Given the complexity of the talent development process, it seems likely that a range of psychological factors underpin an athlete’s ability to translate potential into top-class performance. ...Therefore, the purpose of part one of this two-part investigation was to explore the attributes that facilitate the successful development of athletes from initial involvement to achieving and maintaining world-class status. Seven elite athletes and a parent of each of these athletes were interviewed regarding their own (their son’s/daughter’s) development in sport. Data were content analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Although sporting achievement was conceptualized as being multidimensional, psychological factors were highlighted as the key determinants of those who emerged as talented and maintained excellence. Accordingly, we suggest that talent identification and development programs should place greater emphasis on the advancement and application of psychological behaviors at an early stage to optimize both the development and performance of athletes.
Talent development (TD) is widely recognized as a nonlinear and dynamic process, with psychology a key determinant of long-term success in sport. However, given the role that positive characteristics ...play in the TD process, there is a relative dearth of research examining the psychological characteristics that may derail development. A retrospective qualitative investigation was conducted with academy coaches and directors within rugby union (
n
= 15), representing nine different elite English rugby union academies, to identify both positive and negative issues that influenced TD. Comprehensive support was found for existing positive constructs as facilitators of effective development. A range of inappropriately applied ‘positive’ characteristics were identified as having a negative impact on development. Potential clinical issues were also recognized by coaches as talent derailers. It is proposed that by incorporating these potentially negative factors into existing formative assessment tools, a more effective development process can be achieved.
Successfully negotiating transitions between stages of development might determine future success more than how athletes perform within the stages. This process must be based on an understanding of ...the challenges inherent in the transition and the techniques which best counter these. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of 6 young high-level athletes during the normative transition to university and identify what factors prepared them to cope with the challenges faced. Specifically, investigation focused on the possession and deployment of Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs,
MacNamara, Button, & Collins, 2010) as skills which have been previously proposed to facilitate progression.
A quasi-longitudinal design was adopted and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of student-athletes (
n = 6) and significant others pre and post the transition to university. An inductive and deductive content analysis was conducted following the recommendations of
Côté, Salmela, Baria, and Russell (1993).
The transition to university was perceived as a process rather than an event, with considerable pre-emptive work taking place in the lead up to the move. Results suggest that, while these athletes experienced transitional challenges consistent with previous literature (
Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004), the possession and appropriate deployment of a range of PCDEs allowed them to successfully negotiate these challenges. A case is made to include PCDEs in talent development initiatives so that aspiring elites develop these skills in advance of meeting the key challenges of development, thus smoothing the pathway to success and reducing the incidence of dropout.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Across sporting contexts, there is growing debate surrounding the utility of junior international age group selection in sport. In this regard, there has been considerable focus on the age of ...selection, with the low conversion of athletes from junior to senior international level often used to critique the efficiency of such programmes. In this perspective article, we argue that there is a need for a more nuanced consideration of the effectiveness of international age groups in talent systems. We begin this perspective article with a synthesis of the literature pertaining to junior to senior transitions in sport, followed by the implications and opportunity cost presented by international age groups. We argue for a more contextual evaluation of international age groups relative to the performance aims of a talent system, the need for manipulation of challenge dynamics, and the resource costs of doing so (e.g., providing developmental challenges for those who have early advantage, or spreading resource amongst greater numbers for broader impact). We suggest that talent systems evaluate the opportunity cost presented by international age groups, with decisions based upon individual strategic context.
The aim of this study was to determine the anthropometric and physical fitness profiles of inter-county female Gaelic football players from under-14 to under-18 age levels. A total of 156 athletes ...(U14, n = 33; U16, n = 64; U18, n = 59) participated in this study. Testing was conducted in a single session for each group and included anthropometric measures of standing and sitting height, weight, estimated age of peak height velocity (PHV), and maturity offset. Physical performance tests included squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ), 0–5 m and 0–20 m sprint times, pro-agility test, medicine ball chest-pass throw, and YoYo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YoYoIR1). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate differences between the age groups. Significant differences were identified between age groups for measures of height (p < 0.001, ES = 0.127), body mass (p.002, ES = 0.076), and estimated age of PHV (p < 0.001, ES = 0.612). No significant differences were found between age groups for any of the physical fitness tests except for the YoYoIR1, where a significant difference was found between the U14 and U18 age groups (p.029, η2p = 0.048). These findings may assist coaches to better understand female athletic development, provide insight on talent identification and development programmes, and provide reference data when working with this cohort so that realistic and attainable training goals can be achieved.
Within the domain of coach education researchers have long called for a paradigm shift, whereby the quality of coaching practice is no longer measured against a checklist of prescribed competencies. ...This desire to evolve coach education and development, has been aligned to the need to better identify, understand and utilise what adaptive skill and expertise looks, sounds and feels like across specific sport coaching contexts. This paper outlines a broader research plan for the Premier League to drive the progress of research informed practice, in turn shaping a coach development agenda focused on developing adaptive and skilful coaches within Academies. In turn, this is a core feature of the Premier Leagues institutional aim of developing the most skilful coaches in the world. However, in order to begin the process of initiating such a shift in the way things work, there is a need to seek first to understand, before being understood. Therefore, to demonstrate an evidence informed basis to this shift within coach education and development, we ask three questions; (1) Do we understand what the coaches with the highest level of expertise can do? (2) How should we identify coaches with expertise across different contexts? (3) What does
research need to do? In answer to these questions, we present the lack of empirical investigation previously conducted in the sports coaching discipline to explore coaching expertise and draw on wider domains to offer possible capacities of skilful coaches who possess expertise. To identify coaches with expertise, coherent with the broader expertise literature, we suggest that this is best conducted via means of social validation. Finally, we offer a road map of investigation designed to explore expertise, formed of a mix of evidence informed methodologies which have not yet been utilised in sport coaching research.
Modified sports programs aim to encourage children’s participation in sport and develop the skills required for future participation, with existing research supporting their positive influence on ...participants’ enjoyment, skill performance, and learning. However, limited research in this area and potential difficulties in contextual application underscore the need to understand stakeholders’ perceptions and the dilemmas of practice. Therefore, this study aimed to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the Gaelic games modified sports program, Go Games, utilising the intended–enacted–experienced curriculum model as a framework. Short semi-structured interviews were conducted with 180 participants, including players (n = 92), parents (n = 62), and coaches (n = 26). Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate a strong coherence between the experiences and perceptions of coaches and parents with the intended curriculum, but a disparity in understanding the purpose and objectives of modifications amongst parents. This study underscores the role of enjoyment for participants, but also highlights the high variability in the sources of this enjoyment. Prominently, coaches faced a range of dilemmas of practice based on the need to juggle often competing sources of motivation and enjoyment. This study suggests the need for greater parental understanding and significant support for coaches to manage these dilemmas of practice.
The increasingly well funded and high-tech world of talent development (TD) represents an important investment for most sports. Reflecting traditional concepts of challenge and focus, the vast ...majority of such systems expend a great deal of effort maximizing support to the young athletes and trying to counter the impact of naturally occurring life stressors. In this article, we suggest that much of this effort is misdirected; that, in fact, talented potential can often benefit from, or even need, a variety of challenges to facilitate eventual adult performance. Our argument is built on evidence that such challenges are more common in athletes who reach the top, together with a critical consideration of the modus operandi and impact of psychological/character-focused interventions such as mental toughness and resilience. In conclusion, we explore some implications for the design and conduct of optimum academies and TD environments.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Talent transfer initiatives seek to transfer talented, mature individuals from one sport to another. Unfortunately talent transfer initiatives seem to lack an evidence-based direction and a rigorous ...exploration of the mechanisms underpinning the approach. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the factors which successfully transferring athletes cite as facilitative of talent transfer. In contrast to the anthropometric and performance variables that underpin current talent transfer initiatives, participants identified a range of psycho-behavioral and environmental factors as key to successful transfer. We argue that further research into the mechanisms of talent transfer is needed in order to provide a strong evidence base for the methodologies employed in these initiatives.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although there has been considerable growth in talent identification and development research in sport over the last 20 years, in this commentary we argue that the mixed quality (e.g., the uncritical ...employment of retrospective and autobiographical data) and lack of applied focus of much of this research, together with organizational inertia, means that relatively little has changed in the applied landscape at the systems level. In an effort to clarify and redirect work in this important area, we propose the Performance-Outcome-Process continuum, a structure that examines ideas based on what and how they contribute to the talent development process and the multiple approaches that exist. Reflecting a pracademic focus, and the need to generate effective and applicable answers, we also highlight the importance of understanding the processes and underlying mechanisms of development-focused constructs to best support the integration of these ideas into applied talent development procedures. To close the research-practice divide, we conclude by suggesting a pragmatic approach that prioritizes both the quality of research and the importance of applied impact, at least in research that claims to be for sport.
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BFBNIB, FSPLJ, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
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