8
COACHING MATTERS
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How thin
e
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coaches
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ch develo t Helens.
new coa
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trialled a
A
s Rugby League
players get faster,
stronger and
smarter, coaches
must stay ahead of
the rate of progress by
constantly developing
themselves; becoming more
educated and informed in
tactics, training methods,
science and technology.
One way to facilitate this
development is through reflective
practice. By reflecting on,
making sense of and learning
from their own experiences,
coaches can use this
self-awareness to improve.
Deliberate reflective practice
hasn’t always been possible for
coaches, perhaps due to time
constraints, lack of educational
support or simply having no-one
with whom to share their
reflections.
Research has highlighted that
reflective practice should be
embedded as a part of formal
coaching practice, but that not
enough coaches are ‘buying in’
to the process and there are a
lack of opportunities for them to
do so.
In light of the support for
reflective practice as a way of
enhancing coaching, researchers
from Liverpool John Moores
University (Dr Amy Whitehead,
Dr Zoe Knowles and Tabo