How do psychological and physiological performance determinants interact within individual athletes? An analytical network approach

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, vol. 23, pp. 672–693

Abstract

Previous research on sports performance has mostly been conducted: (a) at a single point, or at most, a few points in time, (b) at the group level, and (c) as a causal chain of monodisciplinary predictor and outcome variables. In the present research, we argue and demonstrate that the next important step should be to monitor, analyze, and visualise the dynamic and individual-specific interactions of multidisciplinary determinants of sports performance. Hence, we apply a recently developed analytical approach, that is, (Time-Varying) Vector-AutoRegressive ((TV)-VAR) modelling, which captures the intra-individual interactions and changes of multidisciplinary determinants. We first measured critical psychological (e.g., self-efficacy) and physiological (e.g., heart rate) factors among youth male football (soccer) players at a professional club, on a daily basis across one season. Next, we assessed the temporal dynamics of the factors with (TV-)VAR models and visualised the findings in network graphs. We present the results of two show-cases that demonstrate how multidisciplinary key determinants of sports performance can dynamically evolve across a sports season, that is, interact and change in individual-specific ways over time. Specifically, the results of Player 1 revealed a stable network across the season in which self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of other determinants, whereas this was not the case for Player 2. These new insights improve our understanding of how key determinants of sports performance are dynamically related within individual athletes and may allow practitioners to develop and implement person-specific, targeted, and timely interventions.

Authors 10

1. Niklas D. Neumann corresponding

   University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

2. Nico W. Van Yperen

   University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

3. Carolin R. Arens

   University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   Karlsruher Sport Club GERNIKE Akademie

   University of Groningen

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

   Karlsruher Sport Club GERNIKE Akademie, Karlsruhe, Germany

4. Jur J. Brauers

   University Medical Center Groningen · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

5. KOEN A. P. M. LEMMINK

   University Medical Center Groningen · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

6. Ando C. Emerencia

   University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

7. Laurentius A. Meerhoff Aachen Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

   Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

8. Wouter G. P. Frencken

   University Medical Center Groningen · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   Football Club Groningen

   University of Groningen

   Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

   Football Club Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

9. Michel S. Brink

   University Medical Center Groningen · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

10. Ruud J. R. Den Hartigh

    University of Groningen

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Groningen

    Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands