Coaching as Teaching:
Instructional Strategies for
Player Development
An LASF (2006-2008) Research
Study
This pilot study examines
the hypothesis that learning
sound instructional methods
will allow coaches to
promote not only the
physical development and
skill enhancement of their
players, but also players?
social and ethical
development. In addition to
assessing player development
and performance, the study
examines some relationships
among coaches?development
and coaches? players? and
parents?sideline behavior
during competitive game
situations.
Central to this study is the
idea that youth coaches
typically do not possess
sufficient knowledge of
basketball fundamentals and
strategy nor, importantly,
effective teaching and
organizational methods that
are necessary for effective
player instruction. In
addition, as classroom
teachers tend to teach the
way they were taught, so,
too, do coaches, tend to
replicate the ways they were
coached. Finally, and most
significantly, coaches are
not only teachers of skills
and strategies, but also of
ethical attitudes. They are
engaged in attempting to
help their players learn not
only the behaviors of the
game, but also the moral and
social values that make up
good sportsmanship.
However, they typically do
not identify themselves as
teachers. To be
truly effective, coaches
need to recognize their
roles as teachers of
knowledge and skills in both
the physical and social
domains.
To examine these assertions,
this pilot study will
provide six, four-hour
coaching workshops to five
coaches (four central and
one alternate). The
workshops will follow a
curriculum designed to teach
coaches how to meet their
athletic and social http://www.antiochla.edu/academic-programs/teacher-credentialing-and-ma-in-education/index.htmlapproach
derived from research and
practice in
university-sponsored teacher
education (e.g., Antioch
University:
http://www.antiochla.edu/academic-programs/teacher-credentialing-and-ma-in-education/index.html).
Following the workshops, an
eight-team league composed
of athletes ages 10 to 14,
set up by the LASF, will
begin an eight-week season
of weekly practices and
games in which four of the
teams will be coached by
those who have completed the
workshop curriculum and four
will be coached by coaches
who did not.
All participating coaches
will be pre-tested on social
and ethical development
measures already shown to be
reliable and valid prior to
their involvement. Players
will also be pre-tested on
social, ethical, and
physical skills measures
before their participation
begins.
During the season, all games
and practice sessions will
be observed and/or
videotaped. In addition,
progress monitoring will be
conducted by participant
observers during practices
and games. During games,
attention will also be given
to parents? players, and
coaches?behavior in
relation to referee calls,
etc. (i.e., sideline
behavior). Weekly
videotapes will be viewed
and coded in an array of
categories including
traditional skill
performance and social
behavior in context. Coding
reliability will be
pre-established.
At the end of the season,
coaches and players will be
post-tested on the same
measures as those used in
the pretest. Data analysis
and final report will be
completed by early 2008.
For information, contact
Steve Venables at
Steve at LASportsFoundation dot org.
(You must type this as an email address with the"@" symbol and ".org")
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