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- Title
What are the most important activities in a rhythmic gymnastics coach profession? An exploratory analysis of coaches' opinions.
- Authors
STERKOWICZ-PRZYBYCIEŃ, KATARZYNA; PURENOVIĆ-IVANOVIĆ, TIJANA
- Abstract
Establishing importance rankings of professional activities in the context of success in rhythmic gymnastics is essential for developing valid educational programs for coaches. The aim of this study was to 1) Obtain the actual knowledge based on rhythmic gymnastics coaches' opinions on the hierarchy of importance of various professional activities for training high-level gymnasts, and 2) compare coaches' opinions according to region (country), level of coaching achievements, coaching experience, competitive achievements in order to explore the effect of these moderators on the importance ranking. A sample of 70 licensed rhythmic gymnastics coaches, consisting of 30 Polish and 40 Serbian women aged 34.86±11.01 years, with coaching experience of 10.26±9.05 years, participated in the cross-sectional survey. Twenty professional activities were rated using a 4-point Likerttype scale. The total sample was subdivided according to the aforementioned criteria of country, level of coaching achievements, coaching experience, and competitive achievements. Friedman's test was used to find mean rank for each professional activity. The hierarchical agglomerative method of clustering was utilized. Clusters were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test, and subgroup comparisons were performed using a Mann Whitney U test. The importance ranking of 20 professional activities was established (Friedman's test=406.253, p<0.001). The top-ranked activities were "Working out competitor's physical preparedness," "Control over technical schooling," "Planning the training process," "Working on competitor's motivation sphere." Combined with next three activities - "Control over the training process and the state of competitor's body," "Monitoring competitors during tournaments," and "Recruitment and selection to gymnastics club" - formed Cluster 1 characterized by no differences according to coach's country, level of coaching achievements, coaching experience, or competitive achievements, and it was significantly different from Clusters 2, 3, and 4 (H=226.114, p<0.001). Statistically significant differences between subgroups fell within the lower ranked professional activities, grouped in Clusters 2, 3, and 4 (p<0.05). The study results provide the specific hierarchization of professional activities of RG coaches, as well as emphasize those that are subjectively most important. The rankings indicate consistency of views concerning the most important professional activities, but also the discrepancies between subgroups regarding those activities with lower ranks. The established activity model can be useful for data driven optimization of already-existing programs intended for educating future rhythmic gymnastics coaches and professional improvement of novice RG coaches.
- Subjects
GYMNASTICS coaches; RHYTHMIC gymnastics; TRAINING of gymnasts; SPORTS psychology; KRUSKAL-Wallis Test
- Publication
Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 2021, Vol 21, p2010
- ISSN
2247-8051
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.7752/jpes.2021.s3257