly prevalent when cyclists are being tested. In a recent experiment, Professor Kevin Thompson of Northumbria University used this idea to see if trained cyclists could go quicker than they ever had before over a 4,000m time trial. Using stationary bikes, the cyclists did two time trials to establish a baseline time. In the third and fourth trials, the cyclists raced against an avatar (a figure cycling) which they were told represented their baseline performance. In fact, this was only true for the third trial. On the fourth trial, the avatar was programmed with 2% more power, which correlates to 1% more speed. They found that the cyclists were up to 5 seconds faster than their baseline when racing against the accurate avatar, and up to 10 seconds faster when racing against the deception avatar. This suggests that we keep something in reserve even when we feel we’re going flat out. In another similar experiment, Dr Jo Corbett of Portsmouth University asked cyclists to race a 2,000m course as fast as possible in front of a computer screen showing an avatar of themselves doing the ride on a virtual course. On the fifth occasion they had to do this exercise they were told to race against another cyclist behind a screen whose avatar was also projected on to the same virtual course. In reality, however, they were actually racing against their own best time. On this fifth race, 12 out of the 14 participants were significantly faster in the fifth race, when they believed they were racing an opponent, even though they had been apparently completely exhausted in the other races. The difference was a final burst of speed which ensured their victory, and their average speed increased from 38.4km/h to 39km/h. It seems that competition allows athletes to dip into these hitherto untapped sources of energy. To test this idea, Professor Thompson repeated his experiment using two groups of cyclists. One group was told that they would be racing against an avatar that had either 2% or 5% more power, which meant either 1% or 2% quicker than their own best time. The other group was deceived. They were told that they were racing against an avatar that matched their best time, although in reality they were also racing an avatar that was either 1% or 2% quicker. The group that knew they were racing quicker avatars soon gave up trying to match the avatar’s speed, whether it was 1% or 2% quicker. The deceived group matched the avatar’s speed when it was 1% quicker. But 2% was too much, and they gave up about halfway through, and some ended up with a time that was worse than their best effort. And there are other ways of deceiving athletes that might eke out improved performances. Earlier this year, Dr Paul Castle and others from the University of Bedford engaged 7 cyclists in 30-minute stationary trials under three different conditions. In the control trial, the room temperature was set at 21.8°C (71.2°F). A second “hot” trial was held in a room at 31.4° (88.5°F). In the final trial, the temperature was displayed as 26.0°C (78.8°F), but was in reality 31.6°C (88.8°F), the hottest of the three. As expected, the cyclists performed worse in the hot trial (31.4°C) than in the control (4% less distance). But in the deception trial, they cycled slightly further in the time than they did in the control, even though they were actually cycling in temperatures marginally higher (31.6°) than in the hot trial. The researchers even found that the skin temperature of the participants was 0.5°C lower in the deception trial than in the hot trial. So, incorrect information from the conscious brain can lead to subconscious effects that can improve performance. But it also suggests that negative beliefs about conditions such as the weather will have a deleterious effect: if you think it’s going to be too hot or too cold to perform well, it probably will be. The final experiment looked to explain why cyclists doing, say, 40km, will generally lose speed towards the end, but will often do a really quick last 2,000m. This is when their muscles should be most tired. A team in South Africa led by Professor Tim Noakes told cyclists that they would do four 30-second trials, one 33-second trial and one 36-second trial. However, on some trials the clock was programmed to run more slowly, so they were actually doing two 30-second trials, two 33-second trials (one of which they thought was 30 seconds) and two 36-second trials (again, one of which they thought was 30 seconds. You might expect the cyclists to ride with more power initially on the deception 36-second trial compared with the informed 36-second trial. But in fact their power output was the same on both trials until the 33-second point, after which power fell significantly for the last three seconds of the deception trial. This shows again that information from the conscious brain can affect performance, this time in a negative way, overriding muscle fatigue. It seems that the subconscious brain pre-determines the amount of effort that will be required for the task. In the deception trial, it took three seconds before it realised that the expected duration had passed, and then it recalculated the intensity to a lower level for the remainder of the task by reducing the nervous stimulation to the muscles. This shows that the fatigue is largely caused by mental processes, i.e. a perception in the brain, sent from the subconscious to the conscious brain, rather than muscle fatigue. And this is why you can pick up speed towards the end of a 40km bike ride, when the conservative energy-saving policy of the subconscious brain can be overridden in the knowledge that there’s not much further to go, and a recalculation can take place. In fact the brain is constantly calculating and re-calculating the power output required (and therefore the pace) in response to the distance left to race and the cyclist’s physical state, which the brain is trying to protect. This also explains the benefits of interval training, which mixes high-intensity exercise with recovery breaks. It seems to work because you learn that going faster than you think you can doesn’t do any harm. And when you’re feeling fatigued towards the end of a race, this knowledge may also enable you to relax and keep going longer and faster than you would have thought possible. David Donner

Train As You Play

England’s early exit from the rugby World Cup was all too predictable, especially as most of their play has been, well, all too predictable. There are the usual calls to sack the manager, sack the board, drop this or that player, but I suspect the problems with English rugby go rather deeper, and I was reminded of a story my son told me a while ago. My son went to a very traditional prep school. Both academically and in sport, the boys were divided in the elite and the rest. This produced some outstanding results, both in terms of scholarships and in winning matches. But it didn’t necessarily bring out the best of those outside the elite. Fortunately for my son, he was strong academically and a reasonable all-round sportsman. But in rugby, he was not quite strong enough to train with the elite players on the playing field. Here, the boys were drilled endlessly, so the backs could pass the ball down the line with dazzling speed and immaculate handling. Instead, my son was with the rest in the Council park, where there was very little coaching, and the main aim was to try and get them to burn off as much energy as possible. And this is how my son learned to pass the ball to his left, but never to his right. One day, however, he was told to join up with the elite players, where he found himself playing centre in a practice match. Sure enough, he soon found himself with a problem as he received a pass from his left. He couldn’t pass left as there was nobody behind him. And he could pass right because…..he couldn’t pass right. So he did the only thing he could do, which was to run straight ahead. After a few strides, he looked up to find there was nobody anywhere near him, and ran in unopposed to score a try. All the other players had assumed he was going to pass down the line, because that’s what everyone else had always done. Afterwards, the headmaster came up to him and asked “How did you learn to sidestep like that?” Of course, he didn’t like to tell him the real reason. I saw a similar look of bemusement from the England players at the end of the first half against France. Jaws open, looking at each other trying to work out what was going wrong. I suspect that the plan was to sit back, let Johnny knock over a few penalties, and wait for France to self-destruct. This wasn’t an entirely unreasonable game plan, given France’s recent history. But it was fatally undermined when we donated them a load of points at the start. (Out of all the coaching staff, isn’t there someone who knows the laws, preferably with refereeing qualifications, who can coach them how to play without infringing all the time? If necessary, get them to practise with a “fussy” referee). And when things didn’t go exactly to plan, it all seemed to fall apart. Passes were thrown to the air, to the ground, and on more than one occasion to players who weren’t expecting it. They look like a team for whom every effort has been made to make them feel comfortable, from first class hotels to rigid game plans. As soon as a side takes them out of their comfort zone, they don’t know what to do. And I think this starts early. Writing in the Sunday Times recently, Stephen Jones talks of players as young as 12 being sucked into county and then national representative sides where all the emphasis is on preparation and endless drills rather than just playing. They don’t learn the skills of probing for an opposition’s weakness because they don’t play an opposition often enough .Their play becomes blinkered and formulaic. Of course, if they were coached from a sports vision perspective, they’d be encouraged to see what’s really happening on the field, and react to it instinctively. Do we have coaches who could do that? David Donner

Olympic Countdown - Canoe Slalom

Canoe slalom provides an excellent opportunity to study the use of imagery in sport because competitors are not allowed to practise on the actual course before a competition. Research (MacIntyre & Moran 1986; White & Hardy 1998) has shown that imagery is regularly used in both training and competition by canoe slalom participants. MacIntyre, Moran and Jennings (2002) have even suggested that elite performance in canoe slalom could be related to the ability to use imagery, even though it didn’t distinguish elite from intermediate groups. MacIntyre & Moran (2207) studied 12 canoeists, all of whom had finished in the top 10 at either the World Championships or Olympics, with more than half being medallists. What was surprising was the range of things they used imagery for. As well as being used to learn the course, imagery was employed as part of their pre-race routine, to review their performance after the race, to imagine how they might overcome particular difficulties during the race, to imagine how they might adapt another competitor’s actions to their own performance, to learn new techniques, to remember previous successful performances as a way of overcoming a slump in performance, to get them in the most appropriate frame of mind, and to help when returning to the sport after injury. Sometimes, they were able to imagine what the performance felt like in their muscles, as well as having a visual image, and many felt this was an important element of their imagery. These athletes were able to analyse their imagery to quite an advanced level. They recognised hat imagery could be negative as well as positive, for instance if they imagined themselves making a mistake. But they also devised strategies to overcome these negative images, such as “re-winding” the imagery and “replaying” it without the mistake. Some athletes found that discussing with the coach their imagery of completing the course helped them to overcome negative imagery. In some sports, coaches themselves have used imagery, for instance to imagine what an opposition coach might do in a match. It may be that canoeing coaches are able to compare their image of the performance with the athlete’s. It’s generally recommended that athletes should imagine a perfect performance, but these elite canoeists were more likely to visualise an average performance as a base from which they might try to improve, or maintain performance in more difficult conditions. I think coaches in many sports could learn from this more subtle approach to imagery and visualisation. It would help obtain a more effective review of performance, as well as prepare the athlete for a variety of situations, such as poor weather, or a better than expected performance by a competitor. David Donner

Olympic Countdown - Boxing

If someone is trying to punch someone else in the face, it shouldn’t be a surprise that eye injuries are quite a common result, even with head guards. The most serious injuries are when damage to the retina occurs. Tears can lead to detachments and a lot of vision can be lost. Sugar Ray Leonard is one of the highest profile boxers who were forced to retire as a result of a detached retina. But trauma to the front of the eye can disrupt the drainage system of the fluid within the eye. Pressure can build up and the nerves at the back of the eye can get damaged in a form of glaucoma. Cataracts can also form at a much younger age than normal. Eye damage like this is especially likely if the trauma is caused by the thumb, as it fits neatly inside the eye socket. Modern gloves have the thumb strapped to the rest of the glove, but this still leaves part of the thumb protruding. Bianco et al (2004) studied over a thousand boxers, amateur and professional. 40.9% were found to have mild or moderate signs of eye damage, with 5.6% having serious eye problems. This compared with 3.1% of non-boxers who were found to have similar-looking eye problems. One idea to try and combat the problem was the invention of “thumbless” gloves. Unfortunately, they didn’t prove popular with boxers as it didn’t feel as if they were forming a proper fist. This could result in more hand injuries. Recently, however, a solution may have been found in the invention of the “hidden thumb” glove. A strap inside the glove enables a fist to be formed internally, but nothing sticks out externally. Let’s hope it catches on. David Donner

Olympic Countdown - Basketball

Several international rugby forwards have developed their handling skills by playing basketball, including Simon Shaw and Courtney Lawes. I often think that it would help goalkeepers dealing with crosses as well.

Vickers (1996) found that elite basketball players concentrate their gaze on just one part of the target, such as the front of the hoop. In contrast, the gaze of lesser players tends to wander all around the target. But there’s a problem: at some stage the ball gets in the way.

There are actually two shooting styles. In the low style, the ball is brought up and blocks the view of the hoop on release. Players with this style must get all their information before the ball blocks their view. In the high style, the ball is brought up above head height before being released, allowing the hoop to be viewed as the shot is taken. These players can get “Quiet Eye” information right up to the moment when the ball is released.

Intuitively, one would have thought that the high style would have been more effective, but researchers so far have failed to find one method to be better than the other. This could be because laboratory conditions aren’t tough enough, for instance there are no opponents.

Or it could be that both styles are effective as long as you focus on one specific part of the target, and you do it as late as your preferred style allows.

David Donner

Another England Penalty Failure

This time it’s the ladies who’ve been knocked out of a World Cup on penalties. The usual response is to say that penalty shoot-outs are a lottery, and that it was just cruel misfortune. This time, however, manager Hope Powell blamed some of her players, accusing them of “cowardice”.

I have to say both responses are completely inappropriate. Taking and saving penalties are skills, like every other part of football. The secret of dealing with penalty shoot-outs is to prepare the players for the stress involved, so that they maintain the correct technique. You won’t be surprised to learn that the correct technique is all about vision, but more of that later.

Earlier on in the tournament, a BBC reporter had asked the manager if she was considering making any changes to her team for the game against New Zealand. Powell replied by saying this perfectly reasonable question was “ridiculous”. This struck me as a response of a manager feeling under pressure, and if that sense of anxiety communicated itself to the players, I suspected we were going to be in trouble.

I was also surprised to read this quote on the FA website from the manager after the France defeat. “We thought we had a chance with penalties because we’ve been practising and Karen Bardsley has been saving every single one”. Well, that might have done wonders for the goalkeeper’s confidence, but considering that a well-struck and directed penalty should be unsaveable, it clearly didn’t do much for those taking them. No wonder they weren’t rushing to volunteer.

There’s no doubt that taking a penalty for your country can be a very stressful experience. Here’s Steven Gerrard talking about his miss in the 2006 World Cup. “Jesus, I wish I was first up. Get it out of the way. The wait’s killing me…….Why do I have to wait for the bloody whistle? Those extra couple of seconds seemed like an eternity, and they definitely put me off”. Or Gareth Southgate in 2003 “All I wanted was the ball: put it on the spot, get it over and done with”. Or Chris Waddle in 1997 “I just wanted it to be over”. These players appear to be suffering from a form of emotional distress, and the natural reaction is to try and get it over with as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this can mean less attention on the task required.

There are two strategies when it comes to taking penalties. In the keeper-dependent strategy, the kicker varies their shot according to the keeper’s actions, attempting to score in the opposite corner to the one where the keeper has dived. In the keeper-independent strategy, the kicker ignores the keeper, and makes a pre-planned shot. The keeper-dependent strategy is thought to be inferior, because unless the keeper dives early, there’s insufficient time to make the necessary adjustment, and they’re not actually looking at where they intend to shoot.

Yet Kuhn (2008), analysing penalties in top-level German football, found that 70% of all penalties used the keeper-dependent strategy. Why would 7 out of 10 professional footballers use completely the wrong strategy for something that is designed to determine the outcome of the match?

We’re back to stress and anxiety again. I like to think of the effect of anxiety in sport as turning you from a predator into prey. A lion hunting zebra will scan the herd looking for any weaker individuals. When the chase is on, the prey will be closely observed to pick out any deviations in course, and finally the focus will be on the target area for the attack. All the time, the eyes move ahead of the action, picking out relevant visual cues, relaying back visual information to enable the task to be successfully completed.

However, when you‘re prey, you constantly on the lookout for threats. When a threat is perceived, the body usually goes into a set of pre-programmed responses, such as “run” or “play dead”.
Coming back to sport, it means that instead of focusing on the parts of your vision that are required to be effective, the focus is drawn to perceived threats, such as the goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out.

This change in visual behaviour under stress leads to the ironic effect that player’s intense desire not to miss leads to precisely the behaviour that most likely to cause them to miss – i.e. not looking at the target. This effect has been found in several sports such as basket free shots (Wilson, Vine & Wood 2009) and golf (Binsch et al 2006). When it comes to penalty taking, Bakker et al (2006) found that telling players “not to shoot within reach of the goalkeeper” made them significantly more likely to shoot within reach of the keeper than telling them to “aim as accurately as possible”.

I’ve really only scratched the surface of what’s required to take successful penalties, and I haven’t even started on the best strategies for saving them. Bearing in mind that 22% of the goals scored in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, there’s no excuse for not preparing your side properly for them.

David Donner

Olympic Countdown - Badminton

This is one sport where I’ve applied for tickets, for two reasons: I used to play regularly, and it was also the subject of my practical work when I took a Sports Vision Diploma about ten years ago.

For that diploma, I looked at the Sussex Under-13 badminton squad, of which my son was a member at the time. I conducted a series of visual tests and compared the results with the coaches’ estimation of the players’ abilities.

For nearly every test there was no correlation between vision and ability. There was one test, however, in which you have to read out some numbers that are close to you, and some that are further away, alternating from one to the other.

Actually, this test showed no correlation with ability either. But it occurred to me that this was a test of speed of vocalisation as well as vision. So I got the kids to read out the numbers from a page, and subtracted this time from the time it took to do the other test. And when I did that, I got a statistically significant correlation with the coaches’ player ratings.

The test is supposed to show the ability to focus clearly on different objects when moving the eyes between them. But it’s actually possible to do the test without moving your eyes, by taking in central and more peripheral information at the same time. Such a skill is clearly important in badminton, where you need to concentrate on the shuttle but be aware of your opponent’s position as well. And indeed this is a required skill in many sports.

One evening when I was playing, a coach was feeding shuttles to a young player, who was returning them with drop shots to the coach who stayed in the same position just the other side of the net. The problem with this is that it’s a form of “blocked” training, which doesn’t take into account the tactical side of the game that’s required in a match. Players can look good in training, but regularly under-perform on match day, or can’t progress their game beyond a certain level.

It would have been much better if the coach, having fed the shuttle from one position, moved to a different place to which the return had to be made. Or he could even have instructed the player to return the shuttle to where he wasn’t, which would have been even more realistic.
I guess the young man won’t be representing the UK next year.

David Donner