Marije T. Elferink-Gemser

To determine whether youth athletes with an “average” (regional), “high” (sub-elite), and “very high” (elite) level of performance differ with respect to their self-assessed tactical skills, 191 youth field hockey players (mean age 15.5 years, s = 1.6) completed the Tactical Skills Inventory for Sports (TACSIS) with scales for declarative (“knowing what to do”) and procedural (“doing it”) knowledge. Multivariate analyses of covariance with age as covariate showed that elite and sub-elite players outscored regional players on all tactical skills (P < 0.05), whereas elite players had better scores than sub-elite players on “positioning and deciding” (P < 0.05) only. The sex of the athletes had no influence on the scores (P > 0.05). With increasing level of performance, scores on declarative and procedural knowledge were higher. Close to expert performance, declarative knowledge no longer differentiated between elite and sub-elite players (P > 0.05), in contrast to an aspect of procedural knowledge (i.e. positioning and deciding), where elite players outscored sub-elite players (P < 0.05). These results may have implications for the development of talented athletes.

To identify performance characteristics that could help predict future elite field hockey players, we measured the anthropometric, physiological, technical, tactical, and psychological characteristics of 30 elite and 35 sub-elite youth players at the end of three consecutive seasons. The mean age of the players at the end of the first season was 14.2 years (s = 1.1). Repeated-measures analyses of covariance, with standard of performance and measurement occasion as factors and age as a covariate, showed that the elite players fared better than the sub-elite players on technical and tactical variables. Female elite youth players also scored better on interval endurance capacity, motivation, and confidence. Future elite players appear to have excellent tactical skills by the age of 14. They also have good specific technical skills and develop these together with interval endurance capacity better than sub-elite youth players in the subsequent 2 years. To verify our conclusions, we will be tracking these players into adulthood.

Objectives:To gain more insight into the mechanisms that underlie the development of interval endurance capacity in talented youth field hockey players in the 12–19 age band.Methods:A total of 377 measurements were taken over three years. A longitudinal model for interval endurance capacity was developed using the multilevel modelling program MLwiN. With the model, scores on the interval shuttle run test can be predicted for elite and sub-elite male and female field hockey players aged 12–19 years.Results:A polynomial model of order 2 adequately represents development of the test scores over time. The fixed part of the model contains a different intercept and linear age term for boys and girls, and a common quadratic term; the random part of the model has a common level 2 variance and sex specific level 1 variances. The model was significantly improved by including differential effects of performance level for age and sex. A negative effect was found for percentage body fat, and positive effects for additional training and motivation.Conclusions:During adolescence, both male and female elite hockey players show a more promising development pattern of interval endurance capacity than sub-elite youth players. Percentage body fat, additional training hours, and motivation influence this development. However, differences between the individual players are still considerable.