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Sports Medicine
Published in: Sports Medicine 1/2018

01-01-2018 | Systematic Review

Talent Identification in Sport: A Systematic Review

Authors: Kathryn Johnston, Nick Wattie, Jörg Schorer, Joseph Baker

Published in: Sports Medicine | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Talent identification (TID) programs are an integral part of the selection process for elite-level athletes. While many sport organizations utilize TID programs, there does not seem to be a clear set of variables that consistently predict future success.

Objective

This review aims to synthesize longitudinal and retrospective studies examining differences between performance variables in highly skilled and less-skilled athletes in elite-level sport.

Methods

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to identify relevant studies (N = 20).

Results

There was a clear overrepresentation of studies that (1) examined physical profiles of athletes (60%); (2) focused on male samples (65%); (3) examined athletes between the ages of 10 and 20 years (60%); and (4) were published between the years 2010 and 2015 (65%). On closer examination, there was a high degree of variability in the factors that were found to discriminate between skilled and less-skilled individuals.

Conclusion

Findings from this review highlight how little is known about TID in elite sport and emphasize the need for greater diversity in TID research.
Footnotes
1
Samples in the 10- to 20-year age category likely have a high degree of variability due to the inconsistency of age parameters provided in the studies.
 
2
An additional article from Barreiros and Fonseca [37] met our criteria, however due to the similarities to the Barreiros et al. [28] article, the study was not included.
 
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Metadata
Title
Talent Identification in Sport: A Systematic Review
Authors
Kathryn Johnston
Nick Wattie
Jörg Schorer
Joseph Baker
Publication date
01-01-2018
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Sports Medicine / Issue 1/2018
Print ISSN: 0112-1642
Electronic ISSN: 1179-2035
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0803-2

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