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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1396197

Plebiscite for a rational use of self-confrontation microphenomenological interviews to improve performance in elite athletes

Provisionally accepted
Eric Terrien Eric Terrien 1*Marine Leblanc Marine Leblanc 2Jacques Saury Jacques Saury 2Denis HAUW Denis HAUW 1Benoît Huet Benoît Huet 2
  • 1 Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 2 Université de Nantes, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Self-Confrontation Micro-Phenomenological Interviews (SCMPIs) aim to capture the fine-grained details of an athlete's experience, focusing on pre-reflective consciousness without resorting to posthoc rationalizations. This specific type of self-confrontation interview was developed in the domain of work analysis in cognitive ergonomics. Despite its integration into numerous research studies in sport performance and training practices, the direct effects of the SCMPI on athletes remain underexplored. In this perspective article, we provide a brief overview of the theoretical foundations of SCMPI as well as a description of the paradox of the SCMPI situation. Throughout this paper, we highlight the unsolved questions around use of SCMPIs to improve athletes' performance by enhancing reflective thinking as well as pre-reflective awareness. Furthermore, we discuss the epistemological and practical considerations regarding the selection and use of activity traces in SCMPIs. The paper calls for further research to evaluate the SCMPI's impact on performance in elite athletes, emphasizing the need for a rational application of this method in both research and practical interventions.

    Keywords: self-confrontation interview, micro-phenomenology, enaction, performance, mental training

    Received: 05 Mar 2024; Accepted: 13 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Terrien, Leblanc, Saury, HAUW and Huet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Eric Terrien, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.