Investigating the alignment between individual ideologies and academy coaching ideologies in professional youth football

Hall, Joshua James

Abstract

Purpose and aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the alignment between individual coaching ideologies, and the coaching ideology espoused by the professional academy for which the coaches worked.

Methods: Sixteen male professional youth football coaches (M = 36.69 years) were included in the study, with thirteen coaches observed in practice. A total of 39 practice sessions were observed, which equated to three per coach (M = 66.26 minutes). Systematic observation data were collected using the Coach Analysis Intervention System (CAIS) to provide a detailed analysis of coaching behaviours employed. Two sets of interpretive interviews were transcribed verbatim and triangulated with the behavioural data to discover the cognitive processes underpinning coaching practices.

Results: The largest collective percentage behaviour was silence (M = 24.97%). If used as a deliberate coaching strategy, this would align with the academy’s ideology of players “taking ownership of their own personal development”. However, when analysed individually, silence was also the behaviour with the largest variance (13-40%), Questioning behaviours were less common, with coaches asking between 16 and 170 questions. When employed, all thirteen coaches used more convergent than divergent questions. Three key themes were identified: (1) organisational influence, (2) personal understanding of coaching, and (3) individual ideology vs. academy ideology.

Discussion and Conclusion: The major finding was that coaches’ practices were based more on their individual principles, rather than there being consistency against what the academy wanted them to do. It appeared the academy’s ideology was not something that was explicitly taught to coaches. Rather, it seemed to be imposed on coaches as opposed to being created with their buy-in. Whilst it must be acknowledged that these differences were expected to an extent, the level of variance may have been lower if coaches were all aligning their practices to the academy ideology.

Citation

Hall, J. J. Investigating the alignment between individual ideologies and academy coaching ideologies in professional youth football. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4222349

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Keywords: Sports science
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4222349
• Additional Information: Department of Sport, Health & Exercise Science, the University of Hull
• Award Date: Apr 1, 2019