Sport, Coaching, and Performance

Jim Denison, Zoe Avner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

For any coach, a daily concern is always: What should I have the athletes I coach do in practice to achieve our performance objectives? While seemingly straightforward, what can make this question difficult for coaches to answer is the entangled multiplicity of forces and “knowledges” that shape coaches’ decision-making. As a result, what coaches have their athletes do in practice was more accurately described by Foucault, as “a series of discontinuous segments whose tactical function is neither uniform or stable … but can come into play in various strategies.” And it is the “effects” that these various strategies can have on athletes’ performance capabilities which are the focus of this chapter. More specifically, the chapter argues for the importance of coaches questioning many of their “normal” training practices in an effort to enhance their athletes’ performances.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society
EditorsLawrence A. Wenner
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter26
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9780197519042
ISBN (Print)9780197519011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Nov 2022

Publication series

NameOxford Handbooks
PublisherOxford University Press

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