TY - JOUR

T1 - The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World’s Best Sporting Talent

AU - Rees, Tim

AU - Hardy, Lew

AU - Gullich, Arne

AU - Abernethy, Bruce

AU - Cote, Jean

AU - Woodman, Tim

AU - Montgomery, Hugh

AU - Laing, Stuart

AU - Warr, Chelsea

N1 - The initial development of the manuscript was supported by a research grant from UK Sport

PY - 2016/8/1

Y1 - 2016/8/1

N2 - The literature base regarding the development of sporting talent is extensive, and includes empirical articles, reviews, position papers, academic books, governing body documents, popular books, unpublished theses and anecdotal evidence, and contains numerous models of talent development. With such a varied body of work, the task for researchers, practitioners and policy makers of generating a clear understanding of what is known and what is thought to be true regarding the development of sporting talent is particularly challenging. Drawing on a wide array of expertise, we address this challenge by avoiding adherence to any specific model or area and by providing a reasoned review across three key overarching topics: (a) the performer; (b) the environment; and (c) practice and training. Within each topic sub-section, we review and calibrate evidence by performance level of the samples. We then conclude each sub-section with a brief summary, a rating of the quality of evidence, a recommendation for practice and suggestions for future research. These serve to highlight both our current level of understanding and our level of confidence in providing practice recommendations, but also point to a need for future studies that could offer evidence regarding the complex interactions that almost certainly exist across domains.

AB - The literature base regarding the development of sporting talent is extensive, and includes empirical articles, reviews, position papers, academic books, governing body documents, popular books, unpublished theses and anecdotal evidence, and contains numerous models of talent development. With such a varied body of work, the task for researchers, practitioners and policy makers of generating a clear understanding of what is known and what is thought to be true regarding the development of sporting talent is particularly challenging. Drawing on a wide array of expertise, we address this challenge by avoiding adherence to any specific model or area and by providing a reasoned review across three key overarching topics: (a) the performer; (b) the environment; and (c) practice and training. Within each topic sub-section, we review and calibrate evidence by performance level of the samples. We then conclude each sub-section with a brief summary, a rating of the quality of evidence, a recommendation for practice and suggestions for future research. These serve to highlight both our current level of understanding and our level of confidence in providing practice recommendations, but also point to a need for future studies that could offer evidence regarding the complex interactions that almost certainly exist across domains.

U2 - 10.1007/s40279-016-0476-2

DO - 10.1007/s40279-016-0476-2

M3 - Article

VL - 46

SP - 1041

EP - 1058

JO - Sports Medicine

JF - Sports Medicine

SN - 0112-1642

IS - 8

ER -