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Dr. Philip Kearney

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Biography

I am passionate about skill acquisition, and inspiring the next generation of sport scientists and coaches to apply the core principles of skill acquisition in the development of athletes. A Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, I am committed to excellence and innovation in teaching. My research focuses on developing coaches and athletes, and enhances my practice as a sport scientist and the quality of my teaching.

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.

Research Collaborators

Publications

Book Chapter

2018

Skill change in elite-level kickers: Interdisciplinary considerations of an applied framework
Carson, HJ; Collins, D; Kearney, P
Football biomechanics

2015

Setting the scene: A framework for coaching practice in adventure sports
Kearney, P; Christian, E
Adventure sports coaching

2015

Theoretical underpinnings of developing skill and their implications for the adventure sports coach
Christian, E; Kearney, P
Adventure sports coaching

2015

Coaching the advanced performer
Kearney, P; Christian, E
Adventure sport coaching

2015

Coaching tools for adventure sports
Christian, E; Kearney, P
Adventure sports coaching

Conference Contribution

2018

International Association for Dance Medicine & Science Annual Conference
Cahalan, R., Kearney, P., O'Sullivan, K.

2018

European College of Sport Sciences Conference
Kinnerk, P. Harvey, S., Kearney, P., MacDonnacha, C., & Lyons, M.

2018

PEPAYS Conference
Kearney, P. E., Comyns, T. M., & Hayes, P. R.

2018

Movement & Skill Acquisition Ireland Conference
Armstrong, S., Arnott, P., & Kearney, P. E.

2018

Adventure Sports Coaching Conference
Christian, E., Berry, M., & Kearney, P. E.

Conference Publication

2017

7th Meeting of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network
Kearney, P

2017

International Symposium on Performance Science
Ritchie, L; Kearney, P

2016

British Psychological Society Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology Conference
Kearney, P; Godwin, C.

2016

International Conference on Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise
Kearney, PE; Carson, HJ; Collins, D

2015

1st Scientific Conference on Motor Skill Acqusition
Kearney, PE

2014

5th Annual Meeting of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network
Kearney, P; Smyth, PJ

2009

The 27th International Symposium of Biomechanics in Sport
Kearney, P, Smyth, PJ & Anderson, R

2008

2nd International Congress of Complex Systems in Sport
Kearney, P., Smyth, P. J. & Anderson, R.

2007

International Society of Motor Control, Progress in Motor Control VI conference
Kearney, P. & Smyth, PJ.

2007

The Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science
Kearney, P., Smyth, P.J. and Anderson, R.

2007

12th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science
Kearney, P., Smyth, P. J. & Anderson, R.

Other Journal

2017

The influence of nationality and playing position on relative age effects in rugby union: A cross-cultural comparison
Kearney PE
South African Journal of Sports Medicine DOI: 10.17159/2078-516X/2017/v29i0a1886

Other Publication

2017

Coaches' views on the self-regulatory behaviours of Emerging Players Programme/Academy cricketers in an indoor practice context
Kearney, P; Figgins, S; Graham, D; Leggat, F; and Smith, J

2015

Examining lifeguard expertise: The impact of shift duration and rotation times on the effectiveness of hazard detection
Smith, J; Birch, P; Jewiss, M; Kearney, P; Turner, M; Tipton, M

2013

Eye tracking of elite rugby union goal kickers during practice penalty kicks
Kearney, PE

Peer Reviewed Journal

2018

Further evidence against eye-hand coordination as a general ability
Ellison, PH;Kearney, PE;Sparks, SA;Murphy, PN;Marchant, DC
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching DOI: 10.1177/1747954117747132

2018

Excelling at youth level in competitive track and field athletics is not a prerequisite for later success
Kearney, PE;Hayes, PR
Journal Of Sports Sciences DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1465724

2018

Football coaches' perceptions of the introduction, delivery and evaluation of it visual exploratory activity
Pulling, C;Kearney, P;Eldridge, D;Dicks, M
Psychology Of Sport And Exercise DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.08.001

2018

Implementing technical refinement in high-level athletics: exploring the knowledge schemas of coaches.
Kearney PE;Carson HJ;Collins D;
Journal Of Sports Sciences DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2017.1358339

2018

Investigating inspirational leader communication in an elite team sport context
Smith, MJ;Figgins, SG;Jewiss, M;Kearney, PE
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching DOI: 10.1177/1747954117727684

2018

Faster, higher, stronger, older: Relative age effects are most influential during the youngest age grade of track and field athletics in the United Kingdom
Kearney, PE;Hayes, PR;Nevill, A
Journal Of Sports Sciences DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1449093

2017

Playing position influences the relative age effect in senior rugby union
Kearney, PE
Science & Sports DOI: 10.1016/j.scispo.2016.06.009

2017

Enhancing practice through gradual increases in contextual interference
Kearney, PE
Kinesiology

2017

Misunderstandings of concussion within a youth rugby population.
Kearney PE;See J;
Journal Of Science And Medicine In Sport DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2017.04.019

2017

Successful Transfer of a Motor Learning Strategy to a Novel Sport.
Kearney PE;Judge P;
Perceptual and motor skills DOI: 10.1177/0031512517719189

2017

The identity, epistemology and developmental experiences of high-level adventure sports coaches
Christian, E; Berry, M; Kearney, PE
Journal Of Adventure Education And Outdoor Learning DOI: 10.1080/14729679.2017.1341326

2015

A distal focus of attention leads to superior performance on a golf putting task
Kearney, PE
International Journal Of Sport And Exercise Psychology DOI: 10.1080/1612197X.2014.993682

2014

Can Achievement Goals be Primed in Competitive Tasks?
Greenlees, I;Figgins, S;Kearney, P
Journal Of Human Kinetics DOI: 10.2478/hukin-2014-0026

2012

Kinematic variability in running: a caution regarding use of the spanning set measure.
Hanlon, M; Condell, J; Kearney, P
Journal of Applied Biomechanics