Svenska tennisspelares junior till seniorövergång : En undersökning om upplevda resurser, barriärer, krav och copingstrategier

Previous research on the transition from junior to senior has identified factors that affects athletes in their transition. The purpose of this study was to examine tennis players experiences in their junior-to-senior transition. This study aimed to answer the following question: What demands, resources, barriers and coping-strategies does a tennis player experience in the different phases outlined in the model by Stambulova, Pehrson & Olsson (2017)? Semi-structured interviews were conducted on eight juniors and seniors from two different tennis clubs in Southern Sweden. Analysis identified 516 meaning units and 50 sub-themes distributed into four phases of the transition. An adjusted model was presented, that better explains tennis players experiences in their junior- to-senior transition. The adjusted model depicts a tennis players individuality, social needs and responsibility. The functions of a transition are the same no matter the sport. Although structural and cultural differences between sports cause players to experience and move through the transition differently. This result should, in light of prior research, implicate more research on tennis players experiences in their transition from junior to senior