ISSP Position Stand: To Sample or to Specialize? Seven Postulates About Youth Sport Activities that Lead to Continued Participation and Elite Performance

A comprehensive approach to sport expertise should consider the entire situation that is comprised of the person, the task, the environment, and the complex interplay of these components (Hackfort, 1986). Accordingly, the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007; Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007) provides a comprehensive framework for sport expertise that outlines different pathways of involvement in sport. In pathways one and two, early sampling serves as the foundation for both elite and recreational sport participation. Early sampling is based on two main elements of childhood sport participation: 1) involvement in various sports and 2) participation in deliberate play. In contrast, pathway three shows the course to elite performance through early specialization in one sport. Early specialization implies a focused involvement on one sport and a large number of deliberate practice activities with the goal of improving sport skills and performance during childhood. This paper proposes seven postulates regarding the role that sampling and deliberate play, as opposed to specialization and deliberate practice, can have during childhood in promoting continued participation and elite performance in sport.

An Integrative Definition of Coaching Effectiveness and Expertise

The purpose of the current paper is to present an integrative definition of coaching effectiveness and expertise that is both specific and conceptually grounded in the coaching, teaching, positive psychology, and athletes' development literature. The article is organized into six sections. The first section is used to situate the proposed definition in the predominant conceptual models of coaching. The second, third, and fourth sections provide detailed discussion about each of the three components of the proposed definition of coaching effectiveness: (a) coaches' knowledge, (b) athletes' outcomes, and (c) coaching contexts. The proposed definition is presented in the fifth section along with a clarification of common terminology and guiding postulates. The final section includes implications for practice and research.

A Developmental Approach to Sport Expertise

This chapter examines the personal and contextual factors of youth sport that affect sport expertise and developmental outcomes. The developmental model of sport participation (DMSP) is used as a comprehensive framework that outlines different pathways of involvement in sport. Activities and contexts that promote continued sport participation and expert performance are discussed as the building blocks of all effective youth sport programs. This chapter provides evidence that performance in sport, participation, and psychological development should be considered as a whole instead of as separate entities by youth sport programmers. Adults in youth sports (i.e. coaches, parents, sport psychologists, administrators) must consider the differing implications of concepts such as deliberate play, deliberate practice, sampling, specialization, and program structure at different stages of an athlete's talent development. Seven postulates are presented regarding important transitions in youth sport and the role that sampling and deliberate play, as opposed to specialization and deliberate practice, can have during the childhood in promoting continued participation and elite performance in sport