Talent analysis by Olusionzentertainment

ITF Coaches Education Programme Coaching High Performance Players Course

TALENT SEARCH AND TALENT DETECTIONINTRODUCTION By Miguel Crespo & Machar Reid

In this session we will… • Define what talent and talent ID is • Recognise different types of talent • Know basic elements and procedures for identifying talented players • Recognise general characteristics of talented players • Apply several ideas on how to work with talented players Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Introduction What is talent in tennis? Talent is the adequate aptitude or ability in one direction, above the normal average

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Talent • “a special and natural ability” • “a capacity for achievement or success”

Components • Identifying talent in athletes who are not currently playing tennis and attracting them to the sport.

• Identifying talent in players already in the sport and helping them develop their full potential.

Talent Selection • “It is pointless to select talent for a sport unless the talent has first selected the sport.” (Dick, 1992)

• Be careful not to confuse early success with talent

Talent Development â&#x20AC;˘ The process a coach takes to help a player realize his/her full potential as a tennis player

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Introduction What is talent identification? • Talent ID is a progressive and systematic process over a period • Its goal is to identify the individuals with the best capacity to achieve success in a given sport • It takes into account the development of the most important and indispensable parameters for success in that sport

Advantages • Well-organized worldwide

• Significant health benefits

• Only requires one partner

• Money

Top Tennis Performance • Can be achieved after 8-10 years of systematic training • Can be reached by 16-17 years of age • Can be maintained to between 30-33 years of age Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Talent identification: Process • The progression from initial youth sport experiences to more elite levels is complex. • Some degree of identification and selection of talented individuals at virtually all levels of youth sports. • More formal identification and selection of individuals who presumably have the skill, physical, and behavioural requisites for success in a given sport. Malina (1997) Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Conditions for tennis performance Physiological

Other Technical

Social

Tactical Mental Coach Education Series Copyright ÂŠ ITF 2009

Physical

Trying to identify talent Talent detection/identification is: • A long term detection • The prediction of future performance of youngsters or identification of young players that will achieve success as mature players at national or international levels due to their special characteristics Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Trying to identify talent Talent selection is: • A short term detection • The prediction of the immediate performance of one or several players (i.e. who will win the tournament next week) among a group of players

WHAT IS TALENT AND WHO HAS IT?

Types of talent General motor talent Sports specific talent Sports talent

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Types of talent (I) General motor talent • Children who learn motor skills faster than others. • They have a wider and easier motor repertoire than average.

Types of talent (II) Sports talent • Children who have general sport skills and learn these skills faster than others. • They have a wider and easier sports repertoire than average.

Types of talent (III) Sports specific talent • Children who have specific skills for a given sport and learn these skills faster than others. • They have a wider and easier motor repertoire for that specific sport than average. Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Who has talent? • Physical fitness testing • Coaches expert eye

Components • Physical Characteristics • Psychological Characteristics • Intangible Characteristics

Physical Characteristics • Good Strokes

• Strength

• Speed

• Power

• Quickness

• Flexibility

• Coordination

• Aerobic Endurance

Mental/Emotional Characteristics • Drive • Desire to Compete • Internal Motivation • Confidence • Concentration • Persistence

Intangibles

• Coachability • Instinct for the game • Athleticism

General characteristics of talented players (I) • High psychomotor development • Average level of mastery in ball, paddle and racket handling • Average level of mastery in stroke production of 5 basic shots (forehand, backhand, serve, volleys) Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

General characteristics of talented players (II) • Will to improve, ambition, competitive attitude, good sportsmanship • Physiological aspects: growth rate, cardiorespiratory capacity, etc. • High speed of learning and acquiring new motor skills Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

TYPES OF TALENT IDENTIFICATION

Types of talent identification Natural selection

Scientific method

Combined approach Coach Education Series Copyright ÂŠ ITF 2009

Types of talent identification Natural selection • Usually applied in sports • A player plays tennis by chance, tradition, social influence, etc. • Pros: Most usual process, no cost • Cons: Slow development of talents, passive detection

Types of talent identification Scientific method • Applied in certain sports and countries • Individuals from a given population pass several tests • Pros: Faster development of talents, active detection • Cons: Very unusual, high cost

Types of talent identification Combined approach • Using talent ID procedures with individuals who have taken up a given sport • Taking into account the exceptions and the subjective criteria of coaches as well as the scientific data of the test

Basic pre-requisites for identifying talented players (I)

Massive number of players

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Clear and functional structure of playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; progression: schools, clubs, local or regional training centres, national training centre

Basic pre-requisites for identifying talented players (II) Teachers with clear goals, methodology and necessary ability to enable players to pass from one stage to another Coach Education Series Copyright ÂŠ ITF 2009

Good evaluation and detection procedures and methods: - performance criteria - skills needed - instruments for evaluation

Criteria determining talented players Physical capabilities

Psychological capabilities

Specific Skills

Detection indicators Performance level

Rate of improvement of performance

Performance stability, improvement potential

Procedures for identifying talented players (I) • Antecedents and background: Personal interview with the child and with the family • Psychological: Behaviour, personality, motivation, mental characteristics needed for tennis, interest and determination of the youngster Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Procedures for identifying talented players (II) • Physiological: Height, weight, body somatotype and other anthropometric / biometric measurements • Health: General condition • Heredity: Hereditary factors Coach Education Series Copyright © ITF 2009

Procedures for identifying talented players (III) • Motor: Jump, run, throw, catch and coordination test, simple all round activities • Technical: Observation of tennis technique and overall motor skills

Measurements for identifying talented players (I) • Physical tests: jump test, throw test, hand-eye co-ordination test, movement (spider, hexagon) test. • Physiological tests: Height, weight, arm span, ectomorphism, fat percentage in muscle, etc. • Empirical judgement of the coach: Based on own experiences

Measurements for identifying talented players (II) • Psychological tests: Motivation, selfconfidence and self-esteem, attentionconcentration, personality, intelligence tests, personal meeting and interview • Technical-tactical tests: stroke production observation, consistency and control of shots, tactical use of shots in five tactical situations

Talent ID for male and female tennis players • Some authors think that ID methods should be the same • Girls may be better earlier than boys • Girls may need to be better earlier on if they want to be successful • In several National Associations e.g, German Tennis Federation, there is no difference

Talent ID and early specialisation • Kids are not little adults • Encourage: – A multi-activities environment (e.g. music, sport, friends, etc.) – A multi-sport practice (football, swimming, basketball, tennis, etc.) – Emphasise academic achievements

Sport Specialization • Age factor • Broad based sports experience • Athleticism & coordination • Variety is good!

Phases of talent identification 3rd phase: 16 years old on, Medical exam, functional test 2nd phase: 10-15 years old, Medical exam, functional test 1st phase: 4-8 years old, Medical exam

Best age groups to define talent 10-11 years

15-16 years Why?

- Greatest changes in mobility - Components of the structure of mobility are closely linked together Coach Education Series Copyright ÂŠ ITF 2009

Successive testing to identify and confirm talent Introduction to tennis 4-8 yrs

Initial testing Basic training 9-12 yrs

Recreational Sport

High performance High level training

Recreational Sport

Advanced testing

Interm-Advanced Training 14-17