The Expert Advantage is the official blog of the Pathways to the Podium Research Project.
Throughout the course of the Pathways to the Podium Research Project brief insights into the secrets and science of sport expertise will be posted on our blog to keep you updated and educated on the latest information relating to skill acquisition, motor learning, and the development of sport expertise.
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The Expert Advantage Blog
An investigation of the development of sport expertise
Pathways to the Podium Research Project
Most recent post:
“The number of successful sibling and parent-
Previous posts:
A look back at Linsanty (in case you missed it!)
“Linsanity. Over the course of two short weeks in February, Jeremy Lin became one of the greatest stories in sports of the past decade…..But why was Jeremy Lin’s rise to stardom so unforeseen? How had he gone unnoticed for so long? Here we take a look at Lin’s story as it unfolded in the blogosphere, and we present some of the differing explanations behind the Linsanity phenomenon.”
“The Path to Excellence was a study undertaken by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in an attempt to describe and understand the factors that contributed to the development of U.S. Olympians (1). This study presents a number of practical findings relevant to athlete development and talent identification that are along similar lines to those being investigated in the Pathways to the Podium Research Project.”
“In today’s post we are very excited to be sharing with you some preliminary results from the Pathways to the Podium Research Project! To begin let’s take a look at some findings concerning the attainment of sporting milestones and the career progression of male Australian junior international level team sport athletes.”
Elite performance via talent transfer
“Talent transfer occurs when an athlete ceases or reduces their involvement in a sport in which they have invested significant time, hard work, and resources, and concentrates their efforts on a sport that is new to them, but involves similar movement skills, physiological requirements, and/or tactical components to their earlier sport.”
Elite performance via diversification
“Diversification is also sometimes referred to as sampling or delayed specialisation, however all three terms refer to the same concept – participation in a variety of different sports before deciding to concentrate all efforts on the pursuit of elite performance in one single sport... Numerous studies have consistently highlighted that delaying specialisation until at least mid to late adolescence is not a disadvantage when it comes to elite sports performance.”
Elite performance via early specialisation
“Specialisation in sport refers to year-
“If we were to take a sample of some of the World’s most decorated athletes, and
have a quick glance at how they came to arrive at the pinnacle of their respective
sports, we would find that there are a number of alternative pathways toward achieving
sporting success…. in an upcoming three-
Is 10,000 hours a magic number for sport expertise? Part 2: The 10 year / 10,000 hour rule in sport
“The previous Expert Advantage blog post introduced the 10 year / 10,000 hour rule and discussed evidence from chess and music suggesting that 10 years and 10,000 hours of practice are required in order to attain expertise in these domains. How about in sport? Do elite athletes require 10 years of experience and 10,000 hours of sport specific practice to reach the highest level of sport performance?”
Is 10,000 hours a magic number for sport expertise? Part 1: The 10 year / 10,000 hour rule
“Many coaches, parents, and athletes have heard at some point throughout their involvement in sport that 10 years and 10,000 hours of practice are required in order to become an elite athlete…. Where did the 10 year / 10,000 hour rule come from and does it apply to sport?”