Place kicks present valuable opportunities to score points in Rugby Union, which are typically performed under varying constraints in competitive performance environments. Previous quantitative studies suggest these interacting constraints can influence fluctuations in place kick success. To further the understanding of how fluctuations in place kicking success emerge, our aim was twofold: i) to explore and identify the key constraints that professional place kickers and experienced place kicking coaches perceive to influence the difficulty of a place kick and ii) to understand the level to which current place kicking practice environments represent these key constraints experienced in performance environments. Six professional place kickers and six experienced place kicking coaches were interviewed. Using a deductive thematic analysis, 11 key constraints were identified: individual constraints of expectation for success and fatigue, task constraints of angle and distance to goalposts, environmental constraints of wind, weather, pitch, and crowd, and situational constraints of previous kicking performance, time remaining and current score margin. Place kicking is typically practised individually or with a small number of place kickers in isolation from team sessions. Where possible, coaches should be encouraged to include place kicking in simulated game scenarios during practice to represent key constraints from performance environments. Our study demonstrates how experiential knowledge can enrich the understanding of sport performance and inform the design of practice environments which simulate relevant constraints of competitive performance to enhance skill adaptation of athletes.

中文翻译：

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理解橄榄球联盟场地踢球的关键限制和练习设计：专业踢球者和经验丰富的教练的经验知识

在橄榄球联盟中，地方踢提供了获得积分的宝贵机会，这通常是在竞争激烈的表现环境中在不同的限制下进行的。以前的定量研究表明，这些相互作用的约束会影响到位踢球成功的波动。为了进一步了解位置踢成功的波动是如何出现的，我们的目标有两个：i) 探索和确定专业踢球运动员和经验丰富的踢球教练认为影响踢球难度的关键限制因素和 ii) 理解当前场地踢球练习环境代表在表演环境中遇到的这些关键限制的水平。六位专业踢球手和六位经验丰富的踢球教练接受了采访。使用演绎主题分析，确定了 11 个关键约束条件：个人对成功和疲劳的期望约束，任务角度和到球门柱距离的约束，风、天气、球场和人群的环境约束，以及先前踢球表现、剩余时间和当前得分差距的情境约束. 场地踢球通常是单独练习或与少数场地踢球者一起练习，与团队比赛分开练习。在可能的情况下，应鼓励教练在练习期间在模拟游戏场景中加入场地踢球，以代表表演环境的关键限制。