An in-depth assessment of expert sprint coaches' technical knowledge

• Published in: Journal of sports sciences Vol. 27; no. 8; pp. 855 - 861
• Main Authors: Thompson, Andy, Bezodis, Ian N., Jones, Robyn L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.06.2009; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Coaches & managers; coaching; Content knowledge; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Knowledge; Male; Professional Competence; qualitative research; Running - education; sprint running; Studies; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Human; Sport; Content knowledge; Expert; coaching; qualitative research; sprint running; Knowledge; Coach
• ISSN: 0264-0414; 1466-447X
• DOI: 10.1080/02640410902895476

Among the myriad issues addressed by current research are the sources of knowledge of coaches in terms of their implicit and/or explicit natures. What appears to remain unaddressed, however, is the arguably prior step of coaches' content knowledge; that is, what coaches know as opposed to how they know it. The aim of this study was to partially address this shortcoming by identifying the characteristics that expert coaches associate with good sprint running technique, in addition to where such knowledge was gleaned. Seven expert male sprint coaches participated in the study, with data being gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data were inductively analysed using the ATLAS.ti 5.2 qualitative software. Four principal constructs emerged from the interview data. These included "posture", "hip position", "ground contact, and "arm action', with tacit, experiential sources, generated predominantly from conversations with respected peers, forming the basis of such knowledge. The findings are located within existing sprinting literature, before we summarize the main points made.