COGNITIONS IN PROFESSIONAL SNOOKER 1 1 2 3 Thinking Aloud: An exploration of cognitions in professional snooker 4 5 James C. Welsh, Stephen A. Dewhurst, John L. Perry 6 7 University of Hull, Cottingham Road, HULL, HU6 7RX, UK 8 9 Corresponding author: James C. Welsh, School of Life Sciences, University of Hull, 10 Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. Email: [email protected] 11 12 ©2018, Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ COGNITIONS IN PROFESSIONAL SNOOKER 2 13 Abstract 14 Objectives: Presently, there is no exploration into the cognitive processes of super-elite and 15 elite professional snooker players during real-time performance. Therefore, this study ex- 16 plored the cognitions of seven professional snooker players during real-time solo practice 17 performance. Design: A Think Aloud (TA) protocol analysis. Method: This involved players 18 verbalizing and explaining their thoughts within naturalistic practice environments. Player’s 19 verbalizations were recorded during each solo practice performance, transcribed verbatim, 20 and analyzed via protocol analysis. Results: Analyses revealed an array of continuous reac- 21 tive-adaptive cognitions relating to stressors and coping strategies during performance, as 22 well as general snooker-specific related thoughts. Specifically, the results highlighted key 23 stressor themes which were coded as: Table Conditions, Distractions, and Mistakes. Our 24 main finding was: Shot Preparation being essential to problem-focused coping, with Ration- 25 alizing integral to emotion-focused coping. Further results highlighted the visualperceptual 26 and cognitive expertise of players, with regards to identification of problem balls and cueball 27 spatial awareness, insofar as unearthing the deliberate structure to practice routines. Conclu- 28 sions: The study’s original and novel findings lend further support to the transactional pro- 29 cess of coping. Whilst accordingly, the utilization of TA significantly contributed to our lim- 30 ited understanding of super-elite and elite real-time cognitions in professional snooker and 31 self-paced sports generally. Future research should continue to dissect the sport-specific nu- 32 ances that underpin real-time performance, not only during practices, but within competitive 33 play. TA is an appropriate methodology to use in the domain-specific sport of snooker. 34 35 Keywords: Coping, Think Aloud protocol, Professional Snooker, Super-Elite, Cognitions, 36 Practice 37 ©2018, Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ COGNITIONS IN PROFESSIONAL SNOOKER 3 38 Introduction 39 A proliferation of studies exploring the real-time cognitive processes of performers in 40 sport has yielded researchers and practitioners with perspicacity over the last decade 41 (Kaiseler, Polman, & Nicholls, 2013; Nicholls & Polman, 2008; Whitehead, Taylor, & 42 Polman, 2015, 2016b). Verbal-cognitive data has been collected from various sports using a 43 Think Aloud protocol (TA) in self-paced closed skill sports, such as golf (Calmeiro & 44 Tenenbaum, 2011; Eccles & Arsal, 2017; Kaiseler et al., 2013; Nicholls & Polman, 2008; 45 Whitehead et al., 2015), and trap shooting (Calmeiro, Tenenbaum, & Eccles, 2010), which 46 have concentrated upon appraisals, coping, and differences in stress. TA primarily involves 47 participants to continuously verbalize their thoughts during the performance of a task. 48 Furthermore, researchers have investigated the planning strategies of expert and novice 49 players in tennis (McPherson & Kernodle, 2007). And recently, researchers have extended 50 their verbal cognitive pursuits into endurance sports, such as, cycling, endurance running, as 51 well as coaching in rugby (e.g., Sampson, Simpson, Kamphoff, & Langlier, 2015, Whitehead 52 et al., 2016a; Whitehead et al., 2017, 2018). Yet unanticipatedly, there remains an exiguity of 53 research exploring the real-time cognitions of super-elite and elite performers in situ, and in 54 other sports, such as, professional snooker. 55 In general, findings from these verbal protocol enquiries have typically identified how 56 performers thoughts are directed to managing (e.g., cope, mental strategies) continual internal 57 and external dynamical cognitive processes (e.g., stressors) during sporting performance 58 (e.g., Lazarus, 1999). For example, Nicholls and Polman (2008) found that high level golfers 59 appraised a range of stressors and coping strategies during performance, but the golfers 60 frequently experienced a variety of stressors before deploying a coping strategy. Conversely, 61 in a recent TA study on the real-time thought processes of distance runners, Samson et al., 62 (2015) identified three major themes containing sub-themes relating to; Pain and Discomfort 63 (e.g., stressors), Pace and Distance (e.g., coping/strategies), and Environment (e.g., 64 coping/strategies). And Whitehead et al. (2017) found very similar results (e.g., pacing ©2018, Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ COGNITIONS IN PROFESSIONAL SNOOKER 4 65 strategies and stressors) with cyclists thought processes changing continuously and becoming 66 more prominent at different times. 67 To capture such detailed on-line thought processes of expertise, researchers have 68 moved to utilize Ericsson and Simon’s (1993) Think Aloud (TA) protocol analysis as their 69 modus operandi. This is due to limitations of retrospective recall investigations (e.g., 70 forgetfulness, retrospective bias) and growing calls to increase methodological rigor in 71 qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology (e.g., Nicholls & Polman, 2008; Eccles 72 & Arsal, 2017; Smith & McGannon, 2017; Whitehead et al., 2017, 2018). Nevertheless, TA 73 has shown to be an effective method to collect real-time cognitive thought processes in other 74 disciplines, such as chess (de Groot, 1964; Gobet & Charness, 2006) and algebra (Cook, 75 2006). 76 According to Ericsson and Simon (1993) there are three differing types of 77 verbalizations; Levels 1 and 2 are purported to not affect performance outcomes, and Level 3 78 verbalization requires the individual(s) to explain their thoughts, ideas, hypotheses, or 79 motives. Though, Level 3 verbalization is suggested to impede performance through 80 reinvestment (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001; Masters, 1992). However, Whitehead et al., (2015) 81 demonstrated that Level 3 TA verbalizations did not lead to reinvestment (i.e., disrupt motor 82 performance) among skilled golf performers during a putting task and over six holes of play. 83 Data showed that Level 3 TA protocol generated richer detailed and nuanced information in 84 both the quantity and quality when compared with the Level 2. And despite the preferential 85 use of Level 2 verbalization within TA studies, it is suggested that there is no assessment of 86 completeness under some conditions because some cognitive processes do not form part of 87 focused attention, or are readily verbalized (Whitehead et al. 2015; Wilson, 1994). More 88 explicitly, Level 3 enabled the golfers to provide greater explanations of their performances, 89 with regards to planning and evaluation of shots, about the score, and the pre-performance 90 activities they engaged in prior to a shot. ©2018, Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ COGNITIONS IN PROFESSIONAL SNOOKER 5 91 Unequivocally, such TA literature has augmented our theoretical understandings of 92 the transactional nature of psychological variables and coping processes experienced by 93 performers in sport. However limitations remain, as it could be argued that particular certain 94 sports have been overly employed (e.g., golf, cycling, running etc.) throughout the sport and 95 cognitive psychology literature. Thus, in order to progress our theoretical appetite of how 96 experts appraise and cope with the ever-changing cognitive demands during sporting 97 performance (e.g., Lazarus, 1999), it is vital that other types of sports are brought to the fore. 98 Exploring the cognitive dynamics of professional snooker theoretically widens the 99 opportunity to understand how performers’ cognitions unfold in real-time elite sport and 100 generally. Indeed, such is the limited research into professional snooker, Abernethy et al. 101 (1994) remain to our empirical knowledge the closest and sole TA contribution in 102 deciphering the cognitive differences between various skill levels of Australian snooker 103 players (i.e., novice, intermediate and expert), albeit using artificial stimuli. Thus, naturalistic 104 endeavors capturing the real-time mental representations of super-elite and elite world 105 professional snooker players in situ currently do not exist. 106 Notwithstanding the concerns of ecological validity, Abernethy et al.’s research is 107 highly commendable. From their battery of visual (i.e., pattern recall and pattern recognition 108 tasks) and sport-specific perceptual and cognitive tests, they found that expert snooker 109 players did not differ from novices in their general visual skills, but rather in their ability to 110 rapidly encode, recall, and recognize structured perceptual information. In addition, expert 111 players