|  | Feature: “Ethical Issues in Coaching” | No.58 January 2010 |
|  |  | print / save view |

Examining Sports Coaching Philosophy – Implications for Policy, Pedagogy and Practice Kylie Wehner and Andrew Dawson |
Developing a coaching philosophy has been seen as a significant factor in becoming an effective coach (Fuoss and Troppmann, 1985), with this importance emphasised in introductory coaching courses (Australian Sports Commission, 2005a; 2005b) and texts (Martens, 2004) despite the lack of research on the relationship between coaching philosophy and coach effectiveness (Lyle, 1999). Most coaching effectiveness literature provides guidelines on how to develop a coaching philosophy (Martens, 2004) with the majority placing this information within the first few chapters (Burton and Raedeke, 2008; Garrett, 2008; Vealey, 2005), and in the Australian National Coaching Accreditation Scheme’s (NCAS) general coaching principles courses (ASC, 2005a; 2005b), coaching philosophy is covered within the first modules of study. Yet the importance or value of having a coaching philosophy has scarcely been investigated. The aim of this research was to build on this limited knowledge of coaching philosophy and its importance in shaping coach behaviour and coach education to provide a better understanding of the use of philosophy in the practice of coaching. Despite being identified as an area of insufficient research 20 years ago (Pratt and Eitzen, 1989) and this being highlighted a number of times since (Cushion and Jones, 2001; Cushion, 2006; Lyle, 1999; Isabel, Antonio, Antonio, Felismina and Michel, 2008), there has been only a handful of studies that have specifically examined coaching philosophy. Two notable examples were: 1) by McCallister, Blinde and Weiss (2000) who found that coaching philosophies were similar between coaches, with most indicating the importance of having fun and learning skills, but inconsistencies with stated philosophies were observed when the same coaches were asked to respond to a coaching case study where most focused on winning instead; and 2) by Nash, Sproule and Horton (2008) who examined how coaches framed their role and formed their coaching philosophy. Practicing coaches of varying expertise were interviewed about their understanding of the concept of coaching philosophy and how they had developed it. Overall, as the level of coaching expertise increased, so did the level of understanding of the coach’s role and their coaching philosophy. However, despite the discrepancies between the coaching philosophies (or lack thereof) of novice and expert coaches, coach education experiences were not attributed as a factor in the development of their coaching philosophy. Given the significance coaching philosophy plays in coach education practice, there is a sizeable gap in empirical knowledge. The present study was an in-depth case study of the sport of basketball in Australia. Participants were practicing recreational and developmental (n=8) (Trudel and Gilbert, 2006) basketball coaches with all bar one having completed a Level 1 or 2 NCAS qualification in basketball. Coaches were interviewed about their understanding of the concept of coaching philosophy and the origin and development of their personal coaching philosophies. Systematic observation of the coaches was then conducted after the interview process to see the implementation of the coach’s philosophy in practice. Observations were conducted using an all-purpose event recording form (van der Mans, 1989), with definitions from the Arizona State University Observation Instrument (ASUOI) (Lacy and Darst, 1984) modified to reflect up to four components of each coach’s philosophy. For example, praise was used to represent the coaching philosophies of fun and enjoyment and self esteem/confidence as it has been found to increase both the enjoyment (Black and Weiss, 1982) and confidence levels of players (Potrac, Jones and Armour, 2002; Potrac, Jones and Cushion, 2007). The data from this study revealed that the coaches’ level of understanding of coaching philosophy did not increase with coaching expertise (or age). There was no consistency with responses, with the most inexperienced and youngest coach expressing the greatest understanding of the concept of coaching philosophy, and a coach of similar age but more experience declaring that they didn’t even think they had one until asked about it in the interview. Several coaches struggled to even define what a coaching philosophy was despite the question being rephrased a number of times. Instead these coaches described their personal coaching philosophies. These data appear to be inconsistent with previous studies. Previous research has found that as a coach’s level of coaching and experience increases, so does their level of understanding of coaching philosophy (Nash et al., 2008). There is some agreement in the literature that the development of a coaching philosophy is a lifelong process (Fuoss and Troppmann, 1985; Martens, 2004; Tutko and Richards, 1971) and shaped by the coaches’ experiences (Collins, Gould, Lauer and Chung, 2009; Kidman and Hanrahan, 1997; Martens, 2004). Overall, the coaches in the present study believed this to be the case, with the development of their coaching philosophy seen as an evolutionary process through increased coaching experience. The main issue to emerge from the present study was when coach educators should introduce coaching philosophy; early when coaches are less experienced and may struggle with understanding, or later once coaches have gained experience but may have already developed their own coaching philosophy. Although there were a number of differing philosophies given by coaches, development of skills and fun were identified by coaches as important components of their coaching practice. This confirms the findings of McCallister and colleagues (2000) who found that volunteer youth sport coaches were predominantly focussed on the teaching of skills and experience of fun for their players. An important finding to emerge from this research was that how coaches developed their coaching philosophies varied, with observation of other coaches, whether a mentor, expert or coach they had played under, appearing to be the main means of development. Importantly, coach education was not attributed to the development of their coaching philosophy, confirming previous findings by Nash and associates (2008). Many of the coaches conveyed a lack of recall in relation to coaching philosophy being covered in their NCAS Level 1 and 2 accreditation courses. Therefore, it appears that the way coaching philosophy is currently delivered in coach education programmes is having little impact on coaches. This is also reflected in the coaches’ limited understanding of coaching philosophy in the previous section, with coaches struggling to define the concept. Previous research has found that although volunteer coaches can articulate their coaching philosophies, the actual implementation of these in their practice is different (McCallister et al., 2000). With the exception of life skills, coaches in the current study did in fact implement their coaching philosophies in their coaching practice. The development of technical skills was identified by every coach and was also the most observed philosophy in both game and training situations. Fun and enjoyment was the next most observed, predominantly in game situations. Many coaches believe that life skills are automatically taught through sport (McCallister et al., 2000). More than half of the coaches emphasised life-skill development as a key philosophy, but none were able to demonstrate any ability to teach life-skills through their coaching. In their study on coaching philosophy, McCallister and associates (2000) also explored how volunteer youth sport coaches taught life skills and found that coaches struggled to articulate how they did this in their coaching. On the other hand, Collins, Gould, Lauer and Chung (2009) found that successful coaches of high school players were easily able to articulate how they taught life skills to their players (in addition to having well developed philosophies). Coaching is a complex process; factors such as coaching style, behaviours and qualities of an effective coach have all been investigated in depth however coaching philosophy continues to be discounted in the literature. By investigating the philosophies of coaches, we are gaining a greater understanding of the role that philosophy plays in practice, a concept that is poorly understood and often ignored by practicing coaches even when they display some behaviours that would resemble an operational approach to a coaching philosophy. References Australian Sports Commission. (2005a). National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS): Beginning coaching general principles curriculum. Retrieved November 8, 2008, from: http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/131194/BeginningCoachingCurriculum.pdf Australian Sports Commission. (2005b). National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS): Intermediate coaching general principles curriculum. Retrieved November 8, 2008, from: http://www.ausport.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/0005/131198/IntermediateCoachingCurriculum.pdf Black, S.J. and Weiss, M.R. (1982). The relationship among perceived coaching behaviours, perceptions of ability, and motivation in competitive age group swimmers. Journal of Exercise and Sport Psychology, 14, 309-325. Burton, D. and Raedeke, T.D. (2008). Sports psychology for coaches. Champaign: Human Kinetics. Collins, K., Gould, D., Lauer, L. and Chung, Y. (2009). Coaching life skills through football: Philosophical beliefs of outstanding high school football coaches. International Journal of Coaching Science, 3(1), 29-54. Cushion, C.J. and Jones, R.L. (2001). A systematic observation of professional top-level youth soccer coaches. Journal of Sport Behaviour, 24(4), 354-376. Cushion, C.J. (2006). Thinking about coaching philosophy. The New P.E. & Sports Dimension, 7. Retrieved July 21, 2008, from:http://www.sportsmedia.org/newpedimensionoctober2006.htm Fuoss, D.E. and Troppmann, R.J. (1984). Effective coaching: A psychological approach. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Garrett, M. (2008). Preparing the successful coach. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Isabel, M., Antonio, S., Antonio, R., Felismina, P. and Michel, M. (2008). A systematic observation of youth amateur volleyball coaches behaviours. International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, 20(2), 37-58. Kidman, L. and Hanrahan, S. (1997). The coaching process: A practical guide to improving your effectiveness. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press. Lacy, A.C. and Darst, P.W. (1984). Evolution of a systematic observation instrument: The ASUOI observation instrument. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 3, 59-66. Lyle, J. (1999). Coaching philosophy and coaching behaviour. In N. Cross & J.Lyle (Eds.), The coaching process: Principles and practices for sport. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Martens, R. (2004). Successful coaching. Champaign: Human Kinetics. McCallister, S.G., Blinde, E.M. and Weiss, W.M. (2000). Teaching values and implementing philosophies: Dilemmas of a youth sport coach. Physical Educator, 57(1), 35-45. Nash, C. S., Sproule, J. and Horton, P. (2008). Sport coaches’ perceived role frames and philosophies. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 3(4), 539-554. Potrac, P., Jones, R. and Armour, K. (2002). ‘It’s all about getting respect’: The coaching behaviour of an expert English soccer coach. Sport, Education and Society, 7(2), 183-202. Potrac, P., Jones, R. and Cushion, C. (2007). Understanding power and the coach’s role in professional English soccer: A preliminary investigation of coach behaviour. Soccer and Society, 8(1), 33-49. Pratt, S.R. and Eitzen, D.S. (1989). Differences in coaching philosophies between male coaches of male and female basketball teams. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 24(2), 151-161. Trudel, P. and Gilbert, W. (2006). Coaching and coach education. In D. Kirk, D. MacDonald & M. O’Sullivan (Eds.), The handbook of Physical Education. London: Sage Publications. Tutko, T. and Richards, J. (1971). Psychology of coaching. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Inc. van der Mans, H. (1989). Basic recording tactics. In P. W. Darst, D. B. Zakrajsek & V. H. Mancini (Eds.), Analyzing physical education and sport instruction. Champaign: Human Kinetics. Vealey, R.S. (2005). Coaching for the inner edge. Morgantown: Fitness Information Technology. Contact Kylie Wehner School of Management and Marketing Deakin University Victoria, Australia Email: kylie.wehner@deakin.edu.au Andrew Dawson School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Deakin University Victoria, Australia http://www.icsspe.org