A joint podcast with Dr Laurent Bannock, Institute of Performance Nutrition (www.theiopn.com), 'We do Science Podcast'. Both Laurent and I have an interest in the translation of research into practice and how practitioners, coaches and athletes can first of all access appropriate information but also how the latest research influences practice. We discuss how research findings can be difficult to interpret and therefore are easily misinterpreted and the key reasons why findings might be misinterpreted. Over the last 10 years there has been a very significant increase in research publications across all of the sport sciences and even specialist researchers find difficult to keep up thus it is even more difficult for practitioners, coaches and athletes to keep up. It is also difficult for these non-researchers to put any single research finding into context against all of the preceding research. It can also be said that practitioners and coaches have a key role in highlighting potential areas of research, ensuring that the research that is conducted attempts to answer relevant practical issues.

We suggest that accreditation of practitioners combined with a learning mindset are critical to ensure that practitioners provide evidence based practice. Researchers have a key role in communicating their findings in a way that is accessible and practical to practitioners. 

We refer to two recent publications both of which outline some of the key issues. 

From Paper to Podium: Quantifying the Translational Potential of Performance Nutrition Research

Close GL, Kasper AM, Morton JP

Sports Med, 2019

The Translation of Sport Science Research to the Field: A Current Opinion and Overview on the Perceptions of Practitioners, Researchers and Coaches

Fullagar HHK, McCall A, Impellizzeri FM, Favero T, Coutts AJ

Sports Med, 2019