Short description:

In this revised new edition of the leading student and researcher overview of the development of sports expertise, a team of world-class sport scientists and professional coaches examine the fundamental science of skill acquisition and explore the methods by which science can be applied in the real-world context of sport performance.

Long description:

The athlete development process spans from initial sport engagement to elite-level performance to effective career transition out of sport. This is a long and complicated process. Identifying and nurturing talent, fine-tuning sport skills, and maintaining high levels of performance over the course of a career requires many thousands of hours of training and, increasingly, the input and support of expert coaches and sport scientists.

In this fully revised and updated new edition of the leading student and researcher overview of the development of sport expertise, a team of world-class sport scientists and professional coaches examine the fundamental science of skill acquisition and explore the methods by which science can be applied in the real-world context of sport performance.

This book surveys the very latest research in skill acquisition, provides a comprehensive and accessible review of core theory and key concepts, and includes an innovative "Coach?s Corner" feature in each chapter, in which leading coaches offer insights from elite sport and critique contemporary practice in sport skill development. The third edition of Developing Sport Expertise will be invaluable reading for all researchers and students in the areas of expertise in sport, skill acquisition, motor control and development, sport psychology, or coaching theory and practice.

Table of Contents:

1. A Very Brief Introduction to Applied Sport Expertise

2. Sowing the Seeds of Success: Specialization, Diversification and Early Athlete Training

3. The Athletic Skills Model as a Foundation for the Development of Expertise: Creating Challenging Environments

4. Coaching for Creativity

5. Predicting Athletes? Futures ? A Necessity with Little Scientific Basis

6. The Expert Sports Official in Research and Practice

7. Developing the Expert Performance Coach

8. Evaluating Coaching Expertise

9. Technology Supported Coaching

10. Self-Regulated Learning in Sport Practice: Agency, Assessment, and Actioning

11. Data Informed Practice

12. Perception and Pressure: Research and Implications

13. Play with and Against! Insights for the Development of Decision Making in Team Sports

14. Developing Technical Skill Expertise

15. Female Sport Expertise through a Skill Acquisition Lens: A Key Future Direction