Talent Identification and Development: So Much More Than Physical Ability

There’s a great phrase that goes”real talent is harder to hide than it is to find”. Athletes with real physical talent stand out – their physical talent is obvious and it will be demonstrated at training and in competition in many ways. But to realise your full potential as an athlete, it’s about so much more than muscle. It’s about all the mental, emotional and character qualities like passion, commitment, dedication, determination, drive, desire and toughness. This podcast and post discusses the concept of talent identification in sport and challenges coaches to look for more than obvious signs of talent – to look past the physical aspects of talent and to adopt a more holistic approach to developing talented athletes: one that focuses on the less tangible areas and harder to measure aspects of performance.

Performance Practice

[powerpress] Every coach in every sport will tell you that their sport is about skill. Football coaches, it’s about skill. Swimming coaches, it’s about skill. Rugby coaches, it’s about skill. Every sport believes that their sport is based on the fundamentals of the core skills of their sport. And to Read more…

Coach Education

[powerpress] I have been involved in coach education for half my life. My passion is to help coaches be all they can be because in turn, while educating coaches, their athletes can also hope to achieve and realize their full potential. But coach education, the way we’ve done it, has Read more…

Reverse Coaching

[powerpress] Reverse coaching is the topic that I use when I’m running workshops for coaching groups. You can see immediately when I say, “We’re going to talk about reverse coaching” that everyone in the room initially looks puzzled. Now let me explain reverse coaching. One of the things you’ll notice Read more…