University Sports Sociology Report: Coaching Strategies and Influences

This report delves into the realm of sports sociology, examining the critical role of coaching in enhancing athlete performance. It explores the multifaceted nature of coaching, encompassing political, social, and pedagogical dimensions, with a specific focus on the impact of micro-politics. The report outlines the goals of coaching sessions, emphasizing the establishment of positive coach-athlete relationships and the fostering of strong team bonds. It further investigates influential factors within the coaching process, highlighting the significance of positive behaviors and effective communication. Various coaching strategies are discussed, including the use of personal motivational sessions and the application of psychological theories like Maslow's Hierarchy and Self-Determination Theory to address athlete needs and promote intrinsic motivation. The report concludes with a reflection on the practical experiences and learning gained in the coaching field, underscoring the importance of these strategies in fostering athlete development and achieving desired outcomes.

Running head: SPORTS SOCIOLOGY
Sports Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The issue of sports coaching is one of the most serious issues in the field of sports and
in order to improve the performances of the sports persons and athletes the role of a
professionals coach is very important. According to the study of Banwell and Kerr (2016), it
is reported that a coach is responsible for giving an athlete to provide proper instructions for
performing proper exercises. In another study Pfeiffer Mangus and Trowbridge (2014), it is
reported that, coaching is a process in which the coach tries to improve the performances of
the athletes to gain a maximum level of performances and in modern days the concept of
coaching has changed a lot and thus it is very crucial to identify the needs of the modern
coaching concepts. Moreover, it is also quite evident that the concept of coaching can also be
referred as political, social and pedagogical in nature. Moreover, in case of coaching the issue
of micro-politics is one of the most critical portion of the coaching system because of the fact
that achieving a particular goal in sports is associated with the use of informal and formal
power. Moreover, in various studies, it is reported that coaches can take various motivational
strategies to improve the performances of the athletes (Romar, Sarén and Hastie 2016). As
per the findings of the Cruickshank and Collins (2015), it can be reported that the micro
political actions are used in different levels of coaching practices that is from ground level to
elite level. Furthermore most of the coaches in different levels of the sport believe that lack
of micro-politics in the coaching process may cause reductions of respects from the players
towards them.
The main aim of this essay is to provide practical experiences regarding of coaching
of athletes in reflective manner.
In this essay, the different aspects of coaching along with a specific goals and
strategies to implement the coaching practices are described briefly in a reflective manner.

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Goals of the Coaching Sessions
As a part of the coaching staff of a coaching team of a renowned athlete I believe it is
my duty to perform my best as the coaching staff. When I started as a coach the main goal is
to provide the best facility to my players so that they can achieve the desired goal without
suffering from any hustle during their performances and the training sessions. In this regard, I
believe that all the coaches and the support staffs of the coaching team should work towards
the overall prosperity of the athletes. As a coach, it is my duty to establish positive
relationships with the athletes as a part of improving their performances (Cassidy, Jones and
Potrac 2015). According to the study of Potrac, Smith and Nelson (2017), it is stated that,
the athletes who have positive relationships with their coaches, they have better performances
in their field of sports as well. The study also identified that positive relationships with the
players along with their coaches is associated with their boosting up of the mental strengths
of the players and thus it is very crucial to support them in order to improve the mental
strengths of the players. Therefore, it can be stated that my main goal is to create a positive
relationship with the athletes and it also helped me to pursue my own values and believes as a
coach as I believe that a positive coach- player relationship can enhance the performances of
the athletes in a great manner. Along with this, I also believe in making a good team bonds
and team culture within my team and I believe a good team culture will also help my team to
gain the best performances in the field. In this regard, the study findings of the Nelson et al.
(2014), it is observed that the a good team bonding with all the members of a sports team will
enhance the overall performances of the teams. In this study, it was found that the rate of
success among the team members with a good team bonding has better level of performances
compared to the people who have not a good amount of team bonding.

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Influential Factor during the Process of Coaching
While discussing about the influential factors present during the coaching system, I
solely follow the positive behaviours as a major influencing factor for my coaching life. The
day I started the coaching I entered the centre with a lot of positive attitude as I believe in the
field of sports the positive and steel like mentality are crucial and every athletes should
believe that they can win the title at any point of the game irrespective of the situation. I
beilive a game or a title only can be won if the player has a positive intend towards and it is
all about the mind-set. According to the study of Light and Harve (2017), higher
performances in the sports filed is highly associated with the idea of positive mind set and in
most of the cases, it is observed that the athletes who used to pose positive mind set and
intend towards winning a particular title or game have higher rate of success.
Another crucial influential factor that I have learned from my coach is the process of
communication. In this regard, I should mention the fact during my initial days of my player
life I was very shy and did not want to communicate with the other team members and to my
coach as well. To be honest, this behaviour is hampering my performances in the field and
after that my coach had a one to one session with me. Fortunately, that particular session
completely changed my life in a great manner. When I became a professional coach I used to
follow the strategy of communicating with my players in an effective manner. Therefore, it is
another goal to establish a good environment in the training sessions so that I can be
approachable to all of the players present in my team and I believe it will help in improving
the performances of the players of my team.
Different Strategies for Coaching
As a part of different strategies used during the coaching process, it can be stated that
the use of personal motivational sessions with the players proved to be successful for the

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players. According to the study of Gould et al. (2014), it is observed that, in case of the
players’ personal performance improvement the use of motivational sessions are very
effective. From my coaching sessions, it was reported that the athletes were unable to hold
the elastic energy in the muscle and so I need to improve this part of the athlete. In order to
improve this section, I suggested the athlete to perform hover bench press as it is associated
with the slowing down of the athlete’s speed and along with the time, the athlete will use to
defend the speed. According to the study of Kenney, Wilmore and Costill (2015), it is
reported that practicing hover bench press is associated with enhancement of control among
the athletes. Moreover, among a few athletes I also observed a negative behaviour regarding
the performances in the game or during the training sessions. Therefore, it is my duty to
eliminate such negative environments and also to do the needful for my players as well. As a
part of this, I arranged personal sessions for those players so that they can understand the
importance of positive behaviour and intends during the training sessions and during the
game as well. In this, regard, it can be stated that use of Maslow’s Hierarchy as a part of the
motivational session. According to this hierarchy, the players or the athletes are in the fourth
stage and in this stage, the athletes seek to earn respect, status and self-esteem from others
(Healy 2016). So, during the speech I used the thoughts of this theory to motivate the players
as a part of coaching strategy. As a part of the Maslow theory, the players should understand
the fact that they should perform well in order to gain respect from the others. However,
while searching about the causes of negative intends of a few people of the team I found that
such behaviours had generated from the poor performances of the athletes and in order to
motivate them I used the concept of Self Determination Theory. According to this theory,
motivation is a multidimensional fact and self-determination can improve the performances
of the athletes as the athlete finds the sports enjoyable intrinsically (Ryan and Deci 2017).

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Therefore, it is the duty of the coach to trigger the intrinsic motivation of the athletes so that
they can improve their performances as well.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that I used various micro political strategies in
different situations in order to improve the negative intends of a few athletes in my team. I
also used different strategies to achieve my goals during the coaching sessions. Not only this,
but the use of proper communication strategy among the athletes also helped me to overcome
the conditions of the athletes. However, this learning will help me to flourish in my coaching
career.

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References
Banwell, J. and Kerr, G., 2016. Coaches' Perspectives on Their Roles in Facilitating the
Personal Development of Student-Athletes. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(1),
pp.1-18.
Cassidy, T.G., Jones, R.L. and Potrac, P.A., 2015. Understanding sports coaching: the
pedagogical, social and cultural foundations of coaching practice. Routledge.
Cruickshank, A. and Collins, D., 2015. The sport coach. Leadership in sport, pp.155-172.
Gould, D., Voelker, D.K., Damarjian, N. and Greenleaf, C., 2014. Imagery training for peak
performance.
Healy, K., 2016. A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham H. Maslow (1942). The British
Journal of Psychiatry, 208(4), pp.313-313.
Kenney, W.L., Wilmore, J.H. and Costill, D.L., 2015. Physiology of sport and exercise.
Human kinetics.
Light, R.L. and Harvey, S., 2017. Positive pedagogy for sport coaching. Sport, Education and
Society, 22(2), pp.271-287.
Nelson, L., Cushion, C.J., Potrac, P. and Groom, R., 2014. Carl Rogers, learning and
educational practice: Critical considerations and applications in sports coaching. Sport,
Education and Society, 19(5), pp.513-531.
Pfeiffer, R.P., Mangus, B.C. and Trowbridge, C., 2014. Concepts of athletic training. Jones
& Bartlett Publishers.
Potrac, P., Smith, A. and Nelson, L., 2017. Emotions in sport coaching: an introductory
essay.

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Romar, J.E., Sarén, J. and Hastie, P., 2016. Athlete-Centred coaching using the Sport
Education model in youth soccer. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 16(2), pp.380-
391.
Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L., 2017. Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in
motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.

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