Instructional sport psychology: A re-conceptualisation of sports coaching as sport instruction

In this paper we present a conceptual analysis of the typical spouts coaching context (i.e., where participants in an activity involving skilled motor performance receive coaching from an expert which is designed to <<transform>> the participants into more expert performers). Our analysis is based on concepts derived from the discipline of instructional psychology. Using as a starting point Snow and Swanson's (1992) review of the essential aspects of instructional theory, we re-conceptualise spouts coaching as a form of instruction, and purpose six fundamental components of the sports coaching context: we term this re-conceptualisation Instructional Spout Psychology. The six components ave: Achievement (involving detailed specification of the motor skills to be performed after instruction); Aptitude (involving accurate specification of the novice status with respect to the required motor skills prior to instruction); Learning (involving explicit specification of the physiological and psychological processes that are assumed to determine the transition from novice to expert performer); Instruction (involving the explicit specification of the instructional processes that have taken to promote this transition from novice to expert); Achievement evaluation (involving assessment of the learner's performance in relation to the specification of the required motor skills following instruction); and Instruction evaluation (involving reflection on, and assessment of the process of instruction by the coach and learner). Our purpose in this re-conceptualisation is to provide a move holistic analysis of the coaching context than is typically provided (e.g., by theories of motor skill learning and spouts pedagogy). Furthermore, by purposing the conceptualisation of spouts coaching as Instructional Spouts Psychology we are attempting to make sports coaching less art and move science. We do this by ensuring that the constructs incorporated in Instructional Sports Psychology are amenable to empirical evaluation, and making specific recommendations for such evaluation.