Previous research highlighted the prospect of releasing players was a stressor for academy coaches, but academy staff members' perspectives on the release process remain unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to explore academy staff members' experiences and perspectives of the release process from professional football academies. Semi-structured interviews (duration: 59-114 min; M +/- SD = 85 +/- 14 min) were conducted with 18 staff members (coaching staff, n = 8; support staff, n = 10) currently working in professional football club academies in the UK. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with themes developed from the interviews relating to: "realistically holding on to the dream in the academy system," "the complexities of making and communicating decisions in the release process," "the contract meeting -'it's the worst part of the job'" and "staff roles and dynamics in the aftercare process." Staff highlighted a lack of good practice and need for guidelines around conducting contract meetings. Participants outlined potential issues with aftercare provided for released players and offered possible solutions, such as a centralized aftercare support program. Good practice recommendations have been provided with regards to the release process, including how to deliver the release news within contract meetings and aftercare provision. These recommendations can assist the release strategies of professional football club academies and organizations.
According to multi-states (MuSt) theory, athletes experience eight distinct performance states arising from the 2 & times; 2 & times; 2 interaction of perceived action control (low/high), hedonic tone (pleasant/unpleasant), and performance outcome (suboptimal/optimal). This study tested the full interaction in elite shooters, extending prior research that examined perceived control and hedonic tone separately. Ten elite male shooters (5 pistol, 5 rifle) each performed 120 shots (1,200 total observations). Before each shot, they rated their hedonic tone; immediately after, they rated their perceived control over a self-identified core shooting action component. Actual shot scores were recorded. Mixed-effects logistic and linear models tested categorical (dichotomized) and continuous predictors, including quadratic terms and random slopes for individual differences. All eight states were empirically present. Quadratic relationships emerged for both perceived control and hedonic tone: moderate levels were associated with the highest probability of optimal performance, while very low and very high levels were less beneficial. A significant perceived control & times; hedonic tone interaction was found on continuous performance scores, indicating that pleasant hedonic tone amplifies the benefit of perceived control. Significant individual differences in the effects of both predictors were observed, supporting the idiographic nature of performance states. The findings provide the first direct evidence for the full 2 & times; 2 & times; 2 interaction as predicted within MuSt theory. To consistently achieve excellent performance, practitioners should adopt personalized, multidimensional approaches to help athletes identify their individually optimal levels of perceived control and hedonic tone, and use targeted self-regulation strategies.
