International level player and coach development through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model

This article aims to highlight the inherent complexities of elite player development, unravelling the entanglements that could enable coaches and national organisations to move beyond a focus on early-age specialisation and domestic-level results. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development was originally proposed to explain how human development occurs, focusing largely on the impact of context and remains an evolving theoretical system for the scientific study of human development over time. Drawing extensively on Bronfenbrenner this article explores the interplay of processes across nested levels (e.g., microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem), that can potentially shape tennis development at an international level. The article first outlines the application of a social-ecological framework, which is useful for conceptualising how individual, social and environmental factors, and their interactions over time, may relate to consistent behaviours (e.g., application to training) and subsequent longer-term developmental outcomes (e.g., junior to senior transition). From a coach education perspective, the article then aims to provide practical suggestions to consider for healthy and successful international player development.