Key Factors Influencing Performance and Talent Development in Youth – Comparison with the Finnish Archery Junior National Team
Ruuskanen, Aleksandra (2023)
2023
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202305057820
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202305057820
Tiivistelmä
This thesis aimed to research what are the talent and skill development factors which contribute to the overall success of youth athletes, but more importantly youth archers. More specifically, the thesis focuses on the development of the Finnish archery association, and even more on the junior national team and the ways it could be developed. The research in this thesis was conducted by a quantitative survey.
According to the survey results, there are many different influential factors that can all contribute to the talent and skill development of a young athlete, as well as a young archer. The most influential factors are related to coaching & instruction, practice itself, and the environment & culture. The most influential performance factors in archery are mental skills, shooting technique, and life skills according to the survey.
The survey also shows that the most important performance factors that should be developed in the Finnish archery junior national team should be mental skills, shooting technique and archers physique.
In the sense of future development of the Finnish archery association and the junior national team, these skill and talent development factors as well as the performance factors should be researched further, so that it becomes evident how exactly these areas should be developed.
A clear development model should be created to map out everything so that the possible goals and methods of the development model would be clear to everyone who is related to the pro- cess. Once a development model has been created, it should be spread nationally so that the development goals of the Finnish junior national archery team are known nationwide to every- one related to the process.
Although this is the wished outcome for the future, a change like this also requires the Finnish archery association’s willingness to act on it. If there will be no change from the current way of action, no change in results in development will most likely not happen. Naturally, this change also requires cooperation from clubs and coaches around Finland, and perhaps even help from different associations as well as from the current future junior national team head coach.
According to the survey results, there are many different influential factors that can all contribute to the talent and skill development of a young athlete, as well as a young archer. The most influential factors are related to coaching & instruction, practice itself, and the environment & culture. The most influential performance factors in archery are mental skills, shooting technique, and life skills according to the survey.
The survey also shows that the most important performance factors that should be developed in the Finnish archery junior national team should be mental skills, shooting technique and archers physique.
In the sense of future development of the Finnish archery association and the junior national team, these skill and talent development factors as well as the performance factors should be researched further, so that it becomes evident how exactly these areas should be developed.
A clear development model should be created to map out everything so that the possible goals and methods of the development model would be clear to everyone who is related to the pro- cess. Once a development model has been created, it should be spread nationally so that the development goals of the Finnish junior national archery team are known nationwide to every- one related to the process.
Although this is the wished outcome for the future, a change like this also requires the Finnish archery association’s willingness to act on it. If there will be no change from the current way of action, no change in results in development will most likely not happen. Naturally, this change also requires cooperation from clubs and coaches around Finland, and perhaps even help from different associations as well as from the current future junior national team head coach.