The training of coaches is considered central to sustaining and improving the quality of sports coaching and the ongoing process of

Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity shown to negatively influence physical performance. Variation exists across the literature regarding the manifestations and impact of mental fatigue; with little knowledge of the domain-specific manifestations in elite sport. The difficulties in defining mental fatigue may explain why it is not consistently assessed by coaching or support staff. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate athlete and staff understandings of mental fatigue in elite sport. Nine focus group discussions were conducted involving a total of 32 athletes (n = 17) and staff (n = 15) from elite sporting organisations. Athletes and staff believe mental fatigue negatively impacts sporting performance. Analysis revealed perceived associations between mental fatigue and changes in behaviour including, disengagement, decreased motivation and enthusiasm, increased displays of emotion and withdrawal. Changes in concentration, decreased discipline and attention to detail also emerged as descriptors of mental fatigue. Media engagements, study and work commitments were reported to induce mental fatigue. Repetitive tasks, over-analysis, thinking about the sport in question and environmental instability were further reported perceived causes. Experience and personality emerged as factors contributing to individual susceptibility. Mental fatigue is perceived to not only develop acutely but also build in a cumulative manner in the elite sporting environment. The present findings inform the design of future studies examining MF in elite athletes; they also hold the potential to improve how best to monitor and manage the condition in applied practice.

There has been an increasing body of research on autonomy- or need-support specific to a coaching context that warrants some review of what we know and don't know, and what might be generative for future research. The previous studies reviewed within this article have shown consistent support for Self-determination theory with autonomy-supportive environments linked with adaptive outcomes, such as superior performance, enhanced self-worth, increased effort, and self-determined motivation; while controlling environments have been linked with increased attrition and extrinsic motivation or amotivation. In this way, much of the research in autonomy-supportive coaching has focused on the impact of coaching behaviours on athlete outcomes. While this is an important focus of inquiry, there has been a dearth of research examining those causal factors that impact coaches' pedagogical behaviours in the first case. This review underscores the need for future research to examine the antecedents to coaching behaviours, which is central to understanding the complexity and challenges in promoting an autonomy-supportive approach to sport coaching.

The Australian coaching workplace (to be referred to as the State Institute of Sport; SIS) under consideration in this study employs significant numbers of fulltime performance sport coaches and can be accurately characterized as a genuine workplace. Through a consideration of the interaction between what the workplace (SIS) affords the individual and the agency of the individual SIS coaches, it is possible to gain an understanding how high performance sport coaches learn in the workplace. Analysis of data collected by means of semistructured interviews with a group of coaches (n =6) and administrators (n =6), revealed that coaches learned through a variety of sources both within and outside of (but often influenced by) the SIS. In addition, there were a range of factors such as the working climate and the physical environment that were reported to have an impact on the learning of the coaches (structure). In keeping with Billett's (2006) theorizing, aspects of the individuals' agency (e.g. passion for the sport, drive to be the best) were also found to be critical to the learning in the workplace.