ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the range of issues and considerations in developing representative tasks in sport research and practice, and provide tangible examples, applied insights, and advice for researchers and practitioners. Experimental work has begun to critically evaluate the role of ball projection machines, which had previously been used to assess aspects of interceptive expertise, including visual and kinematic measures in cricket batting. In the design of research and practice tasks researchers and practitioners should consider the action fidelity and functionality provided in specific experimental and practice tasks. The peer-reviewed process itself creates a number of challenges for researchers, where the currently accepted scientific paradigm emphasizes statistical power and large numbers of participants, statistically rather than practically meaningful results, and generalizable data to a wide range of domains. The majority of boccia athletes have the physical disability of cerebral palsy, ranging in levels from moderate to severe.
