PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES OF ELITE ATHLETES STUDY

                                                               

These notes come from this study on elite Soccer players but the exact same information processing and decision making processes is required for footy.

• Sport at any level requires a deep understanding of the game, rapid information processing and decision making, not just physical abilities
• To close these gaps this study used elite soccer players and then focused on more psychological aspects of performance than other studies such as problem-solving, memory, executive functions and personality traits while evaluating via multiple means to get a comprehensive assessment
• Elite athletes demonstrated heightened planning/memory capacity, enhanced executive functions - especially cognitive flexibility - elevated levels of conscientiousness, extraversion and openness to experience, coupled with reduced neuroticism and agreeableness
• Non athletes report high elevated levels of neuroticism and agreeableness
• Executive functions (high order top-down regulatory mechanisms controlling low level processes) are of great importance for success in ball sports as they make it possible to adapt and plan behaviour in a fast-changing environment
• Design fluency performance correlates higher with national players then with Premier League players and those players are also described by coaches as the best readers in the game
• Executive function and coach-rated game intelligence also correlates highly
• The battery of tests they used were also able to predict assist/scoring behaviours + dribbling
• Versus the control group, soccer players have better memory, problem-solving skills, are better at planning tasks, have higher levels of working memory, have superior efficiency in analysing situations/devising optimal strategies to achieve their goals in the same time frame, have the ability to plan several steps ahead in order to reach a goal quickly in a changing environment, reach high scores on temperamental scales such as persistence, harm avoidance and cooperation while also score higher on impulsive scales such as seeking sensation and positive urgency
• Working memory is the single strongest correlator

FOOTY TRAINING NOTES FROM MY PHONE

Your best thoughts and ideas come from walking with zero agenda, effortless and automatic tasks like doing the dishes, mowing the lawns etc that we palm off a lot these days.

I walk the dog each day, sometimes twice a day and it provides some stillness to the brain that allows for thoughts to wonder in and out.

The secret is to provide time, quite time and time when you're not entertained by something else.

Often on my dog walks (around a footy oval 1 block from my house of course!) I'll think of something that's been floating around for a day or 2 and go into a bit deeper about it and then pop something in the phone about to for future reference and that's how this post came about.

A mixed bag today with a training activity, some short thought-pieces and a quick game analysis clip looking at:

- Triggers

- You Must Fail at Training

- Ego Play

- Brisbane Creating/Utilising the Outnumber Advantage

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VISION IN FEMALE ATHLETES

Last week I did a huge post on ACL injuries in female athletes and if you did read it, then I'm sure you would have not been aware of the latest how and why's of these occurrences.

All we hear on TV during these instances is commentator talk of "the mechanism of an ACL" but there's so much more leading up to that that I wish just 1 of them would get educated on all things ACL and then be able to talk viewers through it a lot better.

One of the main findings from my previous post was that if vision and this is ultra-important as what you see dictates what you can perceive and that dictates how you act.

The "mechanism" is simply the last part of the injury moment and the most obvious.

About a year ago I looked up the differences in vision between male and females after thinking why females drop so many marks and wondered if there was more to it and there is.

Differences in eyesight involves hormones, evolution and brain-wiring.

The visual centers in the brain work differently in men and women with men having a greater knack for fine detail and rapidly moving objects and women are better at discriminating colors.

The brain contains high concentrations of male sex hormone receptors (androgens) throughout the cerebral cortex, especially in the visual cortex which is responsible for processing images.

Androgens are responsible for controlling the development of neurons in the visual cortex during embryogeneis meaning males have 25% more of these neurons than females.

Males are then more able to resolve more rapidly changing images that are closer together then females, but when images were far apart there was no difference between genders and both struggled.

Males have better visual tracking from evolution of being hunter/gatherers which goes a long way to explaining the marking issue I initially had.

The 25% increase in neurons from earlier also allows males to see color more clearly, usually visualising bright red as that color has shorter wavelength.

Females can visualise grass as green where males sometimes see it as yellow!

For females to improve their ability to track moving objects, here some things you can do and all it takes is 5 - 10mins per session 3 times a week. 

SMOOTH PURSUIT TRACKING

This refers to tracking a ball moving in various patterns for a few minutes at a time such as watching tennis and hockey, where the ball rapidly moves across the field of view which helps your vision and brain keep up with fast motion.

VISUAL STIMULATION EXERCISES

These refer to videos designed in a natural setting by observing moving objects in the environment.

REGULAR EXPOSURE TO MOVEMENT

Spend time outdoors tracking moving objects like birds of kids playing 

LIMIT CLOSE UP FOCUS

This obvious refers to phone use and incorporate more distance viewing

MULTI OBJECT TRACKING COMPUTER ACTIVITY

Perform this on as bigger screen as you can

https://cognitivetrain.com/multiple-object-tracking-test/

TIM KUIJSTERS TWITTER THREAD

Any "free" training that provides huge benefits but at no energy/resource cost is an absolute gamechanger!

https://twitter.com/kuijsters_tim/status/1787796031301648582

MY LATEST RESEARCH ON ACL INJURIES IN FEMALE ATHLETES

 

I thought I had done 1 of these somewhat recently until I checked back the other day and it was 2022!

There's still a lot of ACL's being done in both men's and women's footy - 19/800 men's + 23/550 women's in 2025 - which by those numbers isn't a great deal of difference really but the hysteria around female ACL's is sometime ridiculous.

No one wants anyone to do an ACL but it's a part of all sports for all genders.

Looking more closely at female ACL's in AFLW, it's a mixed bag from the somewhat limited data I could collect.

• 23 ACL's injuries in 2025
• 13 in games and 10 at training
• 3 in marking contests
• 2 from indirect contact
• 3 from non-contact
• 1 from direct contact
• 3 from neutral actions
• 3 from attacking actions
• 2 from defensive actions

The notes below come from about 15 pages of info I've collected since 2022 with my go-to coach being Jason Avedesian who doesn't seem to be on socials anymore and now is part of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA.

What I've been onboard with for a while and what gets a fair run in these notes is that the physical side of ACL injuries is not the greatest pre-cursor to ACL injuries although it's usually the result after the fact of these injuries, and more needs to be done around the brain, vision and neurocognitive aspects of performance to really get ton top of it

There's a lot here so put your reading glasses on!

CAUSES

• Biomechanical x trunk flexion, lateral trunk flexion, hip flexion, hip adduction, knee abduction moment, knee flexion, knee internal/external rotation, ankle dorsi flexion, ground reaction forces, single leg landing/cutting maneuver, limb symmetry and variability
• Neuromuscular x trunk strength, quad-to-hamstring strength ratio, hip extensors strength and hip abduction strength
• Environmental x surface type, weather conditions, activity duration and sociocultural perception of training
• Neurocognitive x reaction time, working memory, processing speed, visual-spatial attention, impulse control, self-monitoring and dual tasking
• Prior Injury History x ACL, ankle sprain and sports related concussion
• Additional Factors x warm up implementation/compliance, lower extremity balance/proprioception, fatigue, knee laxity/anatomy, shoe design, stress/anxiety
• Divided attention can reduce knee flexion upon initial contact, increased vertical ground reaction forces and reduced stability during landing/cutting

MOMENT WHEN 

• Within the 1st 40 - 60msecs of contact and way before any conscious processing can occur with the visible bad mechanics being from the athlete not having enough time/space
• Reflex time + electro-magnetic delay occurs in 110msecs after contact which passes before substantial force can be produced from the surrounding muscles after loading the ACL
• Athletes can perform any movement safely in controlled conditions but in competition they must process enormous amounts of environmental information and that changes every msec
• Sensorimotor processes during this are anticipation, pattern recognition, visual attention, response to initiation/inhibition, memory retention, kinematic cueing, reaction time, processing speed, working memory, spatial orientation, visual fixation and trajectory estimation which also changes every msec so you need to train small-sided games, oculomotor training, strobe glasses, sensory boards and live agility training
• Decreased visual-spatial attention/delayed processing speed and reaction time/decreased working memory leads to perception action mismatch/timing leas to delayed neuromuscular response and increased tissue load = increased risk for lower extremity injury so modify cognitive/oculomotor risk factors via sensory boards/stroboscopic eyewear/sports specific virtual reality + game representative agility training = decreased lower extremity injury risk
• Anterior tibial translation is probably the primary biomechanical mechanism for ACL injury and maximum knee valgus likely occurs after the ACL tear so focus on quad strength
• Low visual fusion range (the ability to merge images from each eye into a single image) was the strongest internal ACL risk factor meaning non-contact ACL’s are sensorimotor integration deficits
• Upper body contact is highly influential to ACL biomechanics and athletes landing 30 – 40ms earlier on the contralateral limb after upper body contact is the initial time we think ACL injuries actually occur

GAME WHEN 

• Primarily non-contact during single leg deceleration, 40 – 80msecs after contact, unanticipated conditions
• In Rugby 68% come from indirect/non-contact, 72% during off-the-ball actions and 73% in the 1st 40mins of a game
• Action ratios are side stepping x 38%, single leg landing x 31%, deceleration x 31%
• Pressing, tackling, being tackled, regaining balance after kicking and landings are the most frequent patterns
• Are more prevalent early in the game then late in the game
• 44% x non-contact, 44% indirect contact, 12% direct contact
• 47% pressing/tackling, 20% being tackled, 16% regaining balance after kicking, 7% landings, 10% other
• Most frequent inter-segmental positioning at injury frame x ipsilateral trunk tilt (lateral flex) + contralateral rotation (rotation to the same side), abducted hip (same side), dynamic knee valgus (same side), foot planted and externally  rotated (same side)
• Injury timing during matches – 15mins or less x 26%, 15 – 30mins x 19%, 30 – 45mins x 21%, 45 – 60mins x 13%, 60 – 75mins x 12% and 75 – 90mins x 9%
• 33 – 66% of non-contact ACL’s occur during defensive situational patterns x defensive pressing, high horizontal speeds, rapid deceleration, single leg loading, 84% involve neurocognitive error, deceiving action within .240ms prior, high neurocognitive load, knee valgus, extension foot position = horizontal deceleration training
• Non-contact more likely than indirect/direct contact
• More common in defensive actions v attacking actions + more common in out of possession actions v in possession actions
• Injury frequency while pressing/tackling is way higher than other actions
• More common in single leg support moments than 2 leg
• Often involves complex multiplanar interactions with a predominace of knee flexion + a consistent knee valgus pattern at the frame of injury

NON-CONTACT

• Is a sensorimotor integration error where athletes are usually visually distracted while focusing on something that’s not directly in front of them and an error comes in judging when/how much muscular force is required to decelerate
• 50% present with zero valgus but they aren’t caused by valgus and it isn’t a good predictor as it’s probs caused by the ACL tearing, not the other way around
• Biomechanically, 1^st look at the trunk/hip where excessive posterior/lateral shifts can heavily influence knee joint loading
• ACL/valgus are both caused by a lack of foot locking tension/collapse resulting in disorganisation between shin/thigh so train foot locking tension under pressure to produce organised movement
• Many non-contact ACL's might stem from an athlete not being able to properly initiate horizontal deceleration via visual stimulation overload (perception-action mismatch) and thus delayed limb stiffness and rapid ligament loading

TESTING

• Bilateral drops/jumps are not associated with ACL's as they are only ever performed in 1 plane of movement and the bilateral nature also has much greater force that can override unilateral deficiencies and is also a more controlled movement
• Any ACL screening test must include a neurocognitive/dual task component
• Non-contact occurs because of time and space constraints so employ a greater exposure to match-day demands when performing reactive change of direction movements
• Many occur when the athlete is performing a dual cognitive-motor task such as attending to an opposition while changing direction but most rehab exercises are single cognitive
• Drop jump/hop/cutting tasks are the 3 main tests used in rehab so dual task them by also using memory recall during them such as color cards and they recall them in the order you showed them, hold up a picture and they have to recall something from it (object/color etc) or show a shapes slideshow and the athlete has to say what shape preceded the "go" slide

TRAINING

• Extended leg/flat feet landings don’t disperse force over all the leg muscles/joints and are high risk with plantar flexion allowing the calves to lengthen and help attenuate landing forces
• Have your athletes perform cuts under anticipated/unanticipated conditions, film it and look for biomechanical changes at the trunk/knee
• Yes, loading that exceeds tissue tolerance will cause an ACL to tear but there’s so much emphasise on the physical that it’s time to look into sensory input
• There’s a relationship between visuomotor reaction time and non-contact lower extremity injury
• 2 - 3/week x 5 - 10mins do small-sided games/strobe glasses/sensory boards/virtual reality
• For every 10ms decrease in reaction time, there's a 15% increased risk for injury independent of any biomechanical testing
• Think about low arousal conditions = low risk v high arousal conditions = high risk
• Traditional linear learning methods practicing to achieve ideal movement is the least effective treatment but manipulating task constraints enhances athlete robustness
• Use both internal and external focus of attention for ACL risk reduction/rehab but get away from internal as quickly as you can and then the implicit/explicit instruction depends on how much and what type of information is provided as an external foci can be provided both implicit/explicitly 
• Gastroc serves an antagonist for the ACL ligament and the soleus antagonist so train seated calf variations
• Implicit motor learning/random practice/differential learning are concepts that should be integrated when practicing to obtain the most optimal results when learning/fine tuning skills
• A tired neck decreases movement/vision accuracy/precision and the slower you can process what’s around you then the slower you’ll be to react – better vision = more time/space
• ACL injured athletes have worse visual memory than those who aren't and that is correlated with greater time to stabilise = decreased proprioception
• Low vision scores are associated with peak anterior shear forces, peak knee abduction moment/angles and peak valgus during ball handling tasks – all classic pre-cursers to ACL injuries
• Improve the ACL 11/Prep to Play programs by adding in neurocognitive elements such as moving limbs unilaterally, tossing tennis balls against a wall, reacting to partner calls, showing math/pattern cards you look at and then have to repeat back from memory etc – anything to ramp up complexity but not intensity
• When side stepping, keep low to the ground and use small steps
• When decelerating, get your weight on your heels, use tiny steps and get low
• When changing direction keep your feet under base of support, avoid trunk flexion/rotation away from the direction you’re trying to go and face your intended direction

OFFENSE CHECKLIST

The 4th last game moment in the game action loop is offense and again there is overlap with previous game moments as they continually feed into each other.

The full loop will now look like this:

Once you have identified the common themes among all 4 game moments, then that should be the foundation that you build your game model around as they are game aspects that are always at play.

The offense moment starts once we enter the launch zone or closer, or once you can get some overlap and put some speed on the ball such as Brisbane overcommitting on this Gulden mark:

WE HAVE POSSESSION IN THE MID 50

Scenario...

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DEFENSE CHECKLIST

If we follow the basic loop then after transition defense comes defense which these days is a full team affair, not just your back 6 defenders, and there is fair bit of overlap with the previous 2 game moments we've covered. The defense game moment starts once the opposition can work the ball into the launch zone area or closer, but it can also be further from goal depending on the pace of ball movement such as once Hipwood marks here -

WE DON'T HAVE POSSESSION IN OUR DEFENSIVE 50

Scenario...

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TRANSITION OFFENSE CHECKLIST

Today we look at transition offense which is when we regain possession and have control of the ball - such as the Lizard taking this intercept mark.

 

WE REGAIN POSSESSION IN OUR DEFENSIVE 50

Scenario...

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