Talent Identification – Mike Woodward
Talent Identification by Mike Woodward (BADMINTON England Registered Coach) Talent London gaining the right to host the Olympic Games in 2012 triggered a surge in interest in the identification and nurturing of talent in Britain. In actual fact it’s not a new concept and has been around in various guises for a number of years in a variety of countries, including East Germany, Russia, America, Australia and Romania amongst others. This surge in interest has brought with it a whole new set of terms that tend to be used interchangeably and therefore create the potential for confusion. In order to improve this situation this article aims to: o Clarify the use of terms currently used within the area of talent o Outline the characteristics of a Performance Pathway where talent can thrive o Suggest tools that can be used to identify and monitor the development of talent Talent and Ability Talent itself can be defined as “any innate or special aptitude”. Talent is very closely linked to the concept of ability which it turn can be defined as: “stable, enduring traits that, for the most part, are genetically determined and underlie performance”. So technically speaking “a talented individual” is someone who appears to have a largely genetically determined set of “abilities” in their personal toolkit that underpin their performance in a particular physical/mental task. Many eminent researchers have tried to identify a list of abilities and it is an area that creates considerable debate. Having consulted a number of people from both within and outside the sport, the following abilities that needed to be considered for badminton were identified as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Winning Characteristics Trainability and Task Mastery Tactical Awareness Co-ordination Athleticism
Talent Identification Talent identification can be defined as “a system/process by which people with excellent underpinning abilities are spotted”. Note that the definition reflects the fact that Talent Identification is still a largely a non-sports specific process. Talent identification in its purest sense is about identifying people with excellent underpinning abilities rather than necessarily sports specific skills. Some sports use a lot of tests to help identify talent. This type of approach is somewhat easier in simpler, more pure, straight line sports (e.g. athletics, swimming, rowing) or where a particular body type is desirable (e.g. basketball, volleyball). Certainly some of this type of testing could be used to spot talent with good underpinning abilities for badminton. However, the issue with badminton is that we could put players through a whole battery of tests and still not necessarily get an accurate reflection of someone’s potential badminton talent. For example, an agility test might be useful to motivate training, but in badminton unless that agility is combined with the ability to anticipate and time movements with an object being struck, then the validity of a high score can be questioned. In the future we are looking to
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Talent Identification – Mike Woodward
design a number of tests that could more accurately measure abilities that underpin badminton, but until then the trained eye of an experienced coach is probably a more accurate predictor. A few years ago one experienced coach turned up for a Talent Identification seminar and produced an “Elton John” style pair of glasses which they described as their “talent i.d. goggles”. The idea was that you put these on and were immediately able to identify from a group of players the most talented. Imagine you had a pair of these goggles – what would they allow you to see with more clarity? Bearing in mind that at this stage you are not necessarily looking for sports-specific skills, the table below gives an indicator of what talent might look like. Trainability and task mastery o Willing/able to learn o Open to advice/evaluates advice o A creative problem solver o Learns from successes and failures o Progresses quickly o Persistent Winning Characteristics o Enjoys competitive challenges o Dismisses mistakes, stays positive o Tough but fair Tactical awareness o Uses height/width/depth effectively. o Aware of own/opponent’s positioning o Creative problem solver o Uses strengths-exploits weaknesses o Organises team strategy Co-ordination o Efficient/natural throwing action o Tracks objects efficiently o Good hand-eye-foot co-ordination o Good posture and balance o Agile responses to object in flight o Quick hands/feet in response to object in flight Athleticism o Athletic build o Fast first step/Quick feet o Able to accelerate/decelerate rapidly o Powerful legs o Powerful hitting/throwing action o High endurance/recovery o Good range of movement o Agile
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Talent Identification – Mike Woodward
A Talent Identification tool based on the 5 headings listed above could be used as an aid when observing performers in a whole host of activities/sports. If you refer to the BADMINTON England website a very simple Talent Identification Tool is included in the section “Young People and Schools” – click on “Talent Identification”. So let’s assume you are fortunate enough to identify 32 young people who you rate highly in the abilities listed above. What environment do you have to provide in order to allow this talent to thrive? The Player Pathway The Player Pathway can be defined as “the general route taken by a person from a beginner to whatever level they are capable of achieving”. This general pathway can be split into two: o
The Club Pathway, which is the route of a person motivated primarily by fun, fitness/social aspects rather than task mastery. The Club Pathway is important because it can provide a thriving environment for players who have no true aspirations to develop their talents to a high level, but gain a lot of other benefits from being involved in the sport, such as fitness, social interaction, teamwork etc.
o
The Performance Pathway, which is the route that provides a person with good underpinning abilities the opportunity to achieve excellence. The Performance Pathway is the crucial area in terms of creating an environment where talent can be developed. This pathway contains many of the aspects listed under the Club Pathway, but makes more demands on the player in terms of practice and commitment to excellence. The Performance Pathway is defined by a commitment to excellence by all parties, especially players, coaches and parents.
The Performance Pathway: do you already do it? Since the Performance Pathway is so important to Talent Development, undertaking a brief examination of what creates an effective performance environment is a really useful exercise. The table below provides a Performance Pathway checklist that indicates the extent to which what you currently provide is consistent with creating a true performance environment. Note it can be applied to both an individual coach and a team of coaches. It is vital that such an evaluation is completed honestly as it gives a clear indication of the extent to which the talent you work with is being placed in a performance environment.
3
Sometimes
Often
All the time
Indicate with a tick in the correct column the extent to which you or your coaching team utilise the Performance Pathway characteristics outlined below
Rarely
Talent Identification – Mike Woodward
1
2
3
4
As a BADMINTON England coach, I/we represent the Governing Body in a positive manner I/we communicate positively with coaches outside our normal coaching team Coaches regularly observe players competing outside their normal training environment Coaches use notational systems and video to analyse matches Players are regularly reviewed in order to assess their current stage of development Long/medium/short term goals, based on player reviews/previous experience, are set Players have annual plans with periods where different types of training are emphasised Players’ emotional/cognitive/physical stage of development is accounted for in training Sessions are planned in advance on the basis of goals set Player feedback is sought, recorded and acted upon Coaching effectiveness is reviewed regularly – coaches self evaluate Coaching effectiveness is reviewed regularly – coaches in a team evaluate each other Coach education opportunities are sought that meet the individual developmental needs Mentoring/action planning is used to develop coaches Coaches from other sports are consulted to provide stimulate ideas Opportunities are provided for the coaching of players with disabilities Talent identification methodologies are used in a variety of environments/contexts Player review outcomes help to decide on movement of players in squad Players are involved in the design of their training Players have physical training programmes that are integrated with playing programmes Sports psychology is integrated into coaching practice Parent education is delivered on a regular basis Players are linked with clubs that provide competitive playing opportunities Players are supported with individually designed annual tournament programmes Players are integrated into senior competition play when appropriate
Having completed the exercise, the following scoring scale is useful: Description 0 - 50
50 - 75
75 - 100
This indicates that the current environment is somewhat short of providing the players with a true Performance Pathway. It may be that you have a lot of 2’s, in which case you need to continue with your good practice but apply it more consistently. Alternatively you may have some areas of very good practice but other areas that require a great deal of development. This score indicates you are showing some of the characteristics of a Performance Pathway. It may be you have a lot of 3’s, in which case you have a lot of areas of good practice but need to make sure these good practices are fully engrained all the time. Some areas may be clearly scored lower than others and you should target these. This indicates that you offer many of the characteristics of a Performance Pathway. The main consideration here is that you are not complacent and allow others to catch you up. The analysis will still have shown areas where you can target improvement.
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Talent Identification – Mike Woodward
Whatever your score, if you want to create a true Performance Environment, it’s important that you address the areas identified by the tool and set targets so when you reappraise in 1 year’s time you can quantify the improvements made. Talent Development and Skill The whole aim of the Performance Pathway is to provide an environment where talent can develop efficiently. Talent development can be defined as “the process of nurturing people with well-developed underpinning abilities”. It is a term that is closely linked with “skill”, which can be defined as “the capability to produce a performance with maximum certainty/minimum energy/minimum time”. In essence what you are doing when developing talent is providing a performance environment where you can effectively build the skills of people who have already been identified as having good underpinning abilities. One key aspect to developing talent is the regular monitoring of progress. Useful player review tools can be found on the BADMINTON England website. Click on “Young People and Schools” followed by “Talent Selection”. Talent confirmation and adherence So you have identified talent and are assured that you have created an excellent performance pathway that provides a superb environment in which that talent can thrive. In the early stages of training it is important to provide a period of talent confirmation. This effectively is a trial period where coaches can ascertain whether initial impressions about talent are backed up by the training behaviours that they observe. This is a vital period because ultimately the true (and some people argue the only) test of talent is a person’s ability to adhere to regular training. Talent Selection Talent selection refers to the process by which participants who have built sports-specific skills on top of underpinning abilities are chosen for various levels of squads, teams or for additional training opportunities. To a large extent talent selection is results-driven, although long-term potential is another factor that needs to be considered, especially in young players. Summary The aim of this article was to define different terms that are often used around the concept of talent. A tool was provided which can give an indication of the extent to which you currently provide a Performance Environment. In addition signposting was provided for tools that can contribute to the identification and monitoring of talent. Interestingly, whilst athleticism, tactical awareness, co-ordination etc. are all indicators of talent, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the only true indicator of talent long-term is the capacity to adhere to a long term training programme. Previously featured in Power and Precision Magazine – June 2008
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