<b>Expert coaches conceptions concerning the functional specialization on the long term sport development of the volleyball player</b> - DOI: 10.4025/reveducfis.v20i2.3364

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to know the conceptions of The aim of the present study was to identify the conceptions of Brazilian expert volleyball coaches concerning the functional specialization process in the long term sport development of volleyball players. The sample presented a mean age of 45 years (±13 years and eight months) and a mean of 24 years and eight months (± 12 yearsand one month) of coaching experience in Brazilian volleyball all of them with a licence degree in Physical Education. Data collecting was accomplished through structured open-answered interviews based on Fernandes' process (2004). Its content adaptation to Brazilian reality was accomplished through expert validation. The treatment of the information was accomplished through content analysis, with logic-semantic interpretation of the dominant ideas in the corpus of interviews. The reliability of codification was assured by agreement of the same encoder and the different encoders, registering values between 95% and 100%. Results revealed that the coaches didn't enter a consensus of the ideal age to begin the process of functional specialization for the young athletes, being based on physical, technical and psychological abilities, in order of relevance. The coaches defend the need of a specific training mainly for the setter and libero players. Regarding competences of players in high performance, the Brazilian coaches also prioritized in order of relevance, the physical, technical, tactical and psychological capacities