Philosophy for coaching rather than philosophy of coaching: some conceptual clarifications

Abstract

This paper applies some central thoughts and ways of doing philosophy from the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. I will draw attention to several of the tempting, yet potentially misleading ideas that concern some sports coaching scholars. Reflecting upon the corpus of research in the area, and the sociology of sports coaching in particular, the paper will argue that such inquiry relies far too heavily upon empirical methods and thus raises further, and deeper, conceptual confusions. Inspired by Wittgenstein’s “therapeutic” and “descriptive” approach to philosophy and the work of Peter Winch, the paper will expose some features of the concepts of “behaviour” and “habitus”. In the spirit of Wittgenstein, these ideas are not offered as new additions to the ever-increasing palette of theory or methods on offer. The paper offers no new knowledge in this sense but instead, more modestly, a perspicuous description of some conceptual matters.