Monday, April 2, 2012

Does Positive Feedback Enhance Running Performance?

This is important news for all you coaches out there!- Our findings show that enhanced expectancies can have a positive effect on movement efficiency and running experience. They add to the accumulating evidence for the social-cognitive-affective-motor nature of motor performance.

One group (enhanced expectancy) was provided with (fabricated) feedback about the efficiency of their running style every 2 min. A control group was not given feedback. Oxygen consumption decreased in the enhanced expectancy group across measurement times (every 2 min for 10 min), but remained the same in the control group. In addition, performance perceptions changed only in the enhanced expectancy group, indicating a perception of greater ease of running and reduced fatigue when assessed after compared with before running.

source: Enhanced expectancies improve movement efficiency in runners

MY COMMENT: No mention of the level of ability these runners have, however I am inclined to believe this technique might be effective for some runners with world class ability. Anybody who has ever run knows that physical talent and training do not make up 100% of the equation for optimal performance. This particular study only measured running performance at 75% over 10 minutes, but the possibilities are interesting, at least for races up to 2 miles.

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