The purpose of this thesis was to explore the socially constructed nature of coaching and its dev... more The purpose of this thesis was to explore the socially constructed nature of coaching and its development within the context of Paralympic sport (Para coaching). The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) positioned the Paralympic Games as a global celebration of elite athletic prowess through which society’s perceptions of disability can be challenged. In doing so, the IPC recognises that currently and historically people with disability are often marginalised by society (Brittain, 2016). Despite the social significance of the Paralympic games there is a dearth of research foregrounding Para coaching and this body of work lacks in-depth sociological analysis. To overcome this historical, cultural and social omission shaping our understanding of Para coaching, a critical sociological framework drawing on critical disability studies (CDS) and Pierre Bourdieu was employed to analyse interview data gained from coaches and athletes. Fourteen coaches and thirteen athletes (27 in total)...
21 22 Background 23 The training of coaches is considered central to sustaining and improving the... more 21 22 Background 23 The training of coaches is considered central to sustaining and improving the quality of sports 24 provision. In Parasport, coaches are recognised at the highest level of international sport policy as performing a central role in achieving important sporting and social outcomes related to disabled people. However, an emerging body of evidence suggests that formal coach education plays only a minor role in Parasport coaches' development. To ensure equitable access and quality experiences and opportunities for disabled people in sport there is an ongoing challenge to theorise and implement the optimal structure for educating coaches.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2018
This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide a critical analysis ... more This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide a critical analysis of the social construction of disability in high-performance sport coaching. Data were generated using a qualitative cross-case comparative methodology, comprising 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in high-performance disability sport, and interviews with coaches and athletes from a cross-section of Paralympic sports. We discuss how in both cases ‘disability’ was assimilated into the ‘performance logic’ of the sporting field as a means of maximising symbolic capital. Furthermore, coaches were socialised into a prevailing legitimate culture in elite disability sport that was reflective of ableist, performance-focused and normative ideologies about disability. In this article we unpack the assumptions that underpin coaching in disability sport, and by extension use sport as a lens to problematise the construction of disability in specific social formations across coaching cultures. In so...
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2017
In terms of achieving wider health and social outcomes, sport coaching promises much for young pe... more In terms of achieving wider health and social outcomes, sport coaching promises much for young people with disabilities. Despite this promise, the experiences and practices of those coaches who enter the disability sport arena are underexplored. This is particularly so for coaches who operate in community participation rather than competitive elite environments. Accordingly, this paper uses an autoethnographic approach to explore the experiences of a basketball coach (Colum), who enters a youth club for disabled participants for the first time. Utilising observational data, reflective field notes, and interviews, five relativist vignettes are collaboratively constructed to represent Colum's (a pseudonym) experiences across 12 basketball sessions. The vignettes reveal that the disability and community context disrupted Colum's normative coaching behaviours. An emotional laborious journey is recounted that includes significant lessons, which may impact coaching practitioners, researchers and sport development officers. In addition, the post-sport context (Atkinson, 2010a) is introduced to differentiate the youth club context from Colum's normative sport context. Furthermore, the concepts of liminality and ludic, which are novel to extant coaching literature, are introduced to explain how and why Colum struggled to find structure within the context of a youth club for disabled participants.
Research within Higher Education in the United Kingdom has reported conflicting findings when inv... more Research within Higher Education in the United Kingdom has reported conflicting findings when investigating the relationship between undergraduate entry routes and gender, with successful performances across the degree cycle. This paper adds to this body of knowledge and examines the relationship between entry routes and gender on student outcomes in a sport-related degree at an UK HE institution. Students' demographic data, entry qualifications and grade point averages (GPAs) across the 3 year degree programme were retrospectively analysed. In relation to entry routes the findings of this study revealed that no significant difference existed between entry level qualifications and all outcomes measures. Indicating that although entry routes into HE may differ this did not impact on student success for those who completed the programme. Further findings revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) between genders, in that females outperformed their male counterparts at levels 5, 6 dissertation and final GPA. Additionally, females were also more likely to achieve a first degree qualification. This study adds further weight to findings which have shown gender differences but in contrast adds to the complexity of predicting successful performances from entry qualifications.
This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a protocol encompassing Think Aloud (TA) as a ... more This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a protocol encompassing Think Aloud (TA) as a technique to facilitate reflection-in-action and delayed reflection-on-action to aid coach learning. Six British, male rugby league coaches, who reported little previous exposure to reflective practice, consented to participate. Participants were: (a) instructed on how to engage in TA; (b) observed in practice using TA; (c) provided with individual support on delayed reflective practice on their first coaching session and use of TA; (d) observed in practice using TA a second time; and (e) engaged in a social validation interview regarding their experiences of TA. Analysis of in-action verbalizations revealed a shift from descriptive verbalizations to a deeper level of reflection. Both immediate and post eight week social validation interviews revealed that coaches developed an increased awareness, enhanced communication, and pedagogical development. The participants also recommended that...
Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are used to prescribe exercise intensity. This study assessed... more Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are used to prescribe exercise intensity. This study assessed whether the accurate production of exercise intensity is affected when the rater cannot see the RPE scale. After completing a graded exercise test, 15 active, male participants ( M age = 34, SD = 6.7 yr.; M mass = 73.9, SD = 14.8 kg, M height = 1.74, SD = 0.08 m) completed 3 × 4 min. cycling trials at four randomised RPE-based intensities (RPEs 11, 13, 15, and 17). Participants were allocated to a Full feedback group or a No feedback group (RPEs not in view). On the third trial, No feedback conditions were imposed on the Full feedback group. No statistically significant differences between groups' mean work rates were observed. Changing from Full feedback to No feedback conditions led to a significant overestimation between the trials for power output at RPE 11. Intra-class correlations were significant at RPEs 11, 13, and 17 between all trials for both conditions. Provided adequate...
The purpose of this thesis was to explore the socially constructed nature of coaching and its dev... more The purpose of this thesis was to explore the socially constructed nature of coaching and its development within the context of Paralympic sport (Para coaching). The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) positioned the Paralympic Games as a global celebration of elite athletic prowess through which society’s perceptions of disability can be challenged. In doing so, the IPC recognises that currently and historically people with disability are often marginalised by society (Brittain, 2016). Despite the social significance of the Paralympic games there is a dearth of research foregrounding Para coaching and this body of work lacks in-depth sociological analysis. To overcome this historical, cultural and social omission shaping our understanding of Para coaching, a critical sociological framework drawing on critical disability studies (CDS) and Pierre Bourdieu was employed to analyse interview data gained from coaches and athletes. Fourteen coaches and thirteen athletes (27 in total)...
21 22 Background 23 The training of coaches is considered central to sustaining and improving the... more 21 22 Background 23 The training of coaches is considered central to sustaining and improving the quality of sports 24 provision. In Parasport, coaches are recognised at the highest level of international sport policy as performing a central role in achieving important sporting and social outcomes related to disabled people. However, an emerging body of evidence suggests that formal coach education plays only a minor role in Parasport coaches' development. To ensure equitable access and quality experiences and opportunities for disabled people in sport there is an ongoing challenge to theorise and implement the optimal structure for educating coaches.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2018
This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide a critical analysis ... more This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide a critical analysis of the social construction of disability in high-performance sport coaching. Data were generated using a qualitative cross-case comparative methodology, comprising 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in high-performance disability sport, and interviews with coaches and athletes from a cross-section of Paralympic sports. We discuss how in both cases ‘disability’ was assimilated into the ‘performance logic’ of the sporting field as a means of maximising symbolic capital. Furthermore, coaches were socialised into a prevailing legitimate culture in elite disability sport that was reflective of ableist, performance-focused and normative ideologies about disability. In this article we unpack the assumptions that underpin coaching in disability sport, and by extension use sport as a lens to problematise the construction of disability in specific social formations across coaching cultures. In so...
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2017
In terms of achieving wider health and social outcomes, sport coaching promises much for young pe... more In terms of achieving wider health and social outcomes, sport coaching promises much for young people with disabilities. Despite this promise, the experiences and practices of those coaches who enter the disability sport arena are underexplored. This is particularly so for coaches who operate in community participation rather than competitive elite environments. Accordingly, this paper uses an autoethnographic approach to explore the experiences of a basketball coach (Colum), who enters a youth club for disabled participants for the first time. Utilising observational data, reflective field notes, and interviews, five relativist vignettes are collaboratively constructed to represent Colum's (a pseudonym) experiences across 12 basketball sessions. The vignettes reveal that the disability and community context disrupted Colum's normative coaching behaviours. An emotional laborious journey is recounted that includes significant lessons, which may impact coaching practitioners, researchers and sport development officers. In addition, the post-sport context (Atkinson, 2010a) is introduced to differentiate the youth club context from Colum's normative sport context. Furthermore, the concepts of liminality and ludic, which are novel to extant coaching literature, are introduced to explain how and why Colum struggled to find structure within the context of a youth club for disabled participants.
Research within Higher Education in the United Kingdom has reported conflicting findings when inv... more Research within Higher Education in the United Kingdom has reported conflicting findings when investigating the relationship between undergraduate entry routes and gender, with successful performances across the degree cycle. This paper adds to this body of knowledge and examines the relationship between entry routes and gender on student outcomes in a sport-related degree at an UK HE institution. Students' demographic data, entry qualifications and grade point averages (GPAs) across the 3 year degree programme were retrospectively analysed. In relation to entry routes the findings of this study revealed that no significant difference existed between entry level qualifications and all outcomes measures. Indicating that although entry routes into HE may differ this did not impact on student success for those who completed the programme. Further findings revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) between genders, in that females outperformed their male counterparts at levels 5, 6 dissertation and final GPA. Additionally, females were also more likely to achieve a first degree qualification. This study adds further weight to findings which have shown gender differences but in contrast adds to the complexity of predicting successful performances from entry qualifications.
This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a protocol encompassing Think Aloud (TA) as a ... more This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a protocol encompassing Think Aloud (TA) as a technique to facilitate reflection-in-action and delayed reflection-on-action to aid coach learning. Six British, male rugby league coaches, who reported little previous exposure to reflective practice, consented to participate. Participants were: (a) instructed on how to engage in TA; (b) observed in practice using TA; (c) provided with individual support on delayed reflective practice on their first coaching session and use of TA; (d) observed in practice using TA a second time; and (e) engaged in a social validation interview regarding their experiences of TA. Analysis of in-action verbalizations revealed a shift from descriptive verbalizations to a deeper level of reflection. Both immediate and post eight week social validation interviews revealed that coaches developed an increased awareness, enhanced communication, and pedagogical development. The participants also recommended that...
Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are used to prescribe exercise intensity. This study assessed... more Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are used to prescribe exercise intensity. This study assessed whether the accurate production of exercise intensity is affected when the rater cannot see the RPE scale. After completing a graded exercise test, 15 active, male participants ( M age = 34, SD = 6.7 yr.; M mass = 73.9, SD = 14.8 kg, M height = 1.74, SD = 0.08 m) completed 3 × 4 min. cycling trials at four randomised RPE-based intensities (RPEs 11, 13, 15, and 17). Participants were allocated to a Full feedback group or a No feedback group (RPEs not in view). On the third trial, No feedback conditions were imposed on the Full feedback group. No statistically significant differences between groups' mean work rates were observed. Changing from Full feedback to No feedback conditions led to a significant overestimation between the trials for power output at RPE 11. Intra-class correlations were significant at RPEs 11, 13, and 17 between all trials for both conditions. Provided adequate...
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