The word ‘expert’ is derived from the same root as
experience and experiment, which refers to efforts to
learn from experience. When someone has gained special
skills or knowledge representing mastery of a particular
subject through experience and instruction, we
call this person an expert (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003).
The concept of expertise can be traced back to the first
cities with their specialized professions, such as shoemakers,
blacksmiths, tailors, bakers, and potters. In the
Middle Ages, professionals formed city guilds to control
the number of individuals and the training process.
Within this system, one began as an apprentice, took
approximately 7 years to become a journeyman, and
several additional years thereafter to attain the status of
master.
In the last 20 years, the search for deliberate practice
activities has been extended to numerous domains, such
as medicine, nursing, ballet, sports, SCRABBLE, scientific
research, psychotherapy, and teaching. Current
research is now finding relations between the amount
of engagement in particular intensive practice activities
and desired beneficial changes in the brain and other
parts of the body. It has been proposed that one needs
approximately 10 years of full-time engagement to
become an expert (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, &
Hoffman, 2006).
The development of expertise in sport is perhaps the
most debated aspect of this research field with two
competing approaches being suggested, deliberate practice
(Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch- Ro¨mer, 1993) and
deliberate play (Baker & Farrow, 2015). This debate
has important practical implications in regard to
whether it is advantageous to specialize early in a sporting
task or diversify across a number of sports to reach
expert status.
Future research aims to develop a detailed understanding
of how designed practice activities can build
complex physiological adaptations and mental representations
that are associated with increased superior performance
among professionals and increased
achievement among amateurs. There are many fertile
areas for future research before a complete understanding
of expertise will be gained.
