Storm Clouds on the Horizon: On the Emerging Need to Tighten Selection Policies

Johnston, Kathryn; Farah, Lou; Baker, Joe

doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.772181

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…Selection is a reality of the domain, just as it is in education, dance, or indeed any job interview. Additionally, as increasing scrutiny is applied to sports to formally justify selection criteria, there is pressure for the use of ‘objective' measures that can be later defended (Johnston et al, 2021 ). As such, if performance data are used in this way, mistakes will inevitably be held against people.…”

Section: Is It Transferable? Confounding Contextual Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Safety in High-Performance Sport: Contextually Applicable?

Taylor

Collins

Ashford

2022

Front. Sports Act. Living

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In recent years, high-performance sport has seen a rising interest in Psychological Safety, a construct with a strong empirical basis in certain business contexts. As research and practice interest grows in PS, there are early indications of practitioners and, to a lesser extent research, treating the construct as being universally transferable. We offer three central concerns with this situation. Firstly, it seems that a variety of different interpretations in use may limit the practical application of the construct. Secondly, a concern that not all dimensions of PS are transferable or applicable in the HPSs context, especially for athletes. Finally, emerging evidence from outside of sport suggests potential downsides to the perceptions of PS in a performance/selection sets. We suggest that, as with all theories and constructs, there is a pressing need for nuance and context-specific evidence in how researchers and practitioners approach transferability plus, perhaps, a little more understanding of the real-world high-performance context.

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Section: Is It Transferable? Confounding Contextual Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Safety in High-Performance Sport: Contextually Applicable?

Taylor

Collins

Ashford

2022

Front. Sports Act. Living

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“…This notion also speaks to the art and science of coaching—where both scientific rigor coupled with creative and dynamic liberties are believed to be critical for coaching excellence ( 17 , 18 ). However, there is an increasing push to clearly define and defend selection criteria, at least in high performance settings ( 19 ).…”

Section: Striking a Balance Between Vagueness And Conceptual Claritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Language games and blurry terminology: Can clarity enhance athlete development?

Johnston

McAuley

Kelly

et al. 2023

Front. Sports Act. Living

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This perspective focuses on the need for researchers and practitioners to carefully consider the clarity and consistency of their language in the context of athlete development. Evidence supporting a lack of congruency in the way certain terms and expressions are defined, understood, and operationalized continues to accumulate, highlighting the importance of this area for sport stakeholders and the potential looming crises. In systems that regularly rely on precision and accuracy, it will be critical that all involved in the co-creation of knowledge generation and application carefully consider terms that may further complicate athlete development practices. We highlight some potentially blurry terms and draw attention to potential avenues for future research.

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“…Altogether, these aspects appear to be crucial for a functional and cooperative national player development system. 26,55 Limitations As this study covers expert coaches from only Germany, knowledge and experience from other countries or context is missing and may further improve generalisability. Also, additional qualitative studies could further examine the whys and the hows of coaches' approaches and understandings.…”

Section: The Decision-making Process Of Player Selection In Table Tennismentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the subjective beliefs of expert coaches on ‘talent’ and player selection in German table tennis

Koopmann

Faber

Loffing

et al. 2023

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching

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Player development programmes in sports are considered crucial pillars for the development of young players and countries’ international sporting success. As resources are limited, coaches preferably decide which players to select for these programmes at a young age. This is particularly true for early-starting sports such as table tennis. However, the selection criteria used by coaches and the decision-making processes in player selection contexts are widely unknown. To address this gap, we conducted 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with table tennis coaches with high expertise in the identification and development of talented young players. Here we show that the concept of ‘talent’ and the process of player selection in table tennis are highly complex phenomena with three main areas of interest identified: (a) general aspects regarding ‘talent’ (in table tennis), (b) specific selection criteria including individual as well as environmental aspects, and (c) the process of player selection. One main finding is that coaches see ‘talent’ as dependent on various factors including (relative) age, maturation as well as practice and previous experience. Furthermore, coaches appear to include both individual (e.g., technical skills) and environmental criteria (e.g., parents’ support) in their decision-making process. Finally, the interviews revealed that player selection decisions are usually made by multiple coaches during group meetings, suggesting the relevance of group processes and dynamics. In summary, this study provides new findings regarding the understanding and discovery of ‘talent’ in table tennis that can help practitioners and open new avenues for further research on player selection in sports.

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Storm Clouds on the Horizon: On the Emerging Need to Tighten Selection Policies

Cited by 9 publications

References 51 publications

Psychological Safety in High-Performance Sport: Contextually Applicable?

Psychological Safety in High-Performance Sport: Contextually Applicable?

Language games and blurry terminology: Can clarity enhance athlete development?

Exploring the subjective beliefs of expert coaches on ‘talent’ and player selection in German table tennis

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