Competitive strategies among elite female gymnasts: An exploration of the relative influence of psychological skills training and natural learning experiences

Abstract

The purposes of this qualitative study were, (a) to compare the competitive strategies developed by national and international female gymnasts through natural learning experiences, (b) to compare the competitive strategies used by national gymnasts who benefited from a psychological skills training (PST) program to those developed by international gymnasts via natural learning experiences, and (c) to investigate the functions these strategies served in the two aforementioned cases. Individual in‐depth interviews were conducted with three international and six national gymnasts. Three of the six national gymnasts followed a PST, whereas the other three did not. The international gymnasts never benefited from PST neither before nor during the study. The results indicated that the strategies developed through natural experiences over time by the international gymnasts were wider and more elaborate than those of their national counterparts, but akin to those used by the national gymnasts who had benefited from a PST. The specific consequences of the characteristics of the international context and psychological skills training on the strategies gymnasts elaborated were also highlighted. Results are discussed relative to research on deliberate practice and sport talent development (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch‐Romer, 1993).

Key words:

• competitive strategies
• elite gymnasts
• psychological skills training
• natural learning experience