Interactive Decision Making and Behavior of Experienced and Inexperienced Basketball Coaches during Practice

Abstract

This study compared 10 experienced high school and 10 inexperienced junior high and middle school basketball coaches as they executed a 30-minute practice session on the “give and go” play in basketball. The coaches were given 30 minutes to plan a practice session. Following planning, coaches implemented their practice plan. Analysis of coaches’ behavior and interactive decision making indicated that experienced coaches exhibited significantly more technical instruction, whereas inexperienced coaches exhibited significantly higher frequencies of silent observation. With regard to interactive decision making, results indicated that both experienced and inexperienced coaches implemented practice in ways consistent with their plans. Experienced coaches, however, were significantly more reluctant to change their plans when problems were perceived. Despite these differences, experienced and inexperienced coaches exhibited greater similarities than differences. Limitations of research based on the behavioral analyses of the frequencies of thoughts and behaviors are discussed and directions for future research are presented.

A multi-dimensional assessment of soccer coaching course effectiveness

“…According to Active Australia (2003) the list of skills needed to be a coach is extensive and possibly overwhelming for the novice. This is evidenced by Jones et al (1997), who acknowledged 37 standards to depict the coaching process, and Schembri (1995), who provided a long and varied list of the desirable attributes of a coach, ranging from the skills of a teacher through to a game strategist, via leadership skills, time management and many more. Therefore, coach educators need to consider this when designing and delivering accreditation courses.…”

Stimulated recall: a report on its use in naturalistic research

“…In so far as the role of the coach is interpreted as being synonymous with that of the teacher (Horn, 1987;Douge & Hastie, 1993;Chelladurai & Kuga, 1996), there is a body of knowledge and theory that is relevant to both. While investigating the interactive decision-making of coaches, Jones et al (1997) illustrated the role ambiguity between coaching and teaching. Their research is an example of the extent to which the theoretical basis for exploring coaching effectiveness is dependent on research into teacher behaviour (Lyle, 1998).…”

Coaching experience: Examining its role in coaches’ decision making

“…As several authors (Abraham et al, 2006;Jones et al, 1997;Lyle, 2002) have argued, coaching expertise is multi-dimensional and complex, and the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods has been recommended to shed light on the nature of coaching expertise (Jones et al, 1997). By employing a mixed methods design, we combined quantitative and qualitative methods to elucidate coaches' decision making about a specific problem.…”