REF-128 · Smits et al., 2014 · Sports Medicine, Vol. · Paper

Pacing and Decision Making in Sport and Exercise: The Roles of Perception and Action in the Regulation of Exercise Intensity

B+moderate evidenceMeasured on a mixed groupWritten before October 2026, being re-checked

Smits, Pepping & Hettinga review how athletes decide how and when to invest their energy across an exercise bout — pacing as goal-directed regulation of intensity. Their argument: the pacing literature lists many factors that might shape a pacing strategy but does not explain how perception and action are coupled in producing the behaviour.

Against the model of a higher-order "governor" that passively builds internal representations of the world, they propose an ecological approach in which knowledge is rooted in direct experience of meaningful environmental objects and events, and explore the affordance competition hypothesis as a neuropsychological account of decision making in exercise regulation.

Pacing is framed as a behavioural expression of continuous decision making.

Key Findings

Pacing = goal-directed regulation of exercise intensity across the bout; the review treats it as continuous decision making, not a pre-set template executed passively.
The review is theoretical: it contrasts a central-governor / internal-representation view with an ecological (perception-action coupling) view and proposes the affordance competition hypothesis as a bridge. No experiment, no participant sample, no effect sizes.
Inference, not tested: if pacing is continuous decision making driven by what the environment affords (opponents, course, feedback), then race execution is a skill that can be practised, not only a physiological ceiling.

Practical Application

Theoretical review, no data: pacing is argued to be continuous, perception-action-coupled decision making rather than passive execution of a plan by a central governor. For an athlete this means race execution is partly a decision skill — expect it to respond to practice in race-like conditions, not only to fitness.
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: rehearse pacing decisions in training — set a target for an interval, execute it, then review adherence and adjust; include efforts with deliberate surges and conservative segments so that real-time adjustment is practised. No specific frequency, percentage or cue count comes from this review.
For the mathematical side of pacing strategy see REF-126; for attentional strategies during effort see REF-013.

Limitations

Narrative/theoretical review; no systematic search, no new data, no quantitative findings.
Applicability to a given sport or level is by argument, not by measurement.
How this entry was checked and changed
Content correction 2026-09-27
"Decision-making frequency: every 30-60 seconds", "experts use 3-5 internal cues", "deliberate pacing practice improves consistency", "experienced cyclists integrate power, HR, lactate sensation" -> none of this is in the abstract; the paper is a theoretical review with no data. All deleted.
Practical example (5 min at 85% FTP, ±2% surges) -> relabelled as the base's own practice, no numbers.
Type "Cognitive pacing research", Sport "cycling" -> narrative/theoretical review, general (the review is about sport and exercise, not cycling specifically).