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Corresponding Author: Muhammad Noor Hizami Hamidi, Department of Physical Education & Health, Faculty of Education,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA. Email: dakspotrek@gmail.com
7
Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 5 (1): 07-21, 2022
e-ISSN: 2600 - 9056
© RMP Publications, 2022
DOI: 10.26666/rmp.jssh.2022.2.2
A Systematic Review on Psychological and Physical Factors in Talent
Identification
Muhammad Noor Hizami Hamidi1 and Mohd Rozilee Wazir Norjali Wazir2
1Department of Physical Education & Health, Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia
2Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Education, Universiti Putra Malaysia Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: dakspotrek@gmail.com
Copyright©2022 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License
Abstract: Prior studies mostly focused on physical factors such as physical fitness, motor abilities, and anthropometry
as indicators for talent identification (TID). However, there are two critical issues that have been emerging recently
among young athletes, which are burn-out and early drop-out. Thus, this study suggests to include another factor as an
indicator for TID, which are psychological factors. The aim of this paper was to identify the psychological factors that
would be good indicators for the TID programme along with the physical factors. This systematic review uses the
PRISMA method to logically summarise the identified psychological and physical factors that would be good indicators
for TID. A comprehensive electronic literature search was conducted via Google Scholar and open access journals. 30
literature selections were selected based on a few criteria. This systematic review conclude that a set of physical fitness,
anthropometry, motor abilities and several psychological factors such as personality traits, emotional intelligence and
grit should be included as TID indicators to select a physically talented athlete that have the psychological ability to
endure the development process. A selected athlete might be physically competent but psychologically incompetent.
This is the explanation of the importance of psychological factors must be included as indicators for the talent
identification process in sports to avoid the current critical issues which are burn-out and early drop out among young
talented athletes. However, a proper selection of psychological factors must be made to choose a good psychological
indicator because an indicator for talent identification must be consistent throughout the time period. A longitudinal
research method is required to provide more evidence for this theory.
Keywords: Talent identification, Athlete selection, Sports development, Sports psychology
1. Introduction
Talent is defined as the successful outcome of
domain-specific performance. In order to attain the
highest standard within particular sports, athletes rely
on a combination of natural abilities (nature) and well-
developed performance determinants (nurture) [1].
Understanding the characteristics that might predict
future performance is crucial to gaining insight into
how talented individuals are detected or identified and
how talent might be transferred to different domains.
Talent identification is a complex study where it seems
it cannot be done by focusing on a single specific area
or a few similar areas because it will produce an
imbalanced result. Many studies have been done before
by focusing on a single specific area or a combination
of a few similar areas, and the result was positive where
it has the ability to discriminate between "talented"
athletes and "non-talented" athletes. That is still
debatable and questionable since that kind of study did
not cover all the elements that have a direct impact on
athlete performance. According to Reeves,
Littlewoods, McRobert and Robert [2], the biggest
problem with talent identification is detecting the most
Muhammad Noor Hizami & Mohd Rozilee Wazir/Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 5(2) 2022, Pages: 07-21
8
sophisticated ways in which talent is trying to be
detected, identified and developed. Many talent
identification systems focus on low predictive and
validity values.
Previously Mevaloo and Shahpar [3] define talent
identification as screening of youth using physical and
skills attribute to identify the potential in them to
success in certain sports without having pre-
engagement with that sports. However there is another
important element that has not included in that
definition is psychological. Many study has found that
psychological has massive impact on athlete
performance thus it is important to take into
consideration of that element during talent
identification process. Many potential athlete with
good score in physical fitness and motor ability facing
problem during training and competition due to
psychological factor. Some of the unable to manage
their anxiety during competition and some of them
unable to cope with the training program [4], [5]. Due
to that issue world are facing sustainability of the
athlete in specific area. The rates of high potential
youth athlete’s dropout were alarming. There were a
few factor that contribute to early athlete dropout such
as burnout due to focusing on early focusing on single
sport. Due to certain reason such as scholarship or
professional contract, most of the youth athlete start to
focusing on single sports training over 15 years ago [6].
This phenomenon result in lack of motor development
compared to the athlete who had early diversification
[7]. Besides the youth athlete who practice early single
sport training lost the opportunity to develop various
sports skills [6]. A study done on top 10 athletes’ age
14 to 19 years old for Royal Spanish Athletics
Federation (RFEA). There were 1,144 participants
consist of 594 males and 550 females athletes. There
was a significant reduction of athletes in the top 10
from 2004 to 2014. Among the 1,144 athletes taken
into consideration in 2004, 1,104 (96.50%) were
considered as dropouts from high performance in 2014:
543 (98.72%) were women, and 561 (94.45%) were
men [6]. This study found a few common answer
among the participants for the question of the athlete
dropout such as "my skills did not improve", "did not
like to compete" and "not able to be with my friends"
[6]. The single sport training phenomenon leads to
higher rates of injury, increased psychological stress
and early sport dropout [6].
According to Hassan et al. [8], Hong Kong found the
reason for dropout in sports among school athletes was
due to four factors. The greatest factor was the coach.
To build trust, a coach must first earn the athlete's
respect. Coaches must also have extensive knowledge
of the sport in question, as well as the ability to
establish and maintain a positive relationship between
athlete and coach. This factor was followed by
teammates, parents, and tough training [8]. Meanwhile,
Monteiro et al. [5] found almost the same factors of
dropout, which are: most of the athletes drop out
because of conflicts with their trainers, "other things to
do", "competence improvement failure", "parents,
couples, or trainers’ pressure", "lack of enjoyment" and
"getting bored". Besides, children or youth athletes also
drop out because of not having fun in that specific area
of sports, anxiety and nervousness due to excessive
criticism, pressure from coaches and not getting along
with coaches, parental pressure and loss of ownership,
and not having enough time to participate in other age-
appropriate activities [4]. Most of the dropout cases
among young athletes were due to intrapersonal and
interpersonal constraints [9]. In 2018, de Souza,
Osiecki, da Silva, Costa, and Stefanello [10] were
conducting a study through the athlete burnout
questionnaire and found that there are positive
correlations between burnout and competitive level,
training volume, years of training, perfectionism, and
overtraining in high-performance athletes.
Most of the problems seem to come from psychological
factors. Besides, a study found that there is a
discrepancy in the talent identification process among
established and emerging nations (football), where the
coach and sporting professional recruitment decisions
are based on their subjective opinion of a player's future
playing potential [11]. Therefore, this paper will
discuss the importance of combining physical fitness,
motor ability, and psychological assessment in the
talent identification process and its potential effect on
the athlete development process based on the previous
study, so that the coach and sporting professional no
longer need to rely on their subjective opinion alone.
2. Method
Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is a method that
has been used to collect and compile a set of previous
research to answer formulated research questions based
on a structured procedure such as identifying,
summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting the findings
Muhammad Noor Hizami & Mohd Rozilee Wazir/Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 5(1) 2022, Pages: 07-21
9
from the selected previous research. Researchers
determine a set of the criteria for the literature selection
to ensure the selected literature is relevant to the topic
discussed and inter-related. This study used PRISMA
(Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and
Meta-Analyses) as a guideline. The PRISMA method
was commonly used in systematic search and meta-
analysis due to its transparency, structure, and
comprehensiveness in synthesizing the literature.
Two electronic databases (Open Access Journal and
Google Scholar) were searched for publication from
2015-2020. The search area was focused on talent
identification in sports, including physical factors
(anthropometry, physical fitness, and motor abilities)
and psychological factors. There were 368 pieces of
literature discovered, of which 82 were removed
because they were duplicates.286 were left, but 56 were
excluded based on the title being not relevant to this
study. Based on the full-text articles assessed for
eligibility, 214 were removed due to the study's failure
to meet the inclusion criteria out of 230. Only 16 pieces
of literature met the inclusion criteria out of 368 and
were added together with another 14 from the selected
paper and review citation.
Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
Language: English only
Other than the English
language, written
Period of Publication:
2015-2020
Before 2015
Preferences: Empirical
research published
through international
conferences and
international journals
Book Chapter, short
report, non-empirical
study.
Area of Interest: Talent
Identification in Sports
All scientific disciplines
except in talent
identification
performance assessment
3. Result
Based on the searching method, this study was able
to retrieve 30 research articles related to talent
identification in sports. Those articles were divided into
two categories, which are physical factors and
psychological factors. Tables 2 and 3 present the
author's name and years of publication, the purpose of
the study, the sample and size of the study, and the
outcome according to each category.
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Author(s)
Purpose of the
study
Sample & Size
Outcome
Woods,
et. al
[12]
Compared the
athletic movement
skill between elite
Under-18 (U18)
Australian football
(AF)
and senior
Australian Football
League (AFL)
players
22 elite junior
AF players.
The U18 sample has a
lower mean total score
for four of the five
movements. Overall
scores of 49/63 and
50/63 discriminated
against the elite U18
sample from Group 1
and Group 2,
respectively. U18
players may have less
developed athletic
movement skills when
compared to their
senior AFL
counterparts.
Woods,
et. al
[13]
Aimed to
discriminate talent
identified junior AF
players from their
non-talent
identified
counterparts using a
fundamental gross
athletic movement
assessment.
50 U18 AF
players
This study
demonstrates the utility
of a fundamental gross
athletic movement
assessment for TID in
junior AF. Despite
significant between-
group differences noted
on four of the six
movement criteria, it
was the production of
the overhead squat that
provided the greatest
level of talent
discrimination.
Rahmat,
et. al
[14]
Investigate the
association between
motor performance
and somatic type,
anthropometric,
body composition,
physiological and
physical fitness
profile in young
wrestler.
16 young
wrestler, age 16-
19 with 4 years’
experience in
national
championship.
Coaches can plan a
wrestler's training
programme and review
technique based on
anthropometry and
physiological data
driven by their sports
performance.
Gaudion
, et. al
[15]
Identify the
physical fitness,
anthropometric and
athletic movement
qualities
discriminant of
developmental level
in elite junior
Australian football
(AF).
77 players.
A significant effect of
developmental level
was evident in 9 of the
assessments (d = 0.27–
0.88; p 0.05). However,
it was a combination of
body mass, dynamic
vertical jump height
(non-dominant leg),
repeat sprint time, and
the score on the 20-m
multistage fitness test
that provided the
greatest association
with developmental
level.
Schorer,
et al
[16]
Evaluate the
prognostic validity
of talent selections
by varying groups
10 years after they
had been
conducted.
68 female
handball
players.
75.9% were correctly
forecasted as low
achievers, while 24.1%
were predicted
incorrectly since they
were high-achievers.
The fitness test was
found to be a significant
predictor. Prediction
and opinion of national
and regional coaches
don’t have a huge
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significant difference.
The group of players
were able to predict
75.8% correctly. For
the group of novices,
the percentage of
correct classifications
went down to 72.4%.
Mitchell
, et. al
[17]
To examine
whether a
contemporary TID
testing battery
successfully
discriminate
between high and
low level of
performer in elite
junior swimming
cohort.
48 elite
national-level
junior swimmer.
The TID testing battery
successfully
discriminates between
high and low levels of
performance in an elite
junior swimming
cohort.
Boccia,
et. al
[18]
Describe and
analysis the
performance career
trajectories for
Italian athletes that
participated in
sprint, hurdles,
discus throw and
shot-put athletic
events.
5929 athletes
Regression analysis
shows that entering
competition later was
linked to better
performance during
adulthood. Only 17%–
26% of top-level adult
athletes were
considered as such
when they were 14–17
years old.
Shynkar
uk [19]
To investigate the
features of
hereditary and
acquired
characteristics and
to determine
Analysis of
sources of
literature and
Internet,
regulatory
documents,
The weak manifestation
of personality traits and
qualitative
characteristics of one
kind of sport cannot be
considered as a lack of
sporting abilities
and dispositions
and their use in the
process of sporting
selection.
analysis of
practical
knowledge,
generalization,
systematization.
sports ability.
Unwanted
characteristics in one
type of sporting activity
may be advantageous
and guarantee high
performance in the
other.
Datson,
et. al
[20]
Ascertain the
predictive value of
relevant physical
performance
measures for
determining future
career progression
in youth elite
female soccer
players.
228 youth
female soccer
players
previously
involved in
residential Elite
Performance
Camps.
Predictive utility of
high-intensity
endurance capacity for
informing career
progression in elite
youth female soccer
and providing reference
values for staff
involved in the talent
development of elite
youth female soccer
players.
Ford, et.
al [21]
To survey the TID
and TDE processes
in soccer youth
academies from
multiple countries
around the world.
The youth
academies at 29
professional soccer
clubs from around
the world
participated.
29 youth
academies in
Europe.
The nature of many TID
and TDE processes at
the clubs has become
more professionalized
as a function of player
age. Player age was
associated with
widening the search
area for players,
increasing the use of a
multidisciplinary
approach to TID,
amending the
objectives of TID, and
increasing the number
of matches and training
sessions. However, the
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annual turnover of
players in the most
recent season was
relatively high at 29%.
Bergka
mp, et.
al [22]
Discuss advantages
and limitations of
the design, validity,
and utility of
current soccer talent
identification
research. Draw on
principles from
selection
psychology that can
contribute to best
practices in the
context of making
selection decisions
across domains.
Phenomenologi
cal Approach-
Qualitative
Method
Document
analysis
There are only a few
studies within the talent
identification literature
that used individual
soccer performance as
an outcome measure.
Thus, it is not clear
whether predictors of
perceptions of
successful performance
are also valid predictors
of individual match
performance after
selection.
Norjali,
et. al
[23]
Investigate the
differences between
elite and non-elite
taekwondo athletes
in anthropometry,
physical
performance and
motor coordination
98 Taekwondo
athletes.
Anthropometry,
physical performance,
and motor coordination
are able to discriminate
between elite and non-
elite taekwondo
athletes.
Author(s)
Purpose of the
study
Sample &
Size
Outcome
Gee, et. al
[24]
To test the
predictive
contribution of a
normative
personality profile
on athletic success
over a 15 years’
time period.
124 amateur
hockey
players. Only
players who
competed in at
least 82
regular
season.
Personality
measures appear
to add to a coach’s
ability to predict
an athlete’s
longitudinal
athletic
attainment.
Sadri &
Janani [25]
To evaluate the
correlation between
EI and self-
regulation (SR) in
elite male
swimmers of East
Azerbaijan
Province, Iran.
100 male
swimming
athlete.
The results
showed that there
is a significant
positive
correlation
between the total
scores of EI and
SR. Also, all
components of EI
(except social
awareness) had a
positive,
significant
correlation with
the total SR score.
Among the
components of EI,
social awareness
had a negative
significant
relationship with
SR.
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13
Darvishi,
et. al [26]
Assess
effectiveness of
training
components of
emotional
intelligence on
mood of female
student athletes.
60 student
female athlete.
The results
showed a
significant
increase in
positive mood and
a reduction in
negative mood in
the trial group
compared to the
control. However,
in the variable of
confusion as a
negative mood,
the difference
between the two
groups was
insignificant.
Chakarvarti
[27]
Determine the
relationship of
emotional
intelligence with
social physique
anxiety and
performance of
sprinters.
23 sprinters,
including the
high
performers
(N1=8) and
low
performers
(N2=15).
The results
revealed that all
the components of
emotional
intelligence have a
negative,
insignificant
relationship with
social physique
anxiety and
competition
performance
among sprinters.
High-performance
sprinters were
more emotionally
intelligent with
less social anxiety
than low-
performance
sprinters.
Campo, et.
al [28]
Test the effect of
emotional
intelligence training
intervention to
improve EI at traits
level.
67 rugby
players.
EI training
improves an
athlete's EI, which
affects
performance.
Gill [29]
Examine the impact
of emotional
intelligence and
goal setting in
basketball.
16 Basketball
players.
Results revealed
that participants
who displayed
high emotional
intelligence levels
set frequent goals.
Participants also
found that barriers
to goals were
overcome through
specific action
planning and
related to
individual
requirements.
Data for emotional
intelligence
demonstrated that
participants also
became self-aware
of their own
performance
levels. In sum, this
investigation
advocates the use
of goal setting to
enhance emotional
intelligence levels
for performance
outcomes in
basketball.
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14
Trnini, et.
al [30]
Understanding the
difference between
young and senior
athletes in contact
ball sports in terms
of their personality
is important
information for
expert coaches,
scientist-
practitioners, and
sport psychologists
involved in
management of the
development of
athletes and teams.
602 athletes
from active in
one of the
three team
sports, all
training and
playing in
Croatia.
Handball and
water polo players
differ significantly
in their
conscientiousness
and openness. In
comparison to
young players,
senior players
show more
pronounced
agreeableness and
conscientiousness
(ability to control
impulses), which
facilitates goal and
task-directed
behavior. Also,
openness is more
pronounced in
senior players.
Borghuis
et. al. [31]
Examine big-five
personality traits
stability, change
and co-
development in
friendship and
sibling.
N=2230
Stability of
personality traits
was already
substantial at age
12, increased
strongly from
early through
middle
adolescence, and
remained rather
stable during late
adolescence and
early adulthood.
Mur, et. al
[32]
Systematically
review the
predictive value of
psychological talent
predictors and
provide better
comprehension of
the researchers’
methodological
approaches and the
empirical evidence
for individual
factors.
Systematically
review.
Analyzing the
number of
included
studies,
psychomotor
(n = 10) and
personality-
related factors
(n = 8)
received more
consideration
within the
literature than
perceptual-
cognitive
factors (n =
4).
New research
addresses the
necessity for
large-scale studies
that employ
multidisciplinary
test batteries to
assess young
athletes at
different age
groups
prospectively.
Kim, et. al
[33]
Examined the
relationship
between athletes'
big five personality
characteristics and
their occupancy of
informal roles as
identified by self-
nominations and
teammate
nominations.
340 French
athletes
(Study 1) and
195 Canadian
athletes
(Study 2).
Athlete
personality may
underpin the
processes by
which athletes
come to occupy
informal roles on
their teams.
Cavanaugh
[34]
Determine the
association of risk
factors to burnout
and grit among
Division I
collegiate athletes.
17 males and
25 females.
There is a positive
relationship
between burnout
and grit among
Division I
collegiate athletes.
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15
Sanchez,
et. al [35]
Analyze the
relationships
between
motivational
climate (MC),
emotional
intelligence (EI),
and anxiety within
a sample of
footballers playing
at a low level.
282 registered
football
players aged
between 16
and 18 years
old.
The results
showed that
footballers who
reported higher
levels of state
anxiety and trait
anxiety also
demonstrated
lower EI and more
negatively
perceived and
regulated
emotions.
Latifah, et.
al [36]
Determine whether
there is a significant
relationship
between intellectual
intelligence and
emotional
intelligence with
the achievement of
pencak silat athletes
PPLP West Java.
N=14
There is a
relationship
between
intellectual and
emotional
intelligence and
the pencak silat
achievements of
athletes from
PPLP West Java.
Sanchez et.
al [37]
Analysing the
connections
between
motivational
climate in sport,
anxiety and
emotional
intelligence
depending on the
type of sport
practised
(individual/team)
by means of a
multigroup
372 semi-
professional
Spanish
athletes.
Team sports and
emotional
intelligence
dimensions
correlate more
strongly in team
sports than in
individual sports.
structural equations
analysis.
Mollazadeh
, et. al [38]
In this study,
personality
characteristics of
neuroticism,
extraversion, and
openness to new
experiences,
consensus, and task
of male and female
athletes were
compared in team
and individual
sports.
160 athletes
professional in
two
disciplines (75
men: 39 men
and 36
women) and
group (72
men: 41 men
and 31
women) in
Kerman
province.
.
The findings of the
study showed that
the athletes' scores
in group sports in
agreement,
extraversion, and
task were
significantly
higher than in
individual sports.
Individual athletes
had a high risk of
neuroticism, and
athletes had a
lower score than
men in all of the
components
except for
neuroticism.
Cazayoux
& DeBeliso
[39]
Identify the level of
grit in novice and
advanced Crossfit
athletes in order to
determine if levels
of grit play a role
related to
performance in the
sport of fitness
known as Crossfit.
Male and
female
Crossfit
athletes
(n=50)
The advanced
Crossfit athletes (n
= 23) scored
significantly
higher than the
novice athletes (n
= 27) for both the
12-Item Grit scale
as well as the CI
subscale.
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16
Kumar [40]
Identify all the
importance factor in
psychology that
affect sportsperson
to being successful.
Personality,
Stress,
Motivation,
Aggression,
Arousal and
Activation,
Attention and
Concentration
Psychological
aspects have a
major impact on
sportspeople on
their path to being
successful.
Li, et. al
[41]
Identify potential
profiles of
personality and
emotional traits
based on a sample
of professional
Taekwondo athletes
from China. In
addition, the study
also aimed to
examine the utility
of the profiles in
predicting
successful athlete
performance.
332
professional
Taekwondo
athletes from
different
regions in
China (187
males and 145
females).
The results
seemed to suggest
that Taekwondo
athletes with more
performance
success were more
likely to have a
profile of positive
personality and
emotional traits,
while athletes with
less performance
success were
likely to have
somewhat
elevated levels of
self-control,
extraversion, and
aggression.
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4. Discussion
TID in sports research has recently undergone a
revolution. As shown in table 2, researchers started to
combine a few areas of study, which resulted in better
findings in terms of data reliability and validity to be
used by the coach or professional sportsperson for sports
development. A good TID foundation to consider is a
combination of physical assessment, sporting
achievement, and coach opinion based on previous
experience [16]. Besides, the combination of a few
components, as the TID testing battery, is able to
discriminate between high and low levels of
performance in an athlete. A study combining the
components of power, aerobic capacity, and
anthropometry assessment as a TID testing battery on
elite junior swimming in Australia found that it was able
to differentiate between high-performance and low-
performance athletes [17]. In addition, Datson et al. [20]
stated that a combination of physical fitness and motor
abilities is able to predict elite youth female career
progression in soccer games. It also provides reference
value for coaches and professional sportspersons in the
talent development of elite youth soccer players. The
same goes for a study done in Belgium on taekwondo
athletes by Norjali [23]. The testing battery consists of
anthropometrical, physical performance, and motor
coordination tests able to discriminate between athletes
who reach the international top level and those who do
not. Many developments in sports have come from the
contribution of the TID process. Many studies have
found that in the Australian Football League, physical
assessment can differentiate between "talented" athletes
and "non-talented" athletes [12] [13]. Furthermore, a
study of the Junior Australian Football League
discovered that a combination of athletic movement
quality tests, physical fitness tests, and anthropometric
assessment could identify the difference in the rate of
performance development. In addition, a study
discovered that the physical, skill, and experience
gained by youth athletes during their early development
are important in producing future elite athletes [42].
The current TID programme was able to identify the
good potential of youth athletes at an early stage based
on their physical performance, but according to Boccia
et al. [18], early sports success is not a strong predictor
of top-level performance at the senior level. Besides,
there is still another issue yet to be solved, which is the
drop-out issue among the selected athletes. The use of
complex TID methods and the capabilities required to
identify new talent in order to achieve peak performance
in the future. Athlete performance indicators should be
based on sporting aptitude, physical health and abilities,
body coordination, and psychological aspects [19].
However, there are some issues that keep appearing
along with the athlete's development. Ford et al. [21]
stated that the percentage of drop-out among youth
soccer players from 29 professional soccer clubs around
the world is relatively high at 29%. Some potential
youth athletes have very good scores for physical fitness
and motor ability but have inconsistent performance
during competition, resulting in early drop-out due to
psychological incompetence. Most of them feel burned-
out, bored, not competitive enough and too dependent
[6]. Besides, global youth athlete early drop-out is
phenomenal due to youth athletes' not having fun in that
specific area of sport, being unable to control/manage
their anxiety, especially during competition, feeling
pressure during training, and not getting along with the
coach [4]. In addition, a study done by de Souza et al.
[10] found that there are positive correlations between
burn-out, competitive level, training volume, years of
training, perfectionism, and overtraining.
Another factor that has been identified as a burnout and
drop contributor is single-specific sports training
practise by a coach and professional sportsperson.
Previously, coaches and professional sportspeople
focused on single-specific sports training on potential
youth athletes, and it seems to be a contributor to early
drop-out and performance drop among youth athletes.
Single-sport training approaches result in psychological
breakdown and physical injury (overuse) in youth
athletes [6]. Using the TID process, coaches and
professional sportspeople are able to identify several
types of sports that are suitable for potential youth
athletes so that they do not have to focus and stress on
single specific sport training. As a result, a variety of
sports training has advantages for young athletes in
terms of motor ability development as well as
preventing psychological breakdown and early drop-out
[7].
As shown in table 3, many studies have been done on
athlete psychological aspects to find which
psychological factors affect the athlete's performance
the most, but there are still a few studies on the
psychological aspects of the TID process. Many studies
have found that physiological aspects have a positive
effect when being used as an indicator for TID, but due
to a lack of study on psychological aspects of TID, it is
difficult to conclude the effect of psychological aspects
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18
being taken as an indicator for TID. Due to the long
process, the component that will be used as an indicator
for TID must be stable and not easily change over time,
because if it is changeable, it will be very difficult for
researchers to determine which component is the right
one to be the indicator of the right athlete for designated
sports. Based on the previous literature, three
components in the psychological aspect have been
identified as having a positive effect on athlete
performance and stability over time. It was personality
traits, emotional intelligence, and grit.
According to the previous study, personality traits as a
sub-division of psychological variables were assumed to
be a good predictor of an athlete's sustainability and
performance in a specific area of sports.to be a good
indicator to predict the sustainability and performance
of an athlete because they have been proven stable for at
least 10 years by a study done by Terracciano, McCrae,
and Costa Jr [43]. According to Borghuis et al. [31],
personality traits are already stable at the age of 12 and
increase strongly with the increase in age. There are only
a few factors that contribute to personality changes, such
as extreme incidents or extreme environmental pressure
and they were able to predict the future performance of
an athlete [32]. However, there were differences in the
characteristics of personality traits between males and
females, individuals and team athletes [37].
Certain types of personality traits have a tendency to
overreact during stressful periods, anxiety, and
depression, which lead to unwanted decisions or actions.
Hence, they might affect a person's performance and
decision making (dropout) [44]. Furthermore, it was not
only the environment and psychological factors that
induced different levels of stress on different types of
personality traits; physical activity also has a different
psychological effect on different types of personality
traits [45] that has been successful or survived in an
environment has a tendency to develop a personality that
is suitable for that environment after a process of coping
and adaptation towards that environment. A cross-
cultural and longitudinal study was done by Chopik and
Kitayama [46] between midlife in Japan and midlife in
the U.S. The study found that midlife in Japan develops
a greater variety of personality traits than in the U.S.
because midlife in Japan responds to a variety of
environmental factors while midlife in the U.S. responds
to a factor that is powerful enough to influence nearly
everyone in society at large. Selecting a suitable
personality might sort those mentioned problems out,
because, based on the study done by Appaso and
Ramchandra [47], different types of personalities have
different abilities to cope with stressors.
The importance of identifying a potential athlete's
personality is to understand their preferences and
suitability in a specific area of sports. Every person
regulates their emotions in different ways. Assessing the
personality traits seems to be a reliable way to
understand a person's emotion regulation; either it is
negative-oriented or positive-oriented [48]. Besides, due
to the information provided by identifying a person's
personality, that person will be allocated to a suitable
position or place that makes them feel good and perform
better [49].
According to Kim, Gardant, Bosselut & Eys [33],
personality traits related to athletes' informal roles in
team sports. Various types of personality traits are
important in team sports for performance development
because the informal roles of an athlete in team sports
have an effect on the team sports environment and
development. Besides, Kumar [40] suggests that
personality traits should be one of the important factors
that will affect sportspeople's success. These statements
are supported by Li et al. [41], who found that
professional taekwondo athletes who have positive
personality and emotional traits tend to be successful in
performance.
Another component that has the potential to be a good
indicator for TID in sports is emotional intelligence (EI).
An athlete with a good score of EI is able to control their
reckless reaction during a pressure situation and not be
emotional [25]. Furthermore, it is trainable, and athletes
with higher EI frequently set goals, plan their actions,
and are self-aware of their own performance [29].Thus,
a high level of EI significantly increases positive mood
and reduces negative mood among female student
athletes [26]. A study was done on all India inter-
university sprinters to determine the relationship
between EI, social physique anxiety, and sprinter
performance. Besides, higher EI players have a lower
level of anxiety related to sports performance [37]. The
results for combat sports also seem to be the same as a
study done in West Java on Pencak Silat athletes. In
Pencak Silat, there is a positive relationship between EI
score and athlete achievement [36].
The last component that has been identified as a
potential indicator for TID in sports is grit. Grit is
defined as a strong desire to achieve something/goal, so
an athlete with a good score of grit tends to be strongly
opposed to the negative influence [50]. Cavanaugh [34]
stated that grit has a positive correlation with athlete
burnout. An athlete who has a good score of grit might
have a low possibility of dropping out due to burnout.
Besides, grit is also able to discriminate between low-
performance athletes and high-performance athletes. A
study was done on CrossFit athletes where both
advanced and novice CrossFit athletes completed the
grit assessment scale, and the result showed that
advanced CrossFit athletes score higher than novice
CrossFit athletes [39].
Combining these two factors as TID indicator will be
able to make TID process more objective oriented by
reducing the possibilities of survival versus attraction
advantages effect during the process. According to
Baker, Johnston and Wattie [51], usually coach will
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19
select the athletes that have greater performance
compared to their peers which known as survival
advantages but somehow in other situation where
coaches tend to give more opportunities to the athletes
that the coaches comfortable with not based on the
performance. By having a very specific guidelines,
coaches might tend to select the athletes that fulfil all the
criteria needed for certain sports while the personal
perception towards the athletes would be minimized.
Besides, in order to recruit a potential athlete that can
endure the development process, the athlete must
possess the required ability and willing to get involve
[52]. If the athletes have the required abilities but does
not willing to get involve, most likely that athletes will
not survive the development process. To get the
potential athletes to get involve willingly, first the
athletes must know their abilities physically and
psychologically. Sometimes the athletes get involve in
certain sports due to the culture of the population
without realizing their actual potential for certain sports.
They might shows a good performance for certain
period of time and struggling to keep improve. Due to
aging factors their physical might no longer able to cope
with the activities and start to decrease in performance
then later affecting their psychological state which lead
to drop out. By undergo a TID process that assess both
physically and psychologically, the athlete will know
their abilities physically and psychologically and which
sports are suitable for them. The information gathered
from that TID process will give them the opportunity to
choose several types of sports that suit their abilities.
This will avoid them from practicing single sports
specification at young age because it is not a good
practice [52].
5. Conclusion
All the above literature shows that psychological
factors and physical factors such as physical fitness,
motor abilities, and anthropometric assessment have a
positive correlation with athlete performance and could
be a set of indicators for TID in sports. However, for the
psychological aspect, there is a lack of evidence to
conclude that psychological is a good indicator for TID
in sports since the study on that area has never been
conducted massively yet. All the above literature
regarding psychological aspects shows that the study
that has been done only between the psychological
component and athlete performance or athlete status.
Early sports success is not a strong predictor of top-level
performance at a senior level. A study that combines the
physiological aspect and psychological aspect directly
has not yet been found. Based on this literature review,
a study combining physical fitness, motor abilities,
anthropometry, personality traits, emotional
intelligence, and grit must be done to create a TID
testing battery that gathers all the components in sports
that have a positive correlation with an athlete's
outstanding performance and future development.
Besides, repeated measurements were suggested for this
study instead of pre and post-test to monitor the stability
of the athlete data and identify the possible factors that
contributed to the data changes throughout the study
period based on those six components.
6. Acknowledgments
This paper is part of the author’s theses.
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