Please note this is an overview from the Staying Connected Podcast with Chase Aldridge and Dr. Luke Wilkins. You can find the full video on our YouTube or Spotify page.
- Host (Chase Aldridge): Welcomes Dr. Luke Wilkins, a lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia, with a background in various sports organizations and universities.
- Dr. Luke Wilkins: Expresses enjoyment in discussing his field of study.
Background and Motivation:
- Dr. Luke Wilkins: Talks about his amateur sporting background in soccer, cricket, and American football. His inability to progress in sports led him to pursue academic study in sports.
- Education: Completed a PhD under Rob Gray at Arizona State University, focusing on vision testing and training in sports.
Career Journey:
- Post-PhD: Taught at Newcastle and collaborated with Dr. Greg Applebaum at Duke University.
- Yankees Opportunity: Got hired by the New York Yankees as a vision and cognition scientist, later expanding to skill acquisition and technology vetting roles.
- Current Role: Returned to academia in Australia, researching and teaching sports science.
Experience with the Yankees:
- Role Description: Tested and trained players' visual and cognitive skills, worked on skill acquisition, and evaluated sports technology.
- Integration: Emphasized listening, observing, and understanding the organizational culture before implementing changes.
- Cultural Differences: Compared approaches to skill development in different countries, noting America is catching up in skill acquisition research.
Research and Application:
- VR in Sports: Discussed his paper on using virtual reality (VR) to enhance psychological performance in baseball.
- Use Cases: Provided six use cases in the paper, based on real-world applications and scientific research, such as psychological readiness for players transitioning to new levels.
- Impact: Highlighted VR's potential to expose players to high-pressure situations, helping them adjust to new environments.
Challenges and Implementation:
- Importance of Dedication: Stressed the need for dedicated individuals to implement VR programs in sports organizations.
- Cost and Accessibility: Mentioned that VR is not as expensive as perceived and can be accessible to smaller clubs with proper prioritization.
- Examples of Use: Cited use cases for injured players and psychological readiness as practical applications.
Current Research Interests:
- Mechanisms Behind Performance: Interested in using VR to understand the mechanisms of sporting performance, such as pitch release points and hitter timing.
- Future Projects: Exploring various VR manipulations to enhance sports training and research.
- Contact Information: Dr. Wilkins prefers email for communication, offering to discuss VR and its applications in sports.
For more information or follow ups contact training@connected-performance.com