Personal Trainer - Focus Awards · Different teams tend to represent different culture groups, such...
Transcript of Personal Trainer - Focus Awards · Different teams tend to represent different culture groups, such...
Personal Trainer
Introduction to sports coaching
A sports coach is a person who teaches, advises instructs and trains a
sports team or of individual sportspeople. A coach can also be defined as
a teacher.
Sport coaching requires understanding and knowledge of athlete
development and effective communication strategies.
Sport coaching also includes coaching ethics, and code of conduct. Sport
coaching can be applied to specific population groups, including children,
older adults, females, athletes with a disability and athletes from various
cultural backgrounds.
However sports coaching can mean different things to different people.
For some, being a coach is a job, while to others it is a pastime that they
do on a part-time basis, such as running a football team on a Sunday, or
a netball team on a Saturday.
The full-time coach pursues the vocational study of sports training to
acquire certification that demonstrates a level of competence.
The objectives for coaching are to:
1. Apply basic coaching principles and plans as well as group
management and time strategies to teach sport skills
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the training requirements for
various sports and different populations
3. Conduct and interpret the results from a range of fitness and sport-
specific tests
Lesson 1: Understand the importance
placed on sport in modern society
The importance of sport in modern society
Development of sports and its place in modern society is of great
importance. As well as physical culture, sports and a healthy lifestyle play
an important role in society, which relate to sport in modern society being
directly connected with health, science, culture, upbringing and education.
In modern society, millions of people watch Olympics, and world cup
finals, on the television and this is made easy because of the amount of
sports channels available, such as sky sports, as well as many other
channels airing sports games, to the wanting viewer. This as well as
media coverage, makes sport very much part of modern society.
Sport also ascertains to improving health as well as improving the
economy of the nation. When young people are playing sport, it improves
their well-being, their sense of adventure, their self-esteem, and their
diets.
Many young sports people will adapt their lifestyles and eating habits to
coincide with their sporting activities, for example eating a high protein
diet rather that crisps and coke, hence changing their eating habits.
The performance of sport also encourages young people to stay away
from drugs and alcohol, which impacts on the reduction of crime. Sport
also helps redress social divisions around class race gender and disability.
Sport is an important social phenomenon in all levels of modern society,
providing a large impact on key areas of social life: it affects national
relations, business life, social status, fashion forms, ethical values, and
people's lifestyle.
It also helps in the development of physical abilities, as well as the
satisfaction of social and natural needs. Activity impacts on the physical
state and health, of the body. Physical development helps to prevent and
reduce the large number of diseases, as well as enhancing human health,
physical development and improvement in lifestyles.
Appreciate the context in which sports coaching currently exists
Modern sport is also important in the development of contacts between
people, not only within one country, but also internationally, playing a
significant role in deepening mutual understanding between people.
Therefore, the sport is closely connected with the mental, moral,
aesthetic, communicative, and other spheres of culture.
The Olympic movement aims participation in building a peaceful and
better world, through education of youth through sport, in a spirit of
Olympics and without any discrimination. The Olympics has allowed many
people of all genders to participate, and show their abilities, encouraging
participation amongst different cultures, as well as the able and disabled
bodies.
The Olympics allow a feeling of euphoria amongst players, and brings
wealth not only in sport but also in monetary terms to the hosting
country.
Modern sport - is also a microcosm of modern society, and therefore the
most important problems of modern sport are similar to the basic
problems of modern society, such as sexual, ethnic and racial
discrimination, crime and deception, control of violence, drug use,
gambling, alcoholism, environmental protection social, political and
international relations, etc.
Also sport, can be used as a means of strengthening the political power,
as an effective instrument for strengthening mutual understanding of
nations, as sport has an opportunity to consolidate peace, especially in
times of international tension, it can help to stabilise international
relations as part of cultural exchange.
Sport in Culture
Sports hold a variety of different meanings across cultures.
In Brazil, every city is home to at least one professional soccer team.
Different teams tend to represent different culture groups, such as
different economic levels and ethnicities.
This creates allegiances at a local level, but the team that represents a
city in the national championships will have the support of all the people
of that city, thus building political unity on a greater level.
The support represents teams and gives people something to identify
with. Their support for their team can be taken as giving support to their
nation.
This is even more so in World Cup championships, when the entire
country of Brazil unites to support their country's official team. Brazilians
are the only country to win the World Cup five times; 1958, 1962, 1970,
1994 and 2002.
Soccer was especially practiced by the lower income people throughout
the 20th century. Socially and economically deprived boys dream of
becoming the next Pele or Ronaldo and because of this, they promote the
national soccer culture even more. The prospect of playing soccer for
their county is a motivation for millions of poor children who want to
escape from their poverty.
The combination of soccer and living in poverty balances out the good and
the bad. In Brazilian life it's not uncommon for soccer culture to have a
bigger influence than politics or economics.
Sebastian Coe’s father become his coach and, developed his knowledge
and understanding as his son developed through his teenage years up to,
and including, his achievements on the international stage. He was not a
performance coach when he started, but he adapted and grew as a coach.
Research has shown that intrinsic rewards, such as being involved in
sport with their friends, mean more to children than the extrinsic rewards
of receiving trophies or prizes.
According to children, they play sport to:
Have fun develop fitness
Make friends
Learn new skills
Enjoy competition
Be challenged.
Define sports coaching
Coaches portray "learning by doing" as this is the most common way they
acquire knowledge about their sport, but many learn more through guided
education. Coaches can sometimes fail to implement the proven methods
they are taught even after completing coaching education programs,
As with all physical activity, care should be taken to consider individual
circumstances before an athlete can dedicate himself or herself to any
training program.
Sport is defined as teamwork, which can include soccer, teams, hockey
teams, etc. or individual sports such as tennis or golf. Sport can be
defined as being physical, requiring skill and competitive attitude, in order
for teams and individuals to win rather than lose.
The definition of sport also includes performance, which estimates how
well a person or team does.
The advice of correct eating from a coach to the player enhances well-
being and good health. Gaming on consoles such as the Wii also involves
some type of activity, such as bowling and tennis, and can be played
individually or within a team.
The goal of a sports coach is to improve the performance of an individual
or a team in competition. Many football managers are sacked if they
cannot achieve successful games, from their players.
Factors that affect the individual being a successful player, and the
coach’s influence on training them can be age, gender, disability,
personality, motivation, the way in which they learn and their reasons for
learning.
Lesson 8: Psychology for coaches
Sport Psychology provides information that coaches need to help
athletes build mental toughness and achieve excellence.
A coach, will gain a big-picture perspective on the mental side of sport by
examining how athletes act, think, and feel when they practice and
compete.
Mental tools to be used could include as goal setting, imagery, relaxation,
energisation, and self-talk motivation, energy management, focus, stress
management, and self-confidence leads to increased and improved life
skills, and enhanced performance.
Sport psychology is a science of
knowledge from the areas of
Kinesiology and Psychology. It
involves the study of how
psychological factors affect
performance and how participation in
sport and exercise affect
psychological and physical factors.
Instruction and training of psychological skills for performance
improvement, applied sport psychology may include work with athletes,
coaches, and parents regarding injury, rehabilitation, communication and
team building.
Sports Psychology started to become visible at the Olympic games in
1984 when the Olympic teams began to hire sports psychologists for their
athletes. The role of sport psychologist has been called on to meet the
increasing demand for anger management for athletes.
Applied sport psychology
Applied sport and exercise psychology consists of instructing athletes,
coaches, teams, exercisers, parents, fitness professionals, groups, and
other performers on the psychological aspects of their sport or activity.
The goal of applied practice is to optimise performance and enjoyment
through the use of psychological skills.
There are different approaches that a sports psychologist can use while
working with athletes. For example, the social-psychological approach
focuses on the social environment and the individual's personality, and on
how complex interactions between the two-influence behaviour.
The psychophysiological approach focuses on the processes of the brain
and their influence on physical activity, and the cognitive-behavioural
approach analyses the ways in which individual thoughts determine
behaviour. Generally, there are two different types of sport psychologists:
educational and clinical.
Educational sport psychologists
Educational sport psychologists emphasise the use of psychological skills
training (e.g., goal setting, imagery, energy management, self-talk) when
working with athletes by educating and instructing them on how to use
these skills effectively during performance situations.
Mental toughness is a psychological area that helps an athlete perform at
a high level consistently. Mentally tough athletes exhibit four
characteristics, which are confidence in their ability to perform well, an
internal motivation to be successful, the ability to focus one’s thoughts
and feelings without distraction, and composure under pressure. Self-
sufficiency is a belief that one can successfully perform a specific task in
sport.
Arousal refers to the athlete’s physiological and cognitive activation the
relationship between arousal and performance.
Motivation can be defined broadly as the will to perform a given task.
People who play or perform for internal reasons, such as enjoyment and
satisfaction, are said to be intrinsically motivated, while people who play
for external reasons, such as money or attention from others, are
extrinsically motivated.
Life skills refer to the mental, emotional, behavioural, and social skills and
resources developed through sport participation. Life skills are developed
and transferred from sports to other areas in life (e.g., from tennis to
school) and on program development and implementation.
Burnout in sport is typically characterized as having three dimensions:
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of
accomplishment. Athletes who experience burnout may have different
contributing factors, but the more frequent reasons include perfectionism,
boredom, injuries and excessive pressure.
Coaching
While sport psychologists primarily work with athletes and focus their
research on improving athletic performance, coaches are encouraged to
improve their coaching technique and their athletes' performance.
Motivational climate refers to the situational and environmental factors
that influence individuals' goals. The two major types of motivational
climates coaches can create are task-oriented and ego-oriented.
While winning is the overall goal of sports competitions regardless of the
motivational climate, a task-orientation emphasises building skill,
improvement, giving complete effort, and mastering the task while an
ego-orientation emphasizes demonstrating superior ability, competition,
and does not promote effort or individual improvement. Coaches have
become more open to the idea of having a good professional athlete -
coach relationship.
Team dynamics
Team cohesion can be defined as a group's tendency to stick together
while pursuing its objectives Team cohesion has two components: social
cohesion (how well teammates like one another) and task cohesion (how
well teammates work together to achieve their goal). Teams may share
belief that they can or cannot accomplish a given task. Depending on the
level of competency they have to perform a task.
Leadership can be thought of as a behavioural process that influences
team members towards achieving a common goal Leadership in sports is
relevant because there are always leaders on a team (i.e., team captains,
coaches, trainers).
Evolutionary perspectives
Evolution psychology perspective
Includes studies on
testosterone changes in sports
which are similar to those in in
non-human primates; with
testosterone levels increasing and
decreasing as an individual's
status changes. A decreased
testosterone level may
decrease dominant and
competitive behaviours which when the status conflicts involved fighting
may have been important for preventing physical injury to the loser as
further competition is avoided.
Testosterone levels also increase before sports competitions, in particular
if the event is perceived as real challenge as compared to not being
important.
Arousal regulation
Arousal regulation refers to entering into and maintaining an optimal level
of cognitive and physiological activation in order to maximize
performance. This may include relaxation if one becomes too anxious
through methods such as muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, and
meditation, or
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation can be divided into two types: intrinsic (internal) motivation
and extrinsic (external) motivation.
Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or
enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than
relying on external pressures or a desire for reward.
People who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the
task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase
their capabilities. Athletes are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:
Attribute their educational results to factors under their own control,
also known as autonomy
Believe they have the skills to be effective agents in reaching their
desired goals, also known as self-efficacy beliefs
Are interested in mastering a topic, not just in achieving good
grades
Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to
attain an outcome, whether or not that activity is also intrinsically
motivated. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual.
Common extrinsic motivations are rewards, for example, money for
showing the desired behaviour, and the threat of punishment following
misbehaviour. Competition is in an extrinsic motivator because it
encourages the performer to win and to beat others, not simply to enjoy
the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A cheering crowd and the desire to
win a trophy are also extrinsic incentives.
Explain why motivation matters in the
context of sport
Sport psychology focuses on the
mental and behavioural
processes of humans within the
sociocultural context of
competitive sport. Within this
lies social behaviour such as
achievement or competition and associated thoughts and feelings:
anxiety, self-esteem, and motivation.
Sport psychology is, the relationship between personality and sport
participation. Sport psychology is attempting to understand motivation as
the complex process that influences individuals to begin an activity and
pursue it with vigour and persistence.
Motivation would include self-confidence, self-esteem, and stress that
influence motivational behaviour in sport. Interpersonal and group
processes influence individuals’ behaviours in sport such as the presence
of spectators, group membership, and leadership.
Included in this area are aggression and gender socialization, which are
behaviours or characteristics that result from interpersonal social
processes.
The area of mental training or psychological-skills training encompasses
the use of intervention techniques to learn cognitive skills and behavioural
strategies that can enhance sport performance and personal
development.
Personality and Sport Participation
Personality is the psychological characteristics and behavioural tendencies
that make individuals different from and similar to each other. Successful
athletes have a more positive mood profile, more self-confidence, and
better strategies to focus attention and manage anxiety.
Sport psychology has also examined the effects of sport participation on
personality development and change. Competition reduces prosocial
behaviours such as helping and sharing, and losing magnifies this effect.
Sport participation has been shown to increase rivalries, antisocial
behaviour, and aggression, and sport participation has also been linked to
lower levels of moral reasoning.
Motivational Processes
Motivation encourages people that are motivated to feel competent,
worthy, and self-determining.
Another important factor that influences motivation is what psychologists
call perceptions of control. Humans are motivated to be self-determining,
which means we want to be in control of our own actions and behaviour.
Individuals with more internal perceptions of control are more motivated
than individuals who feel others control them or that they are lucky.
Motivation can help in achieving self-esteem and self-confidence. Self-
esteem is our perception of personal worthiness and the emotional
feelings associated with that perception.
Self-esteem is an important need for all individuals and it originates from
feeling competent and in control of our behaviour.
Lesson 9: Understanding special
populations in coaching
Athlete-centred coaching expresses the notion of humanistic coaching as
something that centres the athlete within an authentic experience of sport
that develops human character. Females; males; individuals with an
illness, disease, pregnant women; individuals with a disability: the
elderly; people from different ethnic backgrounds; elite athletes.
Modified activity includes all
participants taking part in the same
session, while providing different
challenges based on the (dis) ability of each
individual.
Parallel activity is the focus of the coaching session is the same for a
parallel activity. The challenge and the focus of coaching are the same but
participants can develop at a suitable pace for them.
Separate activity is the focus is on separate sessions. If you have a large
group and some athletes are non-disabled and some are (dis) abled then
you might need to separate the two groups for some special
requirements.
Disability sport activity: ‘reverse-integrating’ the non-disabled athletes to
include them in a disability sport activity where the rules are adaptive for
(dis) abled athletes.
Physical differences
Physical differences may include the physiological differences between
males and females such as pelvis width, shoulder width and hormone
differences. However, as a coach it is important to recognise that the
differences from one person to another as it will impact on the coaching of
that individual
Socialisation into sport is different between males and females. Socially
how men and women in sport are different can impact on every
individual’s experience of sport. For example, if a coach thinks women
are not as strong or quick as men and treats them differently; then it is
obvious that this unnecessary and damaging behaviour will impact
negatively on the coaching process. Magazines and media portray a view
of the male/female body that is often unobtainable by the vast majority of
people. However, in women in particular these feminine body images are
often slender and the body type required for sport is often more muscular
and athletic which creates a negative view of the athletic female.
Media Coverage
There is a distinct lack of sporting coverage of females in sport, and even
when there is coverage the focus is often on sexuality. This leads to the
creation of poor role models for the sporting female.
Negative Attitude
There is a negative attitude to women in sport. Often this attitude is
based on socially constructed notions of the role of men and women in
society, which is reflected in sport. Stereotypes exist around the physical
and psychological prowess of women in sport that is often misguided and
generalised. There are ideas that men are quicker than women, more
powerful and ‘better’ at sport. These stereotypes are not constructive and
are damaging to women in sport.
Competitive sports settings are often seen as a masculine (and therefore
a male domain. This can lead to issues for males and females taking part
in sports. The coach should try to encourage people to take part in sport
and not stereotype people based on the sports or physical activity they
choose. Sport, and competition can be extremely positive for individuals
used in the correct way and this is important for you to consider as a
coach.