Starkes, Janet : McMaster University in Ontario, Canada
Janet Starkes, PhD, is a professor and chair of the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario,
Canada. She earned her post-doctorate in clinical neuropsychology at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and she has been doing
research in expert performance since 1975. Dr. Starkes is an international fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology
and Physical Education and has served as president of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology
(1994), president of the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (1997), and president
of the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators (1999).
Ericsson, K. Anders : Florida State University
K. Anders Ericsson, PhD, Conradi Eminent Scholar and professor of psychology at Florida State University, has
greatly influenced the current direction of expertise research. In 1976 he received his PhD in psychology from
the University of Stockholm in Sweden, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie-Mellon University. He
is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
Summary
"Expert Performance in Sports: Advances in Research on Sport Expertise" presents an overview of the
critical issues facing researchers who study how athletes reach-and stay at-their peak. The text will update your
knowledge of sport expertise with current research and practical applications for the development of sport expertise
in athletes, referees, and judges.
This comprehensive reference reflects both theoretical underpinnings and future directions in the understanding
of sport expertise research and is the first book to look specifically at how elite athletes are developed. It
answers controversial questions that arise with regard to the training of high-level performers:
How can you potentially speed up the acquisition process?
How easy is it for experts to retain high performance levels as they age?
How can coaches structure practices to maximize active time and preparation for the next competition?
What is the role of coaches and mentors who work with elite performers?
What aspects of performance best reflect expert behaviors in a particular sport-anticipation, perceptual accuracy,
decision speed, attention focus, response selection, response consistency, strategy, or others?
With "Expert Performance in Sports," you not only can read about sport expertise research but also find
out how athletes and coaches benefit. "Experts' Comments" at the end of each chapter present the opinions
of two world-class experts, Therese Brisson and Nick Cipriano. These experts' opinions bridge the gap between the
research presented and its practical applications. Dr. Therese Brisson's academic training is in motor behavior;
she also is an Olympic gold medalist, silver medalist, and six-time world champion in ice hockey. Professor Nick
Cipriano is an academic and an international-level wrestling coach. He is a former international-level wrestler
and world-renowned coach in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, and has coached both male and female athletes
from the high school level to the Olympic team.
This is a must-have reference that will challenge researchers to identify both their theoretical underpinnings
and future directions in their study of how the best excel at sports.
Table of Contents
Part I. Introduction
Chapter 1. The Magic and the Science of Sport Expertise
Part II. Where Are We and How Did We Get There?
Chapter 2. Expert Performance in Sport
Chapter 3. Development of Elite Performance and Deliberate
Practice
Part III. Developing and Retaining Sport Expertise
Chapter 4. From Play to Practice
Chapter 5. A Search for Deliberate Practice
Chapter 6. Tactics, the Neglected Attribute of Expertise
Chapter 7. Expertise in Sport Judges and Referees
Chapter 8. Expert Athletes
Chapter 9. Perceptual Expertise
Chapter 10. Retaining Expertise
Part IV. Novel Ways of Examining the Characteristics of Expertise and Related Theories
Chapter 11. Development of Expertise
Chapter 12. Memory and Expertise
Chapter 13. Expert Performance in Sport
Part V. The Great Debate: Is a General Theory of Expert Performance Achievable?
Chapter 14. Constraints and Issues in the Development of a General Theory of Expert Perceptual-Motor Performance
Chapter 15. How the Expert Performance Approach Differs From Traditional Approaches to Expertise in Sports
