Reflecting, Observing and Mentoring

Our lecture this week in Sport coaching pedagogy, saw us look at coaches reflecting and mentoring.  Whilst Keith was discussing how coaches reflect and observe their athletes from a distance, it made me think about what is more ideal for coaching when providing feedback, especially those in team sports.

In sports such as AFL, coaches are split to whether they watch and observe the game from a box up high with their assistant coaches, before reflecting and providing the players feedback or being on the sideline to provide instant feedback to players in the game and feeling the intensity of the game.

So my first discussion point of the week is there a particular situation were these different observation points are better than the other? And also whether in individual sports this situation changes from your experiences?

During Keith’s lecture he also discussed mentors roles in sport.  It’s a role that is now so common in team sports, as ex-players of the sport are being employed to nurture and advise young inexperienced players through the beginning of their careers.

However I ask the question to whether sporting teams are currently employing mentors as head coaches on their reputation of their playing days and the team uses assistant coaches as ‘the brains’ and for the planning that is involved or that in fact that the head coach is the best person for the job?

In terms of individual sports I think a coach needs to be diverse and be able to serve as a mentor and coach to the athlete. As discussed in Sarah Taylor and Leigh Sherman's previous blog, although experience in the sport is not essential when coaching, however elite sporting experience is as you can relate to what pressure and circumstances that an athlete may be struggling with.

 Anyway let me know your thoughts.