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We revisit an agenda that was outlined in a previous paper in this journal focusing on the importance of skill acquisition research in enhancing practice and instruction in sport. In this current narrative review, we reflect on progress made since our original attempt to highlight several potential myths that appeared to exist in coaching, implying the existence of a theory-practice divide. Most notably, we present five action points that would impact positively on coaches and practitioners working to improve skill learning across sports, as well as suggesting directions for research. We discuss the importance of practice quality in enhancing learning and relate this concept to notions of optimising challenge. We discuss how best to assess learning, the right balance between repetition and practice that is specific to competition, the relationship between practice conditions, instructions, and individual differences, and why a more "hands-off" approach to instruction may have advantages over more "hands-on" methods. These action points are considered as a broad framework for advancing skill acquisition for excellence (SAFE) in applied practice. We conclude by arguing the need for increased collaboration between researchers, coaches, and other sport practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to present a player-centred performance analysis method as an effective mechanism to enhance expert players' performance in professional soccer. Data were collected through an application of a developed performance analysis method and subsequent unstructured interviews to explore participants' experience of the applied methodology. Grounded by an enactive perspective of human activity, the applied methodology foregrounds the player's intrinsic experience and places the player at the centre of the analysis and interpretation process. The sample included thirty professional soccer players with professional playing experience ranging from 2 years to 19 years and representing three professional teams. Using an interpretive data analysis approach results were considered from a methodological perspective concerning the core functions of a performance analysis method. Categories regarding performance analysis and performance development were highlighted. Findings demonstrate that adopting a player-centred approach to performance analysis in professional soccer provides advancement of the understanding of the collective performance of the expert player and may increase the opportunity for sustained learning.

Educational interventions aimed at increasing concussion knowledge and attitudes are designed according to different frameworks. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to determine the effects of educational interventions on concussion knowledge and attitudes, while providing recommendations for future research in the area of concussion education interventions. Data were extracted from 25 papers following a systematic search of the CINAHL, PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science scientific databases. Interventions were designed according to expert opinion and recommendations from previous research, such as knowledge transfer frameworks, the Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behaviour or by unknown means. Interventions were presented using PowerPoint presentations, videos, interactive computer modules, tool-kits, games and as guidelines. Interventions designed according to expert opinion increased concussion knowledge during post-intervention testing up to 2 weeks after intervention administration, and occasionally increased attitudes, with both knowledge and attitude improvements tending to return to baseline levels over-time. Interventions designed according to recommendations from previous research tend to increase both knowledge and attitudes with lack of follow-up data to determine long-term effects. Future concussion educational interventions should be designed according to expert opinion and using a knowledge transfer framework. The long-term effects of interventions require more research in order to design more effective educational tools.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of personalized sleep hygiene education on sleep indices in elite athletes. Nine elite male cricket players performed 3 weeks of baseline sleep monitoring (PRE), followed by group and individualized sleep hygiene education and a further 3 weeks of sleep monitoring (POST). Subjective sleep questionnaires included the Athlete Sleep Behaviour Questionnaire (ASBQ), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Objective sleep indices were monitored via wrist actigraphy. There were significant improvements (p < 0.05) in two of the sleep questionnaires (ESS and PSQI) and in sleep efficiency (+5%), sleep latency (-29 min) and sleep onset variance (-28 min) following the intervention, all associated with large or very large effect sizes ( d = 1.38, -0.85 and -0.88, respectively). The current study reports that personalized sleep hygiene education using the ASBQ to target maladaptive sleep behaviours may be effective in acutely improving sleep indices in elite male athletes.