Super Champions, Champions, and Almosts: Important Differences and Commonalities on the Rocky Road

Abstract

The real-world experiences of young athletes follow a non-linear and dynamic trajectory and there is growing recognition that facing and overcoming a degree of challenge is desirable for aspiring elites and as such, should be recognized and employed. However, there are some misunderstandings of this “talent needs trauma” perspective with some research focusing excessively or incorrectly on the incidence of life and sport challenge as a feature of effective talent development. The objective of the study was to examine what factors associated with such “trauma” experiences may or may not discriminate between high, medium, and low achievers in sport, classified as super-champions, champions or almosts. A series of retrospective interviews were used with matched triads (i.e., super-champions, champions, or almosts) of performers (N = 54) from different sports. Data collection was organized in three phases. In the first phase, a graphic time line of each performer’s career was developed. The second phase explored the specific issues highlighted by each participant in a chronological sequence. The third phase was a retrospective reflection on “traumatic” motivators, coach/significant other inputs and psychological challenges experienced and skills employed. Data suggested qualitative differences between categories of performers, relating to several perceptual and experiential features of their development. No evidence was found for the necessity of major trauma as a feature of development. There was a lack of discrimination across categories of performers associated with the incidence of trauma and, more particularly, life or non-sport trauma. These findings suggest that differences between levels of adult achievement relate more to what performers bring to the challenges than what they experience. A periodized and progressive set of challenge, preceded and associated with specific skill development, would seem to offer the best pathway to success for the majority.

Exploring Traumas in the Development of Talent: What Are They, What Do They Do, and What Do They Require?

“…Counter to previous work (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012;Howells & Fletcher, 2015), there was a distinct lack of life or non-sport trauma reported; a finding more in line with the primarily sporting challenges reported in Sarkar et al (2015) and by Collins, MacNamara and McCarthy (2016). While it is impossible and illogical to separate the "person" from the "performer," it is telling that the present study's use of primary data acquired for research purposes -as per Collins, MacNamara and McCarthy (2016) and Sarkar et al (2015) -elicited notably different findings to research that has acquired secondary data from publicly consumed autobiographies (Howells & Fletcher, 2015). Accordingly, life and non-sport trauma may clearly have an impact on the individual but the extent to which these are directly linked to development in sport and one's sporting identity may be questionable.…”

“…Such minor traumas could be events such as failing to meet performance expectations, de-selection, or a change in training group. To remain consistent with prior research (e.g., Collins & MacNamara, 2012;Collins et al, 2016;Sarkar et al, 2015), a trauma is therefore defined in this paper as a memorable challenge that was perceived to disrupt a performer's development EXPLORING TRAUMAS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TALENT 5 (please note that all references to trauma from this point should be read with this definition in mind).…”

“…The criterion that participants had been on a pathway for at least six years was to increase the chances that they had gone through various stages and phases of development. As trauma can benefit performers across sport in general (rather than in specific types of sport ;Collins & MacNamara, 2011;Collins et al, 2016;Sarkar et al, 2015), our sample was also taken from different domains (athletics = 10; downhill mountain biking = 2; archery = 1; equestrian = 1; hockey = 2; judo = 1; football = 1; lacrosse = 1). The weighting towards athletics EXPLORING TRAUMAS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TALENT 9 reflected greater access to this sport; these athletes did, however, compete in a host of different events (long distance running; steeplechase; 1500m; 800m; 100m; high jump).…”

“…Of course, it is clearly important to carefully define trauma in these instances. As highlighted by Collins, MacNamara and McCarthy (2016), an Oxford English Dictionary definition of trauma means "literally wound". While trauma may therefore relate to major damage, it can also relate to more minor harm or impairment; the latter of which would reflect the scale of trauma usually experienced (and preferred) in talent development contexts; although the emotional impact may be temporarily more severe.…”

Making Champs and Super-Champs—Current Views, Contradictions, and Future Directions

“…This skill-based focus to talent development (TD) is supported extensively in the literature (e.g., MacNamara et al, 2010a,b) and suggests that the differences between levels of adult achievement relate more to what performers bring to the challenges than what they experience (Collins et al, 2016a). In this focused review we present and discuss a number of key concepts related to this paper and other parallel research in TD.…”