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Develop your practical coaching skills - successful coaching guidelines

This handbook is for sports coaches wishing to develop their practical coaching skills.

It adopts a performer-centred approach, in which good coaching is seen as a way of developing people through improving their performance.

This book is structured around the cyclical coaching process:

• Identify each performer's needs and goals
• Conduct sessions
• Evaluate coaching practice.

It examines your ethical and legal responsibilities as a coach including the:

• importance of coach training and qualifications
• ethical practice of coaches and the need for a code of practice
• misuse and detection of drugs in sport,
• key legal issues (eg negligence, risk, duty of care).

And has the following useful features to help you:

• Summary boxes at the end of chapters to remind you of key points
• Regular tasks to consolidate your learning and allow you to test yourself
• Sample coaching evaluation and monitoring checklist to ensure you've covered everything
• References throughout pointing you in the right direction for further reading
• Short answer question section to check your understanding of chapters.

Chapter One: The Coach at Work

• Introduction
• What is coaching?
• What is a coach?
• Skills and qualities of a coach
• What knowledge do coaches need?
• What is a coaching philosophy?
• Is coaching and art or a science?
• Summary
• Further reading

Chapter Two: Planning Coaching Programmes and Sessions

• Introduction
• Why plan?
• Long-term goals
• Goal-setting
• Planning coaching programmes
• Planning sessions
• Adapting plans
• Summary
• Further reading

Chapter Three: Conducting Coaching Sessions

• Introduction
• Helping performers learn
• Effective communication
• Coaching styles
• Adapting for specific groups
• Relationships with others
• Summary
• Further reading

Chapter Four: Evaluating performance

• Introduction
• What do coaches measure?
• How do coaches analyse performance?
• Gaining information
• Interpreting and providing information
• Evaluating the coach's performance
• Summary
• Further reading

Chapter Five: Your Responsibilities and Liabilities

• Introduction
• Coaching qualifications
• Code of practice for sports coaches
• Legal responsibilities
• Drug misuse
• Summary
• Further reading

• Appendix: Short Answer Questions

sports coach UK - Formerly known as The National Coaching Foundation, sports coach UK is the leading organisation dedicated to the development of coaching and coaches in the United Kingdom, and has provided educational and development opportunities for coaches of all levels and across all sports. As a registered charity, the organisation has developed a range of titles and workshops to support coaches at all levels. For more information on sport coach UK workshops, please visit www.sportscoachuk.org.