The use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to explore how risk characteristics influence athletic pacing.

Recent research investigating how differences between individual athletes influences the distribution of energy resources during an athletic task has highlighted the importance of risk in sports. Athletes with lower perceptions of risk display relatively faster initial pacing strategies than higher risk perceivers, yet it is not understood how risk has this effect within individual athletes. This thesis is directed at gaining further insight into how risk relates to pacing behaviour and is comprised of one literature review and one experimental study. The concept of risk is first introduced and associated with athletic pacing in the literature review where methods are also proposed which may help provide greater insight into risk related pacing behaviours (BART and DOSPERT as measures of risk behaviour and attitude, and tDCS as a risk modulation technique). The experimental chapter introduces the BART risk behaviour measure along with an already established measure of risk attitude in pacing research (the DOSPERT) to a time trial pacing context and demonstrates how different facets of risk have similar influences on pacing behaviour. tDCS is further used to modulate athlete risk taking behaviour to understand how a change in risk characteristics reflect in pacing behaviours.