HOW HAS AN ATHLETICS COACH LEARNED TO COACH DIFFERENT AGE GROUPED ATHLETES AND WHAT COACHING BEHAVIOURS DO THEY DEMONSTRATE?

Abstract

Looking at how coaches vary their behaviours and training strategies when coaching beginner and development athletes is important to ensure that athletes receive the correct support to remain engaged and develop their potential. By understanding this we can better equip coaches to help their athletes. In order to achieve this aim it was necessary to look at how coaches develop their behaviours through a variety of resources: theoretical knowledge, more knowledgeable others and practical knowledge/experience. A case study of a current academy athletics coach was undertaken collecting evidence of the behaviours used to coach the athletes at different stages of learning. This included the coach completing diary entries of their coaching sessions and undergoing weekly interviews examining their behaviours. There was also an interview that primarily looked at how the behaviours had been developed. Once the interviews were completed there was an inductive content analysis of the transcriptions to generate themes and collate the data into tables. The key findings were that there were more differences in coaching behaviours than similarities. Also, the study found that the participant valued more knowledgeable others and practical knowledge/experience more highly than theoretical knowledge when developing these behaviours. The information obtained was then used in conjunction with other coaching research to establish which behaviours are appropriate and how and when it is advised that they are implemented.