INSTRUCTIONAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY - A RE-CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SPORTS COACHING AS SPORT INSTRUCTION

In this paper we present a conceptual analysis of the typical spouts c oaching context (i.e., where participants in an activity involving ski lled motor performance receive coaching from an expert which is design ed to <<transform>> the participants into more expert performers). Our analysis is based on concepts derived from the discipline of instruct ional psychology. Using as a starting point Snow and Swanson's (1992) review of the essential aspects of instructional theory, we re-concept ualise spouts coaching as a form of instruction, and purpose six funda mental components of the sports coaching context: we term this re-conc eptualisation Instructional Spout Psychology. The six components ave: Achievement (involving detailed specification of the motor skills to b e performed after instruction); Aptitude (involving accurate specifica tion of the novice status with respect to the required motor skills pr ior to instruction); Learning (involving explicit specification of the physiological and psychological processes that are assumed to determi ne the transition from novice to expert performer); Instruction (invol ving the explicit specification of the instructional processes that ha ve taken to promote this transition from novice to expert); Achievemen t evaluation (involving assessment of the learner's performance in rel ation to the specification of the required motor skills following inst ruction); and Instruction evaluation (involving reflection on, and ass essment of the process of instruction by the coach and learner). Our p urpose in this re-conceptualisation is to provide a move holistic anal ysis of the coaching context than is typically provided (e.g., by theo ries of motor skill learning and spouts pedagogy). Furthermore, by pur posing the conceptualisation of spouts coaching as Instructional Spout s Psychology we are attempting to make sports coaching less art and mo ve science. We do this by ensuring that the constructs incorporated in Instructional Sports Psychology are amenable to empirical evaluation, and making specific recommendations for such evaluation.