The Expert-Performance Approach as a Framework for Understanding and Enhancing Coaching Performance, Expertise and Learning

The expert-performance approach is critically evaluated for its potential to be used as the guiding framework for understanding and enhancing coaching performance, expertise and learning. The three-stage approach involves: i) identifying representative tasks that capture the essence of expertise in the domain; ii) having expert (and possibly novice) performers participate in those tasks, recording the mechanisms that mediate the expert's superior performance; and iii) tracing the acquisition of those skills and mechanisms. The approach enables the assessment of coaches' performance to be measured, identification of their respective strengths and weaknesses, and refinement of training activities to promote effective learning and the development of future generations of expert coaches.