Rhythm in Sport: Adapted rhythmic training to optimize timing and enhance performance in athletes

Abstract

Precise timing, the ability to control exactly when something should be done, integrates physical characteristics like strength, power, and technique into highly skilled sporting actions. Despite timing’s indispensability to peak athletic performance, there exist few timing-specific training methods. ‘Rhythm in Sport’ is a new training approach which adapts exercises from drummers, the elite timing experts, to athletes. This progressive series of rhythmic exercises cultivates a detailed, ‘top down’ cognitive framework of time which enhances movement precision. Use cases demonstrate broad applications of Rhythm in Sport across individual and team sports.