Effective talent development environments: bridging the theory-practice gap within a UK context

Performance sport has become a high priority for many Nations. For example, the UK distributes approximately £25 million per year through their World Class Performance programmes in order to aid effective identification, development and performance of our best athletes. Not surprisingly, in line with a more professional and scientific approach, the standards of sporting performance at an elite level are constantly improving. In order to remain competitive on the international stage, the processes and support mechanisms within our talent development environments (TDEs) must be effective in order to maintain a consistent stream of talent, capable of success at the highest level.Unfortunately, the structure and evidence base for talent development (TD) processes within the UK is weak and lacking in evidence -based guidance for those working `on the ground'. This is compounded by an apparent procedural bias towards the identification of talent as opposed to its development, a focus which is contrary to much of the research in this area. Against this backdrop, the objectives of this thesis are as follows:1) To identify the `needs' within current TD practice and provide clear direction and methodological guidance for the required programme of research,2) To identify guidelines through a triangulation of evidence that enables the application of effective TD procedures,3) To develop a tool to help bridge the theory -practice divide and enable practitioners and researchers to examine TDEs within applied settings, and4) To provide preliminary validation of the tool to assess the extent to which it has discriminant function

Unsuccessful Transitions: Understanding Dropout from the Athlete's Perspective

Limited studies have investigated the experiences of athletes who did not "make it" to elite level. To target this research gap, this study accessed and investigated this hard to reach population in order to understand the development and transition experiences of athletes who did not manage to negotiate successfully the junior to senior elite transition. A qualitative methodology was utilised and six athletes were interviewed. Inductive analysis showed that an unsuccessful transition from junior to senior level is highly individual and is attributed to a combination, rather than a single factor. The factors emerging from the work, which can increase the risk of athletes dropping out included: poor communication; inappropriate support; balancing a dual career without support or with excessive pressure; and a win focus environment during the development stage. Implications for coaches and policy makers with regards to impacting positively on both the transition experience itself and earlier foundation experiences are discussed further

Examining the ecological validity of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire

It is clear that high class expertise and effective practice exists within many talent development environments across the world. However, there is also a general consensus that widespread evidence-based policy and practice is lacking. As such, it is crucial to develop solutions which can facilitate effective dissemination of knowledge and promotion of evidence-based talent development systems. While the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (Martindale et al., 2010 ) provides a method through which this could be facilitated, its ecological validity has remained untested. As such, this study aimed to investigate the real world applicability of the questionnaire through discriminant function analysis. Athletes across ten distinct regional squads and academies were identified and separated into two broad levels, 'higher quality' (n = 48) and 'lower quality' (n = 51) environments, based on their process quality and productivity. Results revealed that the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire was able to discriminate with 77.8% accuracy. Furthermore, in addition to the questionnaire as a whole, two individual features, 'quality preparation' (P < 0.01) and 'understanding the athlete' (P < 0.01), were found to be significant discriminators. In conclusion, the results indicate robust structural properties and sound ecological validity, allowing the questionnaire to be used with more confidence in applied and research settings

An investigation of the talent development pathway in Scottish female football

Literature in Talent Development (TD) for female sports is sparse and as- sumes applicability from existing male TD research. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the TD pathway in Scottish female football. Five expert coaches and five international players were interviewed regarding their experiences within Scottish female football. Key findings demonstrated the main influences within the TD pathway. Mixed football was evident in the early stages while big gulfs were reported throughout the development process. Lack of capacity and re- sources to provide coherent support in a systematic way was the key constraint within the Scottish TD pathway. Practical implications include the education of club coaches and integration of sport psychologists in the development pathway

The Effects of British Army Footwear on Ground Reaction Force and Temporal Parameters of British Army Foot-Drill

High rates of occupational training-related lower-limb musculoskeletal [MSK] overuse injuries are reported for British Army recruits during basic training. Foot-drill is a repetitive impact loading occupational activity and involves striking the ground violently with an extended-knee [straight-leg] landing. Foot-drill produces vertical ground reaction forces [vGRF] equal to and/or greater than those reported for high-level plyometric exercises/activities. Shock absorbing footwear aid in the attenuation of the magnitude of vGRF, resulting in a reduced risk of lower-limb MSK overuse injury when running. The potential shock absorbing characteristics of standard issue British Army footwear on the magnitude of vGRF and temporal parameters of foot-drill are scant. Therefore, this study sought to determine the magnitude of, and examine changes in vGRF and temporal parameters of foot-drill across three types of British Army footwear. Sampled at 1000hz, the mean of eight-trials from fifteen recreationally active males were collected from four foot-drills; stand-at-ease [SaE], stand-at-attention [SaA], quick-march [QM] and halt. Analysis of a normal walk was included to act as a comparison with quick-march. Significant main effects [