![]() | Resources | No.52 January 2008 |
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Rostron, S., Upton, P., Lentin, K., Raiz, A., Hughes,
C. & Sievers, E. (2006).
Sharing the passion: Conversation with coaches Cape Town, SA: Advanced Human Technologies. ISBN 0-620-36268-5 Cost: $25.00 USD This book is easy to read, given the fact that the
contents are not of great interest to the general public. Though the book
focuses on a particular field, it does not contain too much jargon. It
is compiled in an understandable order, which deals with one aspect of
coaching at a time.
It is a broad subject that has been summarised to benefit both the non-professional
and the expert of the field in a similar but diverse way. The book gives
counsel and advice to both coaches and those being coached. It reviews
the coaching field and how it has evolved since 1940, from performance
coaching to the recently introduced business of personal coaching.
The book also discusses the "thought provoking" approach that
seems to be an answer to most of the sporting codes coaches, whether coaching
national or provincial teams. The approach is orderly and theoretically
it strikes one as a perfect approach. The adage "old habits die hard"
contradicts this approach, however, especially because the approach seems
to be time consuming, requiring the coach to deal with the players’
individual assessment and adjust the performance of the player's personal
life and personality in order to fit into the whole "fixed"
team. The approach raises many questions.
The book motivates and explains briefly and in plain language, the importance
of health coaching and how the health coach can provide basic knowledge
for the client. It breaks down anatomy and physiology into simple terms
in order to illustrate the importance of the body and the vital roles
played by the neuro-muscular skeletal system, nutrition, and the emotional
effects and how all these add up to one equation. This chapter propels
one to want to know more.
Amongst other countries, South Africa has been one where business and
personal coaching have been recently introduced. Previously, a coach was
perceived as a performance trainer. This chapter plainly explains the
work and the difference between a coach and a mentor.
One chapter serves as a learning tool for anger-management, where coaches
are advised not to brush over a problem when dealing with clients, but
instead to go deep into detail with the client, assessing the client's
daily life and include the client in the processes of assessment, healing
and rehabilitation.
The last chapter of the book is an interview with an internationally accredited
executive coach who is said to have focused exclusively on the discipline
of coaching and is dedicated to establishing coaching as an industry with
professional standing. The interview is steered in various ways in order
to counsel coaches and give the "basic standards" of what is
expected of them.
Overall, the book is an interesting read. It gives a different perception
to coaching, while encouraging and giving guidance to individuals who
are interested in becoming a personal coach. It also gives the diversity
of coaching fields and how each in its own way achieves the goals set
by the individual client, or a company, or the expectations of the team,
team management and the fans.
Contact
Prof. Deborah Mkhosanna
University of Venda for Science and Technology Thohoyandou, South Africa Email: dmkhosanna@gmail.com Prof. Dr. Lateef Amusa University of Venda for Science and Technology Centre for Biokinetics, Recreation & Sport Science Thohoyandou, South Africa Email: amusalbw@yahoo.com ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |