Journal of Exercise and Health Science

“Coach’s Eye” as Talent Selection Technique in Iranian School Sport: Pilot Study on Checklist Instrument for Youth Handball

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Motor Behavior

2 I.R. Iran School Sport Federation

3 Raja

4 Iran School Sport Federation

10.22089/jehs.2022.13229.1048
Abstract
Talent programs are aimed to detect talented athletes that are predictive of future career success. New foremost feasible and practical approaches in schools and youth sport with evidence-based procedures, in order to increase the probability accurate anticipation, is
needed. Through this approach, the coach is considered as a reference for talent identification and selection. In the literature, the term “coach’s eye” is used as a metaphor for coach decision-making in selecting talents and for the description of the process of subjectively evaluating athletic performance. In the present study, we tried to develop and implement a form of checklist for coach to select talented youth handball in Iranian schools competitions. This process was based on the coach’s intuition and subjective experience and had the potential to provide a more holistic profile of the athlete. To define the role of the coaches in talent selection and to avoid reducing reliability, objectivity,
subjective biases, we developed a form used by coaches. The forms contained a checklist of items that the coach must consider while observing athlete during playing, and assign a score from 1 to 10 based on criteria. CVR and CVI were examined through employing expert panel. Final items that acquired sufficient CVR and CVI were listed and other items were removed. From 15 items extracted throughout interviews with experts, 11 items reached CVR and CVI values higher than critical value (0.56 in n=12) and were introduced as valid items for identifying and selecting handball talents. These items could be used in
schools and youth handball competitions. 

Keywords

  1. Ayre, C., & Scally, A. J. (2014). Critical values for Lawshe’s content validity ratio:
    Revisiting the original methods of calculation. Measurement and Evaluation in
    Counseling and Development, 47(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175613513808
    2. Baker, J., Cobley, S., Schorer, J., & Wattie, N. (2017a). Routledge handbook of talent
    identification and development in sport. In Routledge Handbook of Talent
    Identification and Development in Sport. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315668017
    3. Baker, J., Cobley, S., Schorer, J., & Wattie, N. (2017b). Talent identification and
    development in sport: An introduction. In Routledge Handbook of Talent
    Identification and Development in Sport. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315668017
    4. Baker, J., & Schorer, J. (2010). Identification and development of talent in sportintroduction to the special issue. In Talent Development and Excellence (Vol. 2, Issue
    2).
    5. Barati, A. H., Pashabadi, A., Mahmoudkhani, M., & Nayeri, M. (2013). Relationship
    Between Somatotype and PHV in Iranian 7-10 Years Old Boys. Knowledge & Health,
    8(2), 46–50.
    6. Bergkamp, T. L. G., Niessen, A. S. M., den Hartigh, R. J. R., Frencken, W. G. P., &
    Meijer, R. R. (2019). Methodological Issues in Soccer Talent Identification Research.
    Sports Medicine, 49(9), 1317–1335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01113-w
    7. Bjørndal, C. T., Ronglan, L. T., & Andersen, S. S. (2017). Talent development as an
    ecology of games: a case study of Norwegian handball. Sport, Education and Society,
    22(7). https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2015.1087398
    8. Burgess, D. J., & Naughton, G. A. (2010). Talent development in adolescent team
    sports: A review. In International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
    (Vol. 5, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.5.1.103
    9. Chiwaridzo, M., Munambah, N., Oorschot, S., Magume, D., Dambi, J. M., Ferguson,
    G., & Smits-Engelsman, B. C. M. (2019). Coaches’ perceptions on qualities defining
    good adolescent rugby players and are important for player recruitment in talent
    identification programs: The SCRuM project. BMC Research Notes, 12(1).
    https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4170-y
    10. Christensen, M. K. (2009). “An eye for talent”: Talent identification and the “practical
    sense” of top-level soccer coaches. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26(3).
    https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.26.3.365

11. Cobley, S., Baker, J., & Schorer, J. (2020). Talent identification and development in
sport: An introduction to a field of expanding research and practice. In Talent
Identification and Development in Sport: International Perspectives: Second Edition.
12. Day, D. (2011). Craft coaching and the “discerning eye” of the coach. International
Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1260/1747-
9541.6.1.179
13. Den Hartigh, R. J. R., Niessen, A. S. M., Frencken, W. G. P., & Meijer, R. R. (2018).
Selection procedures in sports: Improving predictions of athletes’ future performance.
In European Journal of Sport Science (Vol. 18, Issue 9).
https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2018.1480662
14. Jacob, Y., Spiteri, T., Hart, N. H., & Anderton, R. S. (2018). The potential role of
genetic markers in talent identification and athlete assessment in elite sport. In Sports
(Vol. 6, Issue 3). https://doi.org/10.3390/sports6030088
15. Johansson, A., & Fahlén, J. (2017). Simply the best, better than all the rest? Validity
issues in selections in elite sport. International Journal of Sports Science and
Coaching, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954117718020
16. Johnston, K., Wattie, N., Schorer, J., & Baker, J. (2018). Talent Identification in
Sport: A Systematic Review. In Sports Medicine (Vol. 48, Issue 1).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0803-2
17. Jokuschies, N., Gut, V., & Conzelmann, A. (2017). Systematizing coaches’ ‘eye for
talent’: Player assessments based on expert coaches’ subjective talent criteria in toplevel youth soccer. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 12(5).
https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954117727646
18. Kalén, A., Padrón-Cabo, A., Lundkvist, E., Rey, E., & Pérez-Ferreirós, A. (2021).
Talent Selection Strategies and Relationship With Success in European Basketball
National Team Programs. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666839
19. Koz, D., Fraser-Thomas, J., & Baker, J. (2012). Accuracy of professional sports drafts
in predicting career potential. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in
Sports, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01408.x
20. Larkin, P., Marchant, D., Syder, A., & Farrow, D. (2020). An eye for talent: The
recruiters’ role in the Australian Football talent pathway. PLoS ONE, 15(11
November). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241307
21. Lath, F., Koopmann, T., Faber, I., Baker, J., & Schorer, J. (2021). Focusing on the
coach’s eye; towards a working model of coach decision-making in talent selection.
In Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Vol. 56).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102011
22. Lawshe, C. H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel
Psychology, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1975.tb01393.x
23. Lidor, R., Côté, J., & Hackfort, D. (2009). ISSP position stand: To test or not to test?
The use of physical skill tests in talent detection and in early phases of sport 

development. In International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (Vol. 7,
Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2009.9671896
24. Matthys, S. P. J., Vaeyens, R., Vandendriessche, J., Vandorpe, B., Pion, J., Coutts, A.
J., Lenoir, M., & Philippaerts, R. M. (2011). A multidisciplinary identification model
for youth handball. European Journal of Sport Science, 11(5).
https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2010.523850
25. Mohamed, H., Vaeyens, R., Matthys, S., Multael, M., Lefevre, J., Lenoir, M., &
Philppaerts, R. (2009). Anthropometric and performance measures for the
development of a talent detection and identification model in youth handball. Journal
of Sports Sciences, 27(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410802482417
26. Nikolaidis, P. T., & Ingebrigtsen, J. (2013). Physical and physiological characteristics
of elite male handball players from teams with a different ranking. Journal of Human
Kinetics, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2013-0051
27. Reilly, T., Williams, A. M., Nevill, A., & Franks, A. (2000). A multidisciplinary
approach to talent identification in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18(9).
https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410050120078
28. Roberts, A. H. (2021). The Coaches’ Eye: Exploring coach decision-making during
talent identification. In Edith Cowan University.
29. Roberts, A. H., Greenwood, D. A., Stanley, M., Humberstone, C., Iredale, F., &
Raynor, A. (2019). Coach knowledge in talent identification: A systematic review
and meta-synthesis. In Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (Vol. 22, Issue 10).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2019.05.008
30. Roberts, A. H., Greenwood, D., Humberstone, C., & Raynor, A. J. (2020). Pilot Study
on the Reliability of the Coach’s Eye: Identifying Talent Throughout a 4-Day Cadet
Judo Camp. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.596369
31. Roberts, A. H., Greenwood, D., Stanley, M., Humberstone, C., Iredale, F., & Raynor,
A. (2021). Understanding the “gut instinct” of expert coaches during talent
identification. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(4).
https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1823083
32. Schorer, J., Rienhoff, R., Fischer, L., & Baker, J. (2017). Long-term prognostic
validity of talent selections: Comparing national and regional coaches, laypersons and
novices. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(JUL). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01146
33. Sieghartsleitner, R., Zuber, C., Zibung, M., & Conzelmann, A. (2019). Science or
coaches’ eye? – both! beneficial collaboration of multidimensional measurements and
coach assessments for efficient talent selection in elite youth football. Journal of
Sports Science and Medicine, 18(1).
34. Till, K., & Baker, J. (2020). Challenges and [Possible] Solutions to Optimizing Talent
Identification and Development in Sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 11.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00664
35. Vaeyens, R., Lenoir, M., Williams, A. M., & Philippaerts, R. M. (2008). Talent
identification and development programmes in sport: Current models and future 

36. Vrljic, K., & Mallett, C. J. (2008). Coaching knowledge in identifying football talent.
International Journal of Coaching Science.
37. Williams, A. M., Ford, P. R., & Drust, B. (2020). Talent identification and
development in soccer since the millennium. In Journal of Sports Sciences (Vol. 38,
Issues 11–12). https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1766647
38. Williams, A. M., & Reilly, T. (2000). Talent identification and development in soccer.
Journal of Sports Sciences, 18(9). https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410050120041
39. Wynd, C. A., Schmidt, B., & Schaefer, M. A. (2003). Two quantitative approaches
for estimating content validity. In Western Journal of Nursing Research (Vol. 25,
Issue 5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945903252998
40. Zaccagni, L., Lunghi, B., Barbieri, D., Rinaldo, N., Missoni, S., Šaric, T., Šarac, J.,
Babic, V., Rakovac, M., Bernardi, F., & Gualdi-Russo, E. (2019). Performance
prediction models based on anthropometric, genetic and psychological traits of
Croatian sprinters. Biology of Sport, 36(1).
https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2018.78901

Journal of Exercise and Health Science
Volume 2, Issue 1
January 2022
Pages 27-42

Article View 14,161
PDF Download 7,758

Home

Publication Ethics

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

News

Contact Us