Revista PODIUM, September-December 2019; 14(3): 432-450

 

Translated from the original in spanish

 

Diagnosis of the integral development of the sportsmen of Villa Clara: an urgent need

 

Diagnóstico del desarrollo integral de los deportistas de Villa Clara: una necesidad impostergable

 

Alberto Bautista Sánchez Oms,1 Odalis Ruano Anoceto,1 Ángela González Padrón,1 Luis Ángel García Vázquez,1 Maria Elena Perdomo López1

1Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas. Facultad de Cultura Física. Centro de Estudios Cultura Física y Deportes. Las Villas, Cuba. E-mail: asoms@uclv.cu , oranoceto@uclv.cu , angelag@uclv.cu

 

Received: April 5th, 2019.
Approved: September 3rd, 2019.


ABSTRACT

The sport practice has spread in mass in the province of Villa Clara, starting from the base level, until the high performance, which will guarantee the continuity of the results of the sport in the territory. The province of Villa Clara historically occupied the second position in school games, youth and social sports nationwide, however, the development achieved by other provinces and the need to continue increasing the ranks of national teams, demand the use of the science and technology and scientific-technical information, which allow us to remain in the world elite in many of the sports practiced in the country, ensuring the integral formation of athletes, which is a priority of the Fiscal Education, Sport and Recreation National Institute (Inder), as well as a work objective. For all the above there is a need to conduct a study on the development of athletes in Villa Clara, for which methods are used at the theoretical level as well as the empirical level. Among which are: inductive-deductive, systemic-structural-functional, analytic-synthetic, the measurement, the questionnaire, the interview, psychological technical documental analysis, analysis biomechanics and statistical-mathematical. The study allows detecting weaknesses that constitute a starting point for the integrated development of athletes.

Keywords: diagnosis, indicators, integrated performance.


RESUMEN

La práctica deportiva ha ganado en masificación, en la provincia de Villa Clara, partiendo desde el nivel de base, hasta el alto rendimiento, lo cual garantizará la continuidad de los resultados del deporte en el territorio. La provincia de Villa Clara ocupó históricamente el segundo lugar en juegos escolares, juveniles y deporte social a nivel nacional, sin embargo, el desarrollo alcanzado por otras provincias y la necesidad de continuar engrosando las filas de los equipos nacionales, demandan del uso de la ciencia, las tecnologías y de la información científico-técnica, que permitirán mantener en la élite mundial en muchos de los deportes que se practican en el país. Todo ello garantizará, a su vez, una formación integral de los atletas, lo cual constituye una prioridad del Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educación Física, y Recreación (Inder), así como un objetivo de trabajo. Por todo lo anterior, existe la necesidad de realizar un diagnóstico sobre el desarrollo de los deportistas de Villa Clara. Para ello, se utilizarán métodos del nivel teórico y empírico, entre los que están: inductivo-deductivo, sistémico estructural funcional, analítico-sintético, la medición, la encuesta, la entrevista, análisis documental, técnicas psicológicas, análisis biomecánico y estadístico-matemático. El diagnóstico permitirá detectar debilidades que constituyen un punto de partida para el desarrollo integral de los deportistas.

Palabras clave: diagnostico; indicadores; integral.


INTRODUCTION

The current sports results of the province of Villa Clara, in various national and international events, reveal a reality in need of research and the application of science and technology, related to physical culture and sport. It is evident that there are issues of sports infrastructure in critical condition, but beyond the objective vision of the facilities, it is necessary to review, internally, the process of training the athlete, which has lacked comprehensiveness and a systemic approach to how to address it, especially in the provincial Eide (Initiation Sport School) "Hector Ruiz Perez" of Villa Clara.

Sports training classifies as an extremely complex process, based on the number of factors, variables and indicators that interact in function of being taken into account to achieve their maximum aspiration, ie, the optimal manifestation of performance and results by the athlete, keeping it in the foreground. (Collazo, 2012)

More and more time is devoted to the problems of timely choice and the beginning of initial specialization. On the one hand, it is important not to let the essential time pass in order to reach sports mastery heights and to take advantage of the sensitive periods of the development of the organism according to the age and, on the other hand, it is advisable to avoid an excessively narrow specialization, which, in spite of the fact that in the coming years it offers an increase in sports results, in short, results in very little perspective. (Oraceno, 2004)

According to Díaz y Molina (2011), diagnosis is one of the aspects that the teacher should not forget in order to attend to the individual differences of his students and to be able to solve the problems he faces on a daily basis; it is characterized by being a scientific, conscious and intentional activity of the teacher. There are spontaneous or non-scientific ways of doing this, but they must be rigorously integrated with what has been achieved by scientific methods. You should never wait to get to know them as you go along. Early scientific diagnosis allows the true direction of the teaching-learning process and, at the same time, gives priority attention to the individual differences of the students.

According to Zilberstein (2002), specialized diagnosis is "a process with an instrumental character, an attention that allows gathering information about evaluation and intervention in order to transform something, from an initial diagnosis to a potential one, which allows differentiating it".

The diagnosis, regardless of the context of application, is fundamentally aimed at identifying, categorizing and modifying the phenomenon studied. In general, the term means knowledge, although it has sometimes been confined to illnesses, nevertheless, it is the object of diagnosis not only of doctors, but also of sociologists, psychologists and pedagogues, among other specialists. (Sardá and Ruíz, 2015).

In order to carry out an in-depth analysis of the object of study linked to the development of the athlete, some works were taken as a reference pointing to the exercise of competencies, physical abilities, the interrelation between coach and athlete, the integration and cohesion of the group and the performance of the athlete, from the academic point of view and taking into account his personal life (Torres et al., 2015; Sánchez et al., 2017; Padrón, Á. G.et al., 2016; Capdevila Seder, A. et al., 2015).

However, the scope of these studies, although they have addressed methodological and formative aspects, have not addressed the problem of the preparation of the athlete from an integral conception. In addition, the study of the literature consulted has shown that there is no methodology for making an integral diagnosis of the development of athletes, all of which has led to the following objective: To diagnose the state in which the development of the Villaclareñan athlete is.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the study, both theoretical and empirical methods were used, as well as indicators to evaluate the preparation of athletes, such as inductive-deductive, analysis-synthesis, systemic structural functional, biomechanical analysis, survey, interview, statistical-mathematical (empirical frequency distribution).

A group of indicators was used, which facilitated the process of the diagnosis carried out, among which they are:

The instruments were applied according to the planned stage and the data were processed and analyzed based on their nature; these made it possible to elaborate the final report of the ten sports, diagnostic objects, at the base level, in high-performance sports, in the Eide Integral Sports Training School and in four provincial academies. The study was conducted in 2018, in 11 sports (soccer, handball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, water polo, athletics, weightlifting, judo, wrestling and boxing) in categories 11-12 (at the base), 13-14 (in Eide) and 17 and up (in academies).

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Design of the methodology for the integral diagnosis of the Villaclareñan sportsman

In order to diagnose the state of development of the sportsmen and women of Villa Clara, the following proposal of methodology is made for the integral diagnosis of the sportswoman.

Structure of the methodology proposed for the diagnosis of the integral development of the Villaclareño athlete

The structure of the methodology is composed of two structural apparatuses: the theoretical or cognitive apparatus and the methodological or instrumental apparatus. (Figure 1)

Fig. 1 – Presentation of the proposed methodology

General objective

To prepare managers and coaches for the comprehensive diagnosis of sportsmen and sportwomen based on a set of techniques and procedures for doing the same, taking into account all the plans in which their personality develops during sports training.

The criteria of De Armas (2003), on methodology, in its most specific meaning, is assumed, which points out that it is: "a set of methods, procedures, techniques that, regulated by certain requirements, allow a better order of thought and mode of action to obtain, discover new knowledge in the diagnosis of theory or in the solution of problems in practice" (p.14).

The foundations of the proposal are as follows:

  1. Materialist dialectics as the theory of knowledge, which is assumed in its entirety as the essence of the proposal.
  2. A problematizing and interdisciplinary conception.
  3. Training as a developmental process, which brings the current state closer to the potential for development and reveals in athletes their potentialities, helping them to increase their competitiveness.
  4. A developing learning that guarantees, "in the individual, the active and creative appropriation of physical culture and sport, propitiating the development of their constant self-perfection, of their autonomy and self-determination in intimate connection with the specific requirements of sport.

Laws and principles supporting the proposed methodology

Conceptual apparatus supporting the methodology

The diagnosis, regardless of the context of application, is fundamentally aimed at identifying, categorizing and modifying the phenomenon studied. In general, the term means knowledge, although it has sometimes been confined to illnesses, nevertheless, it is the object of diagnosis not only of doctors, but also of sociologists, psychologists and pedagogues, among other specialists. (Sardá and Ruíz, 2015).

Taking into account the results of the bibliographical analysis carried out, in the present work, the systematic process of analysis of sports preparation, family dynamics, in the community and in the school environment, as well as the health aspects that favor the integral development of the sportsperson, aspects that cannot be seen isolated because the interdependent relations between them are palpable.

The methodology consists of four stages:

a) Evaluation: actions to check whether the methodology guarantees the achievement of the proposed objectives. Recommendations for its implementation.
b) The diagnosis will be made at various times and under different conditions, in the different contexts in which the athlete interacts to avoid subjective criteria in the subsequent characterization.
c) The same methods and instruments will be applied in a systematic way, that is to say, in several moments of the process so that the procedural character of the diagnosis is understood, always oriented towards the same objective, propitiating the compilation of a detailed, precise and reliable information of the reality.
d) Uniformity of criteria will be established as to the stages or moments of preparation at which the diagnosis will be carried out.
e) The actors who interact with the athlete and who will carry out the diagnosis will be trained beforehand.

Results of the implementation of the proposed methodology

The methodology was applied in different scenarios such as the sport complexes of the territory, the Eide (Sport Initiation School) "Héctor Ruiz" in Villa Clara and the Academies of boxing, baseball, soccer and basketball.

It gives a brief information of the results of the diagnosis, which is synthesized below.

Violence indicator in sport

Many teachers are concerned about the bellicose environment and increased aggressiveness in some classrooms, schools, P.E. classes and sporting events. Education for peace emerges as a necessity that every educational institution must assume. To educate for peace means: to live in peace with oneself, with others and with nature. It is a way of educating in values, which implies others such as justice, democracy, solidarity, tolerance, coexistence, respect, cooperation, autonomy, rationality, love of truth, among other Vidanes, (2007). Education in values is a very important factor to achieve the quality proposed by the Cuban educational system.

Results of the application of instruments: interviews with teachers of the Faculty of Physical Culture

Forty-seven teachers from the Faculty of Physical Culture were interviewed. The interview focused on the perception of violence, its most frequent causes and manifestations, as well as suggestions for managing it appropriately.

The interviewees coincide in the conception of violence as a behavior identified by physical, verbal, and psychological aggression, characterized by an abuse of power and aimed at imposing particular conceptions and criteria (Figure 2). The distinction between violence and aggressiveness in those surveyed is not a generality, but the majority of opinions indicate that the athlete can be aggressive, combative, without implying violence, since discipline and compliance with regulations mark the differences. (Figure 2)

Fig. 2 - Terms used by teachers to define violence

The question of whether athletes are violent requires analysis that is more detailed.     

First, to have clarity on the concept of violence and its various manifestations.

Aggressive behavior is characterized by intentionality. It is a compendium of three characteristics: intention to cause harm; to cause real harm in itself; alteration in the emotional state of the person.

There is coincidence in the criteria that the causes of violence are very diverse, part of the lack of communication, the use of inadequate methods, the exhortation to obtain outstanding results, the pressure of coaches, family, public. The figure #3 shows some considerations in this regard. The 17.2 % of the sample refers to a more subtle form of violence that is expressed in a training designed above the capacity of the athlete, without respecting cycles and / or alternation of rest training, aimed at high-performance athletes, in order to obtain high sports results. (Figure 3) and (Chart 1)

Fig. 3 - Causes of violence, according to teachers' criteria

Table 1. - Main manifestations of violence in sport

The most frequent manifestations of violence in sport, according to the teachers, are listed in table #1. It is striking that causes and manifestations are cited indistinctly (underlined), such as lack of communication, bad relationships, stress and frustrations. This situation leads to consider the existence of gaps in the knowledge of the subject.

In the sports field, violent behavior can be carried out by the institution with the players, among the players, among the public, involving or not the players, it always brings with it a behavior harmful to human dignity and can be generated from causal dissimilarities.

When analyzing violence in sport, four types of sport are established: (1) educational, directed by physical education professionals within school hours and facilities, (2) recreational, considered as a pastime whose purpose is to have fun, (3) competitive, practiced periodically and organized through clubs and federations, and (4) competitive-shows or high competition, in which economic, political and social aspects are already involved. (Gómez, 2007).

Biomechanical indicator

The development of sports biomechanics is closely linked to the content of information obtained through experimental research. It is useful and necessary, as it can be used to carry out adequate planning, obtain scientific bases for sports gestures and training systems, carry out functional assessments and field tests that serve as thermometers of athletes' sports performance and establish comparisons at the different stages of preparation. In addition, it can help minimize the risk of injury, is a support for teachers, coaches and athletes in introducing novel systems of, by deciphering the benefits and difficulties that may be encountered (Perdomo et al., 2018).

In the most general sense of its application, the objective of Biomechanics, in sports activities, concentrates on the characterization and optimization of movement techniques through the scientific knowledge present in science, which have as object of study the sports gesture.

Example of one of the studies carried out in the Eide "Héctor Ruiz de Villa Clara". Biomechanical analysis

Sport: athletics.

Mode: fence passing.

Results

Athlete 1: photo 1.  (Figure 4)

Fig. 4 - Analysis of the fence attack technique in the studied athlete

In the image of the fence pass, the athlete presents a large number of technical errors. According to GuyDrut's parameters, it is only noticeable that the attack leg has not yet reached its full extension, however, the abduction leg is correctly positioned and not the opposite arm to the abduction leg which is fully extended, which is considered an error because it is difficult to maintain balance in that position.

Anthropometric indicator

Sports medicine is one of the branches of medical science that deals with monitoring and promoting health, as well as the physical development of individuals who practice physical culture and sports.  It is mainly a science of research on the healthy man, put in conditions of constant variability, requiring a special observation and for this it uses fundamentally of the medical control.

Report of the result of the anthropometric measurements in female and male athletes from Villa Clara

Difficulties are generally seen in sports that compete for weight divisions and those in which results depend on active body mass, such as fast-force sports.

The following is an example of results recorded in the under-15 female category.

Sport: volleyball.

Investigated: 13 athletes.

The percentage of active body mass (ACM) is adequately manifested in most athletes. The playing position is not recorded in the majority of those investigated, an issue of great importance to determine the appropriate correspondence or not between the types of action, they perform most and the development of body mass. 

Synthesis of results by sports

Result of the diagnosis made to the athletes of immediate perspective

Cuba has been able to face the challenges imposed by contemporary sport, among other factors, due to its solid sports education system. Today, Cuba shows a system that includes sports initiation schools (Eide), of which there are 14 throughout the country, academies, sports areas and high-performance centers. This whole teaching system fits as a key piece in the gear of Cuban sports development.

In an investigation carried out by CINID del Inder, in the territory of Villa Clara, it showed that 94.6 %, 95.8 % and 98.6 % of the athletes participating in the Central American, Pan American and Olympic Games, respectively, are genuine products of that system.

All of the above promotes an outstanding work with the athletes at the base because there is a large sports reserve in the province of Villa Clara. (Chart 2)

Chart 2. - Sports reserves in the province of Villa Clara

The following chart shows the number of athletes per municipality, the number of athletes who are sports reserves per municipality, the total and active technical strength available to work with the reserve and with the Athletes of Immediate Perspective (Api). (Chart 3).

Table 3. - Enrollment of athletes by municipality

The data, which are reflected in the chart, show a contradiction between the large reserve number and the athletes selected as API, which is an aspect to be assessed by sports specialists.

Based on the results achieved and the criteria of some researchers who have made diagnoses in this important area of sports training, it would be interesting to present some regularities that need to be addressed to think about the training of sports elites.

Synthesis of the results of the diagnosis of the athletes of the sports academies and the Eide

Today, the evolution of the sporting phenomenon has broken out in such a way in the last century that today the social sciences define it as one of the characteristic features of contemporary society throughout the world.  Performance sport is an important component of physical culture and therefore includes the incorporation into sport of young talents who aspire to achieve the greatest results. (Dominguez and Duvergel, 2015).

Sport is a complex phenomenon that has many facets and brings together activities and practices that are very heterogeneous in terms of their objectives and performance. Although there is abundant empirical evidence to corroborate the benefits of physical activity and its positive influence on different indicators of physical and psychological health, on the other hand, when children and adolescents take part in competitive sports, it can be a significant detriment to their physical and emotional development.

It is important to reflect on the benefits that sport can bring to young people to guide them in competitive sport for children and young people, in order to make compatible, on the one hand, sports performance, and on the other hand psychopedagogical and educational performance.

The training process is under constant review, the search for factors that determine sports performance and their optimization are objectives present in the attempt to raise the performance of the athlete with the highest level of efficiency (Gomez, 2011).

Therefore, the experience derived from the practice of training, the results of scientific research are complementary, and therefore it can be said that training methods, which are used in the world of physical activity and competitive sport to improve physical quality and specific sports performance, are the consequence of two types of knowledge (Capote et al., 2017).

1. Those acquired through their practical experience that coaches have had over the years, with competitive athletes.
2. Those derived from interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific studies, carried out in different sports disciplines.
3. In this sense, when sports training, at these ages, is planned on the general principles of teaching and education, the principles of sports specialization exert their influence on different physiological indicators, resulting beneficial for the biological development of the child and adolescent.

Creating a personal story of successful experiences is the foundation of self-esteem. To do this, coaches must carefully plan the goals and activities to which athletes will be exposed during the first few years of training.

To this end, these guidelines have been considered that will be of interest to coaches in the sports being studied:

Regularity based on the analysis of training plans

Current Status of the Athlete's Comprehensive Preparation Programs

The rules of entry must be reworked taking into consideration the characteristics of the sport.

To deepen in the pedagogical tests and competitive controls that, introduced in the program, will allow determining with objectivity the real situation of the sport in question. Rules must be developed for the evaluation of the particular results of each sport.

It is necessary to update the programs, in correspondence with the characteristics of the current world sport in the level studied; in them, it is necessary to particularize the situation of deficiencies of the sport in relation to the lack of competitions of preparation and officials of greater depth and duration in Cuba. In tactical sports, a greater correspondence with this aspect is required, since the current world demands it.

In general, weaknesses are detected in anthropometric, biomechanical, psychological, methodological, cultural and historical indicators, which constitute starting points for establishing proposals that allow us to respond to them.

The need to carry out an integral characterization of the Villaclareñan sportsman, where the main weaknesses in the sports object of diagnosis are detected and, for it, a methodology was designed that allowed to give answer to the proposed objective.

 

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Copyright (c) 2019 Alberto Bautista Sánchez Oms