Towards performance in team sports

Abstract

What is the path of the football player from starti kicking a ball to achieving the level of expertise that allows him to compete in the professional leagues? And what happens in basketball and handball? There are many factors that influence this path, one of which lately that has been considered is the influence of deliberate practice in the development of sporting expertise. Numerous authors and studies have tried to explain that sport expertise is not only influenced by deliberate practice alone, it is very important the contribution of deliberate play too, in the main sport and also in any other sport, both types forming a continuous process of improvement. Results of various investigations developed suggest that both types of activities, practice and play contribute in a significant way to talent development, in sports evolving a continuum along the developmental stages. This article has an objective of presenting the state of the art and question of this debate in the environment of team sports, analyzing if in the sportsmen and women specialize early in one sport of if it is better practicing various sporting disciplines before finally dedicating themselves to on sport. The scientific literature shows contradictory results depending on the social and cultural context in which said research was carried out.