Observing Coaches’ Leadership Behaviours: the Development of the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to develop an observational coding system that examines coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport. Drawing from an integration of the dimensions emphasized within the full-range leadership model, and particularly, transformational leadership (TFL), the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS) was designed to examine coaches’ real-time leadership behaviours. Behavioural categories were developed through an iterative combination of literature review, qualitative interviews, and video observation. The CLAS consists of five higher-order dimensions: transformational, transactional, neutral, laissez-faire, and toxic coaching, which assess coaches’ leadership across 18 distinct behavioural categories. Overall, results provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of this instrument. The CLAS provides a detailed and contextualized account of coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport and may have important implications for theory development and applied practice.     

‘Science’, ‘Wind’ and ‘Bottom’: Eighteenth-Century Boxing Manuals

The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of a plethora of sporting professionals, many of whom were involved in developing training and coaching practices. Teaching the skills, the ‘science’, of boxing became an important source of income for professional fighters while some practitioners also developed careers as trainers, normally operating on behalf of the wealthy ‘amateurs’ who retained professionals in order to make profitable wagers. These practices were described in some of the early instructional manuals of the period, notably a detailed analysis of wrestling by Parkyns in 1713, who considered technique, fitness, and diet, and by Godfrey in 1747 who included a seminal section on boxing in his A Treatise upon the Useful Science of Defence. The proliferation of boxing manuals in the last quarter of the century reflected both a revival of interest in the sport and a desire to record the essential elements of this martial ‘science’ since it was only now that contemporaries believed a full understanding had been achieved of the importance of ‘wind’ (endurance), ‘bottom’ (courage), and ‘science’ (technique). This paper explores a number of texts where authors discussed these essential components of boxing performance and highlights the longevity of their methods of athletic preparation.     

日、韩在主办奥运会后大众体育发展策略的分析与借鉴

日本和韩国都是大众体育较先进的国家,而且他们大众体育的发展都受惠于奥运会的举办。在北京奥运会来临之际,我们有必要认真分析他们发展大众体育的策略和方法,并加以借鉴。     

体育教学与运动教练

论述了体育教学与运动教练的区别，体育教学的基本点，完善人体的手段、方法，终身体育的含义，终身体育与身体教育的关系，终身体育与身体娱乐的关系。     

短道速滑运动员观察力的培养

运用运动智能训练学相关知识,采用理论分析方法,结合短道速滑实际情况,简要分析短道速滑运动员观察力训练在竞技体育领域里的重要意义。研究专项训练与运动观察能力的相互关系,同时总结归纳出视野训练、环视能力训练、视觉定位训练和视觉反应训练等方法和手段,并提出训练观察力时应加强心理学相关知识的学习、制定合理计划和加强与运动员训练后的沟通,及时总结等注意的问题,为短道速滑教练员培养运动员观察能力提供依据。     

我国训练工作信息支持平台的构建

采用文献资料及访谈调查方法，对我国当前体育训练工作中信息需求情况进行了分析，提出构建我国训练工作信息支持平台的设想、模式与结构，并提出以训练工作文献为基础、以信息管理技术为手段、结合现代网络技术等，为我国教练员和训练工作人员提供科技含量高、知识性强的资料数据库。     

Effect of skill decomposition on racket and ball kinematics of the elite junior tennis serve

Whole body kinematics of the tennis serve have been reported extensively in the literature, yet comparatively less information exists regarding the kinematic characteristics of the swing and toss. In attempting to develop consistency in placement of the toss and racket trajectory, coaches will often decompose the serve and practice it in separate parts. A 22-camera VICON MX motion analysis system, operating at 250 Hz, captured racket, ball and hand kinematics of the serves of five elite junior players under three conditions. The conditions were flat first serves (FS) directed to a 1 × 1 m target bordering the ‘T’ of the deuce service box, a ball toss (BT) in isolation and a free swing (SW) in isolation. Players were instructed to perform BT and SW as in the FS. Paired t-tests assessed within-group differences in hand, racket and ball kinematics between the discrete skill and the two decomposed conditions. Vertical displacement of the ball at its zenith increased significantly during BT compared with the FS and temporal associations between racket and ball motion during the FS (r = 0.861) were affected during task decomposition. This study questions the pervasive use of task decomposition in the development of the tennis serve.     

中国学校体育与现代奥林匹克运动的文化对接

现代奥林匹克运动蕴涵了丰富的教育理念，其文化价值、教育内容和素材是学校体育的重要教育资源。在北京主办2008年奥运会的背景下，中国学校体育的改革与发展将不可回避奥林匹克运动对青少年的巨大影响。中国学校体育应从“以学生的发展为本”，有选择地借鉴与吸收现代奥林匹克文化的教育价值，并以此为契机推进学校体育自身的改革。     

营造迎奥法治环境推进我国竞技体育法制发展

举办2008年北京奥运会,需要形成适应现代奥运需要和与世界接轨的体育法治环境?为此,应切实采取有力措施,进一步加速我国竞技体育法制的发展进程,加快体育社会团体实体化的建设步伐,加强基层竞技运动组织的规范运营,加重对竞技体育丑恶现象的依法惩治,加大体育无形资产法律保护的力度,加紧竞技体育法律救济体系的完善。     

“Yes,we can!”: Perceptions of collective efficacy sources in volleyball

Abstract

Collective efficacy can be defined as a group's shared confidence that they will successfully achieve their goal. We examined which behaviours and events are perceived as sources of collective efficacy beliefs in a volleyball context. In Study 1, volleyball coaches from the highest volleyball leagues (n = 33) in Belgium indicated the most important sources of collective efficacy. This list was then adapted based on the literature and on feedback given by an expert focus group, resulting in a 40-item questionnaire. In Study 2, coaches and players from all levels of volleyball in Belgium (n = 2365) rated each of these sources on their predictive value for collective efficacy. A principal component analysis revealed that the 40 sources could be divided into eight internally consistent factors. Positive supportive communication (e.g. enthusiasm after making a point) was identified as the factor most predictive for positive collective efficacy beliefs. The factor referring to the negative emotional reactions of players (e.g. discouraging body language) was the most predictive for negative collective efficacy beliefs. These findings offer a starting point for the design of continuous measurements of collective efficacy through observation.     

强化“手感”练习对提高篮球必修课技术教学效果的实验研究

运用文献资料法、访问法、实验法、数理统计法等方法,对“手感”练习对篮球必修课技术教学效果的影响程度进行研究。在实验研究中采用增加学生在篮球课堂上触球时间和运用多种“手感”练习方法的手段,提高学生对球的控制能力。研究结果表明强化“手感”练习既对提高篮球必修课技术教学效果有明显的帮助,又有利于青少年运动员的智力、篮球意识和战术思维训练水平的提高。     

Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence: Insights From Accomplished University Team-Sport Coaches

Purpose: Winning several national championships is an extraordinary feat that very few university coaches have accomplished. The objective of this study was to investigate how some of Canada’s most accomplished university team-sport coaches created and sustained a culture of excellence in their programs. Method: Six university coaches who had won more than 30 national titles participated in this study. Each coach participated in a semistructured interview, and the qualitative data were inductively analyzed using a thematic analysis. Results: The coaches noted that hard work and daily attention to detail, effective emotional management of themselves and their athletes, and continuous self-assessment (self-reflection and seeking mentors) were crucial elements that led to sustained excellence in their programs. Conclusions: This study offers one of the first empirical accounts of how highly successful university coaches developed and maintained a culture of excellence and success in their high-performance sport setting.     

Letter to the editor concerning the article “Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an external focus of attention” by Abdollahipour,Wulf, Psotta & Nieto (2015)

Abdollahipour, Wulf, Psotta, and Nieto (2015) recently published data in the Journal of Sports Sciences to show that an external focus of attention promotes superior performance effects (gymnastics jump height and judged movement form score) when compared to internal or control foci during skill execution without an implement involved. While we do not contest the veracity of findings reported, nor others that have been used to support beneficial effects of an external focus of attention, in this Letter to the Editor we comment on considerable methodological limitations associated with this and previous studies that, we suggest, have resulted in serious theoretical oversights regarding the control of movement and, most crucially from our practitioner perspective, suboptimal recommendations for applied coaching practice. Specifically, we discuss the lack of consideration towards translational research in this area, the problematic nature of attentional focus cues employed, interpretation of findings in relation to other applied recommendations and coherence with mechanistic underpinning and, finally, the representative nature of task involved. In summary, while (laboratory) research evidence may appear to be conclusive, we suggest that the focus of attention effects are in need of more ecologically valid and rigorous testing as well as consideration of current coaching practices if it is to optimally serve the applied sporting domain that it purportedly aims to.