ABSTRACT
To absorb, analyse and apply all their knowledge, coaches must have some understanding of how to ‘sift’ and ‘prioritise their thinking’ to develop the most appropriate coaching intervention. As described in this example the coach may be involved in a multitude of distinct activities, but the basic task is to develop and improve the performance of teams and individuals. The coach has to develop a season’s plan, improve techniques, skills and tactics for participation and competition, enhance all aspects of mental and physical preparation and manage the individual or team in competitions. To do this effectively, the coach must use many different types of knowledge to solve problems and ultimately make decisions. Although this chapter will not attempt to define coach education with any precision, it will examine how coaches learn and apply these skills within the coaching environment. Coach education is operationalised by relying on how coaches go about their practice. In other words, if those involved in practice describe it as coach education, then it is coach education. The main advantage of operationalising, rather than defining, coach education is that by relying on self-identification, it is the practitioners who are describing what constitutes coach education rather than researchers. It is therefore more inclusive of those working in the field of coach education. A negative consequence of operationalising the term this way is that if those involved in practices describe it as coach development or coach ing education rather than coach education, then these practices may be excluded.
