Aren’t we all striving towards becoming or being more competent in the things we are doing?
This includes all aspects of our lives, be it work, leisure time, sport, and family and friends.
In this blog series on the C’s in Coaching we are looking at how a coach can support their athletes and sport participants in developing the C’s. So how do we as coaches go about with building and developing the competence of our athletes and sport participants?
To recall, the C’s System in coaching is promoted by UK Coaching and Sport Ireland, but has also been referenced in coaching literature such as in the chapter on the Roles and Responsibilities of Coaches by Cliff Mallett in Coaching Excellence (editor Frank Pyke) or in the book Coaching Better Every Season by Wade Gilbert. Côté and Gilbert (2009) are referring to the 4 C’s (competence, confidence, connection & character) as the outcome of effective and quality coaching. The C’s model originates in the literature on Positive Youth Development, e.g., Jones et al. (2011), Geldhof et al. (2015) and Lerner et al. (2005). Also, the Self-Determination Theory as advocated by Deci and Ryan (2000) is closely connected to the C’s model and the positive outcomes it has on athletes and sport participants.
And what type of competence are we talking about?
Of course, as coaches we first think about the sport-specific competences of our athletes and sport participants, the technical and tactical aspects of the sport we are coaching, the needed game related skills, the fundamental movement skills, but also the physical and mental skills needed for the sport, as well as knowledge on nutrition and hydration, recovery and sleep. However, as holistic and athlete-centred/sport participant-centred coaches we are also supporting the development of skills which are needed outside of the sport, such as social, communication, empathy, self-awareness, goal setting, performance evaluation, focus and distraction control, planning & self-organisation, and reflection skills. These are broadly speaking the competences we seek to support our athletes and sport participants to develop as coaches.
So, how do we as coaches then support the development of these competence of our athletes and sport participants?
This is where the other C’s coming back into the picture (see the other blogs in this series for more information). Through continuous use and application of the C’s model in coaching we are supporting holistic, athlete-centred competence development.
Sport-specific technical and tactical development can be accomplished through (mind you, I am only presenting a few suggestions here to start you thinking on your own):