Construction of mutual bias in football coaching

Abstract

The aims of the present fieldwork study of competitive sports were to describe the construction process of coaching from a socio-cultural perspective and to discuss coaching techniques that recognize the individuality of the players. The players were divided into 3 equal-sized groups of approximately the same scoring level, based on evaluation scores provided by the team's main coach. The coach's use of personal names in coaching during training was recorded. Quantitative and qualitative analyses showed the following : (a) the existence of fixed coaching patterns was confirmed quantitatively and qualitatively, and (b) cooperation between coaches may help to avoid such fixed coaching patterns. The data did not enable a conclusion as to whether the coach was solely responsible for these problems. Formal interviews with the players revealed that they viewed their coach as being "moody". In other words, the players suggested that the coach's evaluations of them were biased. A mutual bias may make it difficult for coaches to identify and make effective use of players' individual characteristics. Discussion addressed how this kind of bias in coaching might be avoided.