Development Of Elite Athletes Research Articles

“But a champion comes out much, much later”: A sport development case study of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team

Increasing attention has been given to the effective development of elite athletes. In this inquiry, the authors used a historical case study to ascertain the ways elite athletes were developed in a different era of sport in the United States. Using the attraction, retention, and transition frameworks, the factors that fostered the development of athletes from the 1968 Summer Olympics were drawn out through oral history interviews. In total, interviews with 59U.S. Olympians were conducted. The results reveal how the athletes experienced supportive recruitment and retention environments, were able to manage the difficulty of developing elite talent, and encountered both challenges and opportunities transitioning through and out of elite sport. This analysis demonstrates how sport development principles are diverse in their temporal relevance and reinforce the practical implications meant to serve the modern athlete. Further, at least some sport development principles could remain constant regardless of how context and elite athlete experiences evolve in the future.

Long-Term Prognostic Validity of Talent Selections: Comparing National and Regional Coaches, Laypersons and Novices.

In most sports, the development of elite athletes is a long-term process of talent identification and support. Typically, talent selection systems administer a multi-faceted strategy including national coach observations and varying physical and psychological tests when deciding who is chosen for talent development. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the prognostic validity of talent selections by varying groups 10 years after they had been conducted. This study used a unique, multi-phased approach. Phase 1 involved players (n = 68) in 2001 completing a battery of general and sport-specific tests of handball ‘talent’ and performance. In Phase 2, national and regional coaches (n = 7) in 2001 who attended training camps identified the most talented players. In Phase 3, current novice and advanced handball players (n = 12 in each group) selected the most talented from short videos of matches played during the talent camp. Analyses compared predictions among all groups with a best model-fit derived from the motor tests. Results revealed little difference between regional and national coaches in the prediction of future performance and little difference in forecasting performance between novices and players. The best model-fit regression by the motor-tests outperformed all predictions. While several limitations are discussed, this study is a useful starting point for future investigations considering athlete selection decisions in talent identification in sport.

A meta-synthesis of elite athletes’ experiences in dual career development

AbstractDual career development of elite athletes has gained wide attention in the past two decades. The purpose of this study is to employ a qualitative meta-synthesis method to explore the literature on dual career experiences of elite athletes from 1996 to 2015. A total of nine studies were examined with regard to how elite athletes experience dual careers (combining athletic career with education or work). Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed during the process to produce a clear statement of applicability of this study. A thematic synthesis was performed and a map of constructs reflected that interpersonal issues played an inter-connected and essential role in influencing elite athletes to a large extent. Potential stakeholders, especially parents and peers, were considered significant targets in implementing support programmes in order to impact the perceptions and feelings of elite athletes towards a dual career. Further research is needed to apply the findings of this study as a concept...

Fostering Elite Athlete Development and Recreational Sport Participation: a Successful Club Environment

The overall aim of this article was to present a positive case study about how a sport club can foster both elite athlete development in parallel with offering a diverse range of sport activities to attract and maintain a greater number of children and youth for continued participation in a long term sport program. To this end, an in-depth case study was conducted of a model Spanish Basketball Club, considered an example of success in achieving consistent level of performance and high rates of participation among their youth. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with administrators, setting observation, and analysis of current and archived club documents. The results show that the club has created changes over the years that have led to a clear organizational structure with a philosophy that connects its youth development teams and elite teams. An increase focus on youth development, the addition of recreational activities, and the implementation of a coach education program have been linked to enhanced participation rate and performance.

The tales athletes tell: Narrative structure and identity in Great British medalists.

Using a life story approach, Hardy and colleagues present a study examining the similarities and differences in the psychosocial development of UK-based elite and super-elite athletes. We found this work to be a highly personal account into the lives of these cohorts, which advances knowledge concerning the psychology and influencing events and circumstances that separate the good from the great performers. We make some suggestions for how to enrich the study's findings and approach, by (1) adopting McAdams' multilayer framework of personality, as an overarching structure for assessing the whole person, and (2) encouraging the authors to explore the narrative structure of the presented life stories and go beyond simply an interpretation of their content.

The Role of Interorganizational Relationships on Elite Athlete Development Processes

Previous studies acknowledge the importance of sporting organizations’ developing partnerships with clubs for athlete development purposes. However, there are no studies that address the way partnerships influence athlete progression and pathways. This study explores interorganizational relationships (IORs) between a tennis federation and tennis clubs in their efforts to improve player development processes. Document analysis and semistructured interviews with representatives from clubs and the Flemish federation were used. The findings show that the federation and the clubs engaged in IORs to achieve reciprocity and efficiency. The federation anticipated gaining legitimacy and asymmetry, and clubs expected to develop stability. Formal and informal control mechanisms facilitated IOR management. The conceptual model discussed in this study shows the types of IOR motives, management, and control mechanisms that drive and influence the attraction, retention/ transition, and nurturing processes of athlete development.

학생운동선수 운동중단에 관한 체계적 문헌고찰

South Korean student athletes are able to enter university or college without an academic Grade Point Average (GPA), and with only their successes of tournament or competition. This is one of elite sport policies that occurs result-oriented nature for the elite sport in Korea. The result-oriented nature of the elite sport system forces athletes to specialize and over train from the early years, which potentially disregards their rights as students(e.g., taking part of universal education). This negatively affects the academic performance and future career aspirations of student athletes after they retire from the sport. Given that over 90% of Korean student athletes early retire and choose a non-sport career, it is important to extensively discuss the possible strategies to prevent student athletes from early retirement, and to develop a support system for student athletes who experienced early retirement. The purpose of this paper was to systematically review why the student athletes have early retired and what academia has discussed about the retirement in Korea. Furthermore, this paper will discuss future directions for elite athlete development by proposing potential implications and discussing the limitations of previous studies. The paper followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses(PRISMA). Finally, a total of 18 studies examining the reasons and the development plans for the retirement was searched by the protocol. As a result, the Korean student athletes early retire due to over training, injuries, future orientations, lack of enjoyment/fun/interest, stresses of training and/or competition, issues with peers and coaches, and lack of study time. The papers proposed strategies, such as educational attainment and career support programs for student athletes who early retire to improve their well-being. This report also found that early specialization is has a major impact on Korean student athletes’ early retirement. As the Korean sport literature has not discussed athlete development, this paper will suggest a new route that may positively influence upon the early retirement rate among Korean student athletes and can improve the elite sport system in Korea.

Developing young athletes: The role of private sport schools in the Norwegian sport system

The aim of the paper is to analyse the increasingly prominent role of private sports schools in the development of elite athletes in Norway. The context for the analysis is the apparent paradox between the emergence of a network of sports schools, the most successful of which are private and require that parents pay a fee, and the social democratic values of Norway. Data were collected through a series of interviews with 35 respondents from nine stakeholder groups, including athletes, coaches, parents and sport school managers. The research describes an elite sport system that is successful in producing medal-winning athletes, but which is organisationally fragmented, uncoordinated and under-funded with regard to youth talent identification and development and susceptible to tensions between key actors. The primary analytical framework is Kingdon’s multiple streams framework augmented by path dependency theory. The findings include, a picture of an elite youth sport development system in which multiple and overlapping problems have received, at best, only partial policy solutions some of which, such as the growth of private sports schools, have emerged by default. When focusing attention on the relationship between structure and agency in the policy process it is argued that the government, through its inaction, has allowed sports schools the policy space to expand. The consequence is that the government has, whether deliberately or not, enabled the strengthening of a commercial elite youth sport development system, while still preserving its egalitarian and non-interventionist credentials.

An examination of the stakeholders and elite athlete development pathways in tennis

Research question: The research questions that guided this investigation were (1) ‘What are the roles of sport development stakeholders in elite player development pathways?’ and (2) ‘How are those elite pathways modelled in tennis?’Research methods: Data from 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with international tennis experts were thematically analysed to explore stakeholder involvement and how their interactions and strategies shape elite tennis pathways.Results and findings: The results show that during the attraction/retention process of elite sport development national tennis associations (NTAs) are responsible for initiating programmes that local clubs and coaches deliver. During the talent identification and selection process NTAs, clubs and coaches cooperate to identify talent. Throughout the talent development process, tennis players progress from clubs to NTA training centres or private academies. Last, during the nurturing process, NTAs support players in the transition from junior to senior level and once players are self-sufficient, the NTA support decreases.Implications: These findings offer empirical evidence on the roles of stakeholders and their support to players in shaping development pathways in tennis. The shift in stakeholder dynamics and variation in their roles and relationships suggests that stakeholders can have different levels of involvement depending on the developmental process. These results help draw meaningful practical implications. For instance, the heightened role of local clubs during most of the sport development processes points towards the need to revisit the level of support clubs receive and their capacity to deliver optimal developmental pathways.

Time management in elite sports: How do elite athletes manage time under fatigue and stress conditions?

In many countries, elite athletes are required to undertake education alongside their sports training. Time management has important implications for the development of elite athletes. From a Naturalistic Decision‐Making perspective, it is argued that athletes’ decision‐making strategies in relation to time management need to be better understood. Interviews were conducted with a number of athletes training for the first and third year in a sports and academic training centre. Interviews revealed that athletes made sense of situations to decide what strategy to use to manage their time under conditions of stress and fatigue. Athletes changed strategy when they noticed conflicts in the time‐frames imposed by the centre. Results also showed that first‐ and third‐year athletes displayed some common ground but also revealed some differences. In comparison with third‐year athletes, first‐year athletes reported more emotion‐focused strategies. Third‐year athletes reported more problem‐focused strategies. Results led to the adaptation of the Recognition‐Primed Decision‐making model to time management in elite sports.Practitioner points The study shows how elite athletes used their experience to manage time under fatigue and stress conditions. It shows the strategies used by elite athletes to manage their time in a context in which their use of time is imposed on them. Time management was partly flexible and partly beyond the control of the athlete.

Listening to the body? How phenomenological insights can be used to explore a golfer’s experience of the physicality of her body

Based on a single case study of a Danish elite golfer, this article focuses on describing the different ways in which the golfer experiences the physicality of her body during training. The aim of the article is to explore how phenomenological insights concerning self-consciousness can be used actively in the analyses of the golfer’s descriptions to better understand how the embodied expertise is practised in her training. The descriptions of the elite golfer’s daily practice were generated using a combination of participant observations and interviews. Drawing on phenomenological insights, we suggest that the golfer’s experience of the physicality of her body can be considered in relation to three possible dimensions of self-consciousness: a pre-reflective subject-related dimension, a reflective object-directed dimension and a pre-reflective performative dimension. The pre-reflective performative dimension is to be understood as a non-objectifying dimension of subjects experience and, in the present case, appears central to how the golfer adjusts and reshapes her technical skills. The golfer exemplifies how a possible pre-reflective performative dimension reflects the overall ‘feeling’ of the moving body. From a methodological perspective, the analysis of the single case study also exemplifies how phenomenological insights might concretely influence the analysis of an actual practice and how the achieved understanding can be important to the further development of elite athletes’ expert training.

Examination of birthplace and birthdate in world junior ice hockey players

The present study investigated birthdate (known as the Relative Age Effect; RAE) and birthplace as determinants of expertise in an international sample of elite ice hockey players. The sample included 566 World Junior (WJR) ice hockey players from four countries (Canada, n = 153; USA, n = 136; Sweden, n = 140; Finland, n = 137). Participants competed in the International Ice Hockey Federation World U20 Championship between 2001 and 2009. A series of Poisson regression models were conducted to examine the consistency of direct then interactive relationships between both birthdate and birthplace and WJR membership across the four countries (Canada, USA, Sweden, and Finland). Findings revealed a consistent RAE across the four countries for World Junior participation from 2000 to 2009. WJR players from the four countries were also less likely to be from major cities. In addition, there was no evidence in any of the four countries of an interaction between RAE and birthplace. Future research should explore the contextual and cultural factors that influence elite athlete development in smaller towns, cities and communities.

Profiling South African universities for service delivery to the sport industry

For universities to fulfil a critical role in the economic growth, prosperity and innovation of a nation-state, they have to align themselves with other institutions and stakeholders to optimally deliver on strategic national objectives. The post-merger landscape of higher education institutions in South Africa provides a context for the 23 USSA (University Sport South Africa) affiliated institutions to critically position themselves for optimal delivery to the sport industry – particularly in terms of sport and elite athlete development. The paper draws on a national research project (Burnett, 2010a) and utilises a mix-method approach. Documentary analysis (including website scans and analysis of official publications), 28 interviews and 38 focus group sessions provided quantitative and qualitative data sets. Universities were categorised according to the following criteria: institutional type, locality, guiding philosophy, availability of resources (bursaries, physical, human, information and financial). A three-tier typology emerged, namely nine institutions identified as mainly facilitating “a student experience”, four universities were placed in a second category with a focus on “student-sport”, and five universities drive a multi-faceted and high performance focus within a commercial and professionalised sporting environment. Four universities fall between the second and third categories i.e. providing competitive sport with relatively limited commercially-product and service provision.

Athlete performance management: A model of strategic significance

This paper presents a new model entitled the “Elite Athlete Performance Management” model (PERFORM), demonstrating the multidisciplinary role of athlete performance management and its strategic significance to achieving a competitive advantage for elite sporting clubs, both on and off the field. The research outcomes are significant for practitioners in the discipline areas of information systems, medical, sports science and the professional areas involved in the development of elite athletes, because for the first time a comprehensive model of the business processes involved in elite athlete performance management has been constructed and articulated. Methodology: This research was exploratory and adopted an interpretive case study research methodology. Research data were collected principally by over 40 in-depth interviews during numerous meetings between April 2005 and March 2008 in an elite sporting club which is of national significance and prominence. The interviews were informal and semi-structured with non-directive, openended questioning to encourage interviewees to describe the complexities of their practices, experiences and problems. Participants were selected from all the business areas associated with injury management at the club, including: physical performance; strength and conditioning; training; management; medical (general practitioners); rehabilitation; and physiotherapy. The research explored the influences of modern technologies on an elite sporting club’s injury management business process. Other empirical data were collected using techniques such as participant observation and written data sources such as e-mail, memos, organisational and association policy documents, and field notes. Results and conclusions: The research identified that injury management alone is not strategic to an elite sporting club. Even though injury management is important, injuries and injury management are not strategic. Of significance is that a new process, PERFORM, focusing on the ongoing performance management of the elite athlete, emerged from the research. An unexpected outcome from this research is that the athlete’s performance, and not the injury is strategic to the elite sporting club and that PERFORM (which includes injury management) leads to a competitive advantage. The creation of this foundation model enables the development of best practice management of elite athlete performance. Of importance to practitioners is that the business implications of PERFORM extend beyond a set of business functions, to include a community of practice which facilitates multi-disciplinary knowledge sharing and which is a key contributor to an organisation’s competitive advantage.

A lifespan perspective on the career of talented and elite athletes: Perspectives on high‐intensity sports

Elite athletes will be confronted during as well as after their athletic career with transitional challenges that will impact the course and progress of their athletic development. This article provides in first instance a description of a lifespan model exemplifying a "whole career/whole person" conceptualization of career transitions in the elite athletic career. Second, four specific career transitions in the development of talented and elite athletes are detailed with special attention for high-intensity sports (HIS). Finally, perspectives are formulated on future lifespan research and the provision of career support services in HIS.

Circumstantial development and athletic excellence: The role of date of birth and birthplace

Researchers are only beginning to understand how contextual variables such as date of birth and birthplace affect the development of elite athletes. This article considers the generality of birthplace and date-of-birth effects in varying sport contexts. The Study 1 examined how environmental factors associated with an athlete's date-of-birth and size of birthplace predict the likelihood of becoming an Olympic athlete in Canada, the United States of America, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Study 2 examined date-of-birth and birthplace effects among athletes playing in the first professional league in Germany. Study 2 also examined the validity of birthplace as a proxy for early developmental environment by comparing birthplace with the place of first sports club in four German sports leagues. Results from both studies showed no consistent findings for date of birth. Findings from Study 2 also suggested incongruence between birthplace and location of first sports club as proxies for early developmental environment. Although there was some consistency suggesting elite athletes are less likely to come from very small or excessively large communities, exceptions occurred both within and across sport contexts. These results suggest that any developmental effects of date and place of birth are buffered by broader socio-cultural factors.

Assessment of association of estrogen receptor-α gene polymorphism with physical activity and bone metabolism

Genetic and environmental factors have long been suspected to influence on athletic performance and bone metabolism. We have therefore investigated a population-based association study of Korean elite athletes relative to the general population with PvuII polymorphism of the ER-α gene. In addition, interactions between the ER-a genotype distribution and variation of biochemical parameters for bone metabolism during short-duration aerobic performance development were analyzed in a Korean middle-aged women population. The ER-a gene locus was found to be deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.05), but not in the female athlete group. The most common ER-α genotype wasPp in elite athletes (44/72) and controls (74/109), with higher than expected number of heterozygotes (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference in the distribution of ER-a genotype frequency was observed between the elite athletes and control groups. In contrast, almost all biochemical markers studied here appeared to be significantly higher levels after 12-week exercise training compared with baseline in both groups of Korean women, although there was no genotype effect on the change of levels of the bone metabolic parameters. Thus, our data imply that regularly exercise training may affect bone metabolism, but the genetic marker of ER-a gene polymorphism may not be valuable indicator for the development of elite athletes and physical therapy educational program.

Australian Elite Athlete Development: An Organisational Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to examine and map the process of Australian elite athlete development from an organisational perspective, that of 35 national sporting organisations (NSOs). Research on elite development has focused on the significance of economic and cultural factors (macro-level studies) and the role of sport science and athletes’ close environment (micro-level studies) in fostering success. In an effort to depict elite athlete development processes in a more inclusive way, this paper offers an evaluation of the ways elite athletes are nurtured from an Australian NSOs perspective adopting a meso-level approach (e.g., programs). The study is based on a document analysis examining 74 annual reports from 35 NSOs over a period of four years, before and after the Sydney Olympic Games and offers a generic framework of the Australian elite athlete development process. The resulting framework shows that various interested groups are involved with nurturing elite athletes through either initiating or implementing specially designed programs or other strategies that cultivate success, and helps broaden the definition of elite development. The implications of successful elite athlete development include increased finances and public profile for sports as well as the creation of pathways to increase interest in sport.

Analyses of Elite Swimming Performances and Their Respective Between-Gender Differences over Time

The current study analyzed historical performance data in order to contribute to the understanding of the development of elite athletes. Data for elite adult and youth swimmers from 1962 to 2007 were employed to identify changes in American swimming records and in the performances of elite American youth swimmers. Over this period, 11 of the 12 men's and women's American records analyzed are improving at an ever slowing rate. This trend parallels the resultant analyses herein from elite youth swimmers, suggesting a possible limit to reaching elite athletic performance. Unique gender differences by event for both elite adult and youth swimmers were also revealed. Results imply that genotype plays a role in elite athletic performance. Additionally, possible reasons and ramifications of these findings are proffered.

A comparison of the developmental experiences of elite and sub-elite swimmers: similar developmental histories can lead to differences in performance level

The current study fills a void in the literature that investigates the factors required for elite athlete development. Previous studies have (a) illustrated psychological and physiological differences between elites and non-elites; or (b) described the psychological and physiological developmental experiences of elite performers. The current study augments these research bases by obtaining the recollections of 15 highly accomplished swimmers (i.e. seven elite and eight sub-elite) and compares their developmental experiences. Qualitative results are presented within Bloom's (1985) stages of talent development (i.e. The Early, Middle and Late Years) and Hendry and Kloep's (2002) lifespan model of developmental challenges (i.e. Self-Efficacy, Social Resources, Structural Resources, Skills and Biological Dispositions) in order to present these athletes’ idiosyncratic experiences in an organised manner. Similarities and differences among these athletes and between performance groups are presented, some of which are incongruent with current theories that address the developmental requirements of elite athletes. A discussion regarding the implications of these findings, and future research concerns, are then proffered.