Continuous Improvement : Intertwining Mind and Body in Athletic Expertise

How do great athletes defy the power law of practice, according to which improvements in skill eventually plateau?

Commentators and spectators alike are fascinated by how athletes such as Roger Federer, Tom Brady, and Serena Williams are capable both of moments of exquisite brilliance and of sustaining such excellence over a prolonged period. But what separates these great athletes from those who have achieved a certain level of expertise before finding that their performance has started to plateau? How is it possible for world-class athletes- athletes who seem to be at the top of their game- to keep improving?

To solve this puzzle, this book presents a theory of “continuous improvement” that explains how experts use conscious strategies to update and improve motor execution in training contexts and stabilise performance under highly pressurised conditions. It argues that expertise is characterised by an attentional flexibility involving the use of reflection, abstract thought, and bodily awareness; processes used by athletes to alter bodily routines in response to contextual demands. Drawing on theory and empirical findings from a wide range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, and cognitive science, the authors outline methodological approaches and practical strategies that can be used by coaches, researchers, and athletes to understand, improve, and maintain optimal levels of performance.

A fascinating exploration into the psychological and physical processes behind elite performance, this book will be an insightful read for students and academics of sport science, sport psychology, and kinesiology, as well as coaches, practitioners working with performers, athletes, or anyone with an interest in physical performance and improvement.

John Toner, Lecturer in Sports Coaching and Performance Science, University of Hull, UK,Barbara Montero, Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York, USA,Aidan Moran, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University College Dublin, Ireland

John Toner is a lecturer in sports coaching and performance science at the University of Hull (UK). He has published widely on the role conscious processes play in facilitating 'continuous improvement' among skilled performers. Recent work on this topic has been published in Body & Society, Review of Philosophy and Psychology and the Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

Barbara Gail Montero is Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center and the College of Staten Island. Her research focuses on two very different notions of 'body': body as the physical or material basis of the mind, and body as flesh and blood instrument that we use when we run, walk, or dance. She is the author of Thought in Action: Expertise and the Conscious Mind (OUP, 2016) and a former professional ballet dancer.

Aidan Moran was Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Psychology Research Laboratory in University College Dublin. His research investigated the cognitive processes underlying expertise in fields like sport, surgery and music. He wrote/co-authored 21 Psychology books over the course of an extremely distinguished career.