Applied Coaching Project

The Applied Coaching Project is a considerable piece of work which is likely to become an all-consuming part of your life over the next few months. In this blog, I'll give you some top tips and guidance on how to approach the project and what it means to be supervised by me.

There's some video to watch and reading to do, so the blog will take around 80-minutes to complete from start-to-finish. It could be the best 80-minutes you spend in the next few months.

Learning Outcomes

Let's start off with learning outcomes for the project. These relate to the the skills and knowledge that you should be able to demonstrate through the submission of your project report. These outcomes are as follows:

Identify and critically evaluate an appropriate range of current literature, evidence and theory related to their topic of investigation.

Make recommendations for coaching practice informed by critical analysis of the relevant literature, evidence, and theory.

Demonstrate how their coaching practice (or coaching in their sport) has become more effective through the completion of the Applied Coaching Project.

Design, maintain, monitor and regulate an Applied Coaching Project from inception to completion including explanation and justification of approach and submission of an appropriate final document.

These outcomes have been carefully designed to help you enhance your coaching practice through deeper intellectual reasoning. Once you get those reasoning skills nailed, dealing with a complex, ever-changing coaching environment can become more straightforward. Whilst the outcomes sound very 'educational', I believe that through achieving them, you'll be able to make more effective decisions, be more agile and innovative in the way you coach.

My first major research project was my Ph.D. one and it followed a very rocky path. I struggled with complex maths because I hadn't learnt the elementary stuff. I was bamboozled by Will Hopkins and his statistical methods...my brain just wouldn't compute despite how much work I put in. I cried with relief when I passed my final viva, but it took several years for me to feel worthy.

It wasn't helped that my relationship with my supervisor was challenging. In fact I was bitter for a while. Only now when I'm doing a job similar to his, I understand his perspective a little better. I also understand myself on a far deeper level, especially after finding the way my brain is wired is a bit wonky. I'm much better with some cognitive processes than others. I've got the short-term operational memory of a goldfish and the long-term memory of an elephant. That means I'm very slow to learn new theories, I struggle to tell my left-from-right and I am dreadful with names. However, I can be off-the-scale in my understanding of 'stuff' because I'm highly curious, especially when it comes to people and coaching. I've become an expert problem solver by learning to do things in a way that works for me. I think it explains why I'm a coach too... because I want to get inside the head of others and understand their perspective and what works for them. A one-size does not fit all. It's a philosophy that I put into the supervision process too.

For many of you, this will be the 1st time you've conducted a project like this. One thing is guaranteed is that it's going to be highly challenging, regardless of how good you are. It's like preparing for a big competition. The learning outcomes are the key demands but there's lots of little processes that come below them which you must successfully execute to do well. This requires self-discipline and a very strong work-ethic. Leaving things to the last moment or doing a half-arsed job typically results in things going wrong and double the work.

My job is to be your guide in the journey to you being an independent and autonomous learner. Some of you may already be there and others may have a long way to go. I'll point you in the right direction, challenge you when appropriate and occasionally be Mr Punch by telling you how to do it. (I'll typically only tell you what to do through frustration or be concerned that it will take too long for you to work it out for yourself).

Now have a read of this article by Hugh Kearns and Maria Gardiner on the supervisory process. My approach to the supervisory process is similar to that of my coaching. If you show a high level of motivation, are proactive in engaging with me and show a real willingness to learn, then nothing will be too much trouble. However, if you contact me at the last minute, unprepared and without potential solutions to the problems you're trying to solve, then I'll not be bending over backwards to help. My BS meter is very finely tuned.

Remember that I'm a fallible human-being too. Please be mindful that I may be juggling another 20 students and 4 projects of my own. There's a few 'rules' that I'd like you to follow during the supervisory process:

I will typically reply to emails within 3 working days. If you require an urgent reply, please mark it as urgent. If I fail to respond within that timeframe, please send a reminder.

Please give me plenty notice if you can't make a meeting, preferably at least 24-hours. I will endeavour to do the same.

If we're having a Microsoft Teams meeting, please ensure you have tested the software in advance. If you don't see me online within 5-minutes of the arranged time, drop me an email.

When discussing academic work, please recognise what I say to you is opinion. Therefore, you should independently verifying 'stuff' for yourself.

You are responsible for your final grade.

What follows is presentation on designing your project and a little bit on the intellectual reasoning required during it too. It is a tad out of date now, so ensure you read the Module Outline too. I'm going 'beyond' the call of duty with this Blog but may find time next year to update the presentation.