Discovery and developing talent are key elements to the success of a coach. Often, some coaches rely more on discovering talent and pride themselves on their ability to find and recruit talent. Other coaches will pride themselves in the way they develop talent, and how they can help athletes put in the time and work to hone their talent. There is another approach, a holistic ecological approach to talent development….
In this week’s 3 points, I’ll discuss a holistic ecological approach to talent development, and why this approach may enhance the performance and well-being of your athletes.
1. What is a holistic ecological approach?
Based on the work of Danish Sport Psychologist, Dr. Kristoffer Henriksen, the holistic ecological approach to talent development shifts the focus away from only the individual athletes to the environments in which they develop.
Henriksen explains:
“an ecological approach to talent development is more than discovering talent and developing their skill in practice, it sees the individual situated in an environment and the environment playing a significant role in how consistently organizations can develop talent.”
2. The holistic ecological approach is comprised of two separate frameworks. First, is the Athlete Talent Development Environment (ATDE), which provides a framework to describe the environment:
As you can see, the ATDE model is ecological in the sense that it:
Regards the development of an athlete is influenced by the context surrounding the athlete.
It includes both the athletic and the non-athletic domains and sees athletes as whole people.
Is concerned with psychosocial development on and off the field of performance.
Henriksen’s research suggests, “environments are most successful in supporting athletes when the efforts of different parts of the environment (e.g., school, club coaches, national team coaches, parents, and others) are integrated rather than fragmented or in opposition.”
The second framework that the Holistic Ecological Approach sits on is the Environment Success Factors (ESF), which summarizes factors influencing the effectiveness of the environment:
From this model, we can see how resources (preconditions) and the daily routines (process) lead to three outcomes: athletes' individual development and achievements, team achievements, and organizational development and culture.
3. So how can you create an environment that promotes talent development, performance, and well-being?
Treat athletes are people first and recognize the context around them influences their development. Who and what around the athlete is influencing their development? Can you help get the athletes’ parents, club coach, trainer, etc., and your staff on the same page? Doing so will promote an integrated environment that will allow for development.
Within your own environment, how can you create stability and clarity amongst the athletes and coaches? According to Henriksen, “environments are most successful when they have a strong and coherent culture, characterized by espoused and enacted values being aligned.”
Curious as to what this can look like more specifically? A recent meta-analysis looked at talent development environments and identified practices that were associated with a holistic approach and those that are not: