Browsing by Subject "understandings"

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the perceptions of coaches’ in youth football on coaching expertise and good coaching. Outstanding sports performances are not based on innate abilities but on long-term deliberate practice. In sport, the most important task of a coach is to design and guide athletes' deliberate practice. The expert coaches consider the coaching context in their coaching and use their expertise to develop their athletes in a holistic way. In addition, they have the ability to continuously develop their athletes over the longer term. I explore what kind of coaching youth coaches think is a good coaching and what kind of coach they think is a good coach, and whether these perceptions differ between coaches in competitive and recreational teams. The data consists of theme interviews from four coaches. The material has been analyzed by using a qualitative content analysis method. According to coaches, good coaching is organized in a certain way, is oriented towards the player, generates learning, leads to excel in competition, creates a positive atmosphere in the team, and is also conditional depending on various preconditions. A good coach has some football related knowledge, good intrapersonal skills, some special features, good interpersonal skills, takes care of the players and understands the impacts of the environment on their own coaching. Competitive coaches emphasized the organizing nature of coaching, and how good coaching is organized in a certain systematic way that supports the achievement of goals. The recreational coaches, on the other hand, emphasized more the player-centeredness of good coaching and how the coaching is done with the players and for the players. This difference can reflect the differences in the recreational and competitive world in the demands they place on coaches.