Developing strength and conditioning coaches: a case for cognitive apprenticeship

ABSTRACT

Traditionally Strength and Conditioning Coaches have been prepared for their roles through the development of a strong theoretical knowledge base and demonstrating proficiency across a range of technical frameworks. Importantly, however, recent research within Strength and Conditioning (S & C) has argued for a focus on cognitive skills and processes to support the comprehensive and established bio-physical educational materials available to learners. Accordingly, an area of growing interest within S & C is how to most appropriately prepare coaches for the authentic demands of the workplace. In other professional domains, Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) methods have been researched and adopted to enhance the effectiveness of workers. This article provides an overview of the characteristics of CA and how these pedagogical tools could be applied across different S & C learning environments. The approaches discussed, and conceptually modelled, offer a practical and feasible solution for future coach preparation methods. Such an approach would focus on developing more contextually aware and impactful coaches and improve the services provided to an organisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Workplace learning
• development
• decision making
• contexts
• learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul William Downes

Paul Downes is the Head Of Athletic Performance and Pathways at Moana Pasifika Super Rugby Franchise in New Zealand. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and is an accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach with the UKSCA and ASCA. Within his 18 years applied coaching experience he has worked with developmental and elite athletes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Dave Collins

Prof. D. Collins is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director at Grey Matters Performance Ltd. As an academic, Dave has over 350 peer review publications and 80 books/chapters. As a practitioner, he has worked with over 80 World or Olympic medalists plus professional teams and performers. He has also worked as a business and organisational adviser in various fields. Dave has coached to national level in three sports, is a 5th Dan Karate, Director of the Rugby Coaches Association, Fellow of the Society of Martial Arts and BASES, Associate Fellow of the BPS and an ex Royal Marine.