Dr. Philip Kearney

Research Interests

My research examines human motor behaviour; that is, how humans control their movements and develop their skills across the lifespan. My recent research has concentrated on youth sport, in particular within the context of track and field athletics.Working under the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences' Sport and Human Performance theme, my current research agenda consists of three strands:

(1) Maturation and youth sport.
(2) Coaches' knowledge and practices.
(3) Enhancing practice quality.

Strand 1: Projects within this strand have centred on the analysis of a database of track and field performances to determine: (i) the relationship between maturation (as indicated by relative age) and ranking, (ii) the relationship between success at different age grades in youth competition, and between youth and adult success, and (iii) the prevalence and consequences for participation of early specialisation within athletics. Additional projects within this theme have explored the influence of maturation on development in rugby union.

Strand 2: Specific projects include examining coaches perceptions of the importance of visual exploratory activity (aka scanning) in football, and how coaches refine well-learned techniques which are sub-optimal because of injury-risks or limiting performance. In addition, recent research has focused on how coaches design effective learning environments in an adventure sport context.

Strand 3: Specific projects include athletes' use of attentional focus in a range of sports, designing interventions to enhance musician's self-regulatory skills, and an industry report for the England and Wales Cricket Board examining coaches' perceptions of the practice behaviours of academy cricketers.