Performance Enhancement

Research theme which is a part of The Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre (SPARC)

 

 

We have worked closely with our end-users to guide our multi-disciplinary research that has helped provide relevant information to guide their training and performance practices.

We led a large-scale project with the BBC Lab UK and former Olympian Michael Johnson that investigated which sport psychology techniques helped people perform better. The areas we have focused on are endurance sports, combat sports, team sports and dance.

Performance Enhancement Research

We have worked closely with our end-users to guide our multi-disciplinary research that has helped provide relevant information to guide their training and performance practices. We led a large-scale project with the BBC Lab UK and former Olympian Michael Johnson that investigated which sport psychology techniques helped people perform better. The areas we have focused on are endurance sports, combat sports, team sports and dance.

We have a 20-year history of working with endurance sports examining how psychological, physiological and skill factors influence performance. We have been working with a large number of athletes and have held engaging public events with speakers such as 5-times Olympian Jo Pavey and London Marathon Coach Martin Yelling. Research has focused on helping people perform better, exercise for longer and do so with a smile! Current research is focused on teaching athletes to maximise use of laboratory data.

We work closely with British Judo who are based at the Walsall campus as well as a number of local and national boxers. We have focused on nutritional and psychological practices including vitamin D supplementation, making weight and emotional states related to performance. More recently, we investigated mood states and regulation strategies used by boxers during  Covid-19. Current research is focusing on the use of multidisciplinary interventions to improve performance.

“The British Judo Olympic and Paralympic National Training Centre is based on the Walsall Campus of the University of Wolverhampton and enjoys a strong partnership and relationship with the university and personnel. Over the last several years, the UoW expertise has supported in the final preparation leading into major events which has enabled and informed team preparation to achieve incredible performances and results at European and World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games. Additionally, a number of our fighters are able to balance being a fulltime athlete with education onsite with the support of the UoW staff to maximise travel to competition and training camps, yet still be able to achieve academic qualifications for future career development. More recently, the UoW has invested in the National Training Centre facilities with new changing rooms and improved medical facilities and we look forward to building on our partnership and success through to Tokyo, Paris 2024 and beyond”.

 

Nigel Donohue

Performance Director

We have a long-term links with both Wolverhampton Wanders FC and Walsall FC, both of which sponsor postgraduate research studentships (PhD and MRes) at their academies. Our research has informed the clubs’ academies on how relative age effect influences talent identification and retention,  how pressure effects decision-making and the beneficial effect of a pressure training programme. Current research is focusing on coaching practices and performance, for example to improve how well players can kick with both feet. It is also focused on improving the environment for developing players, for example via examination of coping strategies and on the athlete-parent-coach relationship. Within rugby we are doing research on neck injury prevention coupled with education for rugby players.

Since the start of the collaboration between the University and Wolverhampton Wanderers 7 year ago, the relationship has gone from strength to strength. The PhD and MRes students that have been incorporated into the Academy environment have played a vital part in the growth of the Sport Science department. Their practical skills and applied research has directed our provisions here at the club with a number of them being rewarded with a full time job, both within the academy or the first team setup. The relationship has been of great benefit to both parties and long may it continue.
Dave Morrison, Head of Academy Sports Science WWFC

We have a 20-year history of investigating dance. We implement the principles of exercise science to dance, in order to understand the stresses placed on dancers in vocational training (11-18 and 18-22 years old) and professional employment that affect their health and physical fitness. Working with industry partners (e.g. Harlequin Floors, Safe in Dance International) and a wide range of end-users (e.g. Performers College, Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham Royal Ballet, ArtEZ Conservatoire) we focus on the physiological demands and injury incidence of different dance genres, the link between both physical fitness and vitamin D health on both injury incidence and performance ability, talent development, how adolescent training demands influences bone health, how different dance floors effect injury incidence and health surveys.

A novel neuromuscular warm-up and strength and conditioning intervention was delivered at Elmhurst Ballet School, a vocational ballet school, reducing injury incidence by 42%.

The BBC show-cased some of the applied research we do with Birmingham Royal Ballet  - Peter and the Wolf

 

Key areas of Performance Enhancement

We have a 20-year history of working with endurance sports examining how psychological, physiological and skill factors influence performance. We have been working with a large number of athletes and have held engaging public events with speakers such as 5-times Olympian Jo Pavey and London Marathon Coach Martin Yelling. Research has focused on helping people perform better, exercise for longer and do so with a smile! Current research is focused on teaching athletes to maximise use of laboratory data.

We work closely with British Judo who are based at the Walsall campus as well as a number of local and national boxers. We have focused on nutritional and psychological practices including vitamin D supplementation, making weight and emotional states related to performance. More recently, we investigated mood states and regulation strategies used by boxers during  Covid-19. Current research is focusing on the use of multidisciplinary interventions to improve performance.

We have a long-term links with both Wolverhampton Wanders FC and Walsall FC, both of which sponsor postgraduate research studentships (PhD and MRes) at their academies. Our research has informed the clubs’ academies on how relative age effect influences talent identification and retention,  how pressure effects decision-making and the beneficial effect of a pressure training programme. Current research is focusing on coaching practices and performance, for example to improve how well players can kick with both feet. It is also focused on improving the environment for developing players, for example via examination of coping strategies and on the athlete-parent-coach relationship. Within rugby we are doing research on neck injury prevention coupled with education for rugby players.

We have a 20-year history of investigating dance. We implement the principles of exercise science to dance, in order to understand the stresses placed on dancers in vocational training (11-18 and 18-22 years old) and professional employment that affect their health and physical fitness. Working with industry partners (e.g. Harlequin Floors, Safe in Dance International) and a wide range of end-users (e.g. Performers College, Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham Royal Ballet, ArtEZ Conservatoire) we focus on the physiological demands and injury incidence of different dance genres, the link between both physical fitness and vitamin D health on both injury incidence and dance performance enhancement , talent development, how adolescent training demands influences bone health, how different dance floors effect injury incidence and health surveys.