The Value of Coaching - Literature review Example

Running Head: COACHING Coaching [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] Coaching Introduction Sports have been a big entertainment for all types of people. Little children, teenagers, and adults all love playing and watching sports. Soccer is full of fundamentals and techniques that have helped the game become faster paced and exciting. Practice is required to develop fundamentals and technique. Coaches try to reinforce and improve skills to achieve their main goal, which is winning. Coaching teaches people of all ages to learn and have fun playing the game (Crisfield, 2000, 21). Coaching soccer teaches fundamentals, and the preparation for practice and game. Coaching requires teaching the basics before any set plays come into play. Fundamentals are very important in soccer because there are so many different skills that are used to play the game like control and receive ball. A coaching value is vital for any coach to support, because as Martens (1997, 11) stated that the success as a coach depends more on the coaching attitude than on any other aspect. It is a set of guidelines that govern coach's actions and behaviours, and is the basis on which personal beliefs are made about a whole variety of issues. It encompasses views on; the role of the coach in relation to others; the role of performers in determining their own goals and responsibility in learning; relative importance of the outcome of competition in relation to the performers well being; importance of fair play and adhering to rules; appropriate training and competition for young performers; and also the importance of sport for everyone. On the basis of these beliefs, the coach can consolidate and develop various coaching and leadership styles and strategies, in relation to the situation and the performer. Martens (1997, 15) suggested a philosophy for all coaches to endorse as Players First, Winning Second. This is an excellent philosophy, which caters for the development and well being of the individual sportsperson but it is difficult for coaches to administer because of the demands put upon them, for money and success during the competitive season. This critical review attempts to make reference to a planned coaching session carried out by Tom Bailey, and theories constructed on the study of coaching/ leadership styles and strategies. Coaching Styles Martens (1997, 22) stated that the coaching style adopted by a coach would determine how decisions are made on the skills and strategies to be taught, how practice and competition is organised, which methods to discipline players are used, and most importantly what role the sportspersons are given in decision-making processes. Martens also suggested that coaches are likely to incline towards one of the three coaching styles. The three coaching styles as suggested by Martens (1997, 25) are as follows: Command Style (The Dictator/ Autocratic) In this style of coaching, the coach makes all the decisions. The role of the player is a passive abider who responds to the coach's commands. It is assumed that the coach has the knowledge to dictate throughout the session, whilst the sportsperson listens, absorbs information, and complies. This style of coaching is still used by many coaches, as it is a way of ensuring that the session progresses on time. Marten's suggested, coaches that doubt their own ability also use it, and they use this technique to douse any questions that may be asked of them. Improper use of this style can shift the player's motivational reasoning, from an intrinsic nature to an extrinsic one, which can lead to a lack of enjoyment during the session, and can even lead to players dropping out of the sport completely. Submissive Coaches using this style make as few decisions as possible, providing little instruction, minimal guidance and organisation. Martens (1997, 31) highlighted that this style is poor, and described coaches which adopt this style either lacking in competence, are too lazy to meet the demands of their responsibilities, or do not understand what coaching means. Co-operative (The Teacher/democratic) Coaches using this style share decision making with sportspersons. They understand that they are responsible to provide guidance and leadership to young people, but allow youngsters to join into the decision-making processes, which allows them to develop into mature, responsible adults. Martens (1997, 36) described this style as the superior of the three styles. Martens exaggerated command and submissive styles and communicated them as extreme forms of coaching. In reality, styles used by coaches are usually a subtle blend of all three, which are adaptable depending on the situation and the individual sportsperson. In Chelladurai's leadership scale for sports (2000, 88) the styles are looked at in more detail, and less exaggerated than the broad definitions used by Martens (1997, 47), and additional styles are also discussed. The three additional styles/ behaviours are: Social support behaviour Coaching behaviour characterised by a concern for player's welfare, positive group atmosphere, and warm interpersonal relations. Training and instruction behaviour Aimed at improving performance through emphasising and facilitating hard and strenuous training; instruction on skills, techniques, and tactics of the sport; clarifying relations in sportspersons, and by structuring and organising the activities. Rewarding (positive feedback) behaviour Behaviour used to motivate a player by recognising and rewarding good performance. Reference to Coaching Session During the coaching session the coach used an autocratic style of coaching, coupled with a rewarding behaviour. Explanations on why this coaching style had been adopted will be looked at. Firstly, an observation on the amount of time, in which the coaching session had to be completed, will be a factor. The coaching session had a boundary of twelve minutes. An autocratic style ensured that the session would progress adequately before completion. Pressure put on the coach by assessment; will be an additional reason for the autocratic behaviour. The coach seemed to be lacking confidence and did not use an effective democratic behaviour, which would have reinforced the retention and learning of the skills. It would also have provided a more enjoyable experience for the performer. The coach's use of rewarding behaviour seemed to be extrinsically effective in motivating performers though. Theories of Leadership/Coaching Later theories of Leadership looked at both the personality traits of the leader and situational variables. Jenkins (2005, 88) describes Fiedler's contingency model of leadership effectiveness, as the best known of the theories. It categorised leaders into two groups; task orientated and autocratic, or interpersonally orientated and democratic. The model describes the situation as more or less favourable for enhancing the leaders influence. This theory proposed that 'task' leaders will be more effective in both least and most favourable situations, and 'interpersonal' leaders will be more effective in moderately favourable situations. The most popular theory in sports leadership has been Chelladurai's (2000, 90) Multidimensional Model of Leadership in Sport. This theory involves three aspects of leader behaviour; actual behaviour, leader behaviour preferred by sportsperson and the leader behaviour required in the particular situation. The model proposes that the degree of congruence among the three states of leader behaviour is positively related to performance and satisfaction. Chelladurai (2000, 91) in addition to this stated that differences in personal characteristics would influence what kinds of coaching behaviours players prefer. Aside from the situational approach, a limited number of research studies have examined the relationship between leaders and their subordinates over time (Turman, 2001, 577). This factor is important in the understanding the effectiveness of Leadership styles over the course of sport season. As leaders interact with their subordinates over time, they adapt and change their leadership style to suit the individual. According to Hersey and Blanchard 's (1999, 30) studies on maturity and leadership, for leaders to be effective, the leadership style must be adapted to the sportsperson. Chellandurai and Saleh's (2000, 90) study of university players suggested that more experienced players preferred more training and instruction from their coaches. As the sportspersons advanced, they tended to prefer a more autocratic style of coaching. The maturity of the follower not only dictates which style of leadership will have the highest probability of success, but it also determines the power base that the leader should use to induce compliance or influence behaviour (Turman, 2001, 420). It is reasonable to assume that players in their first year of experience would perceive the least amount of social support due to the fact that this style focuses on the relationship that exists between players and their coaches. Results collected from Turman's study reflected that sportspersons perceived coaches from unsuccessful teams using a significantly more autocratic style than those on successful teams. This is an argument for Martens labelling the autocratic style, to be one of inadequacies. Strategies Strategies in sports coaching can mean many different things according to the individual coach. But all strategies have one major factor in common; they are all used to get the best out of the individual sportsperson during a coaching session or competition. The coach must know the players needs before a strategy is implemented, e.g. the way in which a sportsperson is motivated can determine what rewards are given. A major coaching strategy in terms of importance is the way in which a coach should adapt a particular style according to the players preferred style. It is also important to find out whether the sportsperson is internally or externally motivated so the coach can determine which coaching behaviours and strategies are appropriate. Coaches use motivational techniques, such as appraisal rewards to reinforce either sound technique or high effort. Coaches also use mental rehearsal techniques for the purposes of focusing the player's attention or reducing anxiety before a competition. The coach should also use tools such as the Sport Competitive anxiety Test (Martens, 1977) to find out how prone sportspersons are to anxiety in order to attain which methods of reduction are appropriate. The coach should use all of the knowledge and experience gathered throughout a career to design and implement well structured session plans using goal-setting strategies. Conclusion The correct coaching/ leadership style in accordance to the situation and the individual combined with effective strategies is definitely the way to achieve success in coaching. The needs of the individual player must always come before that of the coach. Mental attitude is a must for any kind of sportsperson, especially in soccer. Making the game fun is a key for people at any ages. If the game of soccer is made fun to people, they have more interest in the game and the will to win. Winning is an attitude that should be a part of a team. If there is no winning attitude on a team, they have no life and effort to get better at the game. Setting down before a game is essential because relaxation makes the game of soccer a lot easier to play. Each player has to find something in themselves that they contribute to the team. Whether it is a vocal role, encouraging teammates on the bench or a key role on the court that will help the team win the game.         Coaching soccer requires a lot of hard work and preparation. This hard work requires the teaching of fundamentals and drills that are essential to play the game. This game requires repetition in these drills and fundamentals because teamwork is a big part of soccer. Practice shows in a game because it shows what the team has worked on to be the best they can be. The preparation for a game requires a lot of studying to form a strategy against the opponents. Teams that have good attitude show that their coach teaches discipline and respect for the game of soccer. Soccer is a game that is very important to many people around the world, not only in playing but watching too. Coaching no matter what the sport is very time consuming and requires patience with the team and the surrounding community. Little children and adults all love to watch and play these wonderful sports all around the world. It is the basis of our society today; kids look at sports for recognition and something to get involved in. Sports give entertainment for the whole world and inspire people to achieve to be the best they can be. References Chelladurai. P., Saleh,S.D. (2000). Preferred Leadership in Sports. Canadian Journal of Applied Sports Science. p 85-92. Crisfield, P., Cabral, P., Carpenter, F. (2000). The successful coach: guidelines for coaching practice. Leeds: The National Coaching Foundation, p. 21. Hersey. P., Blanchard, K.H., & Natemyer, W.E. (1999). Life cycle theory of leadership. Training and Development Journal 23 (5), p26-35 Jenkins, S. (2005). Sports Science Handbook. Berkshire: Sunningdale Publications p. 88. Martens, R. (1997). Sport competition anxiety test. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. p. 36. Turman, P. D. (2001). Situational coaching styles: The impact of success and sportsperson maturity level on coaches' leadership styles over time. Small Group Research, Vol. 32, No. 5. America: Sage Publications. P 420, 576-594. Read More