Identifying important practice behaviors for the development of high-level youth athletes: Exploring the perspectives of elite coaches

Objective: Given a lack of consensus within the literature regarding which specific training behaviors are important for athlete development, and whether these behaviors are relevant across a range of sports, the main purpose of the present study was to explore training behaviors perceived to be important by coaches from team sports. Method: Focus groups were conducted with thirty high-level coaches to determine their perceptions of effective athlete behaviors within the practice (training) environment. Sessions were transcribed verbatim, then analysed using inductive content analysis. Results: 34 first level clusters of raw themes were identified, which were then grouped into eight general dimensions labelled; (a) professionalism, (b) motivation, (c) coping, (d) committed, (e) effort, (f) seeking information to improve, (g) concentration, and (h) negative behaviors. Conclusions: A detailed range of important practice behaviors and attributes emerged, providing a framework for identifying productive versus ineffective approaches to training among athletes. It is suggested that the framework developed could be used to design interventions aimed at enhancing the progression of youth team sport athletes, as well as a way of monitoring the efficacy of interventions targeted at increasing positive training behaviors. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.