This was presented by Pat Culhane at the 3rd iCoachKids International Conference at the University of Limerick, Ireland on June 14th 2019. The aim of this presentation is to provoke consideration around the development of Coaching Philosophies among coaching practitioners. It particularly suited to sport Coaches of children aged 5-12 years – both for those developing a Coaching Philosophy for the first time and those seeking to refine their current philosophies. The presentation intends to challenge common, and often superficial, perceptions around what success looks like and why we coach children sports. It was hoped to shed some light on the differences between children’s and adults’ motivations to participate in sport and what the meaning of success is, at its deepest level, to both an individual and a collective basis. Central to this will be the facilitation of participants’ critical self-reflection of their coaching practice. Key Learning Points: • Understand the basic concept of what a Coaching Philosophy is. • Think about how Coaches develop a Coaching Philosophy. • Consider why Coaches should develop a Coaching Philosophy. For more on Pat Culhane, see: Website/Blog: patculhane.ie Twitter: @Pat_Culhane Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drpatculhane LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpatculhane/

1. Success ≠ Winning
Developing a Child-centred Coaching Philosophy
Pat Culhane
3rd iCoachKids International Conference
University of Limerick
June 14th 2019.

2. WHAT is a coaching philosophy?
HOW to develop a coaching philosophy?
WHYdevelop a coaching philosophy?

3. Philosophy is the study
or creation of theories
about basic things such
as the nature
of existence,
knowledge, and
thought, or about how
people should live.
(Ewing, 1962)
Philosophy is the
study of the
fundamental nature
of knowledge, reality,
and existence. Theory
is a supposition or a
system of ideas that is
intended to explain
something. (Campbell
, 1957)
A Coach is a person who assists and challenges players [or athletes] to achieve
their full potential. (GAA, 2017)

4. P
H
I
L
O
S
O
P
H
Y
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
“There’s nothing more practical
than a good theory”
Kurt Lewin (1967)

5. • Despite the fundamental relationship that exists
between coach behaviour and coaching philosophies
(Jenkins, 2010), the latter have been relatively
unexplored (Graham & Fleming, 2016).
• Cushion & Partington (2016) note a “bewildering
approach to definitions, terms and frameworks that have
limited explanation and reveal a lack of conceptual
clarity” around coaching philosophies.
• Underpins everything a coach does (e.g. Carless &
Douglas, 2011; Collins et al., 2009; Voight & Carroll, 2006).
Practice activity and behaviour are shaped by the
coaches’ own individual coaching philosophy (Carless &
Douglas, 2011).
WHAT is a coaching philosophy?

6. A set of beliefs and principles that guide your
behaviour. It helps you remain true to your values
while handling hundreds of choices you make as a
coach (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).
A comprehensive statement about the beliefs and
behaviours that will characterise the coach’s practice.
These beliefs and behaviours will either reflect a
deeper set of values held by the coach, or will be the
recognition of externally imposed expectations to
which the feels the need to adhere (Lyle 1999).
WHAT is a coaching philosophy?

7. Principles
Values
Beliefs
Behaviours
Practice

8. Principles
Values
Beliefs
Behaviours
Practice
A coaching philosophy is a set of
principles which identify values that
are concerned with the
implementation of beliefs through
behaviours in practice.

9. Assumptions about Coaching Philosophies
• Conflation between coaching rhetoric and ideology with
coaching philosophy and serves to reproduce existing
coaching discourse rather than explain coaching practice.
• Overemphasis of coaches’ agency and reflexivity
• The downplaying of the significance of social structure on
coaches’ dispositions
• The acceptance that coaching practice is an entirely
conscious activity.
Cushion & Partington (2016)

10. Proposition….
Develop an alternative philosophy of coaching that uses philosophic
thinking to help coaches question existing ideology, and critically
evaluate the assumptions and beliefs underpinning their practice.

11. HOW I develop my coaching philosophy?
Using theories, logic and ideas to understand
situations.

13. HOW I develop my coaching philosophy?

18. A principle of my Coaching
Philosophy:
Success is peace of mind deriving
from self-satisfaction and knowing
you are making the effort - given the
context- to do the best that you are
capable of - not at the unnecessary
expense of others.

19. Success ≠ Winning
Success = Peace of Mind

20. How I develop my coaching philosophy?
To be time-efficient, I use text-to-speech
function of my smartphone on the move
to document my reflective thoughts and
continue to evolve my coaching
philosophy.

21. Why I develop my coaching philosophy?
 Help them thrive as people – individually & collectively
 Lift them out of the mundane and into the marvellous
(Seamus Heaney)

22. Have the passion to develop a
personal child-centred coaching
philosophy and the courage to live
it publicly…

23. References
Campbell, N.R., 1957. Foundations of Science The Philosophy of Theory and Experiment.
Carless, D., & Douglas, K. (2011). Stories as personal coaching philosophy. International Journal of Sports
Science and Coaching, 6(1), 1–12. doi:10.1260/1747-9541.6.1.1
Collins, K., Gould, D., Lauer, L., & Yongchul, C. (2009). Coaching life skills through football: Philosophical
beliefs of outstanding high school football coaches. International Journal of Coaching Science, 3, 1–26.
Cushion, C. and Partington, M., 2016. A critical analysis of the conceptualisation of ‘coaching
philosophy’. Sport, Education and Society, 21(6), pp.851-867.
Deci, E.L. and Ryan, R.M. eds., (2004) Handbook of self-determination research. University Rochester Press.
Dweck, C., 2015. Carol Dweck revisits the growth mindset. Education Week, 35(5), pp.20-24.
Ewing, A.C., 1962. The Fundamental Questions of Philosophy (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Eysenck, H.J., 1987. “There is Nothing More Practical Than A Good Theory”(Kurt Lewin)-True or False?.
In Advances in psychology (Vol. 40, pp. 49-64). North-Holland.
GAA (2017) What is a Coach? https://learning.gaa.ie/coach [accessed on May 31m 2019].
Graham, L., & Fleming, S. (2016). Developing a Coaching Philosophy: Exploring the Experiences of Novice
Sport Coaching Students. Journal of Athlete Centered Coaching, 1 (1), 60-79.
Jenkins, S. (2010) Coaching Philosophy. In: J. C. Lyle, Chris, (ed.) Sports coaching: Professionalisation and
practice. Elsevier Health Sciences, pp. 55-64.
Kolb, D (1984), “Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development” New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Voight, M., & Carroll, P. (2006). Applying sport psychology philosophies, principles, and practices onto the
gridiron: An interview with USC football coach Pete Carroll. International Journal of Sports Science &
Coaching, 1, 321–331. doi:10.1260/174795406779367800

24. Learning Resources
Man’s Search for Meaning by
Viktor E. Frankl
The Master and Emissary by Iain
McGlichrist
Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius
Self-determination Theory –
Edward Deci and Richard M.
Ryan
The Soul of Sport by Dr Colm
O’Connor
Mindset Theory (Fixed vs.
Growth) by Carol Dweck
The Decline of Play by Dr Peter
Grey
The Last Lecture by Dr Randy
Pausch
The poetry of Seamus Heaney
The music of the Three Tenors
The poetry of Seamus Heaney
The music of the Three Tenors
Live at the Point by Christy Moore
The music of Ludovico Einaudi
The comedy of Billy Connolly and Michael
McIntrye
The Era of Impressionist Exhibitions in the Musée
d’Orsay, Paris
The Statue of David at the Academia Gallery,
Florence
Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction by
Thomas R. Flynn
The work of Lord David Puttnam (speeches,
interviews, films, writing, etc.)
The work of Richard Feynmann

25. twitter.com/pat_culhane
patculhane.ie/
linkedin.com/in/drpatculhane/
 GAA National Games Development Officer
 Doctorate of Management Candidate, Glasgow Caledonian University
 Founder of the Professional Doctorate Society - #ProfDockers