Considerations for the scientific support process and applications to case studies

Case studies are vehicle to bridge the gap between science and practice because they provide opportunities to blend observations and interventions that have taken place in real-world environments with scientific rigour. The purpose of this invited commentary is to present considerations for those providing applied sport science support to athletes with the intention of broadcasting this information to the scientific community. We present a four phased approach (1: Athlete overview; 2: Needs analysis; 3: Intervention planning; 4: Results,evaluation and conclusion) for scientific support to assist practitioners in the development and implementation of scientific support. These considerations are presented in the form of ‘performance questions’ designed to guide and critically evaluate the scientific support process and aid the transfer of this knowledge via case studies.