Soccer matches have a typical duration of 90 min. However, when matches are drawn in some knockout cup scenarios and an outright winner is required, an additional 30 min period, termed extra-time (ET), is played. The performance and physiological responses to 90 min of soccer-specific exercise have been extensively investigated, however; there is a paucity of research investigating the demands of 120 min of soccer-specific exercise (i.e., matches requiring ET). Accordingly, the aims of this thesis were 1) to elucidate professional practitioner perceptions of ET, 2) to investigate the performance and physiological responses during prolonged actual and simulated match-play, and 3) to examine the influence of a nutritional intervention on performance during ET. To actuate aim one, a qualitative approach (i.e., an online survey) was used to assess practitioner perceptions of ET and their current applied practices. To accomplish aim two, quantitative research projects utilising performance analysis techniques and an analogue of match-play (simulated soccer match) were used. To actuate aim three, the same analogue of match-play was used to investigate the effect of carbohydrate-electrolyte gels ingested prior to ET on performance and physiology. Practitioners generally account for ET when preparing and recovering players and the majority (91%) of practitioners want research to be conducted on ET. Using notational analysis, reductions in technical performance (i.e., passing and dribbling) were observed during ET. Furthermore, when using a simulated match protocol, perturbations in both performance and physiology compared to the previous 90 min of exercise occur. Specifically reductions in both physical (i.e., sprint speeds) and technical (i.e., shooting speed) parameters, taxing of endogenous fuel sources, dehydration, and shifts in substrate utilisation (i.e., a move towards fat oxidation as a fuel source) were observed. The ingestion of carbohydrate-electrolyte gels prior to ET improved dribbling performance, however; this intervention was unable to attenuate decrements in physical performance and hydration status. In conclusion, ET influences both soccer-specific performance and physiological responses. In agreement with practitioners working in professional soccer, more research is required to investigate the efficacy of interventions (particularly hydro-nutritional interventions) that improve performance and ameliorate perturbations in physiology and metabolism.

Sports Science and Sports Medicine are becoming an inherent part of the landscape of high performance sports environments. Such is their visibility, that there are currently over 25,000 students training as sports scientists alone; a number greater than the other classical sciences combined. Through an ethnographic study of two professional rugby teams over the course of 12 months, it is shown that the ways in which these technologies and knowledge are deployed in the field differ substantially from their academic and philosophical basis. Drawing upon the work of Foucault, Goffman and Bourdieu, it is suggested that the use of science and technologies within the Medical and Strength and Conditioning departments alters in light of the physical location, the staff involved and the perceived attachment of these tools to higher order knowledge structures derived from beyond the immediate field of enquiry. Moreover, it is argued that the justification for the adoption of ‘science’ in these specific subcultural domains more often relates to social, political and operative means rather than the theoretical bases cited. A typology of use is presented in an effort to clarify the factors affecting the use of Sports Science and Sports Medicine in elite sport, and the implications that these have for the staff, athletes and serving knowledge bases. Notions of identity, surveillance and self governance are central in understanding the relative ease with which technologies of performance have managed to infiltrate the studied environments, and it is posited that similarities may exist in other cultures synonymous with elite sport. This is an ethnography of ‘science in action’.

The possibility that an inadequate response of the pulmonary system might limit high intensity exercise in man has received increasing attention over the past few years. However, very few scientific investigations have focused systematically on pulmonary function during high intensity constant-load exercise. Furthermore, many studies have examined only one part of the pulmonary system during exercise and some have not included blood gas measurements as a measure of the adequacy of pulmonary function. The studies reported in this thesis were designed to investigate the possible failure of the gas exchanging and pump functions of the pulmonary system during high intensity constant-load exercise. In particular, the aim was to determine the extent to which the pulmonary system might be a factor causing fatigue during this form of exercise.

The increasing globalization of elite soccer match-play means that soccer players are likely to compete in hot, hypoxic and hot-hypoxic environments over a season. Soccer match-play studies have identified a marked decline in soccer-specific physical performance in the heat and hypoxia due to increasing body temperatures and a reduction in partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), respectively. As hot environments are more prevalent in elite soccer match-play, cooling strategies have been assessed within the literature in an attempt to alleviate these heat-induced- decrements. However, utilising a soccer match-play design makes environmental and interventional inferences difficult to ascertain, as a plethora of match factors and adaptive pacing strategies cause high variability in key physical performance measures within soccer match-play. Therefore, the three experiments within thesis aimed to assess the reliability and validity of a non-motorised treadmill (NMT) based soccer-specific simulation [intermittent Soccer Performance Test - (iSPT)], to enable the reliable investigation of environmental stress on soccer performance and the efficacy of pre- and half-time-cooling to attenuate any heat- induced-decrements. The purpose of experiment 1 was to investigate the reliability and validity of iSPT which utilised a novel speed component called a ‘variable run’. This speed component quantified the distance covered at a self-selected speed above the second ventilatory threshold (VT2speed), which attempted to delimit a ‘high-intensity’ threshold. Twenty male University soccer players completed one maximal oxygen (O2) uptake (V̇ O2max ) test, three familiarisation (FAM) sessions and one peak speed assessment (PSA) on the NMT, before completing the iSPT twice (iSPT1 and iSPT2). The total distance, sprint distance and high-speed distance covered were 8,952 ± 476 m, 1,000 ± 74 m and 2156 ± 140 m, respectively. No significant difference (p>0.05) was found between repeated trials of the iSPT for all physical performance measures and physiological responses. Reliability measures between iSPT1 and iSPT2 showed good agreement [Coefficient of variation: <4.6%; Intraclass correlation: >0.80] compared with statistical guidelines. Furthermore, the variable run phase showed high speed running capacity was significantly decreased (p<0.05) in the last 15 min compared to the first 15 min, showing parity with previous match-play data. Experiment 1 validated the iSPT as a NMT based soccer- specific simulation compared to previous match-play data, and is a reliable tool for assessing and monitoring the physical performance and physiological responses in soccer players. Successfully completing the aim of experiment 1 facilitated the quantification of hot (HOT), hypoxia (HYP) and hot-hypoxia (HH) mediated decrements on maximal soccer-specific performance in experiment 2. Twelve male University soccer players completed three FAM sessions, one PSA and four randomised crossover experimental trials of the intermittent Soccer Performance Test (iSPT) in normoxic-temperate (CON: 18oC 50% rH), HOT (30oC; 50% rH), HYP (1,000m; 18oC 50% rH) and HH (1,000m; 30oC; 50% rH). Physical performance and its performance decrements, body temperatures [rectal (Tre), skin (Tsk) and estimated muscle temperature (Tmu)], heart rate (HR), arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2), perceived exertion, thermal sensation (TS), body mass changes, blood lactate (Bla) and plasma volume were all measured. Performance decrements were similar in HOT and HYP [total distance (-4%), high- speed distance (~-8%) and variable run distance (~-12%) covered] and exacerbated in HH [total distance (-9%), high-speed distance (-15%) and variable run distance (-15%)] compared to CON. A 4% increase in peak sprint speed was present in HOT compared with CON and HYP and 7% greater in HH. The sprint distance covered was unchanged (p > 0.05) in HOT and HYP and only decreased in HH (-8%) compared with CON. Body mass (-2%), temperatures (+2- 5%) and TS (+18%) were altered in HOT. Furthermore, SaO2 (-8%) and HR (+3%) were changed in HYP. Similar changes in body mass and temperatures, HR, TS and SaO2 were evident in HH compared to HOT and HYP, however, Bla (p < 0.001) and plasma volume (p <0.001) were only significantly altered in HH. Perceived exertion was elevated (p < 0.05) by 7% in all conditions compared with CON. Regression analysis identified that absolute TS and absolute rise in Tsk and estimated Tmu (r = 0.82, r = 0.84 r = 0.82, respectively; p <0.05) predicted the hot-mediated-decrements in HOT. The hot, hypoxic and hot-hypoxic environments impaired physical performance during iSPT. Future interventions should address the increases in TS and body temperatures, to attenuate these decrements in physical performance. Experiment 3 of this thesis aimed to identify three pre- and half-time-cooling strategies to attenuate the heat-induced-decrements previously seen in experiment 2. Eight male University soccer players completed four randomised experimental trials of iSPT, three with cooling and one control (i.e. No pre- or half-time cooling: CON). The pre- and half-time-cooling interventions involved were 30-min or 15 min in duration, respectively. Ice slurry ingestion (SLURRY), ice packs (PACKS) covering the upper legs and mixed-methods (MM: PACKS and SLURRY) were utilised as the three cooling interventions. Physical performance and its performance decrements, body temperatures (Tre, Tsk and estimated Tmu), HR, perceived exertion, TS, body mass changes and Bla were all measured. Compared with CON, both PACKS and SLURRY pre-cooling significantly reduced (p > 0.05) central (Tre) and peripheral (Tsk and estimated Tmu) body temperatures prior to iSPT, respectively. However, body temperature and physical performance were unchanged during the first half of PACKS and SLURRY compared with CON. The MM pre-cooling significantly reduced all body temperatures and TS both prior to and during the first half which coincided with an improvement in total distance (+3%), high-speed distance (+4%) and variable run distance (+5%) covered. Half-time-cooling via PACKS, SLURRY and MM had no ergogenic effect (p> 0.05) upon physical performance in the second half, compared with CON. The 30 min of mixed-method pre-cooling, via ice packs placed upon the upper legs and ice slurry ingestion, significantly improved simulated soccer performance during the first half, however, future research should identify a valid half-time-cooling strategy to offer further improvements to physical performance in the second half. The main findings within this thesis revealed that the iSPT showed validity with previous soccer match-play data and strong reproducibility between two tests (iSPT1 and iSPT2). Furthermore, the variable run component showed efficacy as sensitive measure of the decrements in high-speed running capability. As the iSPT demonstrated low test-retest error compared with the statistical guidelines and previous NMT based soccer-specific simulations, any changes to physical performance can be attributed to an intervention and not the variability of the measure, unlike in soccer match-play situations. No difference was seen for all physical performance measures in both HOT and HYP, however, the heat and hypoxic-induced- decrements stem from increasing body temperatures and changes to both SaO2 and HR, respectively. Such decrements may have a detrimental effect upon the match outcome. These heat-induced-decrements were attenuated in the first half after 30 min of mixed-methods pre- cooling, however, the 15 min of mixed-methods half-time-cooling did not significantly improve any physical performance measure in the second half. The mixed-method pre-cooling strategy tested within this thesis could go some way in maintaining physical performance during the first half of soccer match-play in hot environments (~30oC). However, future laboratory based research within a controlled environment should look to assess different combinations, times and strategies of cooling which may be applicable to the time constraints associated with elite soccer.

Theatre artists and acting teachers throughout history have sought to find and create presence. By combining modern sports science with an understanding of systems of actor training I have suggested an approach that makes presence a trainable skill. My coach Dr. Scott Sonnon, developer of the Circular Strength Training System, has refined modern sports science to emphasize the development and maintenance of flow-state. This state allows the athlete to respond openly and freely within a constantly changing situation.By combining my life long study of acting with my eight years of work with Coach Sonnon I am developing a system to teach actors the skill of cultivating flow. This work will enhance the actor's presence and ability to handle the stress of performance while developing a strong, supple, and coordinated psychophysical instrument. Video of examples of the exercises can be found in the accompanying materials.This work was created in Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac.

Since the late nineteenth century boxing in England has been socially organised into two ideologically distinctive versions - amateur and professional boxing – that to this day are practiced in spatially segregated social universes. Nonetheless, both amateur and professional boxing-practitioners understandings and lived experiences in and through boxing are necessarily grounded in the wider social and cultural contexts through which they interpret meaning and construct worldviews and identity. Thus despite the institutional, ideological and spatial boundaries demarcating either code, on a rather more subtle yet incredibly powerful cultural level, amateur and professional boxing are both symbolically and practically deeply intertwined. Over a five year period, I conducted ‘insider’ ethnographic research among distinct cohorts of amateur and professional boxers based in Luton and London to investigate the lived experiences and socially constructed worldviews, values and identities developed by practitioners immersed in either code. The overriding aim of this research was to critically evaluate the limits and possibilities of boxing-practitioners association with and development through ‘boxing’ henceforth. The findings of this ethnography reveal that it was common for the amateur and professional boxing-practitioners studied to cultivate empowering identities through intersubjective and socially validating instances of purposefulness, expressivity, creativity, fellowship and aspiration. These lived dimensions were grounded in sensuous, symbolic and emotional attachments respective to the social organization defining the social practice of either code of boxing. Equally, the research reveals that under the veneer of collective passion for and consequent fellowship experienced through boxing, an undercurrent yet ever-present sense of dubiety, tension and intra-personal conflict was in evidence among both the amateur and professional boxing-practitioners studied. It is suggested, therefore, that as a consequence of an array of both micro and macro post-industrial societal reconfigurations defining the structural principles of amateurism and professionalism in the practice of ‘boxing’, contemporary boxers are increasingly predisposed to developing athletic identities predisposed towards patterns of meaning production “…dominated by market-mediated consumer choice and the power of individualism” (Jarvie 2006 p. 327). Thus through complex, historically dynamic and seemingly paradoxical social processes of cultural (re)production and transformation - dialectically fusing individualistic aspirations geared towards self-interested gain, acts of group and subcultural fellowship and social resistance to measures of institutionalised control - it is argued that the role of boxing as an agent for humanistic personal and social development in the contemporary late-modern era of structural reconfiguration is progressively rendered impotent.

The principle aims of this work were two fold; firstly to identify the current dietary intakes (specifically dietary glycaemic carbohydrate (CHO)) and physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) levels of a UK, postpubertal, adolescent population (n = 105) and assess the relationship between these factors, adiposity and cardiometabolic health. Diet and health relationships were assessed whilst accounting for energy misreporting and controlling for levels of PA and CRF. The effect of excluding dietary misreporters on the associations between glycaemic CHO and health was assessed whilst comparing an established technique (the Goldberg equation) to a novel approach (the ratio of energy intake (EI) to energy expenditure (EE)), which utilised RT3 accelerometry data (EI:EE(RT3)). Associations of PA and metabolic risk factors were also assessed whilst comparing two child specific PA thresholds for the assessment of PA subcomponents. Secondly, the impact of a flexible, ad libitum, low GI dietary intervention on cardiometabolic health was examined in an „at risk‟, overweight, postpubertal, adolescent population. Glycaemic index (GI) but not glycaemic load (GL) was shown to be associated significantly with anthropometric measures (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC)) and adiposity (body fat percentage (BF%)) in this general group of post-pubertal adolescents from Bedfordshire. When adjusting for dietary intake, CRF was also associated with adiposity but PA was not. The prevalence of misreporting varied depending on the method used to assess the validity of dietary intakes; between 23% and 31% increasing to 62.1% (in overweight) of adolescents under reported energy intakes and up to 11.1% over reported. The novel application of a triaxial accelerometer to measure EE resulted in more under and over reporters being identified than when compared to the widely used Goldberg equation. Increased dietary GI was associated with increased odds of having a high WC; however, associations between GL and other risk factors were less clear; no associations with risk were observed. Excluding dietary misreporters from analysis had important implications for these associations. Only after removal of misreporters by EI:EE(RT3) was a borderline significant positive association between GL and blood glucose (BG) revealed using multiple analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), that was not present in prior analyses. Increased GI (moderate vs low GI intake) was significantly associated with reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and increased triglyceride (TG) levels (borderline significant) after removal of misreporters. In addition, using different PA thresholds to assess PA intensity resulted in different relationships between PA subcomponents and metabolic risk factors. Regardless of the threshold used, evidence suggested that limiting sedentary (SED) behaviour and engaging in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) is beneficial for blood pressure (BP) in this adolescent population. Additionally, irrespective of the threshold utilised, higher levels of vigorous PA (VPA) were associated with reduced odds of having a high clustered risk score and the associations observed between CRF and risk factors were stronger than those observed with PA. Despite a lack of significant improvement in individual metabolic risk factors as a result of the low GI (LGI) dietary intervention, there was a significant reduction in clustered risk score for the LGI group at week 12. A borderline significant improvement in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was also observed as a result of the LGI intervention compared to those in the control group. Conversely, there appeared to be an unfavourable effect of the LGI diet on fasting insulin levels and thus the diet‟s impact on health overall is unclear. The small sample size of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) means that caution is required when interpreting the results. These data suggest that future research in this age group should target improvements in CRF and a lower dietary GI to reduce adiposity. Controlling for dietary misreporting appears to have a significant impact on associations of glycaemic CHO and cardiometabolic health and should be an important consideration of future research. The low GI intervention may be an effective approach for reducing glycaemic CHO, whilst maintaining a healthy macronutrient intake, in comparison to more restricted dietary regimens published in the literature. However, the impact of this regime needs to be confirmed utilising a larger sample of adolescents. This may provide a useful approach for future research aiming to assess the impact of reduced GI and GL.

Isometric exercise training has been shown to bring about beneficial reductions in resting blood pressure, however the physiological mechanism responsible remain equivocal. It is currently unknown whether isometric exercise training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure are associated with improvements in vascular endothelial function and structure. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of an 8-week isometric exercise training intervention on resting blood pressure, conduit artery vascular endothelial function, artery diameter and blood flow patterns at rest. Fourteen healthy young males (mean age: 23 ± 4 years; body mass: 80.7 ± 11.0kg; height: 178.8 ± 6.2cm) completed 8-weeks of isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training at high intensity (105.4% 2-min torquepeak). Three exercise sessions were performed each week and each session consisted of four 2-minute isometric muscular contractions each separated by a 3-minute recovery period. Resting blood pressure was measured using brachial artery oscillometric methods at pre, mid and post intervention. Brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation and resting artery diameter and blood flow were assessed at pre, week 2, mid, week 6 and post intervention using high-resolution duplex Doppler ultrasound. Total peripheral resistance and cardiac output were determined at pre and post intervention using high-resolution echocardiography. A generalised estimating equation analysis was used to estimate the effect of exercise versus non-exercise intervention over time on resting blood pressure, brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation, artery diameter and blood flow, total peripheral resistance and cardiac output. Isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training reduced resting systolic blood pressure (training: 117 vs. control: 121 mmHg) (P=0.002) and resting mean arterial pressure (training: 88 vs. control: 91 mmHg) (P=0.001) following 4 weeks of exercise training compared to the control condition. Brachial artery flowmediated vasodilatation was increased (mid training: 8.65 ± 1.02% vs. mid control: 6.38 ± 1.14%) (P=0.011). Superficial femoral artery diameter, antegrade blood flow and antegrade shear rate were increased (all P≤0.05), whilst superficial femoral retrograde shear rate was decreased (P=0.013) following 2 weeks of exercise training compared to the control condition. There were no significant condition by time interactions observed in resting blood pressure, vascular endothelial function, artery diameter or blood flow patterns following 8 weeks of exercise training (all P≥0.05). Cardiac output was not significantly different following 8 weeks of exercise training (P=0.148). Total peripheral resistance was increased following 8 weeks of exercise training compared to the non-exercising control condition (P=0.054). Isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training can effectively lower resting blood pressure and increase conduit artery endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in healthy young men after 4 weeks with a concomitant reduction in resting blood pressure. These beneficial adaptations were no longer evident from mid to post exercise training in healthy normotensive young men.

Tradicionalmente na natação, os protocolos de aquecimento são aplicados em elevado volume e intensidade moderada. Entretanto, evidências demonstram que a utilização de esforços com elevada intensidade, principalmente exercícios que envolvem o desenvolvimento de força, podem trazer algum benefício ao nadador, efeito reconhecido como potencialização pós-ativação (PPA). Com isso, o objetivo do presente estudo foi propor um modelo híbrido para a PPA a fim de melhorar o desempenho na natação e verificar as respostas neuromusculares e parâmetros mecânicos em relação à PPA. Para isso, 13 nadadores realizaram quatro protocolos de PPA seguidos por um desempenho máximo de 50m. No primeiro protocolo (P1) os participantes realizaram um aquecimento convencional. No segundo protocolo (P2), os nadadores foram submetidos a exercício de \"afundo\", no terceiro (P3) realizaram esforços na barra fixa e saltos sobre o caixote e no quarto protocolo (P4), os nadadores foram submetidos ao protocolo híbrido, constituído pelos exercícios tanto do segundo como do terceiro protocolo. Os protocolos de PPA não apresentaram efeito sobre o aquecimento convencional. Porém, o P2 (27,01 ± 1,25 s) foi o que manteve o mesmo desempenho do P1 (27,01 ± 1,18 s) e apresentou melhoras nos parâmetros mecânicos da saída do bloco em relação aos outros protocolos. Ainda, o tempo de virada também apresentou efeito positivo, principalmente no P3 (3,12 ± 0,28 s) o que sinaliza a melhora dessa variável em todos os protocolos. Os valores de força pico (300,95 ± 53,11 N) e força média (258,04 ± 51,89 N) para os membros superiores apresentaram uma possível chance positiva de aumento somente no intervalo individual do P4 e para membros inferiores todos os protocolos apresentaram um possível efeito positivo na porcentagem de ativação voluntária em relação ao aquecimento convencional. Pode-se concluir que os protocolos propostos não foram eficientes para melhora do desempenho nos 50m nado crawl em relação ao modelo convencional. / Traditionally in swimming the warm-up protocols are applying in a high volume and moderate intensity. However, evidences show that the utilization of efforts with high intensity, mainly with trainings that involves the force development, can bring some benefit to the swimmer, effect known as post-activation potentiation (PAP). Thereby, the objective of the present study was to propose a hybrid model for PAP in order to improves swimming performance and verify neuromuscular responses and mechanical parameters in relation to PAP. For this, 13 swimmers performed four PAP protocols followed by a maximum performance of 50m. In the first protocol (P1) the participants performed a conventional warm-up. In the second protocol (P2) the swimmers of submitted to lunge exercise, in the third (P3) they made efforts in the pull-up and box jumps on the and, in the fourth protocol (P4), the swimmers were submitted to the hybrid model, using the second and the third protocol exercises. The PAP protocols had no effect on standard warm-up. However, the P2 (27,01 ± 1,25 s) was the one that maintained the same performance of P1 (27,01 ± 1,18 s) and presented improvements in the mechanical parameters of the block exit in relation to the other protocols. Still, the turn time also had a positive effect, mainly in P3 (3,12 ± 0,28 s) which shows the improvement of this variable in all protocols. The values of peak strength (258,04 ± 51,89 N) for the upper limbs showed a possible positive chance of increase only in the individual P4 interval and for all lower limbs of voluntary activation in relation to standard warming up. In conclusion, the proposed protocols were not efficient for performance improvement at 50-m free swim compared to the standard model.

Elite coaches consider aspects of sports science when preparing athletes for competition. Sports scientists conduct applied research and a fundamental purpose of sports science research is to produce knowledge that helps improve the performance of elite athletes. In view of the considerable resources being directed toward research and coaching at the elite level, there is a need to conduct research to identify the relationship between research and coaching practice at the elite level. Australia has an institute of sport or academy of sport in each state and territory dedicated to the development of team and individual sports, both Olympic and non- Olympic. In the area of elite athlete performance, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has gained an international reputation for excellence, and the AIS Research Centre has achieved international recognition for the quality of research projects directed toward the performance of elite athletes. Sports scientists at Australian universities also undertake research related to elite coaching, some of which has occurred in partnership with researchers at Australian institutes of sport. The purpose of the study was to identify the relationship between sports science research at Australian institutes of sport and post-graduate sports science research in Australian universities, and how elite coaches in Australia perceive sports science research practice meeting the needs of elite coaching. A case study method was selected for this thesis, which involved the following data gathering instruments: a survey of 225 elite coaches and 125 sports science researchers, follow-up interviews of elite coaches and sports science researchers, and document analysis of 725 research projects conducted at Australian institutes of sport and postgraduate theses at Master and Doctoral level at Australian universities. An analysis was also conducted to assess the sports science content contained in the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme's Level Three course material. A schedule was developed for the document analysis called the "Williams Sports Science Research Schedule". Interviews were conducted with elite key informants to validate a model that was developed fiom the study. Results of the study revealed a degree of congruence between the perceptions of elite coaches and sports science researchers regarding the research needs of elite coaches and the research activity of sports science researchers. A model, called the "Elite Sports Research Model" was developed to describe that relationship. The Elite Sports Research Model contains four components, namely: coach knowledge, information seeking/dissemination strategies, qualities valued in an elite coach and a sports science researcher, and application of research. Within the model, particular perspectives of elite coaches and particular perspectives of sports science researchers were identified. Some differences were found between elite coaches of team sports and elite coaches of individual sports, as well as some differences between researchers at institutes of sports and researchers at universities. At the elite level in Australia a relationship was found between sports science research activity and the research needs of elite coaches. With the increase in support for elite coaching and sports science research in Australia and internationally, the results of this study should help to inform improvement in sports science research programs that support elite coaching practice.