40 research outputs found
Eventual sport performance level: What about the role of type of sport, perception of critical life events, and practice quality?
No full textThe target article describes an interesting study, which provides some challenging findings regarding athletes’ pathway to excellence. The suggested links between critical life events, need for success, personal characteristics, and eventual performance level make sense from a psychodynamic perspective. This commentary will discuss some critical points related to the application of the findings in talent identification and -development programs. These are (1) the possible effect of the selection of participants on the results (including the impact of dependence on others for team sport athletes and the opportunity for multiple medal attainment), (2) a lack of detail in the description of how the athletes approached the critical life events (the perception of an event may contribute more to development than the event itself), and (3) a lack of detail in the description of the practice process throughout development. Some interesting differences were found in the motivation for and approach to practice, but little detail was given about what the athletes exactly were doing at the time. The concept of self-regulated learning may be useful in explaining how super-elite athletes action their goals through quality practice
Self-regulation of learning and the performance level of youth soccer players
No full textThe ability to regulate their own learning process may be the key factor in whether young footballers ultimately reach the top. The amount they learn during training sessions seems to be at least as important as the number of hours they train. Players from the highest level of Dutch football proved to be the most adept at regulating what they learn. Having a target and a plan as to how to achieve it appears to be the determining factor. These are the findings of research carried out by Tynke Toering, movement scientist at the UMCG/University of Groningen. She will be conferred with a PhD on 11 May 2011 for her research at the University of Groningen.
Self-regulating learning enables individuals to learn more effectively. In the case of footballers, this means that they must know which skills they need to improve and how to go about it, they must have the motivation to improve and they must take the necessary steps to do so. In her research, Toering explored the link between self-regulating learning and the performance level of youth players between the ages of 11 and 17. She also looked into how this affected their attitude to training. Toering studied six aspects: planning (making an implementation plan before undertaking a task), monitoring (checking that everything is going well while carrying out the task), evaluation (assessing the process and result after the task), reflection (translating what they have learned into new behaviour), effort (the willingness to work hard at the task) and self-efficacy (confidence in one’s ability to succeed at the task).
High scores in self-regulating learning
The research shows that professionals playing at top Dutch football clubs score better at self-regulating learning than amateur footballers. The ‘reflection’ and ‘effort’ aspects are particularly well-developed. Furthermore, the best players within a top team score highest on the ‘reflection’ aspect, despite all players training for the same number of hours. This shows that the best players benefit more from a set number of training sessions than other players. The things that young players learn while training is therefore more important than the number of training sessions they attend.
Role of the trainers
If young players want to progress, Toering would advise them and their trainers to focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses and setting targets accordingly. Trainers should get to know the players properly in order to adjust their feedback in line with each player’s specific needs. The trainer can encourage players to set a specific goal before each training session and evaluate their performance afterwards. Trainers should give players the opportunity to think for themselves and come up with solutions, instead of providing ready-made solutions themselves. This will create a learning environment that enables players to take a pro-active part in their learning process.
Vive la difference – perspectives on the challenges of being a woman in high-level sport
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Self-Control in Professional Soccer Players
No full textThis study aimed to investigate the concept of self-control in association with engagement in daily activities of professional soccer players and its relationship with soccer performance. Findings indicated that self-control scores of male professional soccer players (N = 639), representing the first squad of every club playing in the (Norwegian) Premier and Second League, were associated with their lifestyle and practice time. A small, positive relationship between self-control and soccer performance was found. In terms of expert performance, a possible explanation of our findings is that self-control helps individuals stay on track on their pathways to excellence
From childhood to senior professional football: A multi-level approach to elite youth football players’ engagement in football-specific activities
No full textObjectives: The main aim of this study was to identify the development of engagement in football-specific activities of elite youth association football (soccer) players who have made the transition to senior professional status or not. Design: Comparative research design. Method: Data were collected from all elite youth players (N ¼ 745) within the age-range of 14-21 years from all Norwegian Premier League clubs, using a retrospective questionnaire. A within elite-group comparison of players who had obtained a senior professional contract or not was conducted by using multi-level modeling (n ¼ 491). Results: The results showed that although the professional players reported to have accumulated more overall practice hours than non-professionals from ages 6 to 19 years, none of these differences were significant. The professional players reported to have accumulated significantly more hours in play and coach-led practice at the youngest age categories. No significant differences were identified at older age categories or for other types of football-specific practice at any age. Conclusions: Differences in performance attainment may be due to variation in the amount and types of football practice at the earliest years of participation, but may also be related to other factors than the number of hours spent in certain football-specific activities. We argue that implementation of multi-level modeling represents an important progression within practice history research, and is necessary to account for the actual individual’s development over time in addition to identify how different variables may affect the developmental process
Shame Proneness, Guilt Proneness, Behavioral Self-Handicapping, and Skill Level: A Mediational Analysis
No full textIn this study, the relationship between shame proneness, guilt proneness, behavioral self-handicapping, and skill level was examined in elite youth soccer players (N = 589, Mage = 16.8, SD=1.8). Mediation analyses showed that shame proneness had a positive direct relationship with self-handicappingandaweaknegativeindirectrelationshipwithskilllevel.Guilt proneness was shown to have a negative direct relationship to self-handicapping and a positive weak indirect relationship to skill level. Shame proneness may, thus, stimulate behavioral self-handicapping, whereas guilt proneness may discourage behavioral self-handicapping in soccer players
Policy implementation in Indian Olympic sport::exploring the potential for policy transfer
No full textAn important factor affecting sports development in India has been a longstanding issue with deploying policy initiatives introduced as early as 2001. Consequently, this paper explores policies implemented in India till today, highlighting two main issues; inadequate consideration of certain aspects of policy formulation and lack of effective implementation. Policy transfer is then explored as an option to overcome formulation issues of lack of feasibility, financial assistance and knowledge. The success of policy transfer (both external and internal) would, however, depend on how effectively India manages to implement the policies. India can formulate the best policies but, if they are not implemented effectively, the return might remain low. Consequently, we highlight the need for India to prioritise effective policy implementation whilst considering policy transfer as an option to overcome formulation issues
Effective learning among elite football players: The development of a football-specific self-regulated learning questionnaire
No full textThe present study aimed to develop a football-specific self-report instrument measuring self-regulated learning in the context of daily practice, which can be used to monitor the extent to which players take responsibility for their own learning. Development of the instrument involved six steps: 1. Literature review based on Zimmerman’s (2006) theory of selfregulated learning, 2. Item generation, 3. Item validation, 4. Pilot studies, 5. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and 6. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The instrument was tested for reliability and validity among 204 elite youth football players aged 13–16 years (Mage = 14.6; s = 0.60; 123 boys, 81 girls). The EFA indicated that a five-factor model fitted the observed data best (reflection, evaluation, planning, speaking up, and coaching). However, the CFA showed that a threefactor structure including 22 items produced a satisfactory model fit (reflection, evaluation, and planning; non-normed fit index [NNFI] = 0.96, comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.95, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.067). While the self-regulation processes of reflection, evaluation, and planning are strongly related and fit well into one model, other self-regulated learning processes seem to be more individually determined. In conclusion, the questionnaire developed in this study is considered a reliable and valid instrument to measure self-regulated learning among elite football players
