Transitions during Sports Career

In relation to psychology, a transition is linked to a person's stage of change as well as lifespan growth due to aging, development, or other important personal events in one's life. Thus, this study will examine the case Francine based on her key career transitions such as a level of equilibrium in relation to her family life, primacy stage to sports profession, and a level of stability because of the company of her partner. The paper will as well critically cover some minor transition in relation to the three major transitions highlighted above and look into various models in relation to Francine experience. Also, the study will explore written narrative as a research instrument and will critically discuss its strengths as well as weakness and compare and contrast it with other research instruments such as observation and use of questionnaires in examining career transitions.

Based on information from research conducted on Francine career transition, three major transitions were highlighted. Thus, she went through four major transitions during this level of her career transition such as joining "elite foil-training center", withdrawal from fencing, joining "elite sabre-training center, and high performance in sports outcomes. Francine joined the "elite foil-training center" at 20 years of age due to her promising sports outcomes (Debois et al, pg. However, her worries were based on her quality relationship with her coach as well as teammates and the separation from her family. Despite her fears, she joined "elite sports" because of the love and passion she had towards her sport. During her period at "elite foil-training center" she reports experiencing transition crisis as well as personal matters such as distress, education dissatisfaction, injuries, and cold climate, thus making her withdraw to her life.

Lastly, sports saturation was her final transition after "Olympics" ended and after delivery, she returned to elite sports in preparation of the next Olympic Games at the age of 29 (Debois et al, pg. “Human Adaptation to Transition Model” is among the leading models applied in examining the process of athlete career transition. This is based on the fact that it covers numerous transitions that individuals experience in the course of their life. This model is ruled based on three crucial factors such as one’s perception in relation to a particular transition, nature of pre-transition as well as a post-transition atmosphere, and the features of an individual (Papay, pg. Thus, this model can be used to explore Francine's transition of withdrawing from "elite foil-training center" and her entry to "elite sabre-training center.

It includes internal support such as team support, family, and physical support such as climate. In this case, Francine experienced a difficult time adapting to the environment at “elite junior foil-training center" due to depression, climate issues, and other factors that affect her transition. The experience she received at sabre was different as it boosted her level of confidence and reduced stress making her more effective in her new team (Ireseachnet, par. Francine’s career based on her life in sports can be explained in relation to the developmental approach of “Wylleman and Lavallee”. This model explains that the type or nature of transition that an athlete undergoes in one’s sport of interest can be linked to various combinations of factors that the involved athlete perceives as to cause social as well as personal disequilibria.

This research instrument is important as it helps describe the life of an individual, gathers information and shares stories about the lives of those involved in the research, and contains written narratives based on one’s experience. Thus, narrative research is used in most cases to report or tell a person’s story in a chronology of crucial events in the life of an individual. Narrative research examples include “Autobiographies, Biographies, and others (Paiva, pg. The benefit of this method of research is based on the fact that it tells a person's story in relation to one's viewpoint. This method of research is crucial based on the fact that is offer deep insight to genuine experiences as well as inner dialogue that the narrator is going through.

The weakness of this method of research is the fact that it is complex to convey genuine feelings as well as emotions unlike the application of written narratives (Phellas, Bloch, and Seale, Ch. 11, pg. Observation, on the other hand, involves close examination of the sample. Thus, results from this method rely strongly on the strength of the observer. This approach is advantageous in data collection based on the fact that it does not require any sort of information from the person involved, but experience with people rather than relying on their opinions. , Argiolas, C. , & Rosnet, E. A Lifespan Perspective on Transitions during a Top Sports Career: A Case of an Elite Female Fencer, 2012. Available: https://sci-hub. tw/https://doi. The Transition Experience, 2014.