UNIT 1: Introduction to
Principles of Coaching
Compiled by: A. Minnie
Exit Learning Outcomes
After you have completed this unit, you should be able
to:
• List the five important functions that are involved in
the management of coaching
• Discuss the relevant qualifications, competencies,
roles, and qualities of a coach
• List the objectives of coaching
• Describe the interrelationship of the important
management functions of the coach
• Explain the planning function of the management of
coaching.
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The Coach
• Please share your own definition of a
coach
• Did you know a coach is a person who
instructs or trains performers in the
fundamentals and various techniques of
a particular sport?
• A Coach is thus a: Teacher, Trainer,
Instructor
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QUESTIONS?
• Who are coaches?
• Are all P.E. teachers coaches?
• Why or why not?
4
Competencies of a Coach
• Technical skills: the know-how,
professionalism, specific
• Conceptual skills: the overall picture,
effective coaching vs. efficient coaching;
doing the “right things” / the “things right”
• Administrative and management skills:
transport arrangements, fund raising,
finances, etc.
• Interpersonal and human skills: Human
relations 5
Qualities of a coach
Name the qualities you will look for in a
good coach.
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Qualities of a Coach
Transparency Dedication Enthusiasm Dislike
Mediocrity
Reasoning Discipline Will To Win Understand
Human Beings
Boys/Girls
Interest Recognise Talent Willing To Work Organisational
Skills
Motivation Utilise Talent Knowledge Of High Moral
Sport Standards
Consistency Sense Of ? ?
Humour
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Roles of a coach
Teacher Trainer Instructor Motivator And
Advisor
Organiser And Disciplinarian Manager And Administrator
Planner Facilitator
Publicity Agent Social Worker Friend And Scientist
Supporter
Chauffeur Student ? ?
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Philosophy of coaching
• Your philosophy is your set of values
and beliefs.
• It is really reflecting on why you are
doing what you are doing.
“Your athletes are much more likely to
become what you are than what you
want them to be” (Martens, 2004)
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Scenario:
• You are in the middle of a soccer practice with your school
team, when your striker stops playing and begins to yell at
his teammates for not passing the ball.
• He swears at them and walks off the pitch and does not
return.
• One of your team rules is that players must attend all
practices and swearing is not allowed. However, the game
that you will be playing over the weekend is the final of the
school league competition.
• Do you suspend the star player who is the leading goal
scorer in the league for that game or do you let him play?
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Why Philosophy?
• Coaching is a challenging profession
with many difficult decisions and ethical
dilemmas.
• Having a philosophy will remove
uncertainty about training rules, style of
play, discipline, code of conduct,
competitive outlook, short and long-term
objectives and many other facets of
coaching. 11
Why Philosophy?
• A philosophy consists of:
• Firstly of major objectives (the things
you value and want to achieve) and
• Secondly of your beliefs or principles
that help you achieve your objectives.
These principles help you cope with the
myriad of life’s situations.
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Why Philosophy?
‘The key to developing a coaching
philosophy is knowledge’. Explain this
statement in your own words.
As a coach you should have knowledge of
the following:
• Knowledge of yourself
• Knowledge of what you want to achieve
with your objectives.
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Knowledge of yourself
• As a coach, you must know who you are if you
hope to help your athletes know who they are.
• If you have direction and commitment, you can
impart these to your athletes.
• Young people seek role models.
• What they admire in their teachers and coaches
they assimilate as their own
• Quite literally, the lifetime behaviour of your
athletes may well depend on the example you
set.
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Who am I?
Read each of the following questions, reflect for
a few moments and share some of your
answers,
• Who am I?
• Where am I going?
• Is my behaviour appropriate to my life’s goal?
• Am I proud or ashamed of who I am?
• Am I happy or unhappy?
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The Three Selves
• The ideal self refers to the person you
would like to be
• The public self is the image you
believe others have of you
• The real self is the sum of those
subjective thoughts, feelings, and needs
that you see as being the authentic you
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The Three Selves
• Self-esteem: Your self-esteem pertains to an inner
conviction about your competency and worth as a
human being; Positive self-esteem is viewing yourself
as a competent and worthy person, and feeling good
about that.
• Self- disclosure: Means sharing with your athletes
how you feel about what they say and do, or about
events that you have shared. Self-disclosure must be
relevant to your relationship and appropriate to the
situation.
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Coaching Assets
• Why do you coach
• Coaching assets should be to:
Have Knowledge Well-organised Honesty Professional Qualified
Of The Sport And Appearance
Integrity
Enthusiastic Hard Worker Punctual Consistent Understanding
Good Listener Individual Help Build Motivator Good Teacher
Confidence
Encourage Praise Efforts Respect Patience Sense Of
Athletes Humour
How many of these assets can you ascribe to yourself?
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Knowledge of Coaching
Objectives
• Objective should be to win, but not only to win
• Include other aspects such as having fun
• Teach good health habits, self-confidence and
sportsmanship
• Help them to become psychologically strong and
display emotional control
• Provide opportunities to interact socially and build a
strong team spirit
• You are responsible to train and present a well-
balanced and skilled athlete/team
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Types of coaches
Why do coaches differ in their approach to
coaching?
• Your philosophy as a coach and your
personality will determine what type of coach
you are or will be
• Different types of coaches could be identify
• Not one is necessarily perfect
• A combination may perhaps describe a
good/better coach
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Malcolm Cook’s proposed types
of coaches
• Nice guy: This type of coach;
– has a correct balance between concerns for
players and winning
– persuades players to work hard for each
other and to commit themselves to the
team
– knows when to be firm and when to ease
up with players
– builds up a winning momentum in the team
by his/her positive attitude. 21
Malcolm Cook’s proposed types
of coaches
• The compromiser: This type of coach;
– wants an easy life and avoids making
difficult decisions
– does not accept responsibility and usually
opt out when the going gets tough
– constantly chop and change policies to a
point where players don’t know where the
team is heading
22
Malcolm Cook’s proposed types
of coaches
• The hard man: This coach is;
– dedicated to winning, is firm, aggressive, and
ruthless with players who do not perform
consistently at maximum
– dominating and conveys to players that winning
comes first and all else, including the players, are
secondary
– frightening to some players, whilst to the others he
will seem to be a major motivational force.
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Ralph Sabock’s proposed types of
coaches
Ralph Sabock identified five types of coaches:
• The idealist:This type of coach:
– teaches young athletes positive values
rather than scrutinising rule books to see
how they can bend rules to give their team
an advantage
– wants fair competition
– teaches that winning or losing is not the
end of the world.
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Ralph Sabock’s proposed types of
coaches
• The rolling stones: These coaches:
– move from place to place without any
goals in sight
– often look for greener pastures
because they are never satisfied.
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Ralph Sabock’s proposed types of
coaches
• The climbers: These coaches:
– have one goal in life that is to reach
the top
– will do anything to win
– feel that the end justifies the means
– use people to benefit themselves.
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Ralph Sabock’s proposed types of
coaches
• The ambitious coach: This type of
coach:
– has a combination of the above qualities
– is opportunistic
– waits for a situation to present itself then
he/she moves
– knows what his/her goal is and will do
anything to reach that goal.
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Ralph Sabock’s proposed types of
coaches
• The hangers-on: These coaches will:
– keep on coaching because they thrive
on the ego of being called a coach
– hang on to coaching because they
have been coaching for too long
– not do anything else
List your qualities own as a coach and
identify your own coaching style.
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Ogilvie & Tutko’s profile of a
highly successful coach
A successful coach Should be:
• success driven • a leader with good
• orderly leadership qualities
• outgoing and warm • dominant
• conscientious • able to accept
• emotionally stable blame
• open and • aggressive.
trustworthy
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The Nature of Coaching
According to Lyle (1986), the task of
coaching exhibits the following features:
• Coaching is a process. It is a continuous
function, which occurs over a long period of
time.
• Coaching is stable. The athlete(s) and/or
team form a stable group, which
demonstrates a certain amount of
commitment. This commitment results in
regular and significant involvement. 30
Lyle’s coaching features:
• Coaching is empathetic. The relationship
between the coach and athlete(s) extends
beyond the boundaries of the process.
• Coaching is leadership. The coach is the
person who directs and controls the process.
• Coaching is management. Performing the
coaching process requires a systematic,
progressive and planned programme of
preparation and competition.
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The Coaching Process
From this broad outline of the coaching process, it
becomes evident that you need to be a multi-talented
individual to be a good coach.
“If you already have the teaching skills of an
educator, the training expertise of a physiologist,
the administrative leadership of a business
executive and the counselling wisdom of a
psychologist, you can throw this book away; it
won’t help you”, (Martens, 1990).
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Ledington and Wootton’s model (1986)
to help you identify the three primary
coaching roles:
• The practitioner:
–talent spotting and recruitment
–athlete development
–skill development
–performing system development
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Ledington and Wootton’s model (1986)
to help you identify the three primary
coaching roles:
• The technical expert:
–athlete development methods
–skill development methods
–performing system development
methods
–competition analysis
34
Ledington and Wootton’s model (1986)
to help you identify the three primary
coaching roles:
• The system manager:
–resource planning
–activity monitoring
–internal management/liaison
–external management/liaison
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Activity
List some of what you perceive to be the most
important roles/functions of a coach within the
Namibian context. Give a brief explanation of
why you selected each function.
Feedback:
Whatever your answer on the above activity, it is
important to note that, coaching demands a high level
of professionalism, even when you are working as a
volunteer.
As a coach you must not only have high personal
and professional standards, but also live with them. 36
The Management Functions of
the Coach
Planning
Organising
MANAGEMENT
COACH FUNCTIONS Directing
Controlling
Staffing
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The Management Functions of
the Coach
The management of coaching involves several
important functions:
• Planning: This function includes determining of
your athlete(s) or team goals, and the methods of
achieving them. Planning is probably one of the
most important functions of the successful coach.
• Organising: This function includes the
development of a team coaching structure, and
the development of the support organisation
structure.
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The Management Functions of
the Coach
• Directing: This function includes decision-making,
and guidance of others, with the aim of achieving
goals.
• Controlling: This function involves constant
monitoring and adjustment of the management
process.
• Staffing: This function would involve the selection of
all individuals who would help the team achieve its
goals. It would include training, assigning duties, and
creating a favourable work environment.
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Conclusion
• The relationship that the coach has with others is not
only a matter of preparing for achievement on the
sport field
• It is also about the shaping of attitudes and being an
educator in the broader sense.
• Obtaining a coaching certification is an important step
towards becoming a knowledgeable and effective
coach.
• In your coaching experience you will make mistakes,
nobody is perfect, so recognise these mistakes, learn
from them and work to correct them.
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