Dr J North, Dr N Bezodis
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Applications are invited for a full-time, three-year PhD studentship at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, to begin on 1st February 2016 [completed proposal due September 2015]. Participants in the PhD studentship programme will be expected to contribute to teaching support in the department, up to a maximum of 150 hours per year, commencing in September 2015.
Understanding constraints on rugby place kicking performance: Implications for learning design
Rugby place kicking accounts for 45% of the total points scored at international level (2002-2011), yet the average kick success rate is only 72% (Quarrie & Hopkins, 2015). Whilst there is clear scope to improve performance, place kicking remains poorly understood from a scientific perspective. Ongoing laboratory-based research at St Mary’s University has contributed to understanding several features of technique which are important for successful performance across kickers ranging in ability levels from recreational to full international. The next challenge in this research programme is to understand how to design representative task constraints to enhance the acquisition of these functional coordination patterns in developing athletes. This interdisciplinary collaborative studentship in human movement science seeks to combine our existing biomechanical knowledge with experiential knowledge of coaches and contemporary motor learning principles to address the overarching question of how robust rugby place kicking performance can be effectively developed.
It is envisaged that the key stressors and constraints associated with rugby place kicking will be identified through a series of empirical studies comprising a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in some or all of the domains of biomechanics, motor learning and performance analysis. This knowledge will then be used in a training intervention grounded in affective learning design (Headrick et al., 2015), with the ultimate aim of enhancing developing athletes’ abilities to perform in emotion-laden environments.
The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr Jamie North (St Mary’s University), Dr Neil Bezodis (St Mary’s University) and Professor Keith Davids (Sheffield Hallam University). Knowledge and experience of theory and techniques related to the measurement of movement coordination are desirable.