Showing papers by "Robyn L. Jones published in 2009"

Mentoring in sports coaching: A review of the literature

Abstract: Background: Despite criticism of its positive claims being largely unfounded and ill-clarified, the concept of mentoring has come into common use within sports coaching. Purpose: In an attempt to address these concerns, the purpose of this paper is to take better account of the researched evidence on mentoring in general before providing some guidelines of good practice that could realistically be applied to sports coaching. Literature review: In terms of the paper's content, a discussion surrounding definitions and conceptualisations is initially embarked upon. This is followed by a review of mentoring literature from other academic and professional fields, namely nursing, education and business, where the practice has been more widely researched, established and used. Current ‘models’ of mentoring in sports coaching are then examined. Summary and conclusions: A final section, drawing from all the literature reviewed, offers tentative suggestions as to the possible future shape of effective mentoring in ...

Power, conflict, and cooperation: toward a micropolitics of coaching

Abstract: According to Jones, Wells, Peters, and Johnson (1993), being political is a necessary part of a coach's repertoire, because a coach's effectiveness and longevity may depend not only on a favorable win–loss record but also on an individual's ability to gain the approval of contextual power brokers (e.g., athletes, other coaches, or owners). Although only limited research has been done examining power and interpersonal relationships in coaching, there remains a paucity of work investigating the micropolitics inherent in such relationships. The aim of this article is to make the case for how the adoption of a micropolitical perspective could serve to further our understanding of the power-ridden, contested nature of sports coaching. After an introductory examination of the concept of micropolitics in the educational literature, a discussion of how such practice is beginning to emerge in recent ethnographic coaching research is presented. The literature addressing the micropolitical nature of teachers' intera...

Coaching as caring (the smiling gallery): accessing hidden knowledge

Abstract: Background: Recent research into coaching has been critical of much previous work, particularly in terms of the tendency to paint a rather unproblematic portrayal of the activity. The criticism has focussed on the erroneous supposition that method can be substituted for individuals, thus giving a synthetic account of a most messy of jobs. Consequently, a call has arisen to expand traditional lines of investigation into ‘what’ and ‘how’ to coach to incorporate the related question of ‘who’ is coaching. Purpose: The principal purpose of this article is to argue for writing about coaching from a personal or autoethnographic perspective. This is supported by presenting an autoethnographical account of myself as coach of a national age-group boys football team. The case for autoethnography: The first half of this paper is given over to constructing a case for autoethnography as being an alternative, pertinent means through which to research and represent coaching. Here, the autoethnographical text is presented...

Micropolitical Workings in Semi-Professional Football

Abstract: This paper seeks to illuminate the micropolitical strategies that Gavin (a pseudonym) used in an attempt to persuade the players, the assistant coach, and the chairman at Erewhon City Football (soccer) Club to “buy into” his coaching program and methods. Data for the study were collected through in-depth, semistructured interviews, and a reflective log relating to those interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim with the subsequent transcripts being subject to a process of inductive analysis. Ball’s (1987) micropolitical perspective, Kelchtermans’ and Ballet’s (2002a, 2002b) work on micropolitical literacy, and Goffman’s (1959) writings on the presentation of the self, are used to make theoretical sense of the specific strategies used by Gavin in an attempt to persuade the players to see the merits of his coaching.

Negotiation and capital: athletes’ use of power in an elite men's rowing program

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine how power is given, acquired and used by athletes in the elite sporting context. It focuses on a top-level athlete’s reactions to the behaviors of his coaches and how such actions contribute to the creation of a coaching climate, which both influences and ‘houses’ coaching (Cushion & Jones, 2006). The paper centres on Sean (a pseudonym), a top-level rower and his preparation for crew selection to the upcoming international regatta season. Specifically, it illustrates Sean’s interaction with those responsible for a national rowing programme following his decision not to participate in an aspect of that programme. Sean’s story, from both his own and the perspectives of his coaches, is presented using a variation of realist tales which draw upon excerpts from field-notes and interview transcripts. Bourdieu’s (1989) notion of capital is primarily utilized to analyze the data. Findings demonstrate how the various aspects of capital are defined, used and negotiated by social actors within the context of elite sport. The significance of the work lies in generating a greater understanding of power dynamics within the coaching context.

An in-depth assessment of expert sprint coaches' technical knowledge.

Abstract: Among the myriad issues addressed by current research are the sources of knowledge of coaches in terms of their implicit and/or explicit natures. What appears to remain unaddressed, however, is the arguably prior step of coaches' content knowledge; that is, what coaches know as opposed to how they know it. The aim of this study was to partially address this shortcoming by identifying the characteristics that expert coaches associate with good sprint running technique, in addition to where such knowledge was gleaned. Seven expert male sprint coaches participated in the study, with data being gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data were inductively analysed using the ATLAS.ti 5.2 qualitative software. Four principal constructs emerged from the interview data. These included "posture", "hip position", "ground contact, and "arm action', with tacit, experiential sources, generated predominantly from conversations with respected peers, forming the basis of such knowledge. The findings are located within existing sprinting literature, before we summarize the main points made.

Coaching Sprinting: Expert Coaches' Perception of Race Phases and Technical Constructs

Abstract: The general aim of this study was explore expert coaches' technical knowledge of sprint running. The first of two principal objectives related to discovering whether expert coaches divided a sprint race into distinct phases and, if so, which and how many phases. The second objective was to examine the good technique characteristics associated with each phase. Participants for the study comprised seven expert track and field sprint coaches. Findings indicated that the respondents broke sprinting down into three technical phases, the start, the pick-up/drive and the maintenance phase. Important constructs were associated with each phase, which both supported and conflicted with the limited literature available. The principal finding of this study, however, relates to the current dearth of knowledge about good sprint-running technique, an area which requires considerable further investigation before definitive lines of good practice can be confidently applied.