A survey of elite and pre-elite athletes' perceptions of key support, lifestyle and performance factors.

BACKGROUND: Success at the elite level in sport is often attributed to physical prowess, technical skill, and mental attitude. However, underpinning these factors are various lifestyle, support and social factors that may contribute to successful performance, but which may be absent from athlete development programs. METHODS: An online survey was used to investigate athlete perceptions of lifestyle practices and support services amongst 135 Australian Olympic, Paralympic, National, and state-level athletes across 25 Olympic sports. RESULTS: International athletes perceived psychological skills and attributes, along with strong interpersonal relationships as vital to their success, and they also rated 'Recovery practices' as very important and made extensive use of available support services. These athletes also indicated that they would have liked access to these services earlier in their careers, a wish that was reiterated by the sub-elite athletes. Furthermore, athletes wanted greater knowledge, mentoring, and autonomy earlier in their careers, and the importance of 'athlete wellbeing' as well as 'athletic performance' was evident in a number of contexts. CONCLUSIONS: An athlete development system into which these are included may assist in generating an environment that facilitates athlete success, repeated podium performances, retain athletes in high-performance sport for longer, encourage human-flourishing, wellbeing and smooth transitions for retiring athletes.

The global evolution of talent promotion within Olympic sports: A focus on the national systems and contribution of the former German Democratic Republic, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

In this chapter we chronicle and explore the global evolution of national level talent promotion through the lens and respective journeys of the former German Democratic Republic, Australia and the United Kingdom. Whilst ideologically vastly different, core elements of talent promotion were mirrored and extended within the next national iteration. Key learnings obtained from this historical and comparative exploration serve to provide excellent learnings for policy makers, strategists, practitioners and researchers to support the review and development of current and future national talent promotion systems.

Does ankle tape improve proprioception acuity immediately after application and following a netball session? A randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether ankle tape applied by a Sport and Exercise Physiotherapist (SEP) or self-applied by the athlete results in a change in proprioception and whether it is maintained during a netball session. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Australian Institute of Sport. PARTICIPANTS: 53 pre-elite netball athletes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Athlete proprioception was assessed using the Active Movement Extent Discrimination Apparatus (AMEDA) on four occasions for each taping condition: 1) pre-tape, 2) post-tape, 3) post-netball & 4) post-netball no-tape. RESULTS: Mixed effect linear models were used for analysis. A significant increase in proprioception was observed when self-tape: 0.022 (95% CI: [-0.000 - 0.044], p = 0.05), and SEP tape: 0.034 (95% CI: [0.012-0.055], p < 0.01), were initially applied. These improvements were maintained during a netball session for both, self-taping: 0.01 (95% CI: [-0.01 - 0.02], p = 0.45) and SEP-taping: <0.01 (95% CI: [-0.02 - 0.01], p = 0.56). Results also indicate there was no significant difference between taping conditions (ß = -0.001, 95% CI: [-0.02 - 0.02], p = 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: Proprioception improves and is maintained during a netball session with either SEP or self-applied taping.

"It takes a village": the sources and types of support in development of male cricket players.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the different types of support (e.g., financial, informational) and support providers (e.g., fathers, siblings) in the development of male cricket players across different levels of skill expertise. METHODS: A quantitative questionnaire (developed as a part of a broader Australian Research Council Linkage project) assessing support providers and types of support accessed by players was distributed to participants through involvement with a national sporting organisation. Descriptive trends across support types for each provider were explored for the total cohort of athletes, n=1383 (as relative percentages), and community and elite differences were explored using chi-squared analyses (p<0.05). RESULTS: Mothers and fathers were primary providers of financial and emotional support (>80%), mentors offered meaningful sport-specific informational and technical (or coaching related) support, and siblings and peers played an integral development role in acting as fellow participants for practice and play. Access to coaching emerged as a dominant point of difference between community and elite players consistently across all support providers (p<0.05). Mentors and siblings also featured more frequently for elite players across broader ranges of support factors (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Regardless of level of skill expertise, there were unique context-specific roles that different providers played in supporting cricket players. When differentiating between levels of expertise, elite players drew on more "contact" points to assist them in accessing the right type of coaching. Mentors and siblings also featured more frequently for elite players across a broader range of support factors. Taken together, these findings show that elite players are distinguished in their reliance on multiple components within a complex family system, bolstered by additional significant others. This work further underscores the previously limited exploration of social networks in athlete development, highlighting avenues for continued enquiry and action in sport development systems.

"Dad! Let's go have a hit ": Sources and types of support in female cricket players.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the different types of support and different support providers in female cricket players (n=101), and to understand whether these support types or providers differ relative to level of skill expertise. METHOD: A quantitative questionnaire (developed as a part of a broader Australian Research Council Linkage project) was distributed to participants through involvement with a national sporting organisation. Descriptive trends across support types for each provider were explored for the total cohort of athletes (as relative percentages) and community and elite differences were explored using chi-squared analyses (p<0.05). RESULTS: Mothers and fathers were primary givers of financial and emotional support (>70% for both parents across the entire cohort), mentors offered meaningful sport specific informational and technical (or coaching related) support and siblings and peers played integral roles acting as fellow participants for practice and play. Access to coaching also emerged as a dominant point of difference between community and elite cricket players consistently across all support providers (p<0.05). The father emerged as a dominant provider of support for elite players across five different dimensions of support (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Several characteristics related to support provider and support type for female players were consistent with male players (general parental financial and emotional support provision and access to quality coaching present across all support providers). A key outcome from this study was evidence of the specific role that fathers play in the development of elite female cricket players.

A prospective study of health problems at the 2018 17/U and 19/U Australian National Netball Championships with comparison of surveillance methodology.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence, site, nature and cause of injuries sustained during and four weeks following the 2018 Australian National Netball Championships (ANNC's) using medical attention and self-report surveillance tools. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHOD: Injuries were recorded prospectively using medical attention and self-report data collection methods. One hundred and ninety-two athletes competed at the 2018 ANNC's with 96 athletes in each age group (17/U & 19/U). RESULTS: There were 103 medical attention injuries sustained by 80 athletes resulting in an incidence rate of 89.4 per 1000 player hours. The most frequently recorded medical attention injury diagnoses across both age groups were lateral ankle ligament sprain (n=14, 13.6%), foot blisters (n=11, 10.7%), and lumbar pain (n=10, 9.7%). Ankle sprains (n=4), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures (n=3) and concussion (n=3) recorded as the highest sports incapacity injuries. The self-report data collection revealed that 46 (27.2%) athletes arrived at the tournament with an existing self-reported injury/illness and 57 (39.3%) athletes had a self-reported injury/illness at the conclusion of the ANNC (RR 1.44 95%CI 1.05-1.99, p=0.030). CONCLUSION: There are no recent studies reporting injury rates specifically in pre-elite netball players. This study found an incidence rate of 89.4 per 1000 player hours. Ankle sprains are the highest medical attention and sports-incapacity injury in pre-elite netball athletes. Foot blisters and low back pain also feature in the highest medical attention injuries and ACL rupture and concussion were high sports incapacity injuries at the ANNC's. Finally, combining both the medical attention and self-report injury/illness data collection methods identified more injuries/illnesses than the use of one method alone.

Injury prevention strategies specific to pre-elite athletes competing in Olympic and professional sports - A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and evaluate injury prevention interventions for pre-elite athletes who compete in an Olympic or professional sport. DESIGN: Systematic review. METHODS: This review was prospectively registered (PROSPERO CRD42017065083) and a systematic electronic search was conducted in May 2017. The following inclusion criteria were applied: (1) studies including and analysing data specific to pre-elite athletes (determined by the T3/T4 levels of the FTEM model); (2) featured injury prevention interventions; (3) provided sufficient data related to injury such that the effect can be analysed e.g. injury rates, incidence, prevalence, injury rate ratios; (4) featured randomised and non-randomised controlled trials or prospective cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 13,480 articles were retrieved with 121 titles identified and 11 studies satisfying the inclusion criteria. No studies demonstrated a low risk of bias. Four different interventions were identified: exercise (n=7, 64%), psychological (n=2, 18%), equipment (n=1, 9%), nutrition (n=1, 9%). Of the seven exercise interventions, four showed a protective effect and three found no significant effect, providing conflicting evidence. Caution is advised due to high risk of bias, low intervention reporting and minimal evidence for implementation planning in all seven studies. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited evidence from level 2 and 3 studies suggesting exercise and psychology interventions may prevent injury in pre-elite athletes. There is an absence of evidence to support the use of equipment and nutrition interventions in pre-elite athletes. There is a need for quality research designs confirming the clinical impact of existing injury prevention interventions for pre-elite athletes.

Lifestyles and mindsets of Olympic, Paralympic and world champions: is an integrated approach the key to elite performance?

OBJECTIVES: The holy grail of any nation in the global sporting race is to better understand, replicate and sustain podium winning performances on the world stage. International sporting bodies advocate a holistic approach to the athletic profile and environmental and system-level factors required for world-class sporting performance, yet key lifestyle, relational, training and performance practices are commonly overlooked. We aimed to explore the contribution, interplay, and impact of lifestyle and psychological factors among a sample of world-class, champion athletes. METHODS: Open-ended, semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 World, Olympic and Paralympic Champion athletes that covered their sporting development and athletic profile including their mindset, training and competition practices, along with lifestyle and other key factors to which they attributed their success. A thematic approach guided by grounded theory principles, was employed to source and analyse their perspectives and experiences and determine common themes. RESULTS: Four dominant and overlapping themes emerged: psychological attributes, interpersonal relationships, performance strategies and lifestyle practices. All athletes attributed their success to psychological rather than physical factors, and the vast majority relied on mental rehearsal skills and recovery practices. CONCLUSION: The athletic profile and support required to reach and sustain podium-level performance is multidimensional, integrated and individualised and psychological factors are paramount. Championship performance is likely to occur at the intersection of psychological prowess, interpersonal support, effective performance strategies and lifestyle. An integrated approach inclusive of these dimensions can be used to guide athlete development and support at both an individual level and a collective level.

Is international junior success a reliable predictor for international senior success in elite combat sports?

Currently in the literature, there is a dearth of empirical research that confirms whether international junior success is a reliable predictor for future international senior success. Despite the uncertainty of the junior-senior relationship, federations and coaches still tend to use junior success as a predictor for long-term senior success. A range of former investigations utilising a retrospective lens has merely focused on success that athletes attained at junior level competitions. Success that was achieved at senior-level competitions but at a junior age was relatively ignored. This study explored to what extent international senior success can be predicted based on success that athletes achieved in either international junior level competitions (i.e. junior medalists) or senior competitions at a junior age (i.e. early achievers). The sample contains 4011 international male and female athletes from three combat sports (taekwondo, wrestling and boxing), who were born between 1974 and 1990 and participated in both international junior and senior-level competitions between 1990 and 2016. Gender and sport differences were compared. The results revealed that 61.4% of the junior medalists and 90.4% of the early achievers went on to win international medals at a senior age. Among the early achievers, 92.2% of the taekwondo athletes, 68.4% of the wrestling athletes and 37.9% of the boxing athletes could be reliably "predicted" to win international senior medals. The findings demonstrate that specific to the three combat sports examined, international junior success appears to be an important predictor to long-term international senior success.

International Olympic Committee consensus statement on youth athletic development.

The health, fitness and other advantages of youth sports participation are well recognised. However, there are considerable challenges for all stakeholders involved-especially youth athletes-in trying to maintain inclusive, sustainable and enjoyable participation and success for all levels of individual athletic achievement. In an effort to advance a more unified, evidence-informed approach to youth athlete development, the IOC critically evaluated the current state of science and practice of youth athlete development and presented recommendations for developing healthy, resilient and capable youth athletes, while providing opportunities for all levels of sport participation and success. The IOC further challenges all youth and other sport governing bodies to embrace and implement these recommended guiding principles.

A closer look at the FTEM framework. Response to "More of the same? Comment on 'An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: a practitioner approach'".

The Foundations, Talent, Elite and Mastery (FTEM) framework was designed through the lens of a world leading high-performance sport agency to assist sporting stakeholders operationalise and research their whole of sport development pathways (Gulbin, J. P., Croser, M. J., Morley, E. J., & Weissensteiner, J. R. (2013). An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: A practitioner approach. Journal of Sport Sciences, 31, 1319-1331). In response to the commentary by MacNamara and Collins (2013) (Journal of Sports Sciences, doi:10.1080/02640414.2013. 855805), it was possible to document many inaccurate, false and misleading statements based on inattentive reading of the original article. We reinforce that: FTEM is a holistic framework of sport and athlete development and not a surrogate for a talent identification ( TID) model; bio-psycho-social components of development are liberally embedded throughout the FTEM framework; and the combined research and applied insights of development practitioners provide strong ecological validity for the consideration of stakeholders looking to explore applied approaches to athlete pathway management.

Patterns of performance development in elite athletes.

This investigation sought to contrast generalised models of athlete development with the specific pathway trajectories and transitions experienced by 256 elite athletes across 27 different sports. All participants completed the National Athlete Development Survey and within it, the Athlete Development Triangle featuring the differentiation of junior and senior competition experience and progression. Developmental initiation; prevalence, magnitude and direction of pathway trajectory; extent of concurrent junior and senior competitive experience; and variability between sports were examined. Three major trajectories were identified in relation to athlete transition from Nil competition to Elite competition, via junior and senior competition phases. These included Pure ascent (16.4%), Mixed ascent (26.2%) and Mixed descent (57.4%). These were further partitioned into eight sub-trajectories, demonstrating a mix of linear, crossover and concurrent competition profiles. Substantial variability with regard to starting age, pattern of ascent and magnitude of transition was apparent. Non-linear trajectories were experienced by the majority of athletes (83.6%), with pure junior to senior developmental linearity evident in less than 7% of cases. Athletes in cgs sports (those measured in centimetres, grams or seconds) were less likely (43%) to experience a descending trajectory in comparison with non-cgs athletes (70%; p<0.001). The collective findings of this investigation demonstrate that, contrary to the popular pyramidal concept of athlete development, a single linear assault on expertise is rare, and that the common normative junior to senior competition transition is mostly characterised by complex oscillations featuring highly varied transitions. More developmental 'granularity' is needed to advance our understanding of sport expertise.

An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: a practitioner approach.

This paper introduces a new sport and athlete development framework that has been generated by multidisciplinary sport practitioners. By combining current theoretical research perspectives with extensive empirical observations from one of the world's leading sport agencies, the proposed FTEM (Foundations, Talent, Elite, Mastery) framework offers broad utility to researchers and sporting stakeholders alike. FTEM is unique in comparison with alternative models and frameworks, because it: integrates general and specialised phases of development for participants within the active lifestyle, sport participation and sport excellence pathways; typically doubles the number of developmental phases (n = 10) in order to better understand athlete transition; avoids chronological and training prescriptions; more optimally establishes a continuum between participation and elite; and allows full inclusion of many developmental support drivers at the sport and system levels. The FTEM framework offers a viable and more flexible alternative for those sporting stakeholders interested in managing, optimising, and researching sport and athlete development pathways.

Distinguishing psychological characteristics of expert cricket batsmen.

OBJECTIVES: This paper sought to determine the psychological characteristics and skills that are fundamental to batting success in the sport of cricket. DESIGN AND METHOD: Following on from the findings of an earlier qualitative investigation which suggested that a favourable mix of psychological attributes and skills are critical to high performance in batting (Weissensteiner et al.(10)), adult-aged batsmen of two different skill levels (highly skilled n=11; lesser skilled n=10) completed a battery of psychological tests that included measures of mental toughness (Mental Toughness Inventory), perfectionism (Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), coping ability (Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28), and optimism (Attributional Styles Questionnaire). RESULTS: Contrary to the research hypothesis, it was found that the highly skilled batsmen were only distinguishable from batsmen of lesser skill by their higher degree of global mental toughness. The skilled batsmen scored significantly higher on mental toughness dimensions relating to motivation (Personal Bests, Task Value and Commitment), coping skill (Perseverance) and self-belief (Potential). CONCLUSIONS: If mental toughness can be reliably predicted at an earlier age, it may be an attribute worthy of inclusion in future talent identification and development programs.

Hitting a cricket ball: what components of the interceptive action are most linked to expertise?

Differences in interceptive skill between highly skilled and lesser skilled cricket batsmen were examined using a batting task that required participants to strike front-foot drive strokes from a machine-projected ball to a specified target. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the width of the bat (normal, half, and third width) and target accuracy, and quality of bat-ball contact was monitored along with temporal and sequential elements of the hitting action. Analyses revealed that the highly skilled batsmen were distinguishable from less skilled counterparts by their higher accuracy under the normal and half-width bat conditions, significantly earlier initiation and completion of the front-foot stride, greater synchronization of the completion of the front-foot stride with the commencement of the downswing of the bat, and consistent timing of downswing relative to ball bounce and impact. In keeping with studies of other hitting sports, temporal and spatial coupling of the downswing to ball bounce to help minimize temporo-spatial error at the point of interception appeared critical to skilled performance. Implications for the understanding of interception and for coaching practice are briefly discussed.

The development of anticipation: a cross-sectional examination of the practice experiences contributing to skill in cricket batting.

The link between the anticipation skills of cricket batsmen and their practice histories was examined. Skilled and lesser skilled batsmen of U15, U20, and adult age completed a temporal occlusion task, in which they were required to use prerelease kinematic information to predict the type and length of delivery being bowled, and a structured interview, in which their accumulated hours of experience in organized and unorganized sporting activities were estimated. Skilled adult and U20 players showed an ability to use prerelease kinematic information to anticipate ball type that was not evident among any other group, and skilled players of all ages were distinguishable in terms of their accumulated hours of cricket-specific experience. Hours of cricket-specific practice, however, explained only a modest percentage of the variance in anticipatory skill. Discussion focuses upon future refinements to the measurement of anticipation and practice history plus the role that variables other than the quantum of cricket experience may play in developing anticipation.