Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2022 Aug 8;17(8):e0268554. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268554. eCollection 2022.
Talent identification and selection are critical components of competitive sport success. Despite the time, effort, and resources invested, the accuracy of selection decisions remains generally poor. While much of the scholarship in this area has focused on the factors discriminating skilled and less-skilled individuals, limited research exists on what information is used in the decision-making process for athlete selection. The current study seeks to gain a better understanding of the information used by elite distance running coaches when forming judgements for athlete selection. Ten semi-structured interviews with elite distance running coaches from across Canada were transcribed and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. It was interpreted that coaches mainly gather information using their coach's eye to determine an athlete's 'fit' to the team. Coaches also use more objective information such as race times and movement analyses to assess performance and judge future 'potential'. As well, the decisions were believed to be influenced by situational considerations at the time of the selection procedure. Specifically, these considerations affecting a coach's selection included length of time to make a decision, personal limitations in decision-making abilities, and team circumstances. Interestingly, coaches recognized limitations in their selection practices and procedures and discussed some of their personal and system-level biases, highlighting their awareness of potential selection inefficiencies/inaccuracies. Overall, distance running coaches used a variety of techniques to gather information before a selection was made, relying on both subjective and objective information for crafting judgments. Findings are discussed in relation to implications for coaches, sport organizations, and talent identification and selection programs.
人才识别与选拔是竞技体育成功的关键组成部分。尽管投入了大量的时间、精力和资源，但选拔决策的准确性通常仍然很差。尽管该领域的大部分研究都集中在区分熟练和不熟练个体的因素上，但关于运动员选拔决策过程中使用了哪些信息的研究有限。本研究旨在更深入地了解精英长跑教练在做出运动员选拔判断时所使用的信息。对来自加拿大各地的 10 名精英长跑教练进行了半结构化访谈，并使用归纳主题分析进行了转录和分析。研究结果表明，教练主要通过教练的眼光来收集信息，以确定运动员是否适合团队。教练还使用更客观的信息，如比赛时间和动作分析来评估表现并判断未来的“潜力”。此外，决策还受到选拔程序时的情境因素的影响。具体来说，影响教练选择的因素包括做出决定的时间长短、决策能力的个人限制以及团队情况。有趣的是，教练认识到他们的选拔实践和程序存在局限性，并讨论了他们个人和系统层面的偏见，强调了他们对潜在选拔效率低下/不准确的认识。总体而言，长跑教练在做出选择之前使用了各种技术来收集信息，依靠主观和客观信息来做出判断。研究结果与教练、体育组织以及人才识别和选拔计划的相关意义进行了讨论。
