Coaching Philosophy and Ethics - USATF

2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy
and

Ethics

USATF Level 2 School -Youth Specialization
Sacramento, 1-5 August, 2010

Coaching Philosophy

• Coach

– First use of term coaching, around 1830,
Oxford Univ. – in relation to sports in 1831

– In sports, a coach is an individual involved

in the of the

operations of a sports team or of individuals

that participate in sports

• Involved in all the aspects of the sport including
physical and mental player development

– Help clients build skills

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Coaching

– Described as the organized provision of
assistance to an individual athlete or group
of athletes in order to help them develop
and improve

– Helping to identify the skills and capabilities
that are within the person and enabling
them to use them to the best of their ability –
and by that increasing the independence
within the individual and reducing reliance

– Is a complex social encounter with many
roles and responsibilities

Coaching Philosophy

– Disseminate knowledge
– Train to immediate tasks
– Shape mentee’s attitudes and show people how the

people who are really good at doing something do it
– Provide whole-life shaping
– Make sure people do what they know how to do
– Teach people to do what they don’t know how to do

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Roles of a coach

– Teacher

• Imparting new knowledge and ideas

– Trainer

• Improving fitness

– Instructor

• Directing activities and practices

– Motivator

• Generating a positive and decisive approach

Coaching Philosophy

• Roles of a coach

– Disciplinarian

• Creating an environment for each athletes self-
control

– Manager

• Organizing and planning

– Administrator

• Dealing with the paperwork

– Publicity agent

• Promoting athletics within society and possibly
with the media

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Role of a coach

– Social worker

• Counseling and advising

– Friend

• Supporting

– Scientist

• Analyzing, evaluating and problem solving

– Student

• Always willing to listen, learn and look for new
knowledge

Coaching Philosophy

• Traits/Characteristics of a coach

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Traits/Characteristics of a coach

– Should have the
– The training
– The administrative

Coaching Philosophy

• Coaching in actuality is teaching not only
because sports are a psychologically
educational experience but also because
individuals must be instructed in the
proper use of skills

• Coaches must have an appreciation for
the preparation process for both yourself
and your athlete

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Philosophy

– Comes from the Greek word philosophia,
which literally means “love of wisdom”

• It’s the branch of knowledge or academic study
devoted to the systematic examination of basic
concepts such as truth, existence, reality,
causality and freedom

• A set of basic principles or concepts underlying
a particular sphere of knowledge

• A precept, or set of precepts, beliefs, principles,
or aims underlying somebody’s practice or
conduct

Coaching Philosophy

• “Winning isn’t everything: it’s the only
thing”

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Guides your decisions and behaviors
when you are coaching

• Most important factor in determining your
success as a coach

– Will determine how wisely you use your
knowledge about

– Without a well-developed philosophy, a
coach may find themselves lacking direction
and readily succumbing to external
pressures

Coaching Philosophy

• Key to developing a coaching philosophy is
knowledge

– Knowledge of yourself: self-awareness

– Knowledge of what you want to achieve, your
objectives

• Winning
• Fun
• Development

– No single decision is more important in determining
how you coach then your priority about these
objectives – especially the significance you give to
winning

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Your philosophy is not acquired from any
one source, but rather from all your
experiences

• Your philosophy is not really expressed
by what you say, but by what you do

• Does your philosophy include the Golden
Rule

– Do to others as you would have then do to you

Coaching Philosophy

• Factors that contribute to and shape your
coaching philosophy

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• How much time have you devoted to
developing you coaching philosophy

• What does success as a coach look like
to you

– Is it to place the long-term development of
the athlete as the single most important
consideration

• Must have a collaborative paradigm in that you
are a part of the process and not the process

Coaching Philosophy

• How does your coaching philosophy
guide/affect your coaching style

– Authoritarian
– Cooperative
– Casual

• What is your coach-athlete relationship

– Escort system
– Partnership system
– Transfer system

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2010 USATF Level 2 School-Youth
Specialization

Coaching Philosophy

• Ethics

– Through sport, individuals can develop
morally; they can learn a basic code of
ethics that is transferable to a moral code for
life

– What is ethical coaching

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