Summary
The article, “Perceptions of coaching success: an exploratory analysis of Czech coaches views on success” by Crossan et al (2021) seeks to investigate the philosophical basis for coaching success by evaluating the perspectives of Czech coaches on coaching success. The study followed a mixed-methods research strategy using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Five hundred seventy-one coaches from seven different Czech Republic sports made up the study’s sample size. Participants’ coaching experience ranged from one to twenty-six years (mean 7.1 years), and they coached teams ranging in age from under-8 to adult professionals (Crossan et al., 2021). In order to gather information from this group of coaches, the research used a survey questionnaire. After that, the researchers used descriptive statistics and factor analysis to examine the collected data.
According to the findings, several factors impact coaches’ perceptions of coaching success. These include the coach’s personality, the athlete’s overall performance, and the strength of the coach-athlete relationship. Since coaching is prominently a social activity, the success of any coaching initiative depends on the quality of the connections between all those involved. The most concerning finding of this study was that only 5.6% of coaches focus on enjoying their role in sports, even though it is a crucial component of success (Crossan et al., 2021). Additionally, the study examined the efficacy of contemporary coaching tenets through the lens of Hal-lowell’s success cycle. Within the Sport Growth area, most coaches mainly meant Player Development when they said they were successful. Performance, mainly in relation to Winning, was the second most popular category for describing success. This research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that coaches’ perspectives on coaching performance are multidimensional and that further inquiry into the elements that shape these perspectives is necessary.
Critical Analysis
Despite the article’s findings, the study has a few limitations, including that it is limited to coaches from the Czech Republic. Thus, the findings could not apply to other cultures or nations. Again, it is plausible that the study’s findings do not fully reflect coaches’ perspectives on coaching performance, as data was only collected via a survey questionnaire. Other than that, the research failed to investigate how coaches’ perceptions of their coaching success correlated with the actual performance of their athletes. The research also failed to examine how the coaches’ perspectives on coaching success vary among cultural settings. Nevertheless, the study offers illuminating information on the complex nature of coaching success and calls for further investigation into what coaches consider necessary when training athletes.
Therefore, the study presents various opportunities for further research, such as performing comparative research across many nations and cultures to get insight into how coaching success is viewed and characterized in different settings. Research that follows an area of study over time may help explain how coaches’ views of success change over time and in reaction to new circumstances in the game. From a philosophical standpoint, the article’s examination of the complex nature of effective coaching aligns with the holistic approach to coaching I endorse. It reinforces the need to evaluate more than just results while trying to define and attain coaching success.
In a more practical sense, the article’s results highlight how important it is for coaches to know exactly what they and their players consider a success. With this knowledge, coaches can design plans that put the athletes’ development and progress ahead of performance results. The article’s unique contribution to current research is its classification of coaches’ success criteria, primarily about the Sport Growth and Performance domains. This information may guide the development of domain-specific tools and assistance for coaches by providing a framework for understanding the many viewpoints on coaching success. The findings may not apply to a broader, international coaching environment due to the study’s possible limitation in focusing on Czech coaches. As a result, studies in the future should try to recruit coaches from a broader range of ethnic and athletic backgrounds.
References
Crossan, W., Bednar, M., & Quinn, R. (2021). Perceptions of coaching success: an exploratory analysis of Czech coaches views on success. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 91(1), 1-12.
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