6 Summary of Session 4

In this session you have examined the impact of normative, ‘within career’ transitions.

The key learning points from this fourth session are:

• Transitions that occur during an athlete’s sports career are wide ranging and can be normative (expected) or non-normative (unexpected).
• Examples of normative transitions include moving from junior to senior level, moving from amateur to professional, and moving to a lower performance level due to age related decline.
• Wyllemann and Lavallee’s (2004) developmental model recognises that transitions occur in various aspects of the athlete’s life throughout the lifespan of their sports career.
• Both upward and downward career transitions can place psychological stresses on the athlete.

In the next session, you will examine some of the unexpected (or non-normative) career transitions experienced by athletes.

You are now halfway through the course. The Open University would really appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future improvement in our optional end-of-course survey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , which you will also have an opportunity to complete at the end of Session 8. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

You should now go to Session 5.