The role of psychosocial support training in sports talent development

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of psychosocial support training for talent development in sports. Four elite Brazilian athletes, two males, and two females were interviewed. The grounded theory methodology was employed to analyze the data. The participants evaluated the psychosocial support training as instrumental to their talent development. They highlighted the following dimensions of the training: biofeedback, mentalization techniques, and feelings of knowing what to do under pressure. The findings of this study pointed out that factors associated with psychosocial support training, such as psychological strength, mastery orientation style, and tactical discipline, may contribute to athletes’ eminent performance. When applied to elite athletes, psychosocial support training may improve performance and psychosocial development. Theoretical and practical implications of this study considering talent development in different domains are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Talent development
• sports
• psychosocial support
• training

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is based on a masters’ thesis completed by the first author, with support from the Coordination of Higher Education Personnel Development (CAPES – Finance code 001). Luis Orione is now at the University of Connecticut as a Ph.D. student.

Notes on contributors

Luis Orione

Luis Orione Ferreira is a first-year Educational Psychology Doctorate student at the University of Connecticut at the Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development Program. He got a Master’s degree in Human Development and Health from the University of Brasília. Luis is currently a research assistant, working at the Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Storrs CT, where he supports the development of mentoring programs for UConn’s undergraduate students. He is interested in the role of psychosocial supporting tools in demanding talent development contexts. In 2020 he was awarded the Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis Renzulli scholarship.

Denise de Souza Fleith

Denise de Souza Fleith, PhD, senior researcher and a full professor in the Institute of Psychology at the University of Brasilia teaches graduate and post-graduate courses in Psychology and supervises Master and PhD students with research interests in gifted education, talent development and creativity. She is a researcher at the National Council for the Development of Science and Technology in Brazil, the president-elect of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, and a founder member of the Brazilian Council for Giftedness. She is on the Editorial Board of the Gifted Education International and the Journal for the Education of the Gifted.

Fabrízio Veloso

Fabrízio Veloso is a psychologist, a specialist in Neuropsychology and a PhD in Neurosciences and Behavior from the University of São Paulo. He is a sports psychologist of the Brazilian Paralimpic Committee. His research interests are musical cognition and perception, cognition in elderly diseases and sports psychology.