Talent identification and development are two of the most critical, yet underexplored, areas in sport sciences. Despite its importance to a host of sport stakeholders, there is a void in our understanding of how coaches construct talent. In an effort to learn more, semistructured interviews were conducted with nine (one female and eight male) collegiate-level coaches from a single Canadian institution. Social constructionism was utilized as the theoretical framework to guide this research. Reflexive thematic analysis generated two main themes: “what talent looks like” and “how talent behaves.” For the former, two subthemes, physical and psychological attributes, were highlighted through the coaches’ experiences as qualities they believe talented athletes may present. The latter reflected opinions that talent may be multidimensional and context-specific in nature. Interestingly, the coaches suggested the context and circumstances of collegiate sport may nudge them to consider other elements (i.e., academic standing, years to degree completion) during talent identification that are unique to this context. Future work in this area could seek to study other populations of coaches to provide a deeper analysis of how talent is situated in relation to different sociocultural worlds.
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“I Can’t Teach You to Be Taller”: How Canadian, Collegiate-Level Coaches Construct Talent in Sport
Justine Jones, Kathryn Johnston, and Joseph Baker
Physical Activity, Age, and Arthritis: Exploring the Relationships of Major Risk Factors on Biopsychosocial Symptomology and Disease Status
Rachael C. Stone and Joseph Baker
The prevalence of arthritis in aging populations continues to rapidly grow. Research has highlighted 2 principal risk factors for progression of arthritis-related biopsychosocial symptoms: age and physical inactivity. This study examined the relationship between and within physical activity and age on biopsychosocial symptoms of arthritis in adults (age ≥ 30 yr). Hierarchical, multiple-regression analyses were conducted on the Canadian Community Health Survey (Cycle 4.2, 2009–2010, N = 19,103). Results revealed that more-active adults had significantly fewer symptoms (physical unstd. B = −.23, p ≤ .001; pyschosocial unstd. B = −.51, p ≤ .001). In addition, as age increased, physical symptoms intensified and psychosocial symptoms tapered (physical unstd. B = .24, p ≤ .001; psychosocial unstd. B = −.45, p ≤ .001). Inactive older adults had the highest level of physical symptoms, while inactive younger adults had the highest level of psychosocial symptoms (p ≤ .001). Findings highlight the need to target physical activity interventions to specific age cohorts and particular biopsychosocial symptomologies.
Publishing Productivity in Sport Psychology 1970–2000: An Exploratory Examination of the Lotka-Price Law
Joseph Baker, Jennifer Robertson-Wilson, and Whitney Sedgwick
The current study examined whether the distribution of published research papers in the field of sport psychology followed the Lotka-Price Law of scientific productivity. All authors who had published articles in five sport psychology journals from 1970 to 2000 were considered. The impact of those authors was determined by the total number of published papers in all journals. Results provided limited support for the Lotka-Price Law; however, it appeared that the field of sport psychology was less elitist than other fields. Although these findings suggest that productivity in this field is similar to that in other fields of science, more research is needed to shed light on the role of the eminent scientist and the average researcher in the advancement of knowledge in sport psychology.
Association Between Body Mass Index, Physical Activity, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Canadian Adults
Alina Cohen, Joseph Baker, and Chris I. Ardern
Background:
Obesity is associated with impairments in health-related quality of life (HRQL), whereas physical activity (PA) is a promoter of HRQL.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between BMI and PA with HRQL in younger and older Canadian adults.
Methods:
Data from the 2012 annual component of the Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 48,041; = 30 years) were used to capture self-reported body mass index (BMI-kg/m2), PA (kcal/kg/day, KKD), and HRQL. Interactions between PA and age on the BMI and HRQL relationship were assessed using general linear models and logistic regression.
Results:
Those younger (younger: μ = 0.79 ± 0.02; older: μ = 0.70 ± 0.02) and more active (active: μ = 0.82 ± 0.02; moderately active: μ = 0.77 ± 0.03; inactive: μ = 0.73 ± 0.01) reported higher HRQL. Older inactive underweight, normal weight, and overweight adults have lower odds of high HRQL.
Conclusion:
PA was associated with higher HRQL in younger adults. In older adults, BMI and PA influenced HRQL.
What Do We Know About the Value of Sport for Older Adults? A Scoping Review
Shruti Patelia, Alia Mazhar, and Joseph Baker
Issues relating to older adults in sport are ongoing topics of interest among sport scientists; however, our knowledge on how older athletes have been studied is incomplete, which has implications for understanding the comprehensiveness of this evidence base. This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of how sport and older adults have been studied since the first World Masters Games. Data on research topics, research methods, sport-specific information, and demographic information on older athletes were collected and reviewed. Results suggest older athletes who are White, male, and competitive athletes have largely been the focus of research. In addition, results highlight an alarming number of unreported data related to the demographics of athlete samples. As a result, the well-documented benefits of sport may reflect a homogenous group of older adults, limiting our overall understanding of aging and sport and the value of this research for developing evidence-informed policy.
Curling for Confidence: Psychophysical Benefits of Curling for Older Adults
Rachael C. Stone, Zina Rakhamilova, William H. Gage, and Joseph Baker
While physical activity is increasingly promoted for older adults, there is a paucity of sport promotion, which has distinct benefits from exercise and remains stereotypically associated with younger age. Curling is a moderately intense and safe sport that continues to gain popularity; however, no research has investigated psychophysical benefits of curling for older adults. The present study compares high-experience (20+ years; n = 63) and low-experience (<20 years; n = 53) curlers (aged 60+ years) with older adult noncurlers (n = 44) on measures of daily functionality, balance confidence, and perceptions of the aging process. While no significant differences were found between high- and low-experience curlers, any level of experience reported significantly better functionality, physical confidence, and aging attitudes compared to noncurlers (p ≤ .05). Although further research is necessary, the results suggest that any level of curling experience can enhance older adult psychophysical well-being, and warrants consideration for physical activity promotion and falls prevention programs.
Maintenance of Skilled Performance with Age: A Descriptive Examination of Professional Golfers
Joseph Baker, Janice Deakin, Sean Horton, and G. William Pearce
Demographic studies indicate a remarkable aging trend in North America. An accurate profile of the decline in physical and cognitive capabilities over time is essential to our understanding of the aging process. This study examined the maintenance of skilled performance across the careers of 96 professional golfers. Data were collected on scoring average, driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putts per round, and number of competitive rounds played using online data archives. Analyses indicate that performance in this activity can be maintained to a greater extent than in activities relying on biologically constrained abilities. Although the generalizability of these results to “normal” aging populations is not known, they suggest that acquired skills can be maintained to a large extent in the face of advancing age.
Physical Activity and Successful Aging in Canadian Older Adults
Joseph Baker, Brad A. Meisner, A. Jane Logan, Ann-Marie Kungl, and Patricia Weir
Rowe and Kahn (1987) proposed that successful aging is the balance of three components: absence of disease and disease-related disability, high functional capacity, and active engagement with life. This study examines the relationship between physical activity involvement and successful aging in Canadian older adults using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, cycle 2.1 (N = 12,042). Eleven percent of Canadian older adults were aging successfully, 77.6% were moderately successful, and 11.4% were unsuccessful according to Rowe and Kahn’s criteria. Results indicate that physically active respondents were more than twice as likely to be rated as aging successfully, even after removing variance associated with demographic covariates. These findings provide valuable information for researchers and practitioners interested in age-specific interventions to improve older individuals’ likelihood of aging successfully.