Youth soccer coaches' verbal communication skillsPromoting knowledge and changing behaviour

Abstract

Coach behaviour research in football has grown over the last decades due to the believed influence that coaches are likely to have on players’ thoughts, emotions, experiences, and overall learning (Cushion, 2010). A mixed-method approach combining systematic observations and interviews has typically been adopted for understanding what behaviours coaches use and why they use them. Indeed, studies in this area have generally concluded that coaches employ excessive ‘instruction’ during training or competition (Partington et al., 2014; Partington & Cushion, 2012), which has been deemed a detrimental approach for players learning motor skills (Ford et al., 2010). In addition, coaches have been observed utilising sporadic ‘questioning’ but this tends to constrain players’ level of cognitive activity and does not provide players with enough time to reflect or elaborate responses (Partington & Cushion, 2013; Cope et al., 2016). Moreover, it has been argued that much of a coach’s role occurs within ‘off-field’ environments (e.g., video analysis sessions or matchday team talks), with some calls suggesting the need to consider all situations in which coaches act as such (Cushion et al., 2012a; 2012b; Ford et al., 2009). Thus, as each coaching situation might entail various objectives and pursue different player outcomes, an effective utilisation of these behaviours might vary within ‘on-field’ or ‘off-field’ and ‘in-week’ or ‘matchday’ coaching environments. With the purpose of promoting coaches’ learning to skilfully utilise their behaviours and fulfil their sessions/talks’ objectives, coach development programmes (CDPs) can be implemented. Coaches have been suggested to learn when new information match or fits their previous experiences and coaches adopt or adapt coaching approaches into their practice, respectively (Stodter & Cushion, 2017). However, this process might not be straightforward because of coaches’ lack of awareness of their behaviours, and their flawed understanding underpinning behaviour (Partington & Cushion, 2013; Partington et al., 2014). Furthermore, it is also suggested that the tacit/unconscious nature of coaches’ knowledge (Nash & Collins, 2006) can play a role in hindering effective incorporation of CDP content into coaches’ practice. In fact, formal CDPs attempting to affect coaching practice have resulted in reduced knowledge development and very limited changes in coaches’ behaviours (Stodter & Cushion, 2014; 2019). Therefore, considering the above antecedents, this Doctoral Thesis aimed to extend the existing understanding of the cognitive processes and behaviours employed by youth football coaches within various coaching environments and examine the CDP activities that are effective for facilitating changes in coaches’ knowledge and behaviours during workbased CDPs. The results and findings of this Doctoral Thesis demonstrated a prescriptive approach to coaching during video-based feedback sessions and half-time talks, portrayed by large volumes of instruction and/or feedback. Only selected coaches, typically working with younger age-groups (i.e., under 9, 10, and 13’s), exhibited greater frequency of divergent questioning and enabled players to engage in player participation (i.e., meaningful talk) for longer durations. These player participation values were increased by some coaches during half-time talks (study II) by enabling players to debrief in the changing room while a staff meeting occurred on the pitch, that was intended to review first-half performance and prepare the halftime talk. However, during video-based feedback sessions (study I), participants showed three forms of ‘epistemological gap’, that were characterised by incongruent knowledge/beliefs about the suitability of player participation and actual player participation levels. With the purpose of aligning coaching knowledge and behavioural intentions, study III assessed the impact that a work-based longitudinal CDP had on coaches’ understanding about behaviour utilisation during post-match video-based feedback sessions. The CDP comprised a workshop, an experimentation task (i.e., to ‘try out’ new approaches within working context), and a reflective task that used coaches’ own behavioural data to stimulate reflection. Indeed, both participants increased their understanding about the potential benefits and drawbacks of using silence, questioning, player participation, and feedback when watching specific videobased game sequences (i.e., clips). Whilst these findings provide some practical considerations for delivering video sessions, the CDP did also encourage coaches’ acceptance of their own delivery approach or desires for change during future sessions. Specifically, coaches planned to structure their behaviours within each clip to attain sufficient player thinking and talking. These changes in coaches’ intentions can be deemed a precursor stimulus for changing coaching practice, but study’s III design did not verify whether actual changes in behaviour occurred. Therefore, study IV examined the impact that a longitudinal CDP had on coaches’ knowledge about questioning during training and whether this knowledge translated to a congruent application of questioning. The CDP required coaches to engage in a workshop, six experimentation sessions, and an on-line video-based reflective task. From the six coaches participating in this study, two of them only took part in the workshop and the experimentation sessions, whereas the remaining four were involved in the full process (i.e., workshop, experimentation sessions, and video-based reflection). Interestingly, all participants developed their knowledge about the instances perceived as more appropriate for asking questions, but only those coaches who undertook the complete CDP transferred their knowledge into a congruent application of questioning. It is suggested that video-based reflective practice is essential for increasing the consciousness and availability of knowledge developed during CDPs. However, for coaches incorporating knowledge into their practice, reflection might need to be supported by tasks that involve opportunities to self-discover how to adopt this knowledge within a particular working context. In summary, coaches demonstrated a willing to increase player involvement during ‘off-field’ video analysis sessions and half-time talks. Despite these intentions, most coaches typically exhibited a predominancy of ‘instruction’ and/or ‘feedback’, with only a few coaches increasing their values divergent questioning and enabling players to actively participate for considerable time. Thus, work-based CDPs including integrated experimentation and reflection opportunities can facilitate coaches’ knowledge development about ‘active learning’ communication skills and its transference to actual behaviour execution.