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This study aimed to explore the experiential knowledge and preferred training approaches of elite swimming coaches in regards to general skill development and then looking specifically at the freestyle stroke. A qualitative thematic analysis approach was employed to identify, analyse and report themes within the content of the collected data. Twent...
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Introduction
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Citations
... Friston, 2022). This is supported by recent work done with swimming coaches which established that coaches use variations of a CLA while possibly lacking an appropriate theoretical understanding of such an approach (Brackley, Barris, Tor, & Farrow, 2020). Participants also discussed the use of learning design geared towards the provision of perception-action coupling. ...
... This mirrors decades worth of recommendations in coaching pedagogy, with the suggestion that greater "realism" of practice will support transfer (Worthington, 1974). Whilst conceptually different from an ecological dynamics perspective recent work indicates that coaches believe practice should be representative (Brackley, Barris, Tor, & Farrow, 2020). Yet in practice, achieving consistently high fidelity was a prominent challenge for coaches: ...
... And by that he meant, you know, is what the players are seeing, feeling, perceiving, replicating (the game)? Ever since then, I've had a massive curiosity [Colin] In addition to mentors, coaches also drew on the different role of coach developers (Taylor & Nash, 2023) as practitioners who work across the spectrum of mediated and unmediated deliberately shaping the learning experiences of coaches (Brackley, Barris, Tor, & Farrow, 2020). Zara illustrates this influence: ...
... 14 The coaching literature indicates that contemporary representation-based accounts (perhaps intuitively) may have filtered into applied coaching practice, with elite coaches being found to acknowledge the nonlinearity of learning, while effectively utilising elements of traditional coaching such as direct instruction. [15][16][17] Though it is sometimes proposed that CLA methodologies are the only way to facilitate the development of adaptable, individualised movement solutions, contemporary representation-based accounts (e.g., Optimal Feedback Theory) do provide an alternative approach for coaches to achieve adaptive behaviour. 18 These similarities indicate that the distinction often drawn between different approaches is not as distinct as is often suggested. ...
... 20 Skilled coaches often demonstrate the integration of traditional and CLA methodologies effectively -perhaps even within one practice session -for the enhancement of movement skills, with each approach presenting distinctive strengths and weaknesses. 6,15,17,21 We contend, therefore, that throughout the coaching process understanding how to utilise each approach, or principles of each approach, considered against the background of influencing factorsincluding the athlete and their targeted learning goalsis a key objective for skill development. 2 Comprehending the diverse learning outcomes of traditional coaching and CLA can aid coaches in determining the most suitable approach for each learning scenario. ...
... Further research, however, indicates that as a coach gains more informal experiences relevant to their specific context, their coaching practices may begin to become more flexible, sometimes utilising a combination of both "traditional" and contemporary approaches to meet the needs of their athletes. 15,17 Experiential data on elite Danish swimming coaches found the overall coaching philosophy emphasized time spent reproducing the same movement patterns repeatedly until an athlete achieves mastery (i.e., traditional coaching). 17 Similarly, Brackley et al., 15 noted that in a cohort of elite Australian swimming coaches, most came through 'traditional' coach education programs, however, in realworld practice they utilised a mixture of contemporary and traditional approaches. ...
Coaches are faced with navigating a complex and dynamic environment that requires the wise and measured management of numerous competing factors. Traditional and contemporary approaches are often contrasted, with traditional approaches thought to be beneficial for outcomes like speed of skill acquisition but criticised for being overly prescriptive, and contemporary approaches praised for facilitating individualised learning and transferrable skillsets. We contend that the task for coaches is not deciding which approach is “better” and strictly conforming to one approach, rather it is determining which approach or learning principles best suit the athlete's learning requirements. Coaching is not an exact science, it is an art, in which skilled coaches need to be open, adaptable, and flexible in their approach, constantly considering the complexities of the wider coaching process. In this article, we discuss how coaching practices have the potential to be enhanced by integrating key principles from both traditional and contemporary (CLA) approaches to adapt practice to the emerging situation and meet the skill development needs of their athletes while considering the intricacies and subtleties that typify real-world coaching environments.
... In addition, the active teaching approach (M = 3.80), the learning contracts strategy (M = 3.70), and the peer teaching method (M = 3.70) are used in teaching the correct use of swimming equipment and aids. Aquatic educators, such as swimming instructors and lifeguards, are well aware of the influence of these methods on learning and frequently use them in the design of educational programs (Brackley et al., 2020). The participants consistently employed active teaching (M = 3.80) and problem-solving teaching methods (M = 3.80) while teaching fundamental floating. ...
Research-based instructional materials, such as course manuals, should be used to optimize the performance of instructors teaching swimming and aquatics. This study used an exploratory research design to explore the teaching strategies and challenges of ten swimming and aquatic course instructors at Bicol University through survey interviews and curriculum analysis. The study revealed that the instructors used various teaching approaches in the course, depending on the topic. Major challenges were poor facilities, overcrowded pools, and a lack of professional development. A course manual covering the eight topics of the course was developed. The manual was evaluated and scored as acceptable for use in teaching the course. It was concluded that the techniques for implementing theory-based learning and the difficulties that educators face may serve as the foundation for the development of successful teaching resources, such as books and manuals. Strong institutional support for providing adequate facilities and professional development for instructors is recommended. Use of the manual developed here is encouraged to evaluate its effectiveness.
... Among these related studies, Callary et al. (34) analyzed the responses of a group of Masters swim coaches, demonstrating six main learning sources, including formal education, informal education, and coaching experiences. In addition, Junggren et al. (35) examined coaching practices and philosophy specifically related to the Danish high-performance swimming environment, while Brackley et al. (36) reported specific perspectives of skill acquisition for freestyle swimming in a sample of 20 elite Australian coaches. Consequently, looking more closely at the existing literature, the need to further investigate psycho-social issues and training practices together can provide a greater understanding of the swimming coaching process. ...
This study investigated swim coaches’ perceptions of professional development issues and current training practices according to their coaching experience, education level, and gender. An online survey (January—April 2022) was completed by 123 swim coaches (96 male/27 female) of competitive swimmers based in 41 countries. The survey consisted of 36 questions divided into six sections: (1) background information, (2) developing swim coaching through learning, (3) self-evaluation, (4) interpersonal-intrapersonal interactions, (5) life skills, and (6) analyzing swimming performance. Pearson chi-square assessed
the relationship between the frequency of responses and professional background and gender. The survey results indicated that swim coaches’ educational level is potentially one of the most influential parameters affecting the coaches’ perceptions about their own professional development. The data presented may be used for the future design of coach education programmes
as they advance current knowledge on understanding psycho-social issues related to professional development and training perceptions involved in the competitive swimming environment.
... Studies have highlighted coaches' intentions to integrate approaches based on scientific information into sports practice [13][14][15]. However, the diversity and complexity of the coaching job has determined that a large part of coaches rely on the knowledge they have accumulated in practice -from coaching experience [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21]. ...
The aim of the study was to identify the existence of positive relationships between certain psychomotor behaviors, which we consider specific to swimming, and learning the execution technique of some styles (front crawl and backstroke). The study was carried out during 10 months, including 76 children (40 boys and 36 girls) aged between 6-9 years who practice recreational swimming in a Romanian city. Several tests were used: Tapping test for manual dexterity and laterality, the Goudenough test for body schema, the Flamingo test for static balance, the horizontal buoyancy test for body balance on the water. Results indicated better ratings on all psychomotor behaviors analyzed by gender (in favor of girls compared to boys), except for laterality. The levels of all analyzed psychomotor behaviors are directly proportional to the age of the subjects. Also, moderate positive correlations of manual dexterity (rs = 0.63 in front crawl; rs = 0.57 in backstroke) and strong correlations were identified for body scheme, laterality, static balance and buoyancy, coordination with the learning of the two styles of swimming (r or rs between 0.77 and 0.85). In conclusion, psychomotor behaviors can be predictors for learning swimming styles.
... For instance, we used the polo drill, in which the subject swims while maintaining the head above the water surface throughout the whole stroke cycle. Compared to free swimming, the polo drill reduces the relative duration of the entry and catch phase, stroke length and stroke duration, and increases the trunk inclination, hip vertical displacement and the relative duration of the recovery phase (Brackley et al., 2020). Because the lower limbs play a critical role in maintaining a more aligned body position (Gourgoulis et al., 2014) the lower hip position in the polo drill likely requires an extra effort of the leg kick. ...
This case study examined the association between 50 m freestyle and speed curve parameters of a world-class Paralympic swimmer and analyzed the changes in speed curves and their frequency components across performance levels. From 2018 to 2021, a visually impaired female swimmer (26.59 s in 50 m freestyle, S12 class) underwent 22 tests to obtain instantaneous speed synchronized with video recording. She regularly performed 50 m freestyle in competitions and time trials. The fast Fourier transformation method converted the speed signal into frequency domains and determined the relative contribution of the harmonics with two maxima and minima (H2, arms actions) and six maxima and minima (H6, legs actions). The functional paired t-test compared the speed curves at the beginning (PRE) and end (POST) of the analyzed period. The 50 m freestyle time correlated with average speed (r = −0.50, p = 0.02). The contribution of H6 increased in the first year and remained large, whereas the contribution of H2 was lower throughout the whole period. POST was faster than PRE in five moments that coincide with the downward leg kick moments. These changes allowed her to stay longer at the upper part of the curve and improve performance over time.
... Understanding this intuition becomes an important first step in addressing the problem of lower limb activity monitoring, with qualitative research approaches providing us a vehicle to better understand the current state of play (Brackley et al., 2020;Giles et al., 2019;Phillips et al., Research article 2014). Semi-structured surveys of coaches with very specific domain expertise can help identify areas of interest and need for further investigation (Brackley et al., 2020;Giles et al., 2019;Phillips et al., 2014). ...
... Understanding this intuition becomes an important first step in addressing the problem of lower limb activity monitoring, with qualitative research approaches providing us a vehicle to better understand the current state of play (Brackley et al., 2020;Giles et al., 2019;Phillips et al., Research article 2014). Semi-structured surveys of coaches with very specific domain expertise can help identify areas of interest and need for further investigation (Brackley et al., 2020;Giles et al., 2019;Phillips et al., 2014). Such approaches have been adopted in sports like cricket to explore the perceptions of coaches on the acquisition of fast bowling technique (Phillips et al., 2014); furthermore, some of the world's best strength and conditioning coaches in tennis were previously asked to describe what "good movers" look like in the sport, enhancing our understanding of the experts view of the game . ...
Understanding on-court movement in tennis allows for enhanced preparation strategies to improve player readiness and performance. Here, we explore expert physical preparation coaches’ perceptions of elite training strategies for preparation and performance in tennis, with special reference to lower limb activity. Thirteen world renowned tennis strength and conditioning coaches were interviewed in a semi-structured method that explored four key topic areas of physical preparation for tennis: i) the physical demands; ii) load monitoring practice; iii) the direction of ground reaction forces application during match-play; and iv) the application of strength and conditioning for tennis. Three higher-order themes emerged from these discussions: i) off-court training for tennis should be specific to the demands of the sport, ii) the mechanical understanding of tennis lags our physiological approach, and iii) our understanding of the lower limb’s contribution to tennis performance is limited. These findings provide valuable insights into the importance of improving our knowledge relevant to the mechanical demands of tennis movement, whilst highlighting important practical considerations from leading tennis conditioning experts.
... subskills themselves were not identified (Brackley et al., 2020). To the best of our knowledge, research 23 ...
... To address this gap in knowledge 40 qualitative investigations of the experiences and perceptions of individuals can help researchers 41 understand relatively unknown phenomena (Pitney & Parker, 2001). This approach has previously been 42 used in sports performance development by researchers to examine participant beliefs regarding 43 anticipation and goalkeeping during a penalty corner drag flick in field hockey (Morris-Binelli et al., 44 2020), anticipation to return-serve by expert tennis players (Vernon et al., 2018), and skill acquisition 45 approaches applied by elite swimming coaches (Brackley et al., 2020). Morris-Binelli et al. (2020) found 46 that hockey goalkeepers and coaches had only identified some important components of anticipating 47 7 systematically coded one interview at a time to group similar data. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to investigate the beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of stakeholders in youth triathlon regarding the important motor subskills that are required to be successful at the elite level of triathlon competition.
Method
Twenty-five participants were recruited from five stakeholder groups in triathlon and interviewed via video conference. A constructionist and relativist approach to thematic analysis was used to identify three first order themes and several second order themes.
Results
The first, first order theme was ‘Continuous motor skills' which consisted of the invariant features of triathlon's continuous motor skills and the parameterization of continuous motor skills. The second, first order theme was ‘Discrete Motor Skills' and consisted of discrete motor skills involved with cornering and change of direction in each discipline and transition phases in triathlon. The final first order theme was ‘Adaptability to continuous and discrete motor skills'.
Conclusion
This research provides a novel and more broad understanding of the beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of stakeholders in triathlon regarding important motor skills that are required to succeed at the elite level of the sport. This novel and broad understanding of important triathlon motor skills has theoretical implications for evaluating triathlon performance with skill acquisition as a primary focus. Additionally, this research is practically important for coaches, administrators, and athletic performance staff who design training programs and pathways for young, developing triathletes.
... 13 Although frameworks exist for skill acquisition methods, 14,15 these are not specific to swimming training. General skill acquisition methods have been investigated and discussed in Paralympic swimming coaching 5 and freestyle coaching, 16 both highlighting a disconnect present between applied coaching practices and recommendations from research. There is a need for more ecologically valid testing of current theories in swimming to provide appropriate recommendations to coaches as to best practice methods. ...
... 27 Although coaches do use instructional approaches in swimming, where verbal cues could be used to focus on these elements, 5 coaches often also prescribe drills in training to improve aspects of technique through simplification. 16 The scientific research does not provide examples of interventions that could improve crucial aspects of underwater fly kick techniques. There is a lack of resources for coaches to aid with their current practices, aligning them with scientific research and advancing performance. ...
... In freestyle coaching, instructional approaches are used to convey information and provide feedback cues regarding technique. 16 Additionally, this approach allows for the correction of specific weakness within a stroke. However, a constant focus upon explicit verbal instruction and feedback could increase the chances of skill breakdown during stress due to overly concentrated attention on particular aspects of the task. ...
This study assessed current swimming coaching practices surrounding underwater fly kick. Ten elite coaches completed face-to-face interviews, and 56 coaches completed an online survey. Coaches use a range of methods both in and out of the pool to develop key aspects of fly kick. Sixty eight percent of coaches reported they do not have access to resources that would aid with their ability to develop fly kick. Results show that coaches are considering a range of variables when attempting to improve fly kick, with the three most important highlighted as kick frequency, kick symmetry and coordination. Coordination is reported as the variable presenting the greatest difficulties when coaching due to athlete's physical restrictions and individual differences, as well as difficulties in coaching proprioception. Coaches are using a variety of resources to inform their approaches in underwater fly kick, but report coach certification and education resources as having the lowest influence on their coaching methods. Generally, results indicate a lack of skill acquisition knowledge and education in underwater fly kick. Reflecting upon coaches’ views and approaches allows for further research to develop understanding of interventions used to improve fly kick, and aids with the transfer of key research findings into practice.
... Someone who has done the exercise or learned and then has the proficiency or skill in doing it, shows that there are results from the learned response (Nanda et al., 2021;Phytanza, Purwanta, Hermanto, Burhaein, & Demirci, 2021;Sibarani & Manurung, 2021). Brackley et al. (2020) emphasize that skills can also describe a person's level of proficiency in completing or carrying out a particular task. Based on the various opinions about skills, we may conclude that skill is a technique, which indicates the expertise of a person in carrying out a movement/activity well, without necessarily incorporating speed Irawan & Limanto, 2021;Ngadiman et al., 2021). ...
This study aims to determine whether resistance band exercise influences freestyle swimming skills in the fourth-semester students of the Faculty of Sports and Health Education Study Program. Resistance band exercises are carried out to bind the strength of the leg, arm, and abdominal muscles because the increased strength in these muscle groups will help in executing freestyle swimming movements properly. This research is an experimental study using the one-group pre-test and post-test design. The research instrument used was a test of freestyle swimming skills at 25 meters, while cross-checking on the observation sheet, the freestyle swimming movements carried out by the subjects studied. This research's hypothesis is that there is an effect of resistance band training on freestyle swimming skills. The results obtained are the value of Sig. (2-tailed) < 0.05 (95% confidence). It can be concluded that there is an effect of resistance band training on the freestyle swimming skills of the for fourth-semester of the Faculty of Sports and Health Education Study Program.
