Applying the 5Cs framework to elite youth tennis: impact factors in a talent development environment

Harwood, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9862-824X and Porter, K, 2026. Applying the 5Cs framework to elite youth tennis: impact factors in a talent development environment. Behavioral Sciences, 16 (2): 166. ISSN 2076-328X

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Abstract

With the growing demands and expectations associated with professionalised youth sport environments, there is an increasing need for psychosocial development initiatives to support young athletes and their healthy progression. The aim of this study was to extend and investigate the application of the 5Cs framework, a prominent psychoeducational approach in sport psychology, to a youth tennis Talent Development Environment (TDE). Using a collective case study design, five athletes, their parents and two coaches (n = 12) participated in a season-long multimodal 5Cs intervention programme at a British Regional Player Development Centre (RPDC). The 30-week programme was delivered by an embedded sport psychology practitioner (SPP) and incorporated a blocked educational curriculum supported by a range of athletes, coach and parent development strategies. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants, with reflexive thematic analysis leading to three overarching themes. Findings highlighted the positive influence of the programme, with perceptions of the framework’s effectiveness associated with its specificity to tennis and individual athlete needs, the collaboration of all stakeholders across the TDE and the use of developmentally accessible and innovative strategies enabling evidence of athlete improvements. Researchers, practitioners and sport organisations are encouraged to consider these impact factors in terms of supporting the development, performance and well-being of athletes and their families in competitive youth sport contexts.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Behavioral Sciences
Creators:	Harwood, C. and Porter, K.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	25 January 2026
Volume:	16
Number:	2
ISSN:	2076-328X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/bs16020166 DOI 2564859 Other
Rights:	© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	29 Jan 2026 08:06
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2026 08:06
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55139

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