Talent transfer
Issue: Volume 30 Number 4
What do Clint Robinson, Alisa Camplin and Anthony Mundine have in common? They’ve all been top athletes in at least one other sport before becoming world or Olympic champions in a different sport. Robinson successfully transferred his surf lifesaving and surf-ski paddling abilities to K1 paddling and Camplin’s background in gymnastics provided her with the framework to win two Olympic medals in aerial skiing.
Although the phenomenal talent and motivation these athletes have demonstrated is required for successful transfer from one sport to another, considerable planning and research is also crucial.
How successful is talent transfer in Australia currently? Data presented in 2004 indicates that 72 out of 256 athletes in the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) or state institute/academy sport system who transferred to a new sport and attained senior national representation did so after less than four years into their new scholarship. This means almost one in three athletes (28 per cent) who transferred sports represented their countries within one Olympiad.
Using this knowledge, the Australian Sports Commission’s National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program has developed a tool to help facilitate the talent transfer process and to retain quality athletes in the sporting system.
Initiating talent transfer
Talent transfer occurs informally, either through an athlete seeking out opportunities for themselves (based on their own intuition and motivation) or through a coach that ‘releases’ an athlete with sufficient time to try an alternative sport.
The NTID program can assist coaches and athletes enrolled in the program formally through its eTID website (see related links). Although the site was initially designed to aid in the identification of talent through general and sport specific testing, it also contains a special section catering for existing high performance athletes wishing to consider talent transfer possibilities.
Following registration, a confidential interview is organised by an NTID sports counsellor, and once the necessary one-to-one discussions have taken place, the NTID team will find places in the highest quality programs.
How do you maximise the success of talent transfer?
An athlete cannot simply walk into training and expect that they will successfully transfer to another sport. Successful talent transfer begins with a coach understanding the athlete’s positive and negative characteristics and prospects, followed by deliberate fast-track development programming.
Common positives for athletes:
- highly motivated and goal oriented
- accomplished in current sport
- great self-management skills
- good work ethic
- proven performer in competition environments
- no bad technical habits.
Common negatives for athletes:
- skill, physiology and motivation not in balance — coaches may need to help minimise injury and overtraining
- can be frustrated by inferior coaching and support environments
- impatient for success — needs to be carefully managed through realistic progressions.
Once the coach can skilfully balance the positives and negatives of the individual athlete, they can prepare a careful and deliberately managed program that will maximise the potential for successful transfer and development of the athlete’s talent.
The elements of deliberate programming that facilitate successful talent transfer, include:
- quality coaching
- sports science and sports medicine support
- provision of equipment
- competition support
- minimisation of financial outlay
- integration with high-quality athletes.
Further reading
Bullock, N, Gulbin, JP, Martin, DT, Ross, A, Holland, T and Marino, FE 2009, ‘Talent identification and deliberate programming in skeleton: ice novice to winter Olympian in 14 months’, Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(4), pp. 397–404.
Gulbin, J 2008, ‘Identifying and developing sporting experts’, in Farrow, D, Baker, J and MacMahon, C (eds.), Developing Sport Expertise: researchers and coaches put theory into practice, Routledge, London, pp. 60–72.
Halson, S, Martin, DT, Gardner, AS, Fallon, K and Gulbin, JP 2006, ‘Persistent fatigue in a female sprint cyclist after a talent-transfer initiative’, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 1, 65–9.
Oldenziel, K, Gagne, F and Gulbin, JP 2004, ‘Factors affecting the rate of athlete development from novice to senior elite: how applicable is the 10-year rule?’ abstract presented at the Pre-Olympic Congress: sports science through the ages, Athens, 6–11 August.
