James Feist

Having completed both his Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degree at the University of Chichester studying Sport Science and Coaching, James wanted to continue his studies in higher education and returned to the University of Chichester in 2022 to undertake a PhD titled ‘Understanding visual exploratory activity in women’s soccer: Developing evidence-based recommendations for practice design’.

James has since moved into a new full-time position at the University as a Postgraduate Associate in Sports Performance Analysis and Coaching (Football). As part of this role, James delivers across Level 5 modules such as ‘Performance Analysis in Sport’, Level 6 modules such as ‘Analysis of Systems and Performance in Football’ and Level 7 modules such as ‘Advances in Performance Analysis of Sport’. James also contributes to teaching on undergraduate sport modules such as the Level 4 ‘Questioning Sport, Exercise and Health’ module and the Level 5 ‘Researching Sport, Exercise and Health’ module.

Professional

Education

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2023)
• PhD – Sport and Exercise Psychology – University of Chichester (2022 – Current)
• Master of Science, Sport Coaching Science – University of Chichester (2020 – 2021)
• BSc (Hons) Sport Science and Coaching – University of Chichester (2017-2020)

Teaching

James is module co-ordinator for:

• Advances in Performance Analysis of Sport (Level 7)
• Performance Analysis in Sport (Level 5)

Publications

• Feist, J., Runswick, O. R., Hope, E., North, J. S., & Pocock, C. (2024). Pattern recognition in soccer: Perceptions of skilled defenders and experienced coaches. The Journal of Sport and Exercise Science, 8(1), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.36905/jses.2024.01.04

• Feist, J., Datson, N., Runswick, O. R., Harkness-Armstrong, A., & Pocock, C. (2024). Visual exploratory activity in elite women’s soccer: an analysis of the UEFA Women’s European Championship 2022. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2023.2300386

• Hope, E. R., Patel, K., Feist, J., Runswick, O. R., & North, J. S. (2024). Examining the importance of local and global patterns for familiarity detection in soccer action sequences. Perception, 53(3), 149-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/03010066231223825

Research

James’ primary research interests are within sport psychology, specifically the field of skill acquisition and sports performance analysis. James is currently involved with research projects investigating visual exploratory activity in both men’s and women’s football as well as projects investigating pattern recognition and game reading in men’s football.

PhD

James is currently working towards his PhD investigating visual exploratory activity in women’s soccer. His research which he completes on a part-time basis has to date focused on understanding the visual exploratory activity of elite female soccer central midfielders from the knock-out stages of the UEFA Women’s European Championship 2022. James’ future studies aim to investigate the use of 360-degree video when presented in a head-mounted display to further understand how female soccer players scan their environment in competitive football match situations.