Role of Sports Coaches in Performance

Part 1: Introduction and Methods Outline

According to the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) (2012), sports coaches play a central role in enhancing the performance of athletes and teams besides promoting sports participation. Szabo (2013) defines sports coaching as a process of developing people’s talents, skills and abilities to boost their performance. According to Special Olympics (2011), coaches are trained personnel who select, assess and provide sportspeople with comprehensive training and preparation for competition while abiding by the rule of the sport being coached. The meaning of coaching practice can be elaborated through and in-depth analysis of sports coaching, importance of the practice and the challenges faced by contemporary sports coaches as follows: Sproule and Horton (2008) report that sports coaching is in its most dynamic period in history. As such, the roles of coaches are increasingly changing from the conventional supervisory and instructive responsibilities to promoting individual and societal socioeconomic wellbeing (ICCE, 2012). Therefore, contemporary sports coaching is vital in modern day society on the following grounds: first, through sports coaching talent is identified and nurtured by encouraging regular exercise and training in young people (Bennie & O'Connor, 2010). Next, sports coaching contribute to the development of sportspeople as individuals, teams as cohesive units and communities with a shared interest (Special Olympics, 2011). Third, it contributes to socioeconomic aims by encouraging activity to maintain health while bringing individuals together behind a common entity besides providing income generating opportunities through purchase of equipment, education, employment, attendance of events and use of facilities (Cropley, et al., 2012).

As mentioned earlier, sports coaching is progressively evolving. Vella et al. (2010) observe that modern sports coaching is challenging for coaches. In the first place, coaches work increasingly diverse populations. For example, in the UK, football coaches train athletes from different nationalities. As such, they face heightened demands from the trainees not to mention the administrators and the fans (Boardley, et al., 2008). Second, as alluded earlier, contemporary coaches are required to fulfil numerous roles apart from the traditional coaching. Nowadays, coaches are educators, sports psychologists, guides and business managers (Cropley, et al., 2012). In fact, modern sports coaching professionalism principles emphasise overall development and positive interaction with athletes instead of the convention win-loss record (Shambrook, 2011). Additionally, ICCE (2012) observes that in this digital age, there is greater accessibility to information and visibility to the society. For this reason, sports coaching is more taxing than before. The aim of this logbook is examine different coaching philosophies primarily through review of literature and a primary research survey. This is accomplished through in-depth assessment of the full coaching spectrum.

Philosophies and Coaching Styles

According to Bennie and O’Connor (2010), the development of a vibrant philosophy for individuals and teams has been shown to be a primary component to coaching success. Shambrook (2011) observes that coaches have numerous different philosophies and approaches to doing things with the common goal being training athletes or teams to attain optimal performance levels. Karpel (2006) stated the following:

The coach’s philosophy reflects the foundation that ultimately guides and directs coaching practice.

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According to Special Olympics (2012), coaching effectiveness is determined by the application of a humanistic philosophy that focuses on individual aims and aptitudes. According to Szabo (2013), the general coaching philosophy is based on human values but the philosophy of the coach is strictly determined by personality. As such, the character traits determine the attitude and behaviour of a coach (ICCE, 2012). Szabo (2013) identifies three types of coaches and coaching practices which are democratic, liberal and autocratic. In democratic coaching practice, the coach largely involves trainees in decision making. This approach is athlete-centred. Second, the liberal coach is the non-interfering or the permitting type. Athletes are given the liberty to alter training tasks. Third, the autocratic coach solely dictates the training tasks. Autocratic coaches are determined to achieve their objectives by all means. In sports coaching, coaches’ styles are defined by what they regard as the best approaches to delivering quality training practice (British Orienteering, 2013). As such, there are two approaches which are implicit and explicit coaching. Implicit coaching entails skills acquisition by requiring trainees to perform a given task without any formal description of the procedure (Shambrook, 2011). Implicit training facilitates good performance upon introduction of other tasks. Sproule and Horton (2008) observe that implicit learning facilitates automatic processes that require less working memory. On the contrary. Explicit training is a traditional method in which instructions are passed by coaches to trainees on how to perform certain skills (Cassidy, et al., 2009). As such, it highlights key coaching points. In this case, performers can verbalise their actions but may not perform such skills to higher levels. Explicit training requires advanced use of the working memory. The main disadvantage is that introduction of a secondary task can interfere with task at hand (Wilken, 2012). “Choking” describes the phenomena in which explicit learning in sports tends to increase possibility of negative performance under pressure. Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Role of Sports Coaches in Performance.

Methods

This section provides an outline for the data collection methods for the logbook.

Context Description

Two coaches, Harry and Rob teach cycling. Rob’s team comprises of 1 – 15 children. He engages in fun activities with the children before training. Harry trains the elite with key focus on progressing the skill and improving cycling. He works with 1 – 10 athletes.

Research Approach

A qualitative research approach was employed during the study. As such, interviews, session plans and observations methods were used to gather data. A qualitative approach was appropriate in building an understanding of coaching styles. Through interviews and session plans, there was collaborative construction of meaningful realities with participants.

References

Bennie, A. & O'Connor, D., 2010. Coaching philosophies: perceptions from professional cricket, Rugby League and Rugby Union Players and Coaches in Australia. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 5(2), pp. 309-319.

Boardley, D., Kavussanu, M. & Ring, C., 2008. Athletes’ perceptions of coaching effectiveness and athlete-related outcomes in rugby union: An investigation based on the coaching efficacy model. The Sport Psychologist, Volume 22, pp. 269-287.

Cropley, B., Miles, A. & Peel, J., 2012. Reflective practice: Value of, issues and developments within sports coaching. London: Sports Coach UK.

Sports Coach UK, 2012. Identifying excellent coaching practice along the sporting pathway. Research Briefing No. 1: The children coaching environment. London: University of Stirling.

Vella, A., Oades, G. & Crowe, P., 2010. The application of coach leadership models to coaching practice: current state and future directions. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 5(3).

Wilken, M., 2012. A review of implicit and explicit learning strategies in the development of motor skills and its application to teaching instrumental technique. Cullowhee: s.n.