Mental workload and sport-specific knowledge in ski jumping performance.

Introduction: Ski jump performance is largely dependent on the execution of a complex and technically challenging take-off movement performed at high velocity. The genuine risk of physical injury also raises the difficulty and reduces the acceptable margins of error. Ski jumping takes place under serious time constraint, and athletes have little time to process information during performance. Previous studies show that expert athletes can perform their skills with very little cognitive effort (Naito & Hirose, 2014), and this automaticity is thought to be more effective and utilize the body’s natural force potential. Expert athletes are also characterized by a greater knowledge about their activity (Williams & Davids, 1995), which makes for a challenging balance between specific knowledge and automatic performance. The aim of this study is to investigate how ski jumpers experience mental workload, in relation to their sport-specific knowledge and level of performance. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with two national level and two international elite-level ski jumpers to explore their perception of mental workload and their ski jump-specific knowledge. The athletes also responded to a two-question questionnaire at three occasions during their competitive season. The questionnaire measured their perceived mental workload and ski jump specific tasks. Performance was measured by results in subsequent competitions. Results: Questionnaire and competition results show that the jumpers made their best performances when reporting their respective lowest amount of perceived mental workload. The same was evident in interviews were all informants described their ideal performance state as relaxed, focused with low cognitive effort. There was an evident difference in knowledge, with the national level athletes describing feelings and thoughts, whereas elite jumpers focused on objective information (e.g. forces, mechanical principles) when asked to explain important parameters of ski jumping performance. Discussion: The results indicate that mental workload is highly relevant for ski jump performance. Workload does not have to be minimal, but structured in a precise and consistent way. Results further point to the importance of the athlete’s knowledge, for both mental workload and level of performance. International level athletes are in possession of greater ski jump specific knowledge, efficiently organized. This heightens the quality of their choices and strategies for skill development. The precise nature of this knowledge also seems to promote a precise and stable mental workload enabling automated performance.