The Power of Knowledge in Combat Sports Coaching

Abstract

A growing number of studies develop recommendations for improving the expertise of coaching better athletes. Scholars build knowledge of how to coach and what competence a sports coach should have. Following feminist ideology in knowledge production, this paper explores who can decide on approved coaching know-how. It investigates the assumed expertise and the identification of competition-level coaches' competence and asks what capability is required to qualify as a sports coach. It scrutinises existing practices and collectively formed concepts that influence coaches’ pathways: how to become a coach and what possibilities are there for different positions as a coach. The study is conducted at the sports club level, where coaches are voluntary workers. The research includes judo, boxing, and wrestling, referred to as combat sports. Through feminist studies and analysis, the research examines power structures between people or groups. The study focuses on how practical, procedural knowledge is valued in the culture of combat sports. By describing culturally shared meanings and practices in sports, the study reveals the gendered practices by which situations are planned, implemented, and managed. The analysis shows how the male-dominated coaching environment relies on tacit knowledge of learning, cultural behaviour, and assumed know-how. The implied procedural knowledge is proven performatively in physical manners learned through experience, especially expertise from winning competitions. As a result, the study highlights the unchangeable, traditional environment, where repetition of current knowledge is indispensable. Consequently, the study suggests that coaches without previous sport-specific knowledge are excluded from coaching.