The study investigated the extent of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of high-performance training. Individualisation refers to the extent to which the training design is tailored to an athlete's individual wishes, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Readjustment refers to the adjustment of day-to-day training to an athlete's current physical, health-related and psychological constitution. Athlete codetermination refers to an athlete's involvement in decision-making on the training design. German national-squad members in athletics and volleyball (n = 336) reported these variables in an online questionnaire. Analyses revealed four central findings: (1) Large parts of athletes` training were characterised by high degrees of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination. (2) These characteristics were more pronounced in athletics than in volleyball. (3) They explained large parts of the appropriateness of athletes` training (whether the training was `just right` for an athlete's performance development). Consistently, greater extents of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of training control were associated with better multi-year performance development. (4) Participation in performance analytics had no additional, specific effect on training appropriateness. All the results consistently applied to both youth age and adult age. In conclusion, greater extents of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of the training design apparently facilitate long-term training efficiency.
© Copyright 2022 International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.