Research and Technology

Resource: Research and Technology for Coaches

(Applies to all Coaching Communities)

What is research?

When people think about 'research', images of scientists in white lab coats, flasks
of bubbling chemicals, and blackboards covered in mathematics equations often
spring to mind. Yet these images are only of one specialised form of research -
scientific inquiry. Indeed, there are many different forms of research. At a basic
level, research can be defined as a systematic process of inquiry aimed at
discovering, interpreting, and/or revising knowledge. All humans engage in forms
of research. For example, we may do 'research' when finding the cheapest air
tickets available to get to a sport tournament, reading books to discover effective
techniques for strength training or searching the internet to make informed
decisions about treatments for ankle injuries.

What is the value of research within coaching?

Coaches have important jobs with great responsibility. They are responsible for
helping athletes learn, have fun, achieve goals, get on with each other, mentor
and understand the various skills of a sport. Coaches, accordingly, have to be a
'jack/jill of all trades'! The important coaching roles are often linked to different
areas of study within educational courses concerning sport; such as sport
psychology, sport management, biomechanics, exercise physiology, sport
sociology and sport pedagogy. Yet most coaches cannot be expected to
undertake specialised courses of study. Nevertheless, given the responsibilities
associated with being a good coach, a coach’s job is often performed more
efficiently if he or she does some simple 'research' or fact finding about coaching
or other aspects to assist athletes. Through doing some forms of research
coaches can find strategies, for example, to help with athlete motivation, teaching
of skills, or management of problem behaviour. An ability to do simple forms of
research can, therefore, benefit a coach.

Many coaches will tend to 'coach' the same way that they were coached. These
coaches tend to judge the quality of their coaching in reference to how they were
coached. The style of coaching for some of these coaches, might be very
authoritarian, while others may employ embarrassing punishments, such as
sprinting drills, to help rectify poor performances. Although the value of
authoritarian coaching styles or sporting punishments can be debated, the key
point is that if coaches do some research they will find that research suggests
that supportive environments enhance performance. Although we may think we
are excellent coaches, we can likely benefit through reflecting on our
performances as coaches and in the coaching role. The skills of research can
help with this endeavour.

How do you do 'coach research'?

There are many different forms of research. Understanding how to 'do' the more
formal forms of research, such as scientific or qualitative inquiry, can be time
consuming, demanding and possibly even frustrating and way beyond our
intentions and needs. The good news is that coaches do not need to bother with
becoming experts in formal research processes (unless of course they get
excited with finding out more about researching). Yet coaches can benefit from
learning about and practising some specific research skills. Three specific skills
of importance for coaches relate to accessing information, critical reading and
collecting observable data. Like any sport skill, such as shooting a basketball,
these three research skills can be learned and improved with practice.

Accessing Information

Accessing information is concerned with where information about a set topic can
be found, how efficiently this can be done and the quality of the information
available. There are many sources that coaches can use for finding information.
The appropriateness of the source depends on the type of information required. If
coaches want to gain ideas on how to improve their coaching sessions, they
could gain valuable information, for example, from talking to their athletes and
other coaches. More specialised information can be found in textbooks, journal
articles and on the web, particularly by using search engines such as 'google' or
'google scholar'.

Critical Reading

In our information saturated 'electronic' society, the prime issue with accessing
various forms of information does not typically relate to problems finding
information but with determining whether the information provided is sound or
reliable. Although there is not a 'fool-proof' method for determining the accuracy
of information, an important skill is critical reading.

Critical reading is the skill associated with evaluating the quality of knowledge
that is presented. Most adults have learned how to listen carefully to various
'stories' - whether they are being promoted by politicians or children - and to
evaluate the important message. This is a form of critical interpretation. When we
are reading the 'results of scientific research' we also need to think carefully
about the stories or information being presented. Various research reports, for
example, have provided conflicting knowledge about the same topic. Scientific
researchers have been divided on issues as diverse as global warming, the
Atkins diet and methods for stretching muscles. Moreover, there is a wealth of
knowledge on the internet but not all of it is reliable. To gain the skills for critical
reading one could reflect on the following questions while reading an article:
 1. Who has written the piece of information?
2. What is the author's background?
3. Why has the author written it? What are they trying to achieve?
4. What are the author's value assumptions?
5. What evidence is used to support arguments? Does the author rely on
other sources? Do they acknowledge these sources?
6. How have key ideas been defined?
7. Has information been used fairly?
8. What are the conclusions drawn?
9. Are these conclusions different to other forms of evidence?
10. How does the conclusion relate to what I already know?

Through reflecting on these questions one can start to draw conclusions on how
'reliable' the information provided might be. Information acquired from watching a
documentary on film or a DVD can be similarly examined to determine the value
of the message.

Collecting Observable Information

Coaches do not only need to know how to access information and read critically.
They can, at times, benefit through doing simple forms of research. These simple
forms of research are typically related to collecting 'data' via observation. The
data collected could relate to, for example, the success of blocking in volleyball,
the number of tackles performed in a soccer game, the measurement of fitness
levels, or the type of feedback provided by the coach. A coach already does
make some use of the tools of qualitative analysis and biomechanical principles
when evaluating the skill performance of an athlete.

In learning to be a great coach it is particularly beneficial to collect 'data' on how

you coach. This data can be collected informally via feedback from your athletes,
with self-report check-lists (that are sometimes available in coach manuals), or
from more structured forms of observation, that might include the use of video or
observation check lists of specific coach behaviours. Remember that if you make
use of a video you must get permission from the athletes and the athletes’
parents or guardians for athletes up to the age of 16-years.

Some final words on research

Understanding how to locate information, read critically and collect data in the
sports environment is all linked with doing research. In this manner, research is
valuable for helping a coach become more efficient in performing and enjoying
his/her job.

What do we mean by technology?

Technology can refer to the technical means people adopt to improve their
environment or products within that environment. It encompasses knowledge,
skills and resources that are combined to solve a problem, control something or
generally make life better. Technology has become an integral part of our daily
lives witnessed through the constant arrival of new products, new innovations
and new ideas. This development helps us face the challenges that we are
constantly confronted with. As a result we discover more about the world around
us while also adding value to the products, services and systems that influence
our lives.

Technology and Coaching

While there are many areas of technology some are more relevant to the field of
coaching. The two areas of most relevance are information and devices.
Information is now part of everyday life. We live in an information society with
access to a limitless and increasingly accessible amount of information.

To become better at coaching will often require the selection and utilisation of
new information (often through the process of research addressed in this
module) to enhance our coaching environments. However, new information will
not be used or valued by coaches unless they see that it will be of use to their
coaching. For example, while there are now numerous game analysis software
packages available to sports coaches, such innovations are likely to be irrelevant
or unavailable for the coach of an under eight year-olds soccer team. Such
technology is unlikely to improve a coach’s ability to do his or her job but
information provided through other technology will. It depends on the information
that the coach needs about his or her own performance that determines what
kind of information to collect.

The second area of technology relevant to coaching relates to devices. This

includes common electronic devices like computers, video cameras, tape
recorders and even stopwatches. It can also include the numerous examples of
equipment which are constantly appearing in the sporting world. New textiles,
compounds and materials are part of the ever-shifting environment and all are
devised to make life better. However, most of these products are designed to
improve athlete performance rather than improve coach effectiveness.

Applying technology to the act of coaching

To improve the coaching environment it is firstly necessary to understand

something of that environment. What is the nature of the environment? Who are
the participants and how do they interact? What do they want from their sport
experiences? How can you as coach address their needs? What do you need to
know for such provision? As coach how do you interact with your athletes? How
do you convey information and knowledge to your athletes? Is it more important
for you to encourage them to seek answers to any apparent problems? What sort
of learning environment do you establish for your coaching? All these questions
can be answered through the application of technology. Through the
development of information skills (using research), questions such as those
above can be better answered. The first step is to establish questions so that
information can be gathered, organized, analysed and evaluated. There is no
single process that determines how information is retrieved rather it may require
exploring, reflecting, having imagination, being creative, being logical, thinking
critically, or demonstrating initiative. It will more than likely involve more than one
of these but the qualities applied should help to answer the question or solve the
problem. The outcome should be a clear and accurate answer to the question
based on the information collected. And because we are now living in the
information age there are numerous sources we can visit to collect such
information: books, web sites, journals, magazines, web blogs, to name just
some. But remember that critical reading should influence the collection process.

In addition to information about our coaching environment we can learn a great

deal through the employment of the senses with the help of devices that can
provide technical support for such exploration. Our vision can be supported by
the video camera lens. Our hearing can be supported by the microphone and
the tape recorder or video camera. Our ideas, plans, training regimes, player
details, game analysis can be stored and retrieved on computer to supplement
what we keep in our heads. These devices have become a means to improving
our coaching environments. More recently quite sophisticated software
packages have allowed coaches to analyse game play, athlete technique,
opponents’ behaviours and game statistics. The digital video camera has
permitted far greater access to information for coaches that can in turn be stored
and retrieved on a computer for immediate or archival record. But most coaches
are not performance analysts working at elite level rather they are concerned with
making best use of the information available to them so they may do a better job.

Systematic Observation

Many coaches who are interested in improving their effectiveness can learn a
great deal by observing and analysing how they behave in coaching settings (van
der Mars, 1989). A basic systematic observation exercise can reveal insights
into things like:
 How much time is allocated to individual tasks that a coach sets for
athletes;
 The frequency and nature of feedback coaches communicate to
athletes;
 Use of athlete names or the number of times each athlete is referred to
by name;
 The amount of time that coaches apply to skill or strategy-related
activities;
 The amount of time applied to managing their coaching environments;
or
 The amount of time the coach spends talking to an athlete or athletes
in a practice setting.

Systematic observation is a tool that has been used in physical education and
sport coaching for over 25 years. By monitoring behaviour (in this case that of
coaches) coaches may then use the feedback they receive to plan and
implement more effective coaching behaviours which in turn has the potential to
improve athlete success and enjoyment.

Through the utilisation of basic technological aids like video cameras, tape
recorders and stop-watches, it is possible to analyse and understand what goes
on in your coaching environment. Video recorders hold no biases or particular
interests and perhaps more importantly video cameras do not forget or
exaggerate. The completion of such an exercise can often produce information
that is quite different to what coaches believe is happening.

Using systematic observation, like many aspects of coaching, is a skill which

needs to be practised and learned. It is, therefore, best to start with a basic task
and progress to more complex and detailed options. By following some basic
guidelines on operation, a coach can address any issues or solve any problems
that may be revealed as a result of performing s systematic observation task.

There are four common forms of systematic observation:

1. Event This method records the number of times a particular

Recording event occurs
2. Duration The amount of time a pre-determined event takes which
Recording is measured in seconds and or minutes as a proportion
of the total available time
3. Interval The recognition of identified behaviours within specified
Recording time intervals such as five or ten seconds. The number
of times a specific behaviour is acknowledged and
recorded against other behaviours and expressed as a
percentage.
4. Momentary Observation after a designated period of time to gauge
time sampling the number of players who are engaged in a selected
behaviour (eg. Participating).

Getting started

Coaches starting out should learn to undertake event recording. This recording
will provide an opportunity of making small changes to their coaching behaviour
in their attempts to improve their performance as a coach.
What follows is more complicated than a coach at this level possibly needs.
However it does give coaches a taste of the level of research they can progress
to should they wish to achieve an advanced level of coaching and include a
refined method of collecting information about their coaching behaviour.

Van der Mars (1989) outlines six sequential steps that should be followed in the
systematic observation process:
1. Decide on what you want to focus on for the observation task. This might
be the number of positive versus negative feedback statements you
allocate to athletes, the amount of time you spend talking to your team or
 squad en-masse, the amount of time you actually allow for athletes to
practise allocated tasks.
2. Construct definitions for the behaviours you intend observing. This is
especially important if you are working with someone else who needs to
also understand the definitions.
3. Choose which data collection you will adopt to gather your information.
For example, if you were to select the amount of time you spend talking to
the whole group you would use duration recording. If you wanted to
gauge the number of times you use constructive feedback, you would use
event recording.
4. Conduct the observation using your camera or have someone working the
camera and focusing on your pre-determined behaviours.
5. Play back the video footage. Try out your system with a friend or colleague
and check how reliable it is. If it is reliable you should be able to get 80%
or more agreement between you. If you cross-check your results use the
formula:

Agreements x 100
Agreements + Disagreements

6. Collate and interpret you data using either percentages or as numbers.

While systematic observation can track individual tasks or behaviours, with

practice an observer can attend to multiple tasks such as the number of times a
selected player succeeds at an allocated task and the number of times a coach
employs feedback to address player progress.

By using systematic observation coaches can learn a great deal about what goes
on in practice or competition situations and how such environments could be
improved through deliberate attention to specific behaviours and or actions. This
system provides you the coach with the information that forms the base upon
which you can build a more effective coaching environment.

Reference
van der Mars (1989) Analyzing physical education and sport instruction. Paul W.
Darst, Dorothy B. Zakrajsek, Victor H. Mancini, editors. Human Kinetics:
Chapmpaign,IL.