Patterns of performance development in elite athletes

This investigation sought to contrast generalised models of athlete development with the specific pathway trajectories and transitions experienced by 256 elite athletes across 27 different sports. All participants completed the National Athlete Development Survey and within it, the Athlete Development Triangle featuring the differentiation of junior and senior competition experience and progression. Developmental initiation; prevalence, magnitude and direction of pathway trajectory; extent of concurrent junior and senior competitive experience; and variability between sports were examined. Three major trajectories were identified in relation to athlete transition from Nil competition to Elite competition, via junior and senior competition phases. These included Pure ascent (16.4%), Mixed ascent (26.2%) and Mixed descent (57.4%). These were further partitioned into eight sub-trajectories, demonstrating a mix of linear, crossover and concurrent competition profiles. Substantial variability with regard to starting age, pattern of ascent and magnitude of transition was apparent. Non-linear trajectories were experienced by the majority of athletes (83.6%), with pure junior to senior developmental linearity evident in less than 7% of cases. Athletes in cgs sports (those measured in centimetres, grams or seconds) were less likely (43%) to experience a descending trajectory in comparison with non-cgs athletes (70%; p<0.001). The collective findings of this investigation demonstrate that, contrary to the popular pyramidal concept of athlete development, a single linear assault on expertise is rare, and that the common normative junior to senior competition transition is mostly characterised by complex oscillations featuring highly varied transitions. More developmental ‘granularity’ is needed to advance our understanding of sport expertise

A closer look at the FTEM framework: Response to “More of the same? Comment on ‘An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: A practitioner approach’”

The Foundations, Talent, Elite and Mastery (FTEM) framework was designed through the lens of a world leading high-performance sport agency to assist sporting stakeholders operationalise and research their whole of sport development pathways (Gulbin, J. P., Croser, M. J., Morley, E. J., & Weissensteiner, J. R. (2013). An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: A practitioner approach. Journal of Sport Sciences, 31, 1319-1331). In response to the commentary by MacNamara and Collins (2013) (Journal of Sports Sciences, doi:10.1080/02640414.2013. 855805), it was possible to document many inaccurate, false and misleading statements based on inattentive reading of the original article. We reinforce that: FTEM is a holistic framework of sport and athlete development and not a surrogate for a talent identification ( TID) model; bio-psycho-social components of development are liberally embedded throughout the FTEM framework; and the combined research and applied insights of development practitioners provide strong ecological validity for the consideration of stakeholders looking to explore applied approaches to athlete pathway management

An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: a practitioner approach

This paper introduces a new sport and athlete development framework that has been generated by multidisciplinary sport practitioners. By combining current theoretical research perspectives with extensive empirical observations from one of the world's leading sport agencies, the proposed FTEM (Foundations, Talent, Elite, Mastery) framework offers broad utility to researchers and sporting stakeholders alike. FTEM is unique in comparison with alternative models and frameworks, because it: integrates general and specialised phases of development for participants within the active lifestyle, sport participation and sport excellence pathways; typically doubles the number of developmental phases (n = 10) in order to better understand athlete transition; avoids chronological and training prescriptions; more optimally establishes a continuum between participation and elite; and allows full inclusion of many developmental support drivers at the sport and system levels. The FTEM framework offers a viable and more flexible alternative for those sporting stakeholders interested in managing, optimising, and researching sport and athlete development pathways

Is international junior success a reliable predictor for international senior success in elite combat sports?

Currently in the literature, there is a dearth of empirical research that confirms whether international junior success is a reliable predictor for future international senior success. Despite the uncertainty of the junior-senior relationship, federations and coaches still tend to use junior success as a predictor for long-term senior success. A range of former investigations utilising a retrospective lens has merely focused on success that athletes attained at junior level competitions. Success that was achieved at senior-level competitions but at a junior age was relatively ignored. This study explored to what extent international senior success can be predicted based on success that athletes achieved in either international junior level competitions (i.e. junior medalists) or senior competitions at a junior age (i.e. early achievers). The sample contains 4011 international male and female athletes from three combat sports (taekwondo, wrestling and boxing), who were born between 1974 and 1990 and participated in both international junior and senior-level competitions between 1990 and 2016. Gender and sport differences were compared. The results revealed that 61.4% of the junior medalists and 90.4% of the early achievers went on to win international medals at a senior age. Among the early achievers, 92.2% of the taekwondo athletes, 68.4% of the wrestling athletes and 37.9% of the boxing athletes could be reliably predicted to win international senior medals. The findings demonstrate that specific to the three combat sports examined, international junior success appears to be an important predictor to long-term international senior success

To be or not to be: an investigation into the factors affecting the development of athletes who have been identified through talent detection

The identification and development of talent for high performance sport is a complex and widely discussed issue. Athletes are typically identified from within the sport of interest (talent selection), and less commonly identified from outside the sport (talent detection) (Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams & Philippaerts, 2008; Williams & Reilly, 2000). Despite the opportunities and efficiencies that talent detection can provide (Bullock, Gulbin, Martin, Ross, Holland & Marino, 2009), processes underpinning the identification and development of talent detection athletes and the viability of systemic talent detection programs have received modest attention within the scientific literature. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of a successful talent detection program and to investigate why some talent detection athletes transition successfully into high performance sport, while others do not. A case study approach was adopted using flatwater kayakers detected through the Australian National Talent Identification and Development Program. Athletes were matched in pairs based on age, gender, sporting history, kayaking commencement date, training environment, and physical and physiological capacity. The key differentiating factor within each pair of athletes was their highest level of achievement in kayaking with one athlete reaching Australian team representation and the corresponding pair-matched athlete not progressing to the international level. Athletes and their coaches participated in semi-structured interviews and retrospective kayaking performance and physical testing data was used to complement interview findings. Procedures specific to thematic analysis were adopted to analyse the interview data while performance and testing data was analysed using the statistical package SPSS (version 17). Major themes relating to factors that facilitated and constrained the success of talent detected flatwater kayakers will be presented. Discussion will focus on concepts and recommendations to improve talent identification and development practices

Distinguishing psychological characteristics of expert cricket batsmen

Objectives: This paper sought to determine the psychological characteristics and skills that are fundamental to batting success in the sport of cricket. Design and method: Following on from the findings of an earlier qualitative investigation which suggested that a favourable mix of psychological attributes and skills are critical to high performance in batting (Weissensteiner et al. 10), adult-aged batsmen of two different skill levels (highly skilled n = 11; lesser skilled n = 10) completed a battery of psychological tests that included measures of mental toughness (Mental Toughness Inventory), perfectionism (Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), coping ability (Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28), and optimism (Attributional Styles Questionnaire). Results: Contrary to the research hypothesis, it was found that the highly skilled batsmen were only distinguishable from batsmen of lesser skill by their higher degree of global mental toughness. The skilled batsmen scored significantly higher on mental toughness dimensions relating to motivation (Personal Bests, Task Value and Commitment), coping skill (Perseverance) and self-belief (Potential). Conclusions: If mental toughness can be reliably predicted at an earlier age, it may be an attribute worthy of inclusion in future talent identification and development programs