The last decade has seen an increase in empirical research pertaining to coaching science and education. A great deal of research has focused on coaches of elite able-bodied athletes, while coaches of athletes with a disability have generally been overlooked. In a recent analysis of disability sport, only 5% of empirical publications pertained to coaching. Thus, the current study addressed the gap in the literature by examining the knowledge of disability sport coaches. Six elite level Canadian coaches of swimmers with a physical disability were interviewed using an unstructured, open-ended interview format. Four categories emerged from the analysis: coach background and characteristics, training, competition, and contextual factors. Results revealed who the coaches were, what they did, and similarities with elite able-bodied coaches, as well as differences that were specific to coaching swimmers with a physical disability. Specifically, it was essential for coaches to become knowledgeable of their athletes' disabilities, deal with issues of equality between able-bodied and swimmers with a physical disability, and accommodate a large array of individual needs. These findings augment knowledge in coaching psychology by including elite level coaches of athletes with physical disabilities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.83174 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Cregan, Kerry |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002271514, proquestno: AAIMR22590, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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