Dr Tim Buszard

Tim is a postdoctoral research fellow working for the Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University and Tennis Australia.

His research focuses on skill acquisition, with a particular interest in understanding individual differences that influence learning. Current projects are investigating whether working memory capacity influences learning when exposed to implicit or explicit practice conditions. His research has also focused heavily on scaling equipment in junior sport.

Tim is also interested in understanding the development of motor and perceptual expertise. He works closely with Tennis Australia with the aim of translating research knowledge into practice.

Tim was a First-Class Honours graduate from the Australian Catholic University (2011) and was awarded his PhD in skill acquisition at Victoria University (2014).

Recent publications

Refereed journal articles

Buszard, T., & Masters, R. S. W. (in press). A culture of striving augments use of working memory? Implications for attention control. Progress in Brain Research.

Farrow, D., Reid, M., Buszard, T., & Kovalchik, S. (2017). Charting the development of sport expertise: Challenges and Opportunities. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. doi:org/10.1080/1750984X.2017.1290817

Buszard, T., Farrow, D., Zhu, F. F., Masters, R. S. W. (2016). The relationship between working memory capacity and cortical activity during performance of a novel motor task. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 247-254.

Buszard, T., Reid, M., Masters, R., & Farrow, D. (2016). Scaling tennis racquets during P.E. in primary school to enhance motor skill acquisition. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.

Buszard, T., Reid, M., Masters, R., & Farrow, D. (2016). Scaling the equipment and play area in children’ sport to improve motor skill acquisition: A systematic review. Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0452-2.

Kachel, K., Buszard, T., Reid, M. (2015). The effect of ball compression on the match-play characteristics of elite junior tennis players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33 (3), 320-326 doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.942683.

Refereed book chapters

Whiteside, D., Buszard, T., Giblin G., & Reid M. (2016). Skill acquisition in left- and right-handed athletes: Insights from elite coaching. In N. Hagermann, N. Strauss, C. MacMahon, F. Loffing (Eds.). Laterality in Sports: Theories and Applications. Elsevier.

Teaching responsibilities

Postgraduate research students and fellows

Completions

1 honours student and 1 masters student.

Current supervision

Co-supervisor of 2 PhD students.

Research grants

Dr Buszard has been a leader of or a contributor to research teams with a total funding allocation of more than $100k.

In a project funded by the Australian Institute of Sport, Dr Buszard and colleagues investigated the practice habits of current elite tennis players.

A project funded by Cricket Australia explored the current junior formats in Australian cricket. The results from this project contributed to widespread change across Australian junior cricket.

Appearances in the media 

• ABC 774 Radio, Melbourne (14 January, 2014). Interview with Lindy Burns.
• Radio National (23 March, 2014). Interview with Amanda Smith on the Body Sphere – Caged in Chaos.