Coaching

Coaching is a very complex and demanding profession. It requires many technical and personal skills (Chamber, D., 1997). All coaches have their own style of teaching. There is no right or wrong method of coaching. Nevertheless, the coach's philosophy determines his or her coaching aims and objectives, while having a huge influence on the athletes and it's surrounding environment.

This report enabled me to observe a very fine coach. I am honoured to have given the opportunity to observe Winchester public school boys' senior basketball team coach Tom Liu during their basketball season. Coach Liu is knowledgeable about the sport he coaches and about the development of his athletes. His qualifications include NCCP level 1: volleyball, basketball, special Olympic (technical) and NCCP level 2 Theory. After observing several basketball practices and one basketball game, I've come to conclude coach Liu is a well respected and a good role model for his players. He provides challenging and enjoyable practice sessions. During the practices, he is able to communicate well with the athletes. He is constantly asking for the athletes' suggestions on how to improve their strategy as a team and what the athletes feel they should work on. This allows the athletes to be involved and to develop their thinking habits. Coach Liu also provides good corrective instructions where he would pull the athlete aside and correct their mistakes either by a demonstration or by conducting proper instructions to apprehend the skill. Coach Liu is quite aggressive and enthusiastic on court. He constantly uses the command style of coaching with positive reinforcement and encouragement. Each practice he sets a specific goal for the players to carry through such as working on their foul shots, their defensing strategies, or their movement on court; the athletes are always ready for a challenge. After the athletes have accomplished the goal for the day, not only have the athlete's skill and fitness level increased, but they also feel confident about themselves. Many times, the athletes feel so good about themselves that they've requested to challenge coach Liu several times. This shows the athletes enjoy coach Liu's program very much and are looking forward to participate into this sport. They may even consider attending Coach Liu's other possible programs because of the respect they have for him. Unfortunately, the goals are not always accomplished. This leads to frustration seen on their faces but coach Liu would never give up and constantly reminded them that their attempts is not what the average person can do and that it takes time and lots of practice to succeed. But when he sees that the athletes are not trying or giving what they got, he would punish them by telling them to do strenuous physical exercise such as push-ups, knees to chest, or do laps. The good side to these punishments is that they help the physique of the athletes.

Coach Liu believes there are no pressure to win because they are not professionals, therefore his philosophy is based on 'self gratification which is gained when players have made an effort to learn and used what they've learned in competitive situations.' This is very important because depending on the coach's philosophy towards his team, it can easily identify whether the coach is suitable to teach that particular