John Sproule | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)

Papers by John Sproule

AIM To understand how an international rugby coach used questioning behaviours in on-pitch activi... more AIM To understand how an international rugby coach used questioning behaviours in on-pitch activities during training and competition. METHODS The coach’s behavioural intentions and “coaching philosophy” were investigated through semi-structured interviews. On-pitch coach behaviour was then systematically observed using the Rugby Coach Activities and Behaviours Instrument (RCABI). The RCABI includes behaviour and activity classifications enabling actions to be understood within their micro-contexts. RESULTS Overall, questioning accounted for only 6.34% of on-pitch behaviours; yet, this was the coach’s most frequent direct interaction with players. Time spent questioning varied between activity contexts during training, but was never used during match play. The impacts of intentions, contexts and constraints on questioning behaviour are discussed. CONCLUSION The nuances of questioning behaviour need to be examined in greater depth and with more rugby coaches. It is essential to under...

Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 2013

Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools , by M. Tozer (Ed.) John Catt Educational, Wo... more Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools , by M. Tozer (Ed.) John Catt Educational, Woodbridge, UK, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-908095-44-2. May a book written with the primary aim of assisting th...

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Tse, Wong, and Masters (2017) recently published a study that indicated that analogy instruction ... more Tse, Wong, and Masters (2017) recently published a study that indicated that analogy instruction may help older adults acquire resilient motor skills that require reduced cognitive processing compared to traditional explicit instruction. Although we do not dispute that analogy learning may prove useful for this population, in this commentary, we contend that there are methodological issues in this research-which are shared with previous studies comparing analogy and explicit instruction-that potentially limit ecological validity, impact the size of detected effects, influence the development and understanding of associated theory, and, as such, constrain resulting recommendations for applied practice. Of particular concern is the comparison of the single-item analogy instruction to the list of nine explicit instructions, which risks conflating the effects of the type of instruction with the volume of instruction. We further argue that the benefits of analogy may be more parsimoniously explained by the instruction's capability to succinctly convey skill (rather than its potential for limiting reinvestment), but that this capability may only be realised if the to-belearned analogy is relevant and readily understood by the learner. Finally, we suggest that research in this area must look to incorporate more rigorous methods that compare experimental conditions to representative reference groups that allow us to explore how and when to deploy the myriad instructional tools available to practitioners and learners.

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

Journal of dance medicine & science : official publication of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, Jan 15, 2018

Extant attentional focus research has largely examined movement tasks that are outcome-focused (e... more Extant attentional focus research has largely examined movement tasks that are outcome-focused (e.g., height of jumps, force production, and number of successful turns) with fewer studies of the movement quality or form of an aesthetic discipline (e.g., dance, gymnastics, and ice-skating). In this study, both movement form and outcomebased measures were used to assess the performance of a pirouette. Thirteen skilled dancers performed pirouettes on a force plate under three trial conditions: control (no focus instruction), external focus instruction, and internal focus instruction. Assessment of the dancers' performance was quantified by 1. variability of postural sway, 2. duration of balance sustained, and 3. quality of movement form as rated by four experienced dance teachers. To corroborate the quantitative findings, dancers' perspectives were included in the study. Statistical analysis showed that the quality of a pirouette under the influence of external or internal focu...

Physical therapy in sport : official journal of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine, 2018

Establish current practice and attitudes towards recovery in a group of Division-1 Collegiate ath... more Establish current practice and attitudes towards recovery in a group of Division-1 Collegiate athletes from North America. A 16-item questionnaire was administered via custom software in an electronic format. 152 student athletes from a Division-1 Collegiate school across 3 sports (Basketball, American Football, Soccer). The approaches and attitudes to recovery in both training and competition. Sleep, cold water immersion (CWI) and nutrition were perceived to be the most effective modalities (88, 84 and 80% of the sample believed them to have a benefit respectively). Over half the sample did not believe in using compression for recovery. With regard to actual usage, CWI was the most used recovery modality and matched by athletes believing in, and using, the approach (65%). Only 24% of student athletes believed in, and used, sleep as a recovery modality despite it being rated and perceived as the most effective. Collectively, there is a discrepancy between perception and use of recov...

The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Jan 29, 2018

The global prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is high. Lifestyle changes towards a he... more The global prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is high. Lifestyle changes towards a healthy diet, increased physical activity and reduced sedentary activities are recommended to prevent and treat obesity. Evidence suggests that changing these health behaviours can benefit cognitive function and school achievement in children and adolescents in general. There are various theoretical mechanisms that suggest that children and adolescents with excessive body fat may benefit particularly from these interventions. To assess whether lifestyle interventions (in the areas of diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and behavioural therapy) improve school achievement, cognitive function (e.g. executive functions) and/or future success in children and adolescents with obesity or overweight, compared with standard care, waiting-list control, no treatment, or an attention placebo control group. In February 2017, we searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE and 15 other databases. We also searched...

Physical therapy in sport : official journal of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine, Jan 23, 2016

Assess current practice and attitudes towards recovery in adolescent athletes. Questionnaires wer... more Assess current practice and attitudes towards recovery in adolescent athletes. Questionnaires were administered either via print or online questionnaire. Athletes and coaches from within Asia were surveyed (n = 112 & 53), with a comparative sample in the UK (n = 53 & 8). The approaches and attitudes to recovery in both training and competition. Adolescent athletes perceive a variety of recovery modalities as important, though prioritise active recovery, nutrition and sleep. Attitudes towards recovery differed between athletes in Asia and the UK with respect to the perceived benefits of: sleep (96% believe in it in the UK v 69% in Asia, p < 0.01); nutrition (92 v 58%, p < 0.01); and active recovery (70 v 52%, p = 0.03). The number of recovery techniques used with Asian athletes was higher after training (p = 0.009) and competition (p < 0.01). Asian athletes rely more on 'feel' to justify interventions. There was a major disconnect amongst athletes' belief in part...

International journal of sports physical therapy, 2016

Physiotherapists and other practitioners commonly prescribe foam rolling as an intervention, but ... more Physiotherapists and other practitioners commonly prescribe foam rolling as an intervention, but the mechanistic effects of this intervention are not known. The aim of this investigation was to establish if a single bout of foam rolling affects flexibility, skeletal muscle contractility and reflected temperature. Twelve adolescent male squash players were evaluated on two separate occasions (treatment and control visits) and were tested on both legs for flexibility of the hip flexors and quadriceps, muscle contractility (as measured by tensiomyography) and temperature of the quadriceps (assessed via thermography) at repeated time points pre- and post a 60s rolling intervention (pre-, immediately post, 5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes post). They rolled one leg on the treatment visit and did not perform rolling on the control visit. The main outcome measure was the flexibility of hip flexor and quadriceps at repeated time points up to 30 minutes post intervention. The average foam rolling f...

European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1998

European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2000

Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Feb 9, 2015

Review and Analysis of Methods 6 Coach Demographics 11 Coach Learning and Development 15 Coach Su... more Review and Analysis of Methods 6 Coach Demographics 11 Coach Learning and Development 15 Coach Support 19 Coaches Outside the System 22 Coaches Views of NGB Support 25 Conclusion and Recommendations 31 References 33 Appendices 34  92% felt all coaches should continue to learn but then only 69% felt improving their coaching was important to them  The internet now appears to be the most popular source of coaching information for this group of coaches  24% of these coaches did not or had not used any coaching organisation for support  55 governing bodies represented with 38.7% of coaches experiencing support as opposed to 61.3% who did not feel supported  These coaches gave four main reasons for non-support o Little or no support offered o Feelings of isolation o Individuals, not NGBs, helpful o Political agendas  According to these coaches the system consists of Level 3 coaches and above  Student sport does not belong within the system  Cynicism from coaches about coaching organisations and NGBs  According to these coaches the system is concerned about collecting money not supporting these coaches

Sport Education and Society, Aug 25, 2010

This paper examines paternalism through the political development of sport and physical education... more This paper examines paternalism through the political development of sport and physical education in post-colonial Singapore. Initial consideration is given to demography, post-WWII development, prevailing political ideology, economic factors and the social characteristics of Singaporeans. Through the stewardship of the current Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, elite sport in Singapore has only recently been accepted by the government as