Discipline and punish in the weight room

Abstract

Building on the work of scholars in sport and physical cultural studies, coach educators have recently demonstrated the usefulness of Foucault's theorising to critique dominant coaching practices. However, to date, no research has applied Foucault's concepts to strength and conditioning coaching. Much of the strength and conditioning research is void of its historical and socio-cultural context, and lacks the complexity involved in the coaching act. The purpose of this personal narrative is to demonstrate how power operates (with knowledge) upon the social body to produce ‘unintended effects’ of dominant coaching practices. A creative non-fiction story was created by drawing upon my (the first author's) collegiate strength and conditioning coaching experiences and Foucault's Discipline and Punish. In particular, the tale examines the effects of exercising power-knowledge within the context of docile bodies, underperformance, injury, poor exercise technique, and the coach–athlete relationship.

Keywords:

• Foucault
• discipline
• strength and conditioning
• narrative

Notes

^1. The Stepmil is an exercise machine with revolving steps.

^2. Omaha is a city in the state of Nebraska that serves as the site for the NCAA Division I College World Series; always an objective for college teams.