Welcome to PESS, Dr Karol Dillon!

Dr Karol Dillon
Associate Professor in Sport and Exercise Sciences

Academic Background / Qualifications

I completed an MSc in Sports Performance at the University of Limerick before undertaking my PhD at UL under the supervision of Dr Phil Kearney and Dr Ian Sherwin. My Irish Research Council funded doctoral research examined laterality in sport, using Gaelic football as a natural laboratory through which to explore broader questions around laterality, skill development and human motor performance.

Previous Roles and Experience

During my PhD, I worked as a Teaching Assistant and Lecturer across the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) at the University of Limerick, with a particular focus on Performance Analysis.

Alongside my academic work, I have extensive applied experience in Gaelic football, having coached from grassroots through to high-performance environments. I have also worked in coach consultancy, particularly in the area of skill acquisition and the translation of research into coaching practice.

An important part of my work is trying to bridge the gap between research and applied coaching practice. This includes public-facing research and analysis through outlets such as RTÉ Brainstorm, where I have written on topics including laterality and bilateral skill, performance analysis, talent development and player pathways, and wider tactical and coaching issues within Gaelic football.

Current Teaching and Research Areas

My teaching and research interests span performance analysis, skill acquisition, coaching science, talent identification and development, and the application of sport science in applied settings.

Current / Primary Research Interests

My primary research to date has focused on laterality and bilateral skill. While Gaelic football has provided the context for much of this work, I am interested in the broader scientific questions surrounding laterality, motor performance and skill development.

Building on my doctoral research, a key direction for my future work is examining the tactical implications of laterality. Rather than simply asking whether an athlete can perform a skill on both sides, I am interested in whether laterality profiles provide tactical advantages or disadvantages to the team as a whole.

A second strand of my research concerns talent identification and development, particularly the pathways through which young athletes progress from youth development systems into senior high-performance environments.

What is your favourite part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing students progress and develop an interest in a subject area they may not initially have expected to enjoy. It is particularly rewarding when that interest develops beyond the classroom and students begin asking questions informally about how they might pursue the area further either in work placement or after their degree. Seeing that shift from simply engaging with a subject to genuinely considering it as something they might want to pursue in the future is incredibly rewarding.