Groups Of Coaches Research Articles

"If It Feels Right, Do It": Intuitive Decision Making in a Sample of High-Level Sport Coaches.

Comprehensive understanding and application of decision making is important for the professional practice and status of sports coaches. Accordingly, building on a strong work base exploring the use of professional judgment and decision making (PJDM) in sport, we report a preliminary investigation into uses of intuition by high-level coaches. Two contrasting groups of high-level coaches from adventure sports (n = 10) and rugby union (n = 8), were interviewed on their experiences of using intuitive and deliberative decision making styles, the source of these skills, and the interaction between the two. Participants reported similarly high levels of usage to other professions. Interaction between the two styles was apparent to varying degrees, while the role of experience was seen as an important precursor to greater intuitive practice and employment. Initially intuitive then deliberate decision making was a particular feature, offering participants an immediate check on the accuracy and validity of the decision. Integration of these data with the extant literature and implications for practice are discussed.

Dialogic peer coaching as teacher leadership for professional inquiry

Purpose– Dialogic peer coaching as leadership can enable teachers to influence each other's professional learning. The purpose of this paper is to shift the emphasis from the role associated with the designated title of leader to the purpose and relevance of teacher leadership in the context of dialogic peer coaching.Design/methodology/approach– The research was undertaken as a small qualitative case study embedded in a school-based, teacher professional development project. Nine groups of peer coaches from five unrelated schools engaged in a formal process of collaborative inquiry over two years. Interview data from 13 volunteer teacher participants were analysed using the constant comparison method and themes determined.Findings– The study revealed that there was growth in teacher leadership capabilities as they become dialogic peer coaches to each other.Practical implications– Through their collaborative peer coaching dialogue teachers have the transformative space to articulate their thinking. They can engage in dialogic feedback where they are positioned as experts in their own practice.Social implications– The teachers in this study are positioned within communities of practice as co-constructers of knowledge and co-learners. On the basis of the findings the authors suggest that this can support the development of high capacity leadership in schools. This stance contrasts with a technicist approach to teacher professional learning in which teachers are situated as absorbers or recipients of knowledge constructed elsewhere.Originality/value– The research reported in this paper addresses three key elements of leadership: individual development; collaboration or team development; and organisational development. It outlines a means by which teacher leadership can be strengthened to address these elements in schools.

Value of the individual components subject training gymnasts according to the survey of coaches with different skills

Цель: Оценить значение отдельных компонентов предметной подготовки гимнасток по данным анкетирования тренеров разной квалификации. Материал: Сформированы две группы тренеров различной квалификации (n=40). Первая группа тренеров, стаж работы от 1 до 10 лет (n=20); вторая группа, стаж работы от 11 до 25 лет (n=20). Гимнастки этапа предварительной базовой подготовки. Тренерам предлагалось ответить на 15 вопросов. Результаты: Содержание анкетирования тренеров по художественной гимнастике свидетельствует об актуальности проблемы базовой технической подготовки юных гимнасток, в частности, бросков и ловли предметов. Наиболее трудными упражнениями при обучении и совершенствовании являются броски и ловля мяча, коэффициент конкордации равен W= 0,814. Установлена необходимость разработки и использования новых методик анализа спортивной техники упражнений с мячом, обучения и совершенствования их. Выводы: Базовая техническая подготовка и подготовленность гимнасток к выполнению упражнений с предметами представляют проблему, которая решена недостаточно в теории и практике художественной гимнастики.

Patterns of Bureaucracy in Intercollegiate Athletic Departments

The objective of the current research was to verify the extent to which Gouldner’s (1954) three patterns of bureaucracy were prevalent in intercollegiate athletic departments. Single and multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) of the data provided by 907 coaches from all three NCAA divisions (ndivI = 322; ndivII = 277; ndivIII = 308) showed that structural relationships among goals, processes, and patterns of bureaucracy were invariant among all three groups of coaches. Substantively, the factor of developmental goals through developmental processes (Trail & Chelladurai, 2000) predicted positively the presence of representative bureaucracy and punishment-centered bureaucracy and negatively the existence of mock bureaucracy. This means that the more athletic departments emphasize academic values, the less the coaches perceive a pattern of loose coupling between rules and actual technical activities. Implications of these results for theory and practice were discussed.

Engaging Immigrants in Youth Sport Coaching: Part 2. A Qualitative Analysis of the Barriers, Facilitators and Motivators for Involvement

Although research in the area of immigrants and their physical activity patterns has been steadily growing, there is still much to learn. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers, facilitators and motivators facing recent Canadian immigrants as they relate to involvement in coaching youth sport. The quantitative information presented in the first article of this series served as a framework for conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with 28 immigrant youth-sport coaches. Results of these interviews support the notion that there are two distinct groups of immigrant coaches - the ‘leisure-oriented coach’ (those without coaching occupational aspirations) and the ‘career-oriented coach’ (those with coaching occupational pursuits). Despite sharing several of the same barriers, facilitators and motivators, each group showed marked divergence from the other on a number of aspects in each of these three categories.

BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF BISON AND ELK IN YELLOWSTONE TO SNOWMOBILES AND SNOW COACHES

Managers of public lands are charged with protecting some of our most important natural resources and ecosystems, while providing for their use and enjoyment by visitors. Almost one million visitors entered Yellowstone National Park by motorized means on snowmobiles (87%) or snow coaches (13%) during 1992-2003. Most vehicles toured the central portion of the park where bison (Bison bison) and elk (Cervus elaphus) concentrate in geothermal areas. We sampled >6500 interactions between groups of these species and groups of snowmobiles and snow coaches (collectively, OSV, over-snow vehicles) during five winters (1999-2000, 2002-2004). Multinomial logits models were used to identify conditions leading to behavioral responses. Elk responded three times as often (52%) as bison (19%) during interactions with groups of snowmobiles and snow coaches due to increased vigilance responses (elk, 44%; bison, 10%). However, the frequency of higher-intensity movement responses by bison and elk were similar (6-7% travel, 1-2% flight, <1% defense) and relatively low compared to other studies of ungulates and snowmobile disturbance. The likelihood of active responses by bison and elk increased significantly if animals were on or near roads, groups were smaller, or humans approached. The likelihood of an active response by bison decreased within winters having the largest visitation, suggesting some habituation to snowmobiles and snow coaches. There was no evidence that snowmobile use during the past 35 years affected the population dynamics or demography of bison or elk. Thus, we suggest that regulations restricting levels and travel routes of over-snow vehicles (OSVs) were effective at reducing disturbances to bison and elk below a level that would cause measurable fitness effects. We recommend park managers consider maintaining OSV traffic levels at or below those observed during our study. Regardless, differing interpretations of the behavioral and physiological response data will continue to exist because of the diverse values and beliefs of the many constituencies of Yellowstone.

Developmental Paths and Activities of Successful Sport Coaches

The purpose of this research report is to present an overview of an ongoing, international project designed to chart the developmental paths and activities of sport coaches. This brief report includes three sections: (a) conceptual framework used to guide the project, (b) project design and methodology, and (c) results from pilot studies with a sample of 15 successful coaches working in different sport contexts in the United States Unlike the findings for athletic profiles, where several trends across coaching contexts were evident, only one trend was found in how these diverse groups of coaches invested their time in coach developmental activities. In relation to other coaching activities very little time was devoted to formal coach education on an annual basis. The results reinforce the need to consider the coaching context when examining coach development and when designing coach development initiatives.

Women's football in the Republic of Ireland: Past events and future prospects

This study provides a brief outline of the history of women's football in Ireland, the pivotal event being the formation of the Ladies Football Association of Ireland (LFAI) in 1973. In the United States, association football has been promoted mainly via the national teams (men's and women's), instead of having the domestic game produce the national team as happens in virtually every other country. This situation is somewhat similar to that pertaining to women's football in Ireland. While there are 16 Senior and Schoolgirls Leagues affiliated to the LFAI, the greater proportion of resources is devoted to improving the fortunes of the national team. The interdependent ties between the interlocked groups of coaches, players, trainers, managers, medical teams, parents and various organizations including FAI, UEFA, LFAI, FIFA, Provincial Councils, media, and schools that influence women's football are discussed and illustrated using Clark's football figuration. The study concludes by identifying the key factors that have both advanced and constrained the development of women's football in Ireland and includes recommendations for the future development of the game.

Instrumental and Perceptual Evaluations of Two Related Singers

Summary: The primary goal of this study was to characterize a performer's singing and speaking voice. One woman was not admitted to a premier choral group, but her sister, who was comparable in physical characteristics and background, was admitted and provided a valuable control subject. The perceptual judgment of a vocal coach who conducted the group's auditions was decisive in discriminating these 2 singers. The singer not admitted to the group described a history of voice pathology, lacked a functional head register, and spoke with a voice characterized by hoarseness. Multiple listener judgments and acoustic and aerodynamic evaluations of both singers provided a more systematic basis for determining: 1) the phonatory basis for this judgment; 2) whether similar judgments would be made by groups of vocal coaches and speech-language pathologists; and 3) whether the type of tasks (e.g., sung vs. spoken) would influence these judgments. Statistically significant differences were observed between the ratings of vocal health provided by two different groups of listeners. Significant interactions were also observed as a function of the types of voice samples heard by these listeners. Instrumental analyses provided evidence that, in comparison to her sister, the rejected singer had a compromised vocal range, glottal insufficiencies as assessed aerodynamically and electroglottographically, and impaired acoustic quality, especially in her speaking voice.

Reduction of children's sport performance anxiety through social support and stress-reduction training for coaches

A field experiment was conducted to assess the efficacy of a social-support and stress-reduction program intended to influence factors that affect performance anxiety in child athletes. Baseball coaches in an experimental condition received preseason training in which behavioral guidelines for reducing anxiety were presented and modeled. A no-treatment control group did not receive the coach training. Children ( N = 152) who played for the two groups of coaches were interviewed and administered sport-specific trait anxiety scales pre- and postseason. A manipulation check demonstrated that trained coaches differed from controls in player-perceived behaviors in accordance with the goals of the intervention. They were also evaluated more positively by their players, their players reported having more fun, and their teams exhibited a higher level of attraction among players despite the fact that they did not differ from controls in won—lost records. Consistent with theory-based predictions, the intervention program significantly reduced children's trait anxiety over the course of the season.

RANKINGS OF PREDICTORS OF ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE BY TOP LEVEL COACHES

Abstract Two studies are reported in which coaches of Dutch top level athletes ranked 10 general factors recognized as predictors of athletic performance. In the first study, the coaching staff of the national teams in judo, speed skating, swimming, and table tennis were involved (n=50), and in the second coaches in field hockey, golf, and track and field (n=65); in track and field, two types of athlete were assessed: the “explosive” and the “endurance” types. Agreement among coaches within a sport appears to vary from rather high to quite low, indicating that they do not always rank the various factors in an identical way. In spite of these imperfect interjudge reliabilities, most of the groups of coaches made very similar group rankings, in which three factors were generally considered to be of primary importance: physical fitness, mental fitness and natural endowment These findings are discussed in the context of the emphasis which is often given to the effects of the immediate environment in the devel...

Effects of Enhancing Coach-Athlete Relationships on Youth Sport Attrition

A field experiment was conducted to examine the impact of the Coach Effectiveness Training program on athlete attrition. Eight Little League Baseball coaches attended a preseason sport psychology workshop designed to facilitate desirable coach-athlete interactions. A no-treatment control group consisted of 10 coaches. Children who played for both groups of coaches were interviewed before and after the season and were contacted again the following year. At the end of the initial season, children in the experimental group evaluated their coaches, teammates, and the sport of baseball more positively than children who played for the control-group coaches. Player attrition was assessed at the beginning of the next baseball season, with control-group youngsters withdrawing at a significantly higher rate (26%) than those in the experimental group (5% dropout rate). There was no difference in mean team won-lost percentages between dropouts and returning players, which indicates that the attrition was not due to lack of team success.

Training coaches to observe and remember

This study tested a video training method that was intended to improve the observational skills of soccer coaches. Three groups of soccer coaches were tested prior to and following a training period. The experimental group was exposed to a video training programme that was designed to highlight certain key elements of soccer team performance. Although both control groups were exposed to the same video excerpts as the experimental group, they were given different orienting activities. The subjects in control group 2 were asked to discuss these excerpts with a colleague and then write a report on what they had seen, while control group 1 members repeated prior test conditions that required them to remember certain events that preceded the scoring of goals. The results indicate that, although all coaches were incapable of remembering more than 40% of pertinent information, the subjects in the experimental group improved their ability to recall all events that surrounded the 'taking of shots'.