Abstract
Coaching philosophy is an important topic in both coaching literature and education. However, there is little research regarding the way that coaches’ philosophies translate into their practices. Additionally, there is very little information about the specific effectiveness criteria coaches use to evaluate their philosophies and practice. This study addresses the complex set of relationships among coaches’ philosophies, perceptions of their practice, and effectiveness criteria. Ten elite coaches were selected for the study (nine males; one female), all of whom had successful careers in their respective sports. The coaches responded to an interview guide that addressed the topics of philosophy, practice, and effectiveness criteria. Deductive and inductive data analysis procedures were used to organize the collected information. The results indicated four main themes: (a) the importance of athlete motivation, (b) the importance of building a relationship with athletes based on personal respect, (c) the presence of high levels of cohesion among the team, and (d) the need for formal and informal rules that regulate the team’s functioning. There were several areas in which coaches did not establish a relationship linking philosophy, practice, and effectiveness criteria. The results suggest the need to educate coaches regarding methods of establishing a relationship among their philosophies, their practices, and the effectiveness criteria they use to evaluate their performance as coaches.
Highlights
Coaching philosophy is an important topic in both coaching literature and education
Philosophy included 149 meaning units (26.9%), practice included 308 meaning units (55.6%), and effectiveness criteria included 97 meaning units (17.5%). These three topics of discussion with coaches were aggregated into three components: (a) a coach component, referring to aspects of the coaches’ personal and professional activity; (b) an athlete component, referring to aspects of the coaches’ established personal and professional relationship with athletes; and (c) a team component, referring to aspects of the coaches’ established personal and professional relationship with the team
Concluding Remarks Our results revealed a significant number of areas that coaches consider in their work (34 properties) and showed direct relationships among philosophy, practice, and effectiveness criteria for only four properties, corresponding to 21% of the established matches
Summary
Coaching philosophy is an important topic in both coaching literature and education. There is little research regarding the way that coaches’ philosophies translate into their practices. There is very little information about the specific effectiveness criteria coaches use to evaluate their philosophies and practice. This study addresses the complex set of relationships among coaches’ philosophies, perceptions of their practice, and effectiveness criteria. The coaches responded to an interview guide that addressed the topics of philosophy, practice, and effectiveness criteria. There were several areas in which coaches did not establish a relationship linking philosophy, practice, and effectiveness criteria. The results suggest the need to educate coaches regarding methods of establishing a relationship among their philosophies, their practices, and the effectiveness criteria they use to evaluate their performance as coaches.
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