Perceptions of elite coaches and sports scientists of the research needs for elite coaching practice

Abstract

A major objective of sports scientists and elite coaches is the enhancement of athletic performance. Despite this common goal, there is a general perception that research in sports science does not meet the needs of coaches. A study using survey and interview examined the perceptions of elite coaches and sports science researchers in Australia regarding the research needs of elite coaching. Congruence was found between coaches and researchers regarding research practice at the elite level. Both groups held common perceptions on the importance and application of research, the methods by which research questions are determined, and the qualities valued in elite coaches and sports science researchers. However, elite coaches perceived a need for more research in the area of sports psychology, dissemination of research findings via coaching clinics and sports-specific magazines, and the use of more appropriate “lay” language in information dissemination.     

Determinants of labour migration of elite sport coaches

Previous research examining labour migration in sport focused on athletes in professional team sports. The purpose of this study is to analyse the factors influencing the migration probability of elite sport coaches in Germany (i.e. national coaches, state coaches, and coaches at Olympic training bases). From a theoretical perspective, labour migration of athletes is affected by economic, social, political, competitive, geographic and cultural factors. This study examines whether these factors can be applied to coaches. Primary data were collected using an online survey of elite sport coaches in Germany. Applying a conjoint design, respondents were presented with 10 migration scenarios leading to a sample size of n?=?1860 for the empirical analysis. In the scenarios, the coaching position openings abroad differed in terms of income level, contract length, weekly workload, responsibility for personnel, reputation of coaching job, career perspectives, sporting performance of athletes, distance from Germany, and predominant job language. Coaches were asked for their migration probability contingent on the specific scenario. On average, migration probability was 24.2%. The results of regression analysis showed that higher income, contracts of longer duration, responsibility for personnel and speaking the respective language significantly increased the migration probability, while distances of nine flight hours and more, lower reputation and career perspectives reduced it. The findings have implications for policy-makers: they indicate in what areas the situation of coaches needs improvement to increase the likelihood of retaining elite sport coaches in the German sport system.     

Career evolution and knowledge of elite coaches of swimmers with a physical disability

In the last decade there has been an increase in empirical research on coaches of elite able-bodied athletes, while coaches of athletes with a disability have generally been overlooked. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to address this oversight by examining the career evolution and knowledge of these coaches. Six elite coaches of swimmers with a physical disability were interviewed using an unstructured, open-ended interview format. Results revealed information pertaining to the coaches' backgrounds, career evolution, and knowledge in training and competition. As well, all coaches stressed the importance of coaching their athletes as an elite swimmer as opposed to coaching a swimmer with a disability.     

Self-efficacy,perceived training needs and coaching competences: The case of Portuguese handball

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse handball coaches’ perceptions of self-efficacy and recognition of training needs related to coaching competences according to their coaching experience, coach certification level and academic education. Two hundred and seven Portuguese handball coaches answered questionnaires that included a scale of self-efficacy and another of recognition of training needs. Data analysis started with an exploratory factorial analysis with Maximum Likelihood Factoring and Oblimin rotation. From the factors obtained, a One-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc multiple comparisons were applied. Coaches’ self-efficacy revealed coaching competences related to: annual and multi-annual planning; planning and guiding training and competition; coaching methodology; implementation of sport development projects and coach education and meta-cognitive competences. Coaches’ recognition of training needs revealed four main areas: planning and guiding training and competition; multi-annual planning; management of sports careers and coaching education and leadership. Although an independent relationship between coaches’ perceptions of self-efficacy and training needs was confirmed, they perceived themselves as having competences and highlighted training needs in all areas. Coaches’ perceptions of self-efficacy were influenced by their coach certification level, academic education and coaching experience. The study suggests that sport specificity within the social culture in addition to the precise sporting domain of action influence the perceptions of coaches about their self-efficacy and training needs as related to coaching competences and, therefore, should be considered in the coach education curriculum.     

Sports science for golf: A survey of high-skilled golfers’ “perceptions” and “practices”

ABSTRACT

Despite a growing body of evidence on the positive impact of sports science for golf, there is still a paucity of research investigating the “perceptions” and “practices” of high-skilled golfers. Professional Golfers’ Association Assistant Professionals (future-qualified coaches; n = 430) were surveyed on their “perceptions” and “practices” of “sports science”, “warm-ups”, “cool-downs” and “strength and conditioning” for golf. Participants perceived the discipline of sports science as beneficial to golfers but lacked implementation in coaching settings. Warm-up protocols were also perceived to be beneficial to all aspects of golf performance; however, the duration of tournament-based (37.84 ± 20.05 min), warm-ups was significantly greater (p < 0.001) than practice rounds (26.26 ± 18.63 min) and range sessions (13.00 ± 13.38 min). Education continues to be required to raise the understanding of warm-ups for golf. There were mixed perceptions regarding the benefits of a cool-down, with 62.1% of the high-skilled golfers omitting a cool-down following tournament play and practice. Strength and conditioning was perceived as beneficial, with 78.51% engaging in some form of training throughout the year. Results confirm, however, that certain misconceptions around surveyed sports science practices still exist and it is imperative that education disseminates research findings and validated applied practices to coaches and golfers alike.     

Why ‘the best way of learning to coach the game is playing the game’: conceptualising ‘fast-tracked’ high-performance coaching pathways

At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season in England and Wales, 90 head coaches of the 92 men's national professional football league clubs and 20 of the 22 men's professional rugby union clubs had tenure as a professional elite player in their respective sports. Moreover, Rynne [(2014). ‘Fast track’ and ‘traditional path’ coaches: Affordances, agency and social capital. Sport, Education and Society, 19, 299–313] has claimed that many former elite athletes are ‘fast-tracked’ through formal accreditation structures into these high-performance coaching roles. The reasons why former elite athletes dominate head coaching roles in professional sports clubs and why a ‘fast-track’ pathway from elite athlete to high-performance coach is supported remain unclear. Thereby the present study sought to address this issue by investigating the basis for ‘fast-tracked’ head coaching appointments. Eight male directors of men's professional football and rugby union clubs in England were interviewed to examine how particular coaching skills and sources of knowledge were valorised. Drawing upon Bourdieu's conceptual framework, the results suggested that head coaching appointments were often based upon the perceived ability of head coaches gaining player ‘respect’. Experiences gained during earlier athletic careers were assumed to provide head coaches with the ability to develop practical sense and an elite sporting habitus commensurate with the requirements of the field of elite sports coaching. This included leadership and practical coaching skills to develop technical and tactical astuteness, from which, ‘respect’ could be quickly gained and maintained. The development of coaching skills was rarely associated with only formal coaching qualifications. The ‘fast-tracking’ of former athletes for high-performance coaching roles was promoted by directors to ensure the perpetuation of specific playing and coaching philosophies. Consequently, this may exclude groups from coaching roles in elite men's sport. The paper concludes by outlining how these findings might imply a disjuncture between the skills promoted during formal coaching qualifications and the expectations club directors have of elite coaches in these sports.     

Coaching athletes with disability: preconceptions and reality

It is now widely recognized that athletes with disability compete at an elite level which parallels that experienced by non-disabled athletes. The importance of quality coaching to develop an athlete’s full potential is similarly recognized. However, research in the area of coaching athletes with disability is still lacking compared to its counterpart in non-disabled sport. This research explored the holistic experience of coaching elite athletes with disability, and therefore encompassed not only the coaches’ preconceptions, but the rewards and challenges of their coaching experience. Semi-structured interviews were held with 12 coaches of elite athletes from sports including swimming, athletics, cycling, canoeing, triathlon, equestrian sport and wheelchair basketball. The results of the study identified that, although the coaches reported their experience as being overwhelmingly positive, they were also regularly confronted with difficulties not generally faced by coaches of non-disabled athletes.     

Coaching under pressure: a study of Olympic coaches

The Olympic environment has been identified as particularly stressful and unlike any other in terms of the media attention and focus placed on the competition. While the potential negative consequences of stress for coaches and their athletes have been explored, relatively little is known about the factors underpinning successful Olympic coaching performance. We explored elite coaches' perceptions of the factors that enable them to coach in a stressful Olympic environment. Eight coaches from one of Great Britain's most successful Olympic teams (i.e. consistent medal winners in the previous three Olympics) were interviewed. Inductive content analysis indicated that psychological attributes (e.g. emotional control), preparation (e.g. strategic approach), and coping at the event (e.g. team support) were factors that coaches perceived as important for successful Olympic coaching. In addition, coaches offered specific suggestions for training and development. Key themes included coach interaction (e.g. mentoring, formalizing contact) and simulating Olympic pressure. These findings offer suggestions for the education of developing coaches on the pathway to elite sports coaching.     

Talent development of high performance coaches in team sports in Ireland

Background: Coaches are central to the development of the expert performer and similarly to continued lifelong participation in sport. Coaches are uniquely positioned to deliver specific technical and tactical instruction and mentoring programmes that support the psychological and social development of athletes in a challenging, goal-oriented and motivational environment. The current study aimed to qualitatively investigate current coach learning sources and coaches’ educational backgrounds in team sports in Ireland. Methods: Coaches from five team sports in Ireland were asked to complete an online questionnaire. Subsequently male coaches (n?=?19) from five team sports who completed the questionnaire and met the inclusion criteria were invited to attend a follow-up semi-structured interview. Inclusion criteria for coaches were that they possess at least 10 years’ experience coaching their sport and were coaching more than 4 hours per week. Results/Discussion: Formal coach education does not meet the needs of high performance coaches who rely more on self-directed learning and coaching experience as their main sources of CPD. Although prior playing experience at a high level is both valuable and desirable, there are concerns about fast-tracking of ex-players into high performance coaching roles. Conclusions: Preferred sources of education and the best learning environment for coaches of team sports in Ireland are more informal than formal. Further research is needed to examine how this learning is applied in a practical manner by examining coaching behaviours and the impact it has on the athlete development process.     

An elite endurance athlete's recovery from underperformance aided by a multidisciplinary sport science support team

Abstract

Overload training resulting in an overreached state is common in elite sports, and if undetected can develop into an overtraining syndrome. This risk is accentuated by the lack of reliable measures of overreaching. Coaches and scientists therefore have to use a combination of tests in the monitoring process. This article presents a case study of the recovery from underperformance of a young elite endurance athlete and the work of a multidisciplinary sport science support team. When it was determined that the athlete's performance had deteriorated, and that this was due solely to the stress of training, training load was radically reduced for a period of 14 days. A combination of physiological, biochemical, and psychological measurements were then used to monitor the recovery process. The purpose of this article is to describe how coaches and sport science teams can help in monitoring training and recovery in practical settings, allowing detection of the early signs of overreaching before a more serious overtraining syndrome develops.     

Examining coaches’ perceptions of how their stress influences the coach–athlete relationship

This study extends recent coach stress research by evaluating how coaches perceive their stress experiences to affect athletes, and the broader coach–athlete relationship. A total of 12 coaches working across a range of team sports at the elite level took part in semi-structured interviews to investigate the 3 study aims: how they perceive athletes to detect signals of coach stress; how they perceive their stress experiences to affect athletes; and, how effective they perceive themselves to be when experiencing stress. Following content analysis, data suggested that coaches perceived athletes able to detect when they were experiencing stress typically via communication, behavioural, and stylistic cues. Although coaches perceived their stress to have some positive effects on athletes, the overwhelming effects were negative and affected “performance and development”, “psychological and emotional”, and “behavioural and interaction” factors. Coaches also perceived themselves to be less effective when stressed, and this was reflected in their perceptions of competence, self-awareness, and coaching quality. An impactful finding is that coaches are aware of how a range of stress responses are expressed by themselves, and to how they affect athletes, and their coaching quality. Altogether, findings support the emerging view that coach stress affects their own, and athlete performance.     

Integration of professional judgement and decision-making in high-level adventure sports coaching practice

This study examined the integration of professional judgement and decision-making processes in adventure sports coaching. The study utilised a thematic analysis approach to investigate the decision-making practices of a sample of high-level adventure sports coaches over a series of sessions. Results revealed that, in order to make judgements and decisions in practice, expert coaches employ a range of practical and pedagogic management strategies to create and opportunistically use time for decision-making. These approaches include span of control and time management strategies to facilitate the decision-making process regarding risk management, venue selection, aims, objectives, session content, and differentiation of the coaching process. The implication for coaches, coach education, and accreditation is the recognition and training of the approaches that “create time” for the judgements in practice, namely “creating space to think”. The paper concludes by offering a template for a more expertise-focused progression in adventure sports coaching.     

Para-adventure: a hyper-dynamic problem for the inclusive coach

Recent research has recognized sports coaching as complex, chaotic and cognitively taxing for coaches. Against this backdrop, the present paper explores challenges faced by high-level coaches working with disabled performers. Specifically, it seeks to understand how coaches create mental models of performance in adventure sports and para-canoe. Five coaches were purposively sampled and underwent a semi-structured interview. A thematic analysis revealed conceptualizing the mental model as being mechanically related for all and as including a social construction within the para-canoe coaches. Reflection on the coaching process and on personal characteristics were perceived as important to individualized inclusive coaching. Coach training should particularly emphasize the need for critical judgement and decision-making skills within a similarly oriented social structure of coaches and support staff where applicable.     

Phronetic social science: a means of better researching and analysing coaching?

The aim of this paper is to present the case for phronetic social science as an appropriate lens through which to view sports coaching. In doing so, we firstly define and then elaborate upon the principal concepts contained within phronetic social science as related to complex action, flexibility, moral reflection and power. By locating them within recent coaching research, the case is further made how such concepts can help coaching scholars and coaches to better understand the activity of coaching. Finally, a conclusion draws together the main points made, particularly in terms of how using such a perspective and conceptualisation of coaching could benefit future coach education programmes.     

Exploring formalized elite coach mentoring programmes in the UK: ‘We’ve had to play the game’

Formalized mentoring programmes have been implemented increasingly by UK sporting institutions as a central coach development tool, yet claims supporting formal mentoring as an effective learning strategy are often speculative, scarce, ill-defined and accepted without verification. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore some of the realities of formalized elite sports coaching mentoring programmes. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 mentors of elite coaches on formal programmes, across a range of sports. The findings were read through a Bourdieusian lens and revealed the importance of understanding the complexities of elite sports coaching environments, that elite sports coach development is highly specific and, therefore, should not be over-formalized, and how current elite sport coach mentoring programmes may be better conceptualized as a form of social control rather than being driven by pedagogical concerns. Following this empirically based analysis of practice, a number of implications for Governing Bodies, mentors and mentees were considered.     

Coaching Efficacy,Player Perceptions of Coaches’ Leadership Styles,and Team Performance in Premier League Soccer

The coaching competency research has demonstrated the role of coaching efficacy and coaching behaviors on various athlete outcomes. However, athlete perceptions of these relationships and how they affect performance are less understood. Purpose: This study examined if coaching efficacy is predictive of player perceptions of coaches’ leadership styles, team atmosphere, and team performance in a soccer season. Method: Fifteen male premier league soccer coaches (M_age = 45.27, SD = 6.07) and 226 players (M_age = 25.66, SD = 3.96) from Botswana participated in the study. All participants completed a background information questionnaire. Coaches completed the Coaching Efficacy Scale. Players rated their coaches’ leadership styles using the Revised Leadership Scale for Sports as well as team atmosphere. Team performance was based on position in the league log and player ratings of the teams’ performance. Results: Findings showed that coaches’ self-ratings on technique efficacy predicted player perceptions of the coaches’ use of all six leadership styles. Game strategy efficacy predicted higher team atmosphere and team performance. Motivation efficacy was not significantly associated with player perceptions of the coaches’ use of any of the leadership styles, while character building efficacy was negatively associated with the various leadership styles. Conclusion: Findings provide support to previous research evidence linking higher coaching efficacy, leadership styles, and team outcomes. The study expands the emergent research within the coaching competency literature that examines player perceptions of coaches’ behaviors and leadership styles.     

Control,consent and complicity in the coaching of elite women’s cycling in Australia: a media analysis

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of how athletes and coaches in a women’s cycling talent development and selection programme negotiate and normalise athlete abuse in the media. A thematic analysis of six online cycling magazine articles and their representations of the Australian women’s elite cycling development camp was analysed to explore athletic abuse and the (re)production of coaching practices using Bourdieusian theory. The findings revealed a link between the expression of coaching practice and the maltreatment of athletes. Analysis of these articles also revealed that athletes were complicit in the normalisation of coaching practices through the misrecognition of social power embedded in the coaching intervention. The representations by athletes within the articles contributed narratives related to the reproduction and proliferation of abusive coaching practices. This study extends understanding of how taken for granted and power laden aspects of coaching practices can be presented in the media and highlights the implications for coaches, athletes and the general public that consume online cycling media content.     

Investigating eating disorders in elite gymnasts: Conceptual,ethical and methodological issues

Abstract

Elite gymnastics, and other sports where athletes and coaches are particularly concerned with aesthetic considerations, weight and shape, are fields within which the risk of eating disorders may be unusually high. Adolescent gymnasts, developing their own sense of self, at a time of life where body image concerns are common, often compete at the very top of the sport with a need to maintain a body shape and weight optimal for elite performance. Research into this field should address the range of sociological and ethical aspects of eating disorders in elite sport, their prevalence as well as the ethos of the sport itself. This paper addresses a range of conceptual, ethical and methodological issues relevant to conducting research in this sensitive yet important field.     

Risk and protective factors for mental health in elite athletes: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of studies concerning the mental health (MH) of elite athletes and to provide a methodological, conceptual, and applied overview of factors affecting elite athletes’ MH. A total of nine reviews and 43 empirical studies were evaluated and are reported in three sections: sample characteristics, research design, and factors affecting elite athletes’ MH. These factors were grouped into risk and protective factors and divided into a personal and sport-environmental domain. The studies used quantitative (84%), qualitative (11%), and mixed-method (5%) designs and examined a wide range of sports in different countries. Our review shows that researchers have predominantly examined the prevalence of athletes’ mental ill-health (e.g. depression) and the related factors compromising MH. Potential protective factors such as the feeling of autonomy, positive relations in sport and private life, and adequate recovery were highlighted in the qualitative studies. The discussion appraises the findings through a critical lens, focuses on the current state of the research area and the MH definition, limitations, suggested practical implications (e.g. to provide MH literacy to both athletes and coaches), and future research directions (e.g. examining environments that foster elite athletes’ MH).