Abstract
Purpose: To examine how coaches differentiate athletes with successful and non-successful development during a cross-country (XC) skiing talent transfer (TT) program. Methods: We conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with seven Norwegian coaches working with a group of 23 Chinese summer endurance athletes transferring from running, rowing, and kayaking to the winter endurance sport XC skiing over a six-month training period. The athletes were grouped as either high (n = 9), moderate (n = 3), or low responders (n = 11) based on objective performance development, quantified using laboratory testing. The interview guide contained six sections: physiological development, technical development, psychological characteristics, training and recovery routines, athlete background, and considerations about the effectiveness of TT initiatives in general. Results: The assessments of the coaches revealed that greater development of both physiological and technical capacities among the high-responding TT athletes were associated with higher motivation, as well as superior ability to deal with adversity in the development process. Conclusion: The coaches considered the TT program to be effective; however, successful transfer of athletes to a world class level in a complex sport such as XC skiing requires a multidisciplinary selection process and a longer time frame than the six-month period used in the current project.
Highlights
For several decades, coaches, athletes, and researchers have searched for keys to optimize performance development among elite athletes [1]
The main findings were as follows: (1) The coaches experienced that a greater development of both physiological and technical abilities in high responders was coupled with a superior motivation for learning a new sport and the development process, which led to higher performance development in XC skiing compared to low responders
The coaches emphasized that high responders especially developed their XC skiing technique more rapidly due to a higher motivation for learning a new sport and for the development process in general leading to a larger performance development in XC skiing, in comparison to the low responders
Summary
Coaches, athletes, and researchers have searched for keys to optimize performance development among elite athletes [1]. A recent systematic review showed that the available evidence on TT is scarce and included only five studies, and it concluded that similarities between donor and transfer sports are associated with success and that psychological factors play an important role for individual athletes’ development in the TT program [6] Most studies, both on talent development and TT, have been conducted on western athletes, even though some recent examples of studies are done among Chinese athletes [7]
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