Dr Martina Navarro (University of Portsmouth): The Athletic Skills Model

Dr Martina Navarro is a Senior lecturer in the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth. She is an Experimental Psychologist, with a range of interests in the area of skill learning, expertise and performance under pressure. Martina is particularly interested in how practice design and psychophysiological processes mediate motor development and decision-making performance. She holds a BSc in Sport Science and a PhD in Human Physiology (Neuropsychology) from the University of Sao Paulo , Brazil. Her PhD focussed on the effects of training strategies and high levels of stress and anxiety in human cognition (eg. attention and decision making) and motor control. During her PhD she joined a Sandwich program  at the MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam at the VU University Amsterdam under the supervision of Prof. Geert Savelsbergh who along with Rene Wormhoudt, created the Athletic Skills Model (ASM), which Dr. Navarro is currently working on its implementation in the UK and Brazil.

 In this episode she discusses: 

  • Her childhood in Brazil playing a multitude of sports. 
  • How curiosity has driven her range of research interests and global travel. 
  • How the Athletic Skills Model provides a different way of thinking about movement. 
  • The aim of ASM to create Good Movers, Athletes and then Specialists. 
  • The transfers of learning across sports and activities. The 3 Building blocks of ASM. 
  • How ASM may help performance under pressure. 
  • How to join the ASM community of practice in the UK. 

You can keep up to date with Martina’s work via Twitter @UoPSportScience , if you want to join the ASM community of practice you can do so by sending Martina an email: martina.navarro@port.ac.uk . 


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