Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Contributors -- 1 Talent identification and development in sport: An introduction -- Part I Talent identification -- 2 Does talent exist? Yes! -- 3 Does talent exist? A re-evaluation of the nature-nurture debate -- 4 Conceptions of giftedness and talent -- 5 How contemporary international perspectives have consolidated a best-practice approach for identifying and developing sporting talent -- 6 Why conceptualizations of talent matter: Implications for skill acquisition and talent identification and development -- 7 On the efficacy of talent identification and talent development programmes -- 8 Applied statistics for practitioners and researchers -- Part II Talent development -- 9 Sport activity in childhood: Early specialization and diversification -- 10 Method in the madness: Working towards a viable 'paradigm' for better understanding and supporting the athlete pathway -- 11 Talent identification and development in the context of "growing up"--12 Psychological factors in developing high performance athletes -- 13 Family influences on talent development in sport -- 14 Understanding environmental and task constraints on talent development: Analysis of micro-structure of practice and macro-structure of development histories -- 15 Perceptual-cognitive training: The next piece of the puzzle -- 16 Windows of optimal development -- 17 Could sports biomechanics provide the missing pieces to the talent identification and development puzzle? -- 18 Longitudinal studies of athlete development: Their importance, methods and future considerations -- Part III Creating optimal environments -- 19 Creating optimal environments for talent development: A holistic ecological approach -- 20 On the (potential) value of coaching