ABSTRACT
Keywords: coach, Finland, IZOF, javelin throwing, mental training, psychology, research, soccer.
Introduction It is widely recognized that contemporary elite sport can gain considerably from closer cooperation with a wide range of applied sport sciences including sociology, psychology, exercise physiology, medicine, and biomechanics. There is no doubt that all these sciences, both separately and from an interdisciplinary perspective could be especially beneficial for elite individual athletes, teams, coaches, and sports managers. However, it is also well documented that there has been always a gap between the sport scientists and practitioners (Hanin, 1989; Morgan, 1997; Sands, 1994). Moreover, anyone attempting to do applied research and consulting, especially in elite sports first has to deal with the problem of building the bridge between coaching and the task of applying scientific knowledge. Is it possible to improve collaboration between the practitioners and applied sports scientists, and if so how? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to this problem? How can one develop a model that would provide elite athletes and coaches with effective scientific ‘support’? Or should it be a ‘collaboration’ model instead? These and other questions are critical for understanding how to enhance the performance of top athletes, coaches, managers, and media involved in elite sports. In this paper some of these questions will be addressed based on 30 years of personal experience as a researcher and consultant in the area of social
and performance enhancement psychology as applied to elite sport in Russia (1967-1989) and Finland (1991-1998).
