Back to Front Coach Learning - Reflections on the final study:Epistemological Chaining across the Talent Pathway

This study explored the existence, application, and coherence of the epistemological chain (EC) construct across a British sport’s talent pathway. The high performance director, six National coaches, and 12 players from the pathway were recruited. We employed qualitative methodology to gain understanding of participants’ perceptions and application of the pathway elements. We analysed behavioural differences between coaching levels with reference to an inter coach EC of decision making. Results suggest an inter coach EC present within the talent pathway. Interesting issues arise regarding the ‘3 C’s’ of consistency, clarity, and coherence which appear to be related to the efficacy of the pathway

Talent development for professional rugby league: observations and analysis from a career in rugby’s high-performance environment

Many research theories and frameworks have been proposed to describe the talent development environment in a variety of sports and other high-performance domains. None of these, however, have suitably described the context the first author had experienced in high level rugby league during a career that has spanned 40 years as professional player, club and international coach / manager and more recently as a consultant and researcher. The paper presents current talent development literature in respect to common features that have emerged from this domain. A series of personal reflections then illustrate how these areas are operationalised in rugby league based on the first author’s experiences.What transpires is a clear mis-match between theory and practice and a glaring lack of appropriate support for those who lead in this domain. The paper therefore proposes the need for a new rugby league specific framework which can guide and support those who operate within the rugby league talent development environment

Making Sense of Skill - A personal narrative at becoming more skilled at skill

Skill learning is an extremely complex concept with conflicting theories, practices and concepts promoted by academics and practitioners alike. As a coach for more than 30 years and ex-PE teacher, I have been influenced, adopted, rejected and finally integrated many of these apparent contradictory ideas. By using a personal narrative approach, I hope to bring my journey to life, to share my lived experiences and how I have finally made sense of skill. I present a Skill Learning Chain as a framework that now guides my coaching practice and hope that this helps coaches to avoid some of the many mistakes I have made along the way

Reflecting on reflections of Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA): exemplar experiences and recommendations for new researchers in sport and coaching

There is a growing body of research in sport and sports coaching in particular, being conducted with qualitative methods. Critics have however, identified a philosophical misalignment of methods being used. Many of these studies employ Thematic Analysis (TA) to probe and analyse their data without a clear appreciation of how the different stages of the process associate to the three different TA options: i. Codebook, ii. Reliability Coding, or iii. Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Thus, the purpose of our article is to provide neophyte sports coaching researchers with an in depth understanding of one TA method; Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) and guidance on how to conduct an RTA study that is coherent with the philosophy that underpins it. In doing so, an exemplar of a sports coaching RTA study is provided by the lead author (PhD student) with reflections to illustrate the challenges and learning development that engaging in the RTA study provided. These are supplemented by further reflections on the process by the second author (his PhD supervisor) to further explore related issues to aid the learning process. Consequently, this paper offers an original ‘double hermeneutic’ insight into RTA that in turn provides knowledge and guidance for those considering this method. Recommendations are made to maximise the quality of future studies in sport and coaching and avoid any potential criticism of philosophical misalignmen

Into the Abyss: a study to inform and develop a bespoke athlete transition model for professional rugby. Part 1: establishing a theoretical framework to guide the investigation

A real-world challenge was identified by the first author in how to create a bespoke athlete transition model for his professional rugby club. To guide the study a theoretical framework was sought to direct the data collection and analysis stages of the investigation. Established Talent Development (TD) research from other sports and TD environments is presented along with the authors’ reflections on the literature to demonstrate the iterative process of developing their own theoretical framework. The intention was to shine a light on this research process so that both students and novice researchers could better understand the considerations that underpin this process within such a study. The product of this process is presented, that is, the C.A.R.E. Transition Model, which embeds and reflects the various best practice TD influences explored and assimilated by the authors. This model will now form the basis of future research into this phenomenon

An investigation in to golf coach education and its ability to meet the needs of student coaches

The purpose of this study was to investigate golf coach education within the UK and explore its ability to meet the needs of beginner student golf coaches. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted and data analysed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. Results produced 180 emergent themes which gave rise to 18 subordinate and 4 super-ordinate themes. Findings suggest that currently golf coach education may inadequately be meeting the expectations of beginner coaches. Issues such as inappropriate content, insufficient guidance and minimal practical experience were highlighted. Alternative sources of learning are presented for consideration

The wow factor in coaching: transporting the learner with C.A.R.E.

The paper is a typology of three elite level golf coaches, presented in a storied format using a creative nonfiction approach. The stories are based upon data collected through observations and interviews over the course of a year. In order to further decontextualize [protect] the subjects and aid generalization to support coach learning, a second layer of analysis was performed. Some caricatures emerged from the data and were developed using a transport metaphor to demonstrate how each coach impacted upon their players’ sporting journey. The interviews highlight many commonly held assumptions about professional practices in sports coaching that warrant further critique by anyone wishing to bear influence in the player development domain. Finally, we present a CARE framework which, keeping to the metaphor, will help each coach to build a better E-CAR

Into the Abyss: developing a bespoke athlete transition model for professional rugby. Part 2: investigating a case-study environment to guide practice

Using the C.A.R.E. theoretical framework developed in Part 1 of this study, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with specialist transition coaches in order to inform the development of a bespoke athlete transition model for their professional rugby club. Findings identified many common psychomotor and psychosocial factors for successful player transition from the Academy stage to full professional contract. Four superordinate concepts were built from this data: (i) knowledge and understanding of team dynamics, (ii) expected player competencies; (iii) positive behaviours for modelling; (iv) self-awareness and resilience. On the basis of our research to date, we suggest the future transition model needs to support players develop awareness of self, and awareness of context. Further analysis of the case-study environment highlighted important cultural influences that will impact successful transition and must underpin the club’s future strategies and action plans

Pragmatic research in sport: coaching philosophies in action - a values chain to inform practice

Sports coaching philosophy is an area with numerous studies conducted into its origins, development and operation. One under researched concept however, is how a coach’s own values can impact upon their professional practice. This paper presents qualitative data from eight high level performance sport coaches, all from different disciplines, which demonstrate how personal values have influenced and continue to influence their coaching. A Values Chain is then presented to illustrate a Values Based Coaching Approach. This highlights two coaching archetypes and offers a framework for practicing coaches to reflect upon their own values and how these directly and indirectly affect their own and their players’ performance. The study demonstrates how qualitative data can be used to construct tangible models, provide support for practical coaching and continued coach development