Volume 7 Issue 3

This research conducted with chess players and non-chess players examines the efficiency of decision-making capacities of both populations. Experts are characterized by superior performances by individuals in a wide range of domains. Salthouse (1991) has shown that decision-making capacities could be an important aspect of expertise in many fields, including chess. In this study, decision-making capacities were tested through a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT, Bechara et al., 1994) on a population differing in terms of expertise level in chess. Our study shows that expert chess players attain better IGT results than non-chess players or amateur chess players. A complementary cluster analysis, rarely used in IGT research, revealed differences in terms of strategies between our three experimental groups.

Decision making related to the future potential of athletes has become a significant area of research attention. Talent selection decisions in sport are considered complex, highly nuanced, and influenced by a multitude of factors. The purpose of this study was to explore individual and systemic factors influencing talent selection decision making in team sports. Twelve experienced recruitment professionals, across three professional male team sports, participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that organizational and contextual factors influence both individual judgements and the wider selection process. These factors are considered through micro (individual), meso (organization) and macro (system) lenses. There was an appreciation that not all selection decisions are the same, carrying different degrees of uncertainty based on the stage of the talent system. The context of decisions varied between systems, with a variety of processes being used to manage the inherent uncertainty of selection. In addition, systems aimed to reduce the consequences of “non-selection” and reduction in the use of “one-off” selections. Because of this complexity, there is a need for research to consider the wider system in which selection decisions are taken. In practice, we suggest that talent systems are shaped in a manner that encourages more “hedge-trimming” type decisions (allowing for continuing opportunity), rather than “tree-felling” (in or out) decisions.

Across high-performance sports, a growing number of specialized expert practitioners within team staffs is becoming the norm, and the emergence of “skill acquisition specialists” (SAS) has been noted over recent years. While these SAS aim to support teams and coaches in designing and facilitating effective practice and performance environments for individual athletes, there are additional opportunities that would positively affect high-performance sports organizations and build bridges between departments. Hence, by elaborating on the role of SAS with the potential benefits, responsibilities, collaboration opportunities, and a formal job description, this position paper aims to merge contemporary theory based on an ecological dynamics rationale with a “pracademic” perspective on athlete development and performance preparation. We make several arguments for why every high-performance sports organization needs SAS support and aim for key decision-makers in sports to understand the benefits of SAS. Constantly highlighting an athlete-environment-centered perspective on coaching, several concepts such as constraints, representative learning design, affordances, alive movement problems, and dexterity are brought to life by expanding on the SAS role in detail and providing examples for practical application of the role in high-performance sport coaching.