There is continuing discussion in talent research on the best approach to developing sporting expertise through learning activities during early sport participation. Among other concepts, the specialized sampling model describes a pathway between early specialization and early sampling and yields promising results in Swiss football. As successful constellations of early sport participation might be affected by sport-specific constraints (e.g., age of peak performance, selection pressure, and physiological/psychological requirements), other popular game sports may show similar promising pathways. This study investigates whether ice hockey, another popular game sport in Switzerland, shows similar successful constellations of early sport participation. A sample of 98 former Swiss junior national team players born between 1984 and 1994 reported on early sport participation through a retrospective questionnaire. Using the person-oriented Linking of Clusters after removal of a Residue (LICUR) method, volumes of in-club practice, free play, and activities besides ice hockey until 12 years of age were analyzed, along with player’s age at initial club participation. The results indicate that ice hockey enthusiasts with the most free play and above-average in-club practice had a greater chance of reaching professional level compared to other groups. This implies that high domain specificity with varied sampling experiences is the most promising approach to developing sporting expertise in ice hockey. As similar results were previously found in Swiss football, comparable sport-specific constraints might indeed require similar constellations of learning activities during early sport participation. Therefore, in popular game sports in Switzerland, the specialized sampling model seems to be most promising.

人才研究中一直在讨论通过早期体育运动参与学习活动来发展体育专业知识的最佳方法的讨论。在其他概念中，专业化采样模型描述了早期专业化和早期采样之间的一种途径，并在瑞士足球中产生了可喜的结果。由于成功参与早期运动的群体可能会受到运动特定限制（例如，最佳表现的年龄，选择压力和生理/心理要求）的影响，因此其他流行的游戏运动可能会显示出类似的有前途的途径。这项研究调查了冰球，瑞士另一种流行的游戏运动，是否显示出类似的成功参与早期运动的星座。1984年至1994年之间出生的98名前瑞士青少年国家队队员的样本通过回顾性调查表报告了早期的体育活动参与情况。在去除残渣（LICUR）方法后，使用面向人的群集链接，分析了直到12岁为止的俱乐部内练习，自由打球和除冰球以外的活动的数量，以及球员最初参与俱乐部时的年龄。结果表明，与其他团体相比，拥有最多自由打法和高于平均水平的俱乐部活动的冰球爱好者拥有更大的机会达到职业水平。这意味着具有丰富采样经验的高领域特异性是发展冰球运动专业知识的最有前途的方法。与之前在瑞士足球中发现的类似结果一样，在特定的早期运动参与过程中，类似的针对运动的限制可能确实需要类似的学习活动。因此，在瑞士流行的游戏运动中，专用采样模型似乎是最有前途的。