The adventure sports coach: all show and no substance?

ABSTRACT

The primary objective of this research was to establish the range of interpersonal strategies, tools and techniques used by adventure sports coaches (ASCs) to influence participants’ actions and behaviours, and to determine where these strategies were acquired. An interpretative approach was employed using semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of expert paddlesport coaches (n = 4). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to get close to the data and identify salient topics. Five themes were subsequently identified as fundamental to effective coach–participant interaction: appropriate environment, stories told, knowing the participant, formal training and situational context. The implications are that whilst ASCs have well-developed intuitive social engagement skills, these are not consciously or declaratively employed in coaching sessions, and neither are they used at strategic levels to enhance participant development. Therefore, a multi-layer approach is recommended to help ASCs access and employ these skills that has consequences for the education, training and continued professional development of ASCs.

KEYWORDS:

• Coach education
• adventure sports
• social interactions
• paddlesports
• coaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Gray

Paul Gray is Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire where he contributes to both the BA (Hons) Adventure Sports Coaching and BA (Hons) Outdoor leadership degree programmes. Paul achieved his Masters of Sport and Exercise Science whilst specialising in visual search strategies amongst white water kayakers. Currently, Paul is writing for his Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance and focusing upon paddle sports coaches’ social impact on participants’ emotions, perceptions and behaviors. Paul is also a BCU Level 5 coach and competes internationally within the discipline of white water rafting.

Dave Collins

Professor Dave Collins heads the Institute of Coaching and Performance (ICap) at the University of Central Lancashire. The majority of Dave’s work is in high level sport, encompassing training and preparation, expertise in coaching and support science disciplines, skill development and refinement, and talent development. Dave also focuses on broader elements of performance and coaching in business, military/emergency services and adventure education.