Investigation of the effects of the talent identification tests used by the coaches in wrestling on success

Abstract

Detection of a talented individual in sports and steering him/her to the relevant sports branch is very important for sports success. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of the Talent Identification Tests used by the coaches in wrestling on success. In this research, qualitative research technique was used. The participants of the study are 165 voluntary coaches working in youth setups, amateur clubs, professional clubs and the national team and having an average of eight years of coaching experience in 45 provinces of Turkey in seven different geographical regions. In this qualitative research, Semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. The data were obtained by the expert researchers in the related field and analysed via NVİVO. Of the 165 coaches in the present study, 106 (64.24%) were detected to perform a talent test for the athletes who just started to wrestle and 59 (35.76 %) were detected not to apply a talent test. 41 (38.68 %) of the coaches who applied talent tests to the wrestlers grounded their assessment on basic motoric characteristics of wrestlers, 36 (33.96%) physical structures and wrestling tendencies of the athletes, 19 (17.92%) on the competition observations and technical characteristics and 10 (9.43 %) on intelligence. In conclusion, it can be asserted that wrestling coaches’ talent identification tests applied to athletes are effective in identification the athlete candidates who may be successful.