What am I doing and why Philosophy to practice -personal observations about coaching rugby

Abstract

This paper is a reflective account about a personal approach to coaching rugby by the first author, Stuart Wilkinson. His ongoing academic research in 2010 has prompted a fresh consideration of his coaching style which is shared interactively with his players and staff in the world of professional rugby league. This has brought about some deeper questioning of the reasons behind his approach to coaching which has led to a formulation of his coaching philosophy. His coaching philosophy; „a caring guide to athlete self-discovery and self-improvement‟ may be regarded as a summative statement of his beliefs and values at this moment in time, to coach others in order that they might play the game well. The paper is written largely in first person, a trait of its reflective nature and incorporates some data from an interview with a player. The paper concludes that if players are equipped with the confidence and knowledge to question their own actions they may be able to self-correct their errors on the field of play and see more options to act independently instead of relying upon directives from the coach at the sideline.