Risk taking in Extreme Sports: A phenomenological perspective

Participation in extreme sports is enjoying incredible growth while more traditional recreational activities such as golf are struggling to maintain numbers. Theoretical perspectives on extreme sports and extreme sport participants have assumed that participation is about risk-taking. However, these theory-driven methodologies may reflect judgments that do not necessarily relate to participants' lived experience. In this paper I review current risk-oriented perspectives on extreme sports and present research findings that question this assumed relationship between extreme sports and risk and thus reposition the experience in a hitherto unexplored manner. Risk taking is not the focus. Participants acknowledge that the potential outcome of a mismanaged mistake or accident could be death. However, accepting this potential outcome does not mean that they search for risk. Participants argue that many everyday life events (e.g., driving) are high-risk events. Participants undertake detailed preparation in order to minimise the possibility of negative outcomes because extreme sports trigger a range of positive experiential outcomes. The study is significant as it followed a hermeneutic phenomenological process which did not presuppose a risk-taking orientation. Hermeneutic phenomenology allows for a multitude of data sources including interviews (10 male and 5 female extreme sports participants, ages 30 to 72 years), auto-biographies, videos and other firsthand accounts. This process allowed this unexpected perspective to emerge more clearly

An introduction to the constraints-led approach to learning in outdoor education

Participation in outdoor education is underpinned by a learner's ability to acquire skills in activities such as canoeing, bushwalking and skiing and consequently the outdoor leader is often required to facilitate skill acquisition and motor learning. As such, outdoor leaders might benefit from an appropriate and tested model on how the learner acquires skills in order to design appropriate learning contexts. This paper introduces an approach to skill acquisition based on ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory called the constraints-led approach to skills acquisition. We propose that this student-centred approach is an ideal perspective for the outdoor leader to design effective learning settings. Furthermore, this open style of facilitation is also congruent with learning models that focus on other concepts such as teamwork and leadership

Extreme sports are good for your health: a phenomenological understanding of fear and anxiety in extreme sport.

Extreme sports are traditionally explored from a risk-taking perspective which often assumes that participants do not experience fear. In this article we explore participants' experience of fear associated with participation in extreme sports. An interpretive phenomenological method was used with 15 participants. Four themes emerged: experience of fear, relationship to fear, management of fear, and fear and self-transformation. Participants' experience of extreme sports was revealed in terms of intense fear but this fear was integrated and experienced as a potentially meaningful and constructive event in their lives. The findings have implications for understanding fear as a potentially transformative process

Evoking the Ineffable: The Phenomenology of Extreme Sports

We are witnessing an unprecedented interest in and engagement with extreme sport activities. Extreme sports are unique in that they involve physical prowess as well as a particular attitude towards the world and the self. We have scant understanding of the experience of participants who engage in extreme activities such as BASE jumping, big wave surfing, extreme skiing, waterfall kayaking, extreme mountaineering, and solo rope free climbing. The current study investigates the experience of people who engage in extreme sports utilizing a phenomenological approach. The study draws upon interviews with 15 extreme sports participants across three continents to explicate three unique themes: extreme sports as invigorating experience, inadequacy of words, and participants’ experience of transcendence. The findings provide a valuable insight into the experiences of the participants and contribute to our understanding of human volition and the range of human experiences

Injury in Kite buggying: The role of the ‘out of buggy experience’

ABSTRACT Background Kite buggying is a fast growing sport recognized by the International Sand and Landyachting Federation (FISLY) that originated in the 1990s and is now practiced all over the world. However, little is known about the injury patterns. Purpose: to classify injury patterns and determine dynamics of injuries, possible causes and preventive measures. Study design: descriptive epidemeological Methods: A questionnaire was filled in by 127 kite buggying enthusiasts in 17 countries. Injuries were classified by type and anatomical site. Incident causes were analyzed using the Haddon matrix. Results: Injuries classified as moderate or severe (AIS Score ≥ 2) were sustained by 26% of kite buggy enthusiasts. The most common incident dynamic (61.8%) was the OBE (an acronym for "out of buggy experience"). Causal factors were largely equipment-related (42.3%), with remaining incidents being equally attributable to environmental and human factors. While upper and lower limbs were equally involved in incidents, the most frequently affected anatomical site was the shoulder (23%). Conclusion: Kite buggying can be considered a sport with the potential for serious injury. Injury prevention in this sport needs to be approached from several angles and should include the development and adoption of automatic release systems and shoulder guards, the establishment of formal training programs covering the subject of meteorology and the establishment of secure, designated kite buggying areas. Findings from this study are important for two reasons. First they demonstrate the significance of understanding specific sports when considering health and safety and second the study provides specific data for the fast growing extreme sport of kite buggying

Nature as a Commodity: What's Good for Human Health Might Not Be Good for Ecosystem Health.

Are you getting enough Vitamin N? Richard Louv (2008) coined this term in his book “Last Child in the Woods,” in response to growing evidence that suggests humans are increasingly disinterested with, and disconnected from the natural world. Concurrent with the literature on the extent of disconnection (Miller, 2005; Soga et al., 2016; van Heezik and Hight, 2017) is an ever-expanding body of literature documenting the many psychological, physical, and spiritual health benefits derived from nature contact (Keniger et al., 2013; Bratman et al., 2015; Martyn and Brymer, 2016; Frumkin et al., 2017

Rivals’ Reactions to Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions research has principally focused on attributes of the acquiring firm and post-acquisition outcomes. To extend our knowledge, we focus on external factors, in particular rival responses, and explore when and how rivals respond to their competitor’s acquisitions. Leveraging the awareness–motivation–capability framework, we predict and find evidence that a rival’s dependence on markets in common with the acquirer, resource similarity between rival and acquirer, and a rival’s organizational slack increase the volume and, in some cases, also the complexity of a rival’s competitive actions following an acquisition. Furthermore, the type of acquisition positively moderates some of these relationships. The results extend our understanding of the influence of mergers and acquisitions on competitive dynamics in the marketplace

The search for freedom in extreme sports: A phenomenological exploration

Participation in extreme sports is continuing to grow, yet there is still little understanding of participant motivations in such sports. The purpose of this paper is to report on one aspect of motivation in extreme sports, the search for freedom. The study utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. Fifteen international extreme sport participants who participated in sports such as BASE jumping, big wave surfing, extreme mountaineering, extreme skiing, rope free climbing and waterfall kayaking were interviewed about their experience of participating in an extreme sport. Results reveal six elements of freedom: freedom from constraints, freedom as movement, freedom as letting go of the need for control, freedom as the release of fear, freedom as being at one, and finally freedom as choice and responsibility. The findings reveal that motivations in extreme sport do not simply mirror traditional images of risk taking and adrenaline and that motivations in extreme sports also include an exploration of the ways in which humans seek fundamental human values. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Designing Environments to Enhance Physical and Psychological Benefits of Physical Activity: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Designing environments to enhance physical and psychological benefits of physical activity : a multi-disciplinary perspective

Transformations through proximity flying: A phenomenological investigation

Participation in extreme sports has been linked to personal transformations in everyday life. Descriptions of lived experience resulting from transformative experiences are limited. Proximity flying, a relatively new discipline involving BASE jumping with a wingsuit where participants fly close to solid structures, is arguably one of the most extreme of extreme sports. The aim of this paper, part of a larger phenomenological study on the lived experience of proximity flying, is to explicate the ways in which participating in proximity flying influences the everyday lives of participants. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explicate the lived experience of six proximity pilots. An analysis of interview transcripts revealed three significant themes describing the lived experience of participants. First, experiences of change were described as positive and skills developed through proximity flying were transferrable into everyday life. Second, transformative experiences were considered fundamental to participants’ perspectives on life. Third, experience of transformation influenced their sense of personal identity and facilitated flourishing in other aspects of everyday life. Participants were clear that their experiences in proximity flying facilitated a profound process of transformation which manifest as changes in everyday capabilities and behaviours, values and sense of identity