3,172 research outputs found
Beliefs and attitudes in judo coaching: toward a new model of coaching
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThe purpose of this research programme was to propose a new structure for judo coaching. Judo coaching predominantly uses traditional methods emphasising progression through belts rather than success in competition as the measure of achievement. The research programme examined this issue in four stages involving seven studies. Stage 1 involved a qualitative examination of five elite coaches on what constitutes an effective coach, leading to the initial development of a 39-item judo coaching scale. Given the importance of demonstrating measures are valid, stage 2 investigated the validity of the scale among judo players and coaches. Factor analytic studies on data from 260 (130 coaches and 130 players) yielded a 7-factor solution; 1) Coaching is about winning, 2) Attitudes to coaching at different levels, 3) Attitudes to judo structure, 4) Relationships with players, 5) Presentational issues, 6) Technical knowledge link to coach level, and 7) Coach-player interactions. Multisample confirmatory factor analysis found support for the invariance of the model between coaches and players, thereby showing that relationships are consistent between different groups. Stage 3 used a multi-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Responses to the judo coaching scale indicated perceptions of coach effectiveness vary as a function of being a player or a coach, and by level of participation (elite-v-non-elite). Qualitative results emphasise the importance of emotional control, an aspect not focused on in the interviews completed in stage 1. Stage 4 of the research investigated relationships between judo coaching scale scores and emotional intelligence. The study also investigated levels of emotional intelligence between elite and club coaches. High emotional intelligence is associated is proposed to be indicative of being able to manage the emotional states of other people and so should be a desirable quality in coaches. Results show significant relationship between judo coaching scale score and emotional intelligence factors, with further analysis showing that elite coaches reported higher emotional intelligence scores than club coaches. Based on the findings from the studies completed above, a revised judo coaching structure is presented. An elite structure should be based on players having specific performance targets including technical and tactical skills, psychological, and physiological, aligning judo more closely with the structure used in other Olympic sports. Coaches should also be given targets related to developing emotional control among players and instilling players with a self-belief to attain performance targets related to the above. Effective integration and usage of such personnel is required including developing and inculcating sport science knowledge into the practice of elite coaches, and then modifying this knowledge for use in the club system. It is hoped that findings from this research stimulates discussion, and action in the British Judo Association to revise the current system, which could lead to better judo coaching, better players, and ultimately enhanced Olympic success at London 2012
Coaching and the Growth of Three New Zealand Educators: a Multi-dimensional Journey
No full textThis qualitative research project began with the question of whether coaching assists the growth and development of educators in the multiple dimensions of the spiritual, emotional, social and conceptual/intellectual. The project followed three participants through a nine month master's level Coaching and Mentoring Paper (PROF507Y-05) and revisited them a year later. Data was gathered largely through a series of semi-structured interviews as conversations in a narrative inquiry approach with educational criticism as the tool for data analysis. Key narratives emerged through the stories the participants told and these were examined over time to see whether growth and development had taken place.
The researcher entered the data gathering phase thinking that the study would focus on participants' involvement in a formalised coaching partnership. However, it quickly became clear that the Coaching and Mentoring Paper was a multi-level professional development intervention that involved coaching partnerships, but also included coaching professional development in which the theories, skills and practices of coaching were purposefully and discretely taught. A third layer of intervention was the action research phase of the Paper in which individuals explored their facilitation of coaching partnerships in their own institutions.
The stories of the participants indicated that involvement in coaching partnerships did produce some quite stunning outcomes. However, the findings suggest that coaching partnerships may well be underpowered if coaching partnerships stand alone and are not set within a framework of coaching professional development in which the knowledge, skills and processes of coaching are purposefully taught, scaffolded, practiced and reflected upon, in which roles are reciprocal and the professional development/coaching process is facilitated. In fact, the evidence from this research project suggests that though involvement in a formal coaching partnership did assist the achievement of professional goals as Robertson (2005) posited, it was largely the facilitated coaching professional development process that assisted the growth and development across the social, emotional, conceptual/intellectual and spiritual dimensions of each research participants as they implemented the coaching practices across a range of professional and personal contexts.
Unexpectedly, but in hindsight not surprisingly, out of growth and development, leadership emerged. Similar to John West-Burnham (2001), this study found that for these three research participants, interpersonal intelligence and leadership, [were] in such a symbiotic relationship that they [were] actually tautological (p. 1). This was not positional or hierarchical leadership, but leadership that acknowledged individuals as 'whole' people and where leadership was increasingly distributed and shared with others.
However, it would be dishonest to stop here because the participants' narratives are not fairy tales in which everyone lives happily ever after. Though significant growth and development did take place, it was a case of both/and - the participants stories continued to be of both success and struggle with the selfsame issues. This thesis proposes therefore, that change is not a destination, but is an ongoing process of remaining open to the learning that can be found in each and every human experience, whether it is of failure or success. Growth and development or change is not an end point which is revealed through consistent adherence to a particular way of being, but is revealed through an openness to learn from all experience and in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going over time. Thus the answer to the question this thesis started with is yes. For these particular individuals, coaching did assist the growth and development in the multiple dimensions. However, here 'coaching' means more than just involvement in a coaching partnership, but a multilayered professional development intervention as outlined above, and change or growth and development that is defined, not as a permanent transformation, but as an ongoing journey of seeking what can be learned from every experience
Research Policy and Practice Provocations – Towards Research that Sparks and Connects
No full textThe Research Policy & Practice Provocations reports offer a forum to engage in cooperative curiosity and to question some of the underlying assumptions our profession may hold about itself and about coaching and mentoring research. We hope you find some new energy, sparks, creative insight and connectivity by engaging with this new series. We extend a warm welcome to another opportunity to co-create our future profession. The first in the series, the June 2016 Research Policy & Practice Provocations Report aims to influence how we think about and how we conduct coaching and mentoring research. This report shares: 1. A snapshot of a study to investigate the perceived ‘gap’ between scholarly research in coaching and mentoring and the reality of everyday practice, and 2. Provocative ways of potentially responding to and dealing with the results of the survey – in terms of EMCC, researchers, and practitioners..
The coaching process in professional youth football: An ethnography of practice
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 06/12/2001.Coaching and the coaching process are characterised by a number of complex interactions between the coach, the player and the club environment. Yet understanding of the coaching process as a complex, holistic process remains limited. There are 'gaps' in our existing knowledge, particularly in comprehending the dynamic relationship between the coach, player and club environment, and in understanding the implications of these interactions for practice and the coaching process. This research sought to examine and represent the complexity of the coach-player-club environment interface, and to understand some of the ways that they interact to construct and impinge upon the coaching process. The research was conducted on the premise that a sound understanding of the complexity of the coaching process drawing upon empirical research, rather than idealistic 'models', can inform the future development of coaching practice and coach education.
Within the framework of ethnography, the research took place over one season and used participant observation, unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and group interviews in one Football Association, Premier League Academy. The aim was to explore the coaching process and practical coaching context, as played out in the day-to-day experiences of coaches and youth team players. In addition to the main case-study club, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five coaches working with youth teams at other clubs. The research used concepts from grounded theory and also the work of Pierre Bourdieu to analyse and present the data.
In its findings, the study depicts a coaching process that is interdependent and interrelated and highlights complexity in each of the following elements: the club, sessions and games, players and coaches, relationships, and 'attitude'. The dynamism within and between each of these elements is illustrated in the ways that each can facilitate, constrain or even prevent 'effective' practice and the operation of the coaching process. Moreover, the research demonstrates the powerful nature of tradition and culture, highlighting their pervasive influence upon the coaching process and coaching practice.
Life at the case study club was characterised by authoritarianism and pressure, and was relentlessly directed towards winning. This backdrop strongly influenced the relationship between coaches and players, and impacted upon the coaching process. Importantly, the research presents evidence to suggest that coach education may be a relatively 'low impact' endeavour in comparison to the coaches' other experiences which are presented as a significant force shaping both coaches' development and practice. To harness this experience and develop coach education, this research suggests that the governing body could consider embracing mentoring as part of coach education and, as part of this, coaches should be encouraged to engage in critical reflection in order to understand how cultural and other forces shape their practice. However, for mentoring to succeed, it must be grounded in a thorough understanding of the culture of football clubs, and the ways coaches draw upon their life experiences in football to direct their own practice and judge the practices and 'worth' of others.
Importantly, this research begins to answer some of the criticisms levelled at previous research by examining interaction and complexity within the coaching process in-situ. It highlights the problematic, interrelated and interdependent nature of relationships that construct and influence the coaching process and coaching practice. Importantly, it highlights the important and under-researched link between coaching practice, the coaching process and the immediate and wider social context of football
Exploring the experience of using music and creative mark-making as a reflective tool during coaching supervision: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
No full textCoaching supervision is still an emergent profession with a limited body of research to support its credibility and practice. This qualitative study is the first to explore the use of music and mark-making as a creative tool within coaching supervision and highlights information about both coach and coach supervisor experience. The research explores the question, ‘How does using mark-making in response to music within coaching supervision affect coaches’ experience of reflective practice?’ through semi-structured interviews, analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. Findings revealed that using music and mark-making as a creative tool within coaching supervision enhances reflective practice and supports the client-supervisor relationship, enabling highly effective supervision to take place. The results offer coaches, coaching supervisors, coach educators and researchers and other professionals in other contexts where supervision forms an integral part of professional support and development insights into using music and other creative tools in supervision sessions and the impact on reflective practice
Has your style of coaching changed over the years?
No full textIn this episode of Sports Coaching: Leadership and Pedagogy Series 1, Australian Athletics coaches Brett Green and Sharon Hannan reflect on how and why their coaching styles have changed. These Griffith University sports coaching videos have been authored by Dr Sue Whatman and produced by the School of Education and Professional Studies and Information Services (Learning and Teaching) for the Graduate Diploma and Master of Sports coaching degree. Offered by Griffith University and Open Universities Australia (OUA).No Full Tex
Walking for coaching
No full textThis article is the second in an occasional series of papers that attempt to articulate different approaches to coaching practice and should be read in conjunction with the first article about working with finger puppets (Author, 2016). Both articles illustrate a set of different approaches to further coaching practice that seeks to support innovation and creativity amongst the coaching fraternity. Although walking-coaching is not entirely new as an approach (Read, 2016), coaching can too often be portrayed as a static event in closed offices or more informal spaces such as cafes. Such approaches can have a psychological dimension such as outlined in Bachkirova (2014) and Spinelli (2014), both of which highlight the ways in which learning can be considered as emergent as humans experience their own ways of being in the moment and in the environment
Women's tennis collegiate coaching portfolio
No full textAccess to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only.This creative project is a comprehensive overview of women’s collegiate tennis coaching,
including the on-court demands and administrative considerations of the multi-faceted
profession. This study is a blend of research and real-life experience to create an allencompassing
portfolio that others could use to understand collegiate coaching. As a current
Assistant Women’s tennis coach, I have used my everyday experiences in the office, at practice,
recruiting, on match day, and interacting with the athletic department and student-athletes daily
to gain insight and perspective on how to be successful. Furthermore, textbooks, documentaries,
books, and interviews through my Sport Administration graduate school classes as well as my
own textual and oral research on collegiate tennis coaching helped mold the perspectives
exhibited in this portfolio. This project exhibits the tennis aspects of coaching, including my
personal coaching philosophy, technical and tactical strategies, strength and conditioning,
scouting, analysis of competition performance, and a guide to team meetings. The administrative
considerations of collegiate tennis portion examined recruiting, marketing, travel, compliance,
tournament directorship, budget, and institutional partnerships. While this project extensively
exhibits my coaching philosophies and outlooks today, I plan to use this manual as an everevolving
project, as I expect my coaching philosophies and perspectives to change over time as I
work more in the industry and acquire new information.Thesis (M.A.
Coaching for Creativity (Divergent Discovery)
No full textThe purpose of Coaching for Creativity is for players to discover or generate multiple possibilities that satisfy a question or situation. As with previous styles, in a Coaching for Creativity episode, the coach makes all the decisions in planning. The process of Coaching for Creativity is dynamic. Divergent thinking represents a style of thinking for idea generation where more than one solution is workable. Divergent thinking is often applied to ‘open’ problems and challenges where creative solutions are sought. Coaching beginning players on how to prioritise moving the lead runner around the bases provides one of many opportunities for the use of Divergent Discovery coaching. The game of netball can be classified as an invasion game and thus need concepts such as possession, invasion and scoring as a teaching aspect. The Divergent Discovery Style can be used to create episodes which provide the athletes with opportunities to discover or create tactics
Developing a group coaching model to cultivate creative confidence
No full textThis paper explores a new domain of coaching: group coaching for creativity. Despite increasing research on creativity literacy, rarely do we talk about the motivation to be creative. Many people don’t believe in their creative potential and they lack the confidence to start exploring their creativity. Group coaching can cultivate creative confidence and build a solid motivation to nurture one’s creativity. The research developed a group coaching model using an action research methodology. Five group coaching sessions were conducted in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results provide positive evidence of the model’s viability
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