ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the discourses of coaching; that is, the language used to describe and explain it. In particular, it examines how that language leads us to think about and perceive the coaching process and those involved in it in certain ways. Discourses are formed by beliefs, ideologies, and power arrangements, and consequently are reflective of those social constructions (Cherryholmes 1988). The study of discourse then is an examination of how influence is achieved in and through talk; that is, of what is said and the way it is said (Faulkener and Finlay 2002). It pays attention to the language-in-use and the power that such language has over perception and behaviour (McGannon and Mauws 2000).
