Comparing Practice Rate and Some Environmental Factors in Talent Development Environment Among Disabled and Non-Disabled Thrower Athletes

Some scholars declared that talent prediction was not highly reliable concerning the relevant research studies on talent discovery. Such statements indicate that the interaction of genetic features with various environmental factors, like exercise, highly complicates the determination of long–term effects of talent in sports performance. Most of the studies which have analyzed the history of practical activities of experts have been conducted on non–disabled athletes; however, fewer numbers of them have focused on disabled athletes. The present study aimed to compare the practice rate and some environmental factors in the talent development environment among the disabled and non–disabled thrower athletes of track and field.

This was descriptive and causal–comparative research. In total, 50 disabled and non–disabled track and field throwers competing at national and international levels participated in this study. Twenty–five non–disabled throwers (16 men & 9 women) and 25 disabled throwers (14 men & 11 women), with an age range of 20–35 years were selected using convenience and purposive sampling methods. The age of beginning and the level of track and field exercises; unintentional track and field exercises; bodybuilding exercises; mental skills training; the extent of support received from their parents, coaches, siblings, and friends; the extent of benefiting from expert coaches; standard track and field equipment; using appropriate sports shoes and clothes, and the time of retiring from the sport of track and field were recorded using the Developmental History of Athletes Questionnaire (Hopwood et al., 2010). Data analysis was performed using the Independent Samples t–test. A significance level of 0.05 was considered for all analyses.

The obtained data suggested a significant difference between the study groups in terms of the age of beginning the track and field sport (p=0.004) and the age of participating in the first match (p=0.013). Moreover, the investigated non–disabled track and field athletes began this sport, and participated in a match at a lower age, compared to the other group. There was a significant difference between the study groups in the mean hours of deliberate practice (p=0.024), deliberate playing (p=0.015), and bodybuilding exercises (p=0.014). The disabled track and field athletes spent more hours to practice this sport, compared to the other research group. A significant difference was observed between the study groups in terms of the extent of support received from parents (p<0.001), coach (p<0.001), and siblings (p=0.035). In general, the level of received support was higher in the non–disabled track and field athletes, compared to their disabled counterparts. However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of the extent of support received from their friends (p=0.297). Additionally, a significant difference was observed between the study groups respecting the extent of using appropriate sports shoes and clothes (p=0.004), applying standard track and field equipment (p=0.010), and benefiting from expert coaches (p<0.001); the extent to which the studied non– disabled track and field athletes benefited from the items listed above was more than that of the disabled participants.

According to the current research findings, there was a significant difference in the extent of training and some environmental factors between the explored disabled and non–disabled runners. Besides, the investigated disabled runners benefited from fewer environmental facilities; therefore, the authorities should pay more attention to the sports of the disabled runners.