'Critically discuss the key considerations when selecting appropriate coaching styles in PE and Youth Sport, with particular reference to the learning outcomes'.

Authors Avatar
Sports Coaching Part A

'Critically discuss the key considerations when selecting appropriate coaching styles in PE and Youth Sport, with particular reference to the learning outcomes'.

When delivering a session either in Physical Education or in Youth Sport, the participants are young people normally under the age of 16. The way in which you execute and deliver a task may be the same (they are primarily in the cognitive and associative phases of learning) but the overall learning outcomes may differ slightly. In Physical education the values, which are developed, are similar, but focusing more on the introduction of sports and the mass participation. Whether as in Youth sport the focus is on 'one sport' and there is very much a win ethic involved. The main difference is that in PE it is a 'formal inculcation of knowledge' (Hill, 2001), or a taught lesson by a Teacher, compared to Youth Sport where a Coach normally delivers the session.

When the participants are young their knowledge of Sport is small, and they have not yet comprehensively learned the skills and techniques involved. Therefore the way that coachers or teachers deliver tasks should be pitched at an appropriate level to the participants, for example; in Hockey you wouldn't teach the 'flick shot' to a group of novice boys, as it would be too complex for a beginner.

When developing young performers, it is essential to understand the basic 'ingredients' for successful learning. In Football and ideal session would contain the following elements:

* Repetition

* Fun & Enjoyment

* Small-sided games

* Praise & positive reinforcement

* Coaching

* Demonstration (Ford, 1999)

These above elements are suitable for young people, it is important to remember that when young people in PE or Sport are in a session, they learn much better when they are having fun. Positive feedback and 'brief' advice are necessary, up to a limit so that they understand and take in information, and not so that there is too much to remember then they would forget most of the information received.

So when coaching young people in PE or Youth sport it is important to adopt the most effective coaching style, and each teacher or coach will have their own ways of presenting information, and the style each chooses depends on several variables such as:
Join now!


* The teacher's personality & abilities

* The type of activity to be taught

* The ability of those being taught

* The level of motivation of those being taught

* The age range of the students

* Environmental factors. (Hill, 2001)

There are many styles for how to coach/teach skills to young people. But there are two main coaching styles - autocratic (do as I say) and democratic (involve the participants in decision making). More simply there are four styles: Command (autocratic), Reciprocal, Problem solving and Discovery (reciprocal).

The ...

This is a preview of the whole essay