Communication Reception in elite sport
44
Percentage points
Normal hearing does not mean equal performance.
82%
Best performing 10%
38%
Worst performing 10%
Same clinical classification. Very different functional performance.
This research was conducted in young normal hearing listeners, not elite athletes. It demonstrates the scale of individual variability that can exist behind the same broad clinical classification.
Surprenant & Watson, 2001; values discussed in Pienkowski, Ear & Hearing, 2017.
And up to
7 dB
variation in speech in noise performance has also been demonstrated among people with clinically normal hearing.
Holmes & Griffiths, Scientific Reports, 2019.
Elite sport measures how messages are delivered. EAC measures how reliably they are received.
The blind spot
Elite sport invests heavily in delivery. The receiving side is rarely measured.
A message cannot influence action until it has been received and understood.
What EAC measures
01Auditory access
Ear health and hearing sensitivity.
02Hearing under challenge
How effectively relevant auditory information can be separated from competing sound.
03Individual profile
How communication is experienced across relevant performance situations.
04Performance conditions
Noise, distance, acoustics, systems, workload, fatigue and communication demands.
Assessment is clinically governed, proportionate and designed around elite performance schedules.
From insight to intervention
Can reception itself be trained?
Where appropriate, explore targeted auditory training and objectively measure whether performance under challenging listening conditions changes.
Can the message be made easier to receive?
Use the communication profile to inform positioning, repetition, confirmation, visual reinforcement and how critical information is delivered.
Is anything compromising auditory access?
Identify ear health, hearing sensitivity or other clinical findings requiring management, monitoring or onward referral.
Can the conditions around the receiver improve?
Examine acoustics, competing noise, speaker position, communication technology and the spaces where critical information is exchanged.
The finding may sit with the individual. The solution may not.
One assessment may reveal opportunities across individual training, coaching, medical and environmental systems.
Elite sport applications
Football
Distance. Competing voices. Crowd noise. Movement. Fatigue.
Explore FootballMotorsport
Race radio. Engine noise. Workload. Time pressure. Critical one time instructions.
Explore MotorsportNFL
Huddles. Crowd noise. Equipment. Tempo. Play call relay across the unit.
Explore NFLOther high performance environments
Where spoken or radio delivered information influences execution, decision making or safety.
How organisations work with EAC
A Discovery Day is the focused first step.
A focused, low disruption introduction.
Deeper assessment across a defined team, role group or environment.
Ongoing work where continuity adds value.
Explore whether measuring Communication Reception could add meaningful value in your environment.
Explore a Discovery DayOpens your email application
Clinical credibility
Richard Neale BSc (Hons) is an HCPC registered audiologist with experience across clinical practice, clinical leadership, professional education and translating hearing science into practical outcomes.
EAC brings that measurement discipline into elite sport.
Research and perspective
Research and perspectives on the receiving side of elite performance communication.
Communication Reception
Football measures movement, load, recovery and decision making in extraordinary detail. But how reliably do players receive and understand spoken information when conditions become noisy, pressured or fatiguing?
The original question
An introduction to the overlooked receiving side of football communication, from ear health and hearing in noise to how players access critical information under pressure, fatigue and match day noise.
Discovery Day
A Discovery Day is a focused way to find out.
Tell Richard your organisation, role and the communication environment you want to explore.
