Is there a secret of high performance?

Robin Gregg

Sport Northern Ireland

High Performance Gold Mines

Ankerson

Bekoji & Iten

South Korea

Kingston, Jamica

Russia

Brazil

2010/11 Champions League

High Performance Gold Mines

Ankerson

Example

“the first talent ID test I saw was at school. When classes marched into the pool the teacher stood by the door, looking down at the ground and pulling various people out of line – the ones with the feet splayed out. He made them concentrate on the breaststroke. The school always did well in breaststroke events”

Blanksby (1980)

Talent??

“the ability to display exceptionally high performance in a domain that requires skills and training” and “an innate ability, aptitude or faculty”

(Dictionary definition)

Talent??

“a dynamic multi-dimensional aptitude. Through its very nature and the environment with which it interacts, talent is difficult to identify, let alone predict.”

(New Zealand Talent Identification Taskforce)

“Genius” “Talent”

“is it magic?” “is it born?”

Theory One

TID assumes there is a genetic basis to

performance characteristics, i.e. its in the genes!!

“if you want to be an Elite Athlete you need to

choose your parents very well”

Horse Racing

“we take the best, mate them with the

best…..and hope for the best”

Talent: Genetics

“genetics cannot predict who will become an elite athlete, all it can do is predict who is certain never to win a medal”

Theory Two

Practice makes perfect

“the contrasting view is that excellence can be achieved as a

result of extensive practice (10000hrs) and is independent of

your genetic profile”

Defining Talent

• Nature v Nurture (G v E)

• Nature + Nurture (G + E)

Or

G

E

Human Potential

Adapted from David Schenk

High performanceLow potential

High performance

Average potential

High performance

High potential

Average performanceLow potential

Average performance

Average potential

Average performance

High potential

Low performanceLow potential

Low performanceAverage potential

Low performanceHigh potential

Potential

Performance

High performanceLow potential

High performance

Average potential

High performance

High potential

Average performanceLow potential

Average performance

Average potential

Average performance

High potential

Low performanceLow potential

Low performanceAverage potential

Low performanceHigh potential

Potential

Performance

High performanceLow potential

High performance

Average potential

High performance

High potential

Average performanceLow potential

Average performance

Average potential

Average performance

High potential

Low performanceLow potential

Low performanceAverage potential

Low performanceHigh potential

Potential

Performance

Performance vs Potential

Leyton Hewitt• Tennis Australia – U12 National championship Testing• 1992 – 52 boys tested• LH: 142 cm, 30.7 kg, sprint 7th, UBS = 41st , VJ 14th,

agility = 18th, MSFT = 17th

• Overall performance ranking 20 / 51 – not selected for talent programme

• 1992 – failed to reach U12 quarter finals• 1996 – top ranked U18 in the country• Systems must accommodate “actuals” and “potentials”

Iceberg principle

Current performance

Mindset, motivations, values and background

The 10,000 hour Rule

Deep Practice (Coyle, 2006)• Repetitive = “Myelination”• Failure• Master Coaching

Deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1993)• Domain specific• Focused on improvement of performance• Measured, tested, evaluate• Not fun

Practice

Paradox of Choice

“if you want take the island then burn your boats”

Must fully commit and engage in deliberate/deep practice

Talent that shouts and talent that whispers!

• “it isn’t difficult to identify talent like Usan Bolt. Anybody could see that he had huge potential when he was sixteen. The real challenge is to identify the potential in something currently ordinary that hasn’t flourished yet”

Stephen Francis, Head Coach the MVP Track and Field Club

Kingston, Jamica

Relative Age Effect

300 players in the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Mindset ?

Growth v Fixed

Get better or look good(Carol Dweck)

Mindset

• “the art of a successful mindset is to view your victories as a beginning and not as a conclusion”

Stephen Francis

“improvement is not inside your comfort zone”

Understanding talent

• Don’t stereotype or adopt a narrow minded approach to your search for talent;

• Don’t always play safe – understand what is behind the performance;

• Understand what is required to drive success;

Understanding Talent

• Know the critical factors;

• Indepth understanding of potential;

• Understand the reasons for success;

• Talent that shouts and talent that whispers…..

What’s common?

• No self-imposed limits;

• Don’t apply standard models – focus on the unique requirements of each player;

• Understand the environment;

Environments

• Social environment;

• Performance environment designed to make players good not make them comfortable;

Backstage Role

• “a good coach knows that its not about him, its about his athletes”

Sentayehu Eshetu

“inhale more then you exhale”Colm O’Connell

Philosophy

No rigid philosophy – flexibility in approach

Both a devil and an angel

Enormously ambitious

High performance is not discovered it is

uncovered