5. Introduction
The distinct stages, as well as the limitations and strengths that characterise each model will
now be briefly overviewed.
understanding of human performance and training,
HumanPerformance
Training
6. Long Term Athlete Development Model
• 6 Stages of development
• Windows of Trainability
o Stamina
o Strength
o Speed
o Skill
o Suppleness
• Concerns about the lack of
empirical evidence to
support such a model
7. Developmental Model for Sport Participation
• 2 or 3 Stages of development
• Deliberate Practice
o Undertaken with the specific purpose
of increasing performance
o Requiring cognitive and/or physical effort, and
o Relevant to promoting positive skill development
• Deliberate Play
o Sporting activity that is intrinsically motivating,
o Provide immediate gratification, and designed to
maximise enjoyment
• DMSP originates from qualitative
interviews, training questionnaires, and
retrospective/quantitative interviews.
8. Psycho-behavioral Model
• Extension of DMSP
• Addition of maintenance stage
• Determinates of Potential
e.g. transferable motor or
perceptual elements or
psycho-behavioural
• Determinates of Performance
e.g sport specific skill elements
• Ability of an athlete to
successfully transfer from one stage of development to another
9. Bio-psycho-social approach
and Three-World Continuum
• Holistic Approach
biological
psychological
social elements
• Dependent on the Objectives and
motives of the individual
Participation for Personal Well-being (PPW)
Personal Referenced Excellence (PRE)
Elite Referenced Excellence (ERE)
• Depending on which ‘world’ the athlete finds himself/herself in, and their stage in life,
the relative contribution of biological, psychological or social factors varies.
10. Sport Specificity
The aforementioned developmental models are descriptive or prescriptive models for sport
in general and lacks the specificity that coaches and practioners requires in practice.
Open SkilledClosed Skilled
Invasion games
Net/wall games
Striking/fielding
Invasion contact team sports
–Rugby Union
Complex and dynamic in nature,
Require a different skill set in contrast
to a closed skill sport
11. Rugby Union
• Popular international team sport
• Played by two team teams consisting of 15 players for 2
periods of
20 min (under 13) 30 min (under 16)
35 min (Under 18) 40 min (Seniors)
• Highly demanding physical, technical and tactical team
sport.
Physical attributes
o strength
o power
o speed
o agility
o aerobic
o anaerobic conditioning
o body composition
Skill Requirements
o catching and passing the ball
o tackling
o carrying the ball into contact
o rucking/cleaning
o position specific (e.g scrumming)
o tactical proficiency
12. Trainability of Junior Rugby Players
Demand to reproduce successful performances has seen an increase in the early
identification, investment and development of players from an early age.
Biological developmental aspects that have a considerable impact on training
needs to be explored
Terminologies used with regards to trainability of junior players need to be
clarified.
However, current development programs in
rugby union are largely based on traditional
practices and content from adult based studies.
In view of the long-term developmental models
mentioned earlier, and the requirements to
succeed in rugby,
The purpose of this project was to review the
current scientific literature on trainability and
apply it to rugby players.
13. Puberty
Biological Development
Growth and Maturation Neurodevelopment Metabolic and Hormonal
GF and GH
PHV
PWV
Growth Spurt
PostMiddle Childhood Pre
• Dynamic
• Non-linear
• Varies for Individual and sex
• Multifactorial – can’t be explained
by physiology alone
• Periods of accelerated growth
• Periods of increase sensitivity to
external stimuli
14. Windows of Trainability, Critical Periods and
Sensitive Periods
‘A unique, special and otherwise unobtainable advantage
to the effective exploitation of the period so described’
Critical period
Windows of Trainability
Windows refers to ‘a critical period of development of a
specific capacity when training has an optimal effect’.
Trainability, refers to ‘the faster adaptation to stimuli and the
genetic endowment of athletes as they respond individually
to specific stimuli and adapt to it accordingly’
Sensitive period
‘Finite time periods during which a child is most
sensitive to learning a particular skill’
Increase responsiveness and adaptability’
15. Puberty
Training Implications
The existence of periods of increase responsiveness and adaptability is appealing as it has
direct implications on the training of the developing athlete.
Aerobic
Strength and Power
Speed and Agility
Rugby Specific Skill
Aerobic
Strength and Power
Speed and Agility
Rugby Specific Skill
Aerobic
Strength and Power
Speed and Agility Speed and Agility
Fundamental Skills Technical Refinement and Mastery
Depending on the objectives of the athlete(s), the training structure and design needs to be
considered and adapted accordingly.
16. Summary and Conclusions
• Although athlete developmental models suggests that the appropriate application of
training stimulus during specific periods in childhood and adolescence will influence
athletic potential, recent available literature contends that this concept is inconclusive
and requires further investigation
• The complexity of sport and human development makes it difficult to attribute increase
responsiveness and adaptability to training to changes in physiology alone
• As mentioned earlier, other contributing factors such psychological and social factors,
also play a major role in the trainability of a rugby player
• Furthermore, it is now well established that all physical training components are
trainable throughout childhood and adolescence and into adulthood
• Depending on the objectives of the athlete(s), the training structure and design needs
to be considered and adapted according to the developmental or training stage of the
athlete.
In the past, coaches and sport practitioners applied adult based forms of training to children
However, with our increasing knowledge and understanding of human development, applying adult based training to youth was quickly questioned
This concern, in addition to growing interest in producing expert performance and to increase sport participation, led to a number of models for sporting development
Using physical or psychological developmental milestones as guidelines,
These developmental models in sport aimed at identifying key stages during childhood and adolescence
To optimise training adaptation in order for the child to reach his/her full potential
In recent times, with the advancement of our understanding of human performance and training, these developmental stages for sport have received some review {ford,uk,lloyd}.
In particular, the unidimensional approaches of these stages (i.e. either physiologically or psychologically based) have been highlighted {ford,uk,lloyd}.
The distinct stages, as well as the limitations and strengths that characterises each model will now be briefly overviewed.
And with this in mind, studies have looked at the following physical training components.
