"It Depends"

When someone begins with these two words as their evidence-based answer to a question, some people keenly listen to the forthcoming rational while others may internally shake their head. In most cases it really DOES depend, as research is commonly very controlled to secure internal validity at the expense of some external validity or generalization to a larger population. Furthermore, a particular research topic may have been conducted on a variety of populations or a very narrow athletic group. Let us also put into the mix investigations involving relatively larger groups of professional athletes are scarce. Considering all this, it really comes down to what are the similarities between different athletic population in research and your athletes (chronological and training age, skill/ competitive level etc.) and what is practical in your setting as a coach.

Once we have accumulated enough research in a relatively homogenous group of athletes, we can consider moving beyond the “it depends” but again every environment has its unique features although the ecologial validity is likely much greater. It is now common to see a more pragmatic approach in high performance organizations who conduct “in-house research” to support and optimize decision-making for all departments involved. As you can see, there are layers or a continuum if you will, on how accurate your response reflects your situation. I believe the best reports and outcomes can be developed when there is consistency within an organization where individual`s intuition after years of experience in same or similar role likely trumps any research finding.

I will end with an example of where applied research can be shared and provide food for thought and discussion around constraints that affect all of us working with athletes. Check out https://sportperfsci.com/

I the words attributed to the great Bruce Lee;

"Absorb what`s useful, discard what is useless and add what`s specifically your own”.

By the way, article #4 titled "How professional basketball players use their eyes in static and contested shots", is coming out soon. Stay Tuned!!