Multidisciplinary Team Practitioners Working in High Performance Sport: Skilled Intuitive ‘Doers’ or Novel Problem-Solving Innovators

Abstract

Practitioners operating in performance sports are required to problem solve, enabling them to offer tailored performance solutions while making expert decisions with high precision. Problem-solving and decision-making are intertwined and tangled in practice. However, the reality is that practitioners require two independent skill sets. This study aims to investigate performance practitioner’s approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, analysing the meta-cognitive skills required by multidisciplinary team (MDT) practitioners to be effective in their daily practice. Using a 71-statement Likert scale survey, 115 performance- and medical-related MDT practitioners were surveyed to gain insight into their strengths and perceptions of how they think about problem-solving and decision-making in their work. We tabulated descriptive data and created heat maps to visualise correlations between responses. Findings suggest that practitioners rely on a mixed bag of approaches, cognitively toggling between problem types, approaches, and decision styles. In this study, practitioners preferred skilled procedural doing and intuitive expertise to overcome simple problems over rationalistic, logical innovation to address complex problems. Findings suggest the need for MDT practitioners to differentiate between problem types, problem-solving approaches, and decision-making styles while deepening our comprehension of practitioners’ expertise. It offers insight into the cognition that forms the foundation of their approaches, providing a valuable perspective.