"Coaching is about influencing people to change and improve"

Abstract

This study builds upon existing research into complexity of sports coaching by highlighting three key themes believed to be linked to becoming an effective coach. The three key themes include; reflective practice, the coach athlete relationship and the coach as an orchestrator. The research for this study involved individual semi- structured interviews with four elite level coaches. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in order to discuss and relate the data to literature related to this topic. The study revealed a high correlation to literature (Boyd and Fales, 1983; Elliot, 1991; Gilbert and Trudel, 2001; Gibbs, 1988; Jones et al., 2003, 2004, 2006; Kemmis, 1985; McFee, 1993; Potrac et al., 2002; Saylor, 1990) suggesting that coaches believe that reflective practice, the coach athlete relationship and the coach as an orchestrator include strong acquaintance and are areas to address when developing a coach. The qualitative data obtained further provides a more insightful and critical understanding of the holistic nature of the coaching process.