NCAA Division I Head Softball Coaches\u27 Confidence, Openness and Stigma Tolerance Toward Sport Psychology Consultants

This study used a mixed-method to look at NCAA division I head softball coaches confidence, openness, and stigma tolerance about sport psychology principles and consultants, as well as what sport psychology principles, time of year used, and what a Sport Psychology Consultant (SPC) can do to help division I head softball coaches have more success with their teams. These variables were measured through the use of the Sport Psychology Attitudes - Revised Coaches instrument developed by Zakrajsek and Zizzi (2007). For the qualitative component, the researcher developed five inquiries that allowed for a more in-depth response from the coaches concerning principles used, confidence in using, and when they are implementing the principles. Descriptives of the data show that coaches feel mental skills are important, while descriptives of the independent variables of age gender and years coaching revealed that none of these variables are significantly related to a coach\u27s use of an SPC. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze differences in the dependent variables of openness, stigma tolerance, and confidence as a function of gender and the use of sport psychology consultants. The results show that a significant difference based on respondent\u27s use of consultants; however, no significant differences were found for gender. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted as a follow-up. For the factor, use of sport psychology consultants, the ANOVA for stigma tolerance was significant. The ANOVA for confidence and openness was non-significant. The five inquiries revealed five to eight themes per inquiry. Overall, NCAA division I head softball coaches use of sport psychology principles and SPCs falls in line with previous research done by Weinberg & Gould (2007) as to the principles used and when the best time to implement them is

Quality Sport Coaching: The Role of the National Standards for Sport Coaches

© 2020 SHAPE America. The purpose of this Strategies feature series is to provide coaches examples of how they could integrate the NSSC within coaching practice. The series begins with Neelis and colleagues describing the importance of developing the profession of sport coaching, how the profession has evolved over time, and the importance of personal professional development in moving the profession forward. The remaining articles in the series provide opportunities for personal professional development for coaches across the youth sport, interscholastic, intercollegiate, and high-performance coaching contexts. The intent of each article is to use vignettes, coach stories, and practical examples to help coaches see how they could align their own coaching practice with the NSSC as well as provide resources for coaches wanting to further develop their coaching

A Case Study of One High Performance Baseball Coach\u27s Experiences Within a Learning Community

The purpose of the present study was to examine the learning experiences of a high performance, head baseball coach within a learning community. We drew upon the barriers and enablers of a learning community to structure the current study\u27s learning community intervention. Our learning community was comprised of one collegiate summer league head baseball coach and three coach educators (i.e. facilitators). Data were collected via eight weekly learning community meetings (i.e. recorded and transcribed), the coach’s daily journal and post-learning community meeting journal, and the memory of his coaching experiences. The findings, which suggest a potential framework for sustaining an effective learning community, resulted in six themes (i.e. problem setting, problem sharing, questioning to prompt reflection, prescribed suggestions, collaborative solutions and psychological wellness) that describe the coach’s experiences both internal and external to the learning community. The findings are discussed in relation to research on learning communities, experiential learning and reflection. Furthermore, we provide implications for future research by considering the learning community’s influence on the head coach’s reduction of stress and the utilisation of technology to sustain a stable learning community setting