Understanding the work and learning of high performance coaches

Background: The development of high performance sports coaches has been proposed as a major imperative in the professionalization of sports coaching. Accordingly, an increasing body of research is beginning to address the question of how coaches learn. While this is important work, an understanding of how coaches learn must be underpinned by an understanding of what coaches do. This is not to suggest a return to the behaviouristic accounts of coaching, rather a greater consideration of what tasks entail modern coaching work, especially within the dynamic and evolving vocation of high performance coaching

A guided reflection intervention for high performance basketball coaches

The purpose of this study was to conduct a guided reflection intervention for high performance basketball coaches. The study participants included two head basketball coaches and 10 of their players who were part of elite youth teams in Singapore. The coaches were highly experienced, each with 17 and 20 years of coaching experience respectively, and the players from both teams (one male and one female) reported on average three years of playing experience at the national youth level. The Singapore coaching behavior scale for sport (CBS-S basketball), on-site observations, and interviews were used to gather data from the coaches and players. Coaches also kept a reflective journal throughout the intervention. The results showed how the coaches responded differently to the guided reflection intervention (implemented by the first author) in terms of their willingness to adapt and integrate new perspectives into their coaching practice. The coaches' level of reflection was found to be contingent upon a) their motivation and desire to be engaged in the process and b) the worth they saw in the learning facilitator's recommendations to improve their athletes' technical and tactical development. The results also showed how the coaches' behaviors were linked to players' satisfaction level with their work. The results are discussed using the coaching science literature and practical implications are proposed to optimize coaches' use of reflection as a learning tool to improve their coaching practice

Position Paper: Rationale for a Focused Attention on Mental Health of High-Performance Sports Coaches

High-performance (HP) coaching has been described as “a complex, social, and dynamic activity that is not easily represented as a set of tangible and predictable processes.” Coaches are not only responsible for extensive planning, monitoring, and leadership in a dynamic and complex environment but also have responsibility for supporting athlete development and safeguarding their athletes’ overall health, well-being, and psychological and physiological safety. However, HP coaching is often considered an unsustainable profession, due to the levels of stress and subsequent mental health challenges that are frequently part of the role. Therefore, this position paper will focus on the concerns, challenges, and resources needed to prevent and manage mental ill-being and support the mental well-being of sport coaching professionals in HP sport, and provide recommendations for individuals, systems, and organizations that work with HP sport coaches

Is perceived athlete leadership quality related to team effectiveness? A comparison of three professional sports teams

Objectives Researchers have argued that leadership is one of the most important determinants of team effectiveness. The present study examined the extent to which the perceived quality of athlete leadership was related to the effectiveness of elite sports teams. Design Three professional football teams (N\ua0=\ua0135) participated in our study during the preparation phase for the Australian 2016 season. Methods Players and coaching staff were asked to assess players’ leadership quality in four leadership roles (as task, motivational, social, and external leader) via an online survey. The leadership quality in each of these roles was then calculated in a social network analysis by averaging the indegree centralities of the three best leaders in that particular role. Participants also rated their team's performance and its functioning on multiple indicators. Results As hypothesized, the team with the highest-quality athlete leadership on each of the four leadership roles excelled in all indicators of team effectiveness. More specifically, athletes in this team had a stronger shared sense of the team's purpose, they were more highly committed to realizing the team's goals, and they had a greater confidence in their team's abilities than athletes in the other teams. Moreover, this team demonstrated a higher task-involving and a lower ego-involving climate, and excelled on all measures of performance. Conclusions High-quality athlete leadership is positively related to team effectiveness. Given the importance of high-quality athlete leadership, the study highlights the need for well-designed empirically-based leadership development programs

Quality coaching, learning and coach development

Performance coaches are the architects of the coaching environment and responsible for leading and managing the coach-athlete-performance relationship. The effectiveness of the coach in leading and managing this relationship is important for producing appropriate outcomes such as physical and psycho-social development as well as competition results. The focus of this paper is on coaching within the performance environment, which includes development and high performance contexts. Firstly, this paper examines the notion of quality coaching; specifically, how we might conceptualise quality coaching. It is argued is that a key understanding of quality coaching is associated with learning. The learners include all actors within the coaching context, including coaches, athletes and support personnel. In the second part of the paper, the multifaceted and serendipitous nature of coach education and development is discussed

Beyond winning and losing: guidelines for evaluating high performance coaches

This paper proposes a three-step method of evaluating high performance coaches involving feedback from the athletes. First, data are collected using an instrument such as the Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S: Côté, Yardley, Hay, Sedgwick, & Baker, 1999). Second, a summary report is prepared with descriptive information regarding the frequency of behaviors demonstrated by the coach that can be compared to previous results or to a criterion measure. The third step involves appropriate personnel reviewing the report and subsequently providing guidance for individual coach development. This three-step appraisal method provides useful evaluative feedback to coaches and has been used in several sport programs in Canada, the United States, and Australia

The what, why and how of the push pass

Contains fulltext : 158157.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

Becoming a successful high performance track and field coach

Etude du parcours de formation qui mène l'entraîneur d'athlétisme au succès en sport de haut niveau, par des entretiens auprès de 5 entraîneurs experts