| dc.description.abstract | The early identification of talented individuals is considered increasingly important
across many performance domains. Traditional concepts of talent have primarily
emphasized genetically driven variables, proclaiming that exceptional abilities are
the result of favourable genes matched to the required performance domain.
Consequently, an oversimplified concept of sporting talent exists where the focus has
typically been on discrete, one-dimensional measures at unstable periods in the
athlete’s development. Talent identification processes adopted by several countries
around the world have evolved from this oversimplified concept of talent and are
unlikely to reflect adequately how talent emerges in sport. In fact, retrospective
interviews with successful athletes emphasized that a range of factors impact success
within sport and these are not solely governed by genetic determinants of
performance. In particular, athletes highlighted the crucial role that psychology can
have on the ability of an individual to translate potential to performance. It is
concluded that TI models need to place a greater emphasis on the development of
potentially talented performers rather than early identification. In this thesis, the
concept of talent is revised as a complex, dynamical system in which future
behaviours emerge from an interaction of key determinants such as psychobehavioural
characteristics, motor abilities, and physical characteristics. A generic
model of talent identification and development (TID) that addresses these issues, and
resources that enable its practical application, is proposed. Initial findings from this
pilot study are discussed and implications for further work are provided. | en |
