Alpina freestylelandslagens perspektiv på Fysprofilens relevans för idrotten : en kvalitativ intervjustudie

Sammanfattning: By better understanding the physical demands placed on specific sports, the understanding of which physiological assessment methods that are most relevant will increase. In line with this notion, The Swedish Olympic Committee has designed a general test battery (Fysprofilen) that aim to identify the sub-capacities of athletes. However, because the test battery is not sports-specific its feasibility has been questioned by both researchers and users. Also, relatively little is known about the athlete’s perception of the relevance of Fysprofilen, or their motivation and attitude towards training and performing on these tests. Thus, the overall purpose of the present study was to investigate how athletes in the National Swedish snowboarding and freesski teams perceive Fysprofilens feasibility. Semi-structured interviews based on the theoretical frameworks Theory of planned behavior and Self-determination theory were conducted with four male participants, and later interpreted by means of thematic analysis. The results indicate that Fysprofilen is generally considered to be relevant and important for evaluating the training effects and future development areas. The tests are generally considered to be fun and rewarding to perform, but certain parts of the test battery such as the upper body tests are considered to be of no relevance to the sports, which also has a negative effect on their motivation and attitude to perform at these tests. Furthermore, it is expressed that it is more motivating to perform on tests that feel meaningful, which also contributes to making these tests more prioritized. Lower extremity and aerobic tests are considered to be most relevant to performance in the sport. Against this background, Fysprofilen is considered to be an important part of an athlete’s development but it should be further examined if the including tests could improve its relevance to the specific sport.