a Athlete Pathway Development , Australian Institute of Sport , Bruce , Australia.
Eur J Sport Sci. 2013;13(6):605-14. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2012.756542. Epub 2013 Jan 11.
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.
本研究旨在对比运动员发展的一般模式与 27 个不同运动项目的 256 名精英运动员所经历的特定路径轨迹和转变。所有参与者都完成了国家运动员发展调查，其中包括运动员发展三角，该三角以区分青少年和高级比赛经验和进展为特色。研究检查了发展起点、路径轨迹的普遍性、幅度和方向、青少年和高级竞争经验的并发程度以及运动之间的可变性。在从无竞争到精英竞争的运动员过渡方面，确定了三种主要轨迹，通过青少年和高级竞争阶段。其中包括纯上升（16.4%）、混合上升（26.2%）和混合下降（57.4%）。这些轨迹进一步分为八个子轨迹，展示了线性、交叉和并发竞争的混合模式。在起始年龄、上升模式和转变幅度方面存在明显的差异。大多数运动员（83.6%）经历了非线性轨迹，只有不到 7%的情况下出现了纯青少年到高级的线性发展。在 cgs 运动（以厘米、克或秒为单位测量）中，与非 cgs 运动员（70%；p<0.001）相比，下降轨迹的运动员比例较低（43%）。本研究的综合结果表明，与运动员发展的流行金字塔概念相反，单一的线性攻击专业技能很少见，常见的规范青少年到高级的竞争转变主要以复杂的波动为特征，具有高度多样化的转变。需要更多的发展“粒度”来提高我们对运动专业知识的理解。
