The Role of Psychological Characteristics in Facilitating the Pathway to Elite Performance Part 1: Identifying Mental Skills and Behaviors

Abstract

Given the complexity of the talent development process, it seems likely that a range of psychological factors underpin an athlete's ability to translate potential into top-class performance. Therefore, the purpose of part one of this two-part investigation was to explore the attributes that facilitate the successful development of athletes from initial involvement to achieving and maintaining world-class status. Seven elite athletes and a parent of each of these athletes were interviewed regarding their own (their son's/ daughter's) development in sport. Data were content analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Although sporting achievement was conceptualized as being multidimensional, psychological factors were highlighted as the key determinants of those who emerged as talented and maintained excellence. Accordingly, we suggest that talent identification and development programs should place greater emphasis on the advancement and application of psychological behaviors at an early stage to optimize both the development and performance of athletes.Considerable research evidence attests to the role of psychological factors as determinants of elite performance. Orlick and Partington (1998), for example, identified psychological "success factors" (e.g., high level of commitment, long and short term goals, imagery, focus, pre-and in-competition plans) that distinguished successful athletes from their less successful counterparts. Supporting these find-

Comparing two measures of mental toughness

“…For example, confidence or self-belief, aspects of control and thriving on challenges have all been consistently reported as key components of MT (Crust, 2008;Jones et al, 2007;Sheard, 2010). Furthermore, recent research aimed at establishing psychological characteristics that facilitate a pathway to elite sport performance, included factors that either explicitly (i.e., self-belief, commitment) or implicitly (i.e., competitiveness, coping under pressure) correspond to the 4C's model (Macnamara, Button, & Collins, 2010).…”

The Illusion of Competency Versus the Desirability of Expertise: Seeking a Common Standard for Support Professions in Sport

“…In short, the 'it depends on the context' outcomes of carefully considered critical reflection are often inherently at odds with the 'do it this way to pass' specificity of competency assessments; at least, how they are currently employed in many sports settings. In fact, the potential to focus on features of effective performance evolution (evaluating ongoing growth rather than just current competence) is already well-established in sport, with the characteristics of both the developing individual [38,39] and the optimum development environment [40,41] having been established, applied and successfully exploited. In the support practitioner domain, it is interesting to see that coaches think similar features apply to their own profession; indeed, an orientation to which they might aspire [42].…”

Categorising and defining popular psychological terms used within the youth athlete talent development literature: a systematic review

“…They are said to enable effective talent development by allowing athletes to negotiate the inevitable challenges of talent development (e.g., transitions), engage effectively with developmental opportunities (e.g., learning opportunities), and by providing individuals with competencies to fulfil their potential (MacNamara et al, , 2010b. Well-developed psychological characteristics help athletes to stay committed and facilitate behaviours that underpin effective learning and development MacNamara et al, 2010aMacNamara et al, , 2010b. They are said to increase talented athletes' likelihood to develop into elites, whereas in the absence of these characteristics they are likely to fail at some stage of their development (MacNamara & Collins, 2011).…”

“…For example, the terms psychological characteristics, factors, qualities and attributes, as well as PCDEs (Table 1, column 1, terms 1-4 & 17) were all said to enable athletes' a) successful development, b) optimal athletic performance, c) manifestation of expertise, d) to fulfil their potential and e) to overcome inevitable hurdles of athletic development (e.g., Holland et al, 2010;Jooste et al, 2013;MacNamara et al, 2010a). In comparison, the terms psychological skills, processes, techniques, and methods, mental preparation, strategies and self-regulatory skills (Table 1, column 1, terms 7-12 & 15) were all described to regulate or enhance the development of the psychological components outlined above (e.g., Connaughton, Hanton, & Jones, 2010;Connaughton, Wadey, Hanton, & Jones, 2008;MacNamara et al, , 2010b.…”

“…; DurandBush & Salmela (2002); ; Gould et al, (2002), Holland et al, (2010); ; ; Jooste et al, (2013); ; Larsen et al, (2012); MacNamara et al, (2010a), (2010b); Weinberg et al, (2011); "…psychological characteristics (e.g., commitment, motivation, determination) facilitated the development of elite classical and non-classical musicians." (MacNamara et al, 2010a, p.53) "... psychological characteristics play a central role, and are necessary for both the acquisition and manifestation of expertise" (MacNamara et al, 2010a, p. 53) "…displayed by athletes that facilitate optimal performance."…”