Realising the benefits of sports and physical activity : the human capital model

Despite the fact that physical activity is universally acknowledged to be an important part of healthy functioning and well being, the full scope of its value is rarely appreciated. This paper introduces a novel framework for understanding the relationships between physical activity (and specific forms of activity like sports) and different aspects of human development. It proposes that the outcomes of physical activity can be framed as differential ‘capitals’ that represent investments in domain-specific assets – Emotional, Financial, Individual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social. These investments, especially when made early in the life course, can yield significant rewards, both at that time and for years to come. The paper also outlines some of the conditions necessary for the realization of Human Capital growth through sports and physical activity, focusing on the social factors that influence participation for children and young people

A review of the use of a systematic observation method in coaching research between 1997-2016

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. A systematic observation method has been one of the most popularly employed methods in coaching research. Kahan’s review of this method conducted between 1975 and 1997 highlighted the key trends in this research, and offered methodological guidance for researchers wishing to use this method in their research. The purpose of this review was to provide an update of the use of a systematic observation method in coaching research and assess the extent to which the calls made by Kahan have been addressed. While in some respect this field of study has progressed (i.e., the introduction of qualitative methods), researchers adopting this method have failed to attend to many of the issues Kahan raised. For this method to continue to make a positive contribution towards the coaching research literature, researchers need to more critically reflect on how and why they are employing this method. At present, some of the decisions made by researchers who have conducted work in this area are not justified with a rationale. It is our intention that this review will serve as guidance for researchers and practitioners, and editors and reviewers of journals when attempting to assess the quality of this type of work

An investigation of professional top-level youth football coaches’ questioning practice

To position learners as more central components in the coaching process, scholars suggested that coaches should employ a questioning approach, which may lead to the development of desirable learner outcomes (i.e. increased problem solving and decision-making skills). Studies, however, indicate that coaches rarely employ questions within their practice. When questions are asked, these questions rarely move beyond lower-order or ‘fact seeking’ enquiries. While this research provides information concerning the frequency and in some cases, the type of questions coaches asks, it fails to report the more discursive nature of coaches’ questioning approaches. In order to address such limitations, the purpose of this study was to investigate coach questioning practices (CQPs). We recorded the practices of five academy youth level football coaches’ and subjected the data to conversational analysis (CA), This enabled the analysis of interaction between coach and player(s). Findings revealed that CQPs, regardless of coach or context followed similar discursive patterns. In particular, three themes presented themselves in each CQP: (1) coaches’ requirements for an immediate player response, (2) leading questions for a desired response, (3) monologist nature of coach/player interaction. This showed that the coach positioned themselves as the gatekeeper of knowledge and learners as passive recipients. This reinforces the messages from previous work that has suggested coaches’ ideologies inform their practice, and are stable structures that are difficult to change. We concur with other researchers that there is a need for further investigation in this area to better understand how dominant discourse can be challenged

Sport policy and English primary physical education: the role of professional football clubs in outsourcing

Sports policy in England has led to considerable recent investment in Primary Physical Education (PE) via the ‘PE and Sport Premium’. An outcome of this has been growth in the outsourcing – handing over control of services to external agencies – of PE, including sport coaches from professional football clubs’ community programmes. Despite the growing research on healthy stadia, we know very little about the work performed by community arms of professional clubs in relation to delivering Primary PE. This article discusses the challenges of outsourcing PE to coaches who work for professional football clubs, while offering some evidence related to the employment and development of sports coaches. Given that the evidence of sport coaches’ involvement in Primary PE is limited and that funding and outsourcing it likely to continue England until (at least) 2020, it is important and timely to discuss critically the role of professional football clubs within the current sport policy

The impact of video feedback on professional youth football coaches’ reflection and practice behaviour: a longitudinal investigation of behaviour change

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of video feedback on five English youth football coaches’ reflection and practice behaviours over a three-season period. First, quantitative data were collected using the Coach Analysis and Intervention System (CAIS) during season one and season three. Data from CAIS results showed that over the three seasons the coaches decreased their total instruction and total feedback and increased silence ‘on-task’. Four out of the five coaches also increased the use of total questioning behaviour. Second, interviews revealed how video feedback gave structure to reflective conversations that improved self-awareness and provided a trigger for behaviour change. The coaches highlighted how video-based reflection challenged their current understanding and enabled a range of learning sources to support and inform changed coach behaviour

Re-visiting systematic observation: A pedagogical tool to support coach learning and development

Systematic observation has been one of the most employed data collection methods in sports coaching literature. Initial work, originally undertaken in the 1970’s, and gaining traction in the 80’s and 90’s looked to predominately offer descriptions of coaches’ behaviour. While this research continues to offer a significant contribution to the fields understanding of what coaches do during practice, systematic observation used only in this way has unfulfilled potential. The premise of this paper is to consider systematic observation as a coach development tool – a precedent which has been set in the literature. The arguments made are based on an alternative way of thinking about systematic observation, as a pedagogical tool supports coaches in better understanding themselves and their pedagogical practice. Principles of dialogic pedagogy are used as the basis of our argument whereby ‘researchers’ and ‘coaches’ work collaboratively to co-construct knowledge and support coach reflection, and ultimately develop coaches’ practice

A Systematic Review of Coach Feedback During Practice and Competition in Team Sports

Coach feedback is acknowledged to have a vital role in athlete learning, while systematic observation is a common tool used in measuring coach behaviour. The purpose of this review was to identify coaches’ use of feedback in developmental and performance contexts. A literature search was conducted using EBSCO HOST and SCOPUS databases. Studies were reviewed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data were extracted from 31 studies which met the inclusion criteria. Analysis revealed three themes, 1) evidence base surrounding feedback types observed. 2) variation in observation tool and feedback types observed. 3) quality of coach feedback. The multiple feedback types measured across the studies included suggests there is limited agreement on the types of feedback most important to measure. For the impact of feedback to be better understood, the feedback types captured via systematic observation need revising in line with research that has identified the important characteristics of feedback. A greater evidence-informed approach to the observation of feedback may help to develop a greater critical understanding of the feedback process in learning and performance. Where there were consistencies in feedback type, the quality of the feedback delivered by coaches could be questioned

Coaching player decision making in rugby union:Exploring coaches espoused theories and theories in use as an indicator of effective coaching practice

Researchers exploring how coaches can best support the development of their players decision making within team invasion sports have often been conducted from a cognitive or ecological approach, which differ in their views regarding the presence and absence of memory representations. This difference has, in turn, resulted in practical implications that are theoretically different, but not pedagogically different. Research has categorised such approaches to coaching decision making into intentional decision making training or incidental decision making training that offer different suggestions for how coaching methods may be used within their practice. Sometimes, these categories of training have been offered as the way coaches should operate over the careful selection of coaching methods given their intentions for impact. Instead, within this study we aim to explore the pragmatic nature of coaching practice, rather than adherence only to theoretical principles or beliefs

An investigation into coach developers’ theories in practice, learning and development on a Continuing Professional Development course

Despite the importance of the coach developer in supporting coach learning, there is a limited understanding of how they develop. In response, this study explored the theories in practice of twenty-three English coach developers who undertook a continuing professional development (CPD) course. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations of coach developers’ practice and engagement on the course. The data were analysed using a phronetic-iterative approach, with Argyris and Schön’s ideas on theories in practice, mostly espoused theories and theories-in-use, providing the primary heuristic framework. The findings identified how before the CPD course the coach developers articulated espoused theories but as the course progressed there was a move to theories-in-use. This was due to their (re)constructed understanding of learning and working environment. The findings are discussed in light of how the CPD course, and tutors’ pedagogic approaches, influenced the coach developers’ knowledge and understanding. Based on these findings, it seems there is much to gain from supporting coach developers with a deconstruction and reconstruction of theories in practice