EFFECTIVE COACHING AND FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HIGH
PERFORMANCE IN GYMNASTICS

By

KATARINA NORDBECK

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standards:
_________________________________________
Anne Terwiel, Thesis Supervisor, Dept. Tourism Management
_________________________________________
Dave Freeze, Dept. Adventure Tourism
__________________________________________
Peter Soberlak, Dept. Physical Education
__________________________________________
Mark Rowell Wallin (Ph.D.), Co-ordinator, Interdisciplinary Studies

Dated this 10th day of May, 2013, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT
Sport performance is dependent on both genetics and the environment and is
affected by the athletes mind and body. The purpose of coaching is to improve the
physical and mental aspects in an athlete and to prepare them for competition. Totally
planned systems are among the top five characteristics of effective coaching; nonetheless,
it is less likely that expert, gymnastic coaches have a ready-made schema that contains a
generic knowledge base. The most likely factor for expert performance is the engagement
in deliberate and sustained practice over numerous years but there are only a limited
number of ways to create large improvements in performance. Every sport-specific event
requires its own set and combination of traits and factors.
This aim of this paper is threefold, first to have a better look at effective coaching
and the development of expert coaches; second, to explore the gap between existing
coaching practices by expert gymnastic coaches; and third, have a broad look at factors
that can contribute to expert performance in gymnastics.

Thesis Supervisor: Anne Terwiel

	
  

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................................II	
  
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................... 2	
  
EFFECTIVE COACHING....................................................................................................................................... 3	
  
KNOWLEDGE OF EXPERT GYMANSTIC COACHES ........................................................................... 5	
  
CATEGORIES OF KNOWLEDGE................................................................................................................. 8	
  
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERFORMANCE....................................................................................... 10	
  
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 15	
  
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................................... 17	
  
APPENDIX A: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................... 20	
  

	
  

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Mark Wallin 1
Deleted: 9

Mark Wallin 1
Deleted: 14

INTRODUCTION
	
  
	
  
The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature with regards to
effective coaching and factors contributing to high performance in sport. Since the area of
sports is only a general term, this paper’s focus will be on gymnastics.
Sport performance has been interdisciplinary from the start and explores the
mind-body connections and factors that affect the outcomes in a sport situation (Aoyagi,
Portenga, Poczwardowski, Cohne, Statler, 2011). While some claim that there is only a
limited number of ways to improve performance (Ericsson & Charness, 1994), optimal
performance and sport expertise is dependent on many factors, whose primary influences
are genetics and the environment (Baker & Horton, 2004; Ericsson & Charness, 1994;
Reilly, Morris, Whyte, 2009). Genetics can influence performance through preferred
activity level and individual temperament of the athlete (Ericsson & Charness, 1994). The
environment can have an affect in the sense that engagement in deliberated and sustained
practice over numerous years will increase the likelihood for peak performance (Ericsson
& Chamess, 1994) (Baker & Horton, 2004). Aspects that are due to a combination of
both genetics and environment are considered to be psychological factors. These factors
include: common mental characteristics, motivational factors, focus, management of
anxiety, concentration, risk-taking, and competitiveness. The level of performance does
not depend on any one factor but rather lies within the different relationship between
variables and the outcome, and is thereby limited by uncertainty (Baker & Horton, 2004).

	
  

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The purpose of coaching is to improve the physical, mental and emotional aspects
in an athlete and to prepare them for competition (Dorgo, 2009). Dowdell (2010)
suggests that totally planned systems are among the top five characteristics of effective
coaching. This concept of totally planned systems is interesting when compared with the
findings that Cote, Samela & Russell (1995) present in their article regarding the
knowledge of high-performance gymnastic coaches. This article says that the most
important knowledge sources for expert gymnastic coaches are their own experience and
other successful coaches and that they are less likely to have a ready-made schema that
contains a generic knowledge base.
This aim of this paper is threefold, first to have a better look at effective coaching
and the development of expert coaches; second, to explore the gap between existing
coaching practices by expert gymnastic coaches that are presented by Cote, Samela &
Russel (1995) in contrast to what the current literature says about effective coaching; and
third, have a broad look at factors that can contribute to expert performance in
gymnastics.

EFFECTIVE COACHING
	
  
	
  
A coach is an essential part of the development of an athlete’s performance. In
sport science there has been more focus on the performers and on effective and expert
coaching than on the development of coaches from the novice stage to expert. Research
shows that by only attending a coaching course coaches rarely improve their overall
effectiveness, but significantly improve their coaching self-perception That is, a coaches’
belief in their own ability is increased rather than their actual effectiveness viewed from

	
  

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an objective standpoint (Nash & Sproule, 2011).
MacDonald, Cote & Deakin (2010) write that athletes express increased selfesteem and a more positive evaluation of their coach if their coach has received a formal
coaching education when compared to no education at all, although formal coach-training
(e.g. certification program) is not the only effective method to increase the coach’s
knowledge. In sport and coaching today, mentorship (the system were novice and
beginners learn from more experienced coaches) is still common (Nash & Sproule, 2011).
Knowledge achieved informally through interactions with mentors can help facilitate the
transfer of knowledge of the novice coach into applied coaching practices (MacDonald,
Cote & Deakin, 2010). However, in their article MacDonald, Cote & Deakin, (2010) do
not differentiate between formal and informal training of coaches and they also do not
indicate which form produces the best result. Nevertheless, they do suggest that any
training or education that the coach receives is better than none.
Another side of the development of effective coaching is the experiential
knowledge of elite coaches. Experiential knowledge is based on the coach’s many years
of practice and her or his experiences gained from coaching different athletes. Expert
coaches have different levels of exposure to certain levels of training and sport research,
both through formal and informal education. This difference in levels of knowledge and
the application thereof can affect the performance of their own coaching and thus affect
their athlete’s performance. To create a clearer picture of expert performance, it is
important to integrate the expert coach’s knowledge with current scientific research to
provide a clearer picture of effective and expert coaching within that particular sport
(Greenwood, Davids, & Renshaw, 2012). To develop expertise, a coach must
	
  

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independently use all their sources in their coaching (Nash & Sproule, 2011).
The conclusion that can be elicited about effective coaching is that attending
coaching courses rarely improves the overall coaching effectiveness but increases the
coaches’ self-perception about their own coaching abilities. However, experiential
knowledge as well as coaching education (both formal and informal) is important for
expert coaching and a positive athlete response. Is the assumption then that coaching
courses are important but not as a single source of knowledge? Or is the importance of a
coaching course due to the content of the courses presented? Many questions arise from
these articles about effective coaching and how to develop expert coaching. A question
that surfaces is with regards to what impact this has on small sport clubs and smaller
cities with only a limited numbers of active coaches within that sport. Coaching courses
can be expensive and therefore may not be an option for a volunteer coach. Additionally,
without any expert coaches available to mentor the novice coaches, it can be hard to
increase the level of performance of the club’s athletes. The notion of mentorship is
dependent on the availability and the ability of the expert coach to pass on her or his
knowledge in such a way that it increase the understanding and learning from the novice
coach. The literature has yet to offer a clear solution as to how we develop effective
coaching and expert coaches, especially in these situations mentioned above where the
lack of important resources such as mentors and funding for courses are a present issue.

KNOWLEDGE OF EXPERT GYMNASTICS COACHES
	
  
	
  
As mentioned in the previous section of this paper, Cote, Samela & Russell
(1995) observe that the most important knowledge sources for expert gymnastics coaches
	
  

5	
  

are their own experience and that of other successful coaches. Their study also showed
that it is unlikely that gymnastics coaches have a ready-made schema that contains a
generic knowledge-base necessary to develop elite gymnasts; rather, the coaches produce
a new and unique estimation for each single gymnast (Cote, Samela & Russell, 1995).
Dowdell (2010) lists attributions of effective gymnastic coaching and mentions
that this list both confirms past studies and provides a more comprehensive view by
adding some key learned practices. Concepts of effective coaching are, when ranked by
attributes: planning, effective and competent teaching, sport specific knowledge, goal
setting, implementation, good inter-personal communication, knowledge and use of good
physical environment, good technical understanding, and last, “spotting” (Dowdell,
2010).
Dowdell (2010) additionally proposes that this list corresponds with current
literature and survey findings that suggest totally planned systems, sport specific
knowledge, and maximization of the instructional process are among the top five
characteristics of effective coaching. Outcomes that stress more of the socialpsychological interactions among coach, student and class are all aspects of learned
practice that cannot be accomplished outside the world of practitioner experience
(Dowdell, 2010).
These findings by Dowdell (2010) as well as those by Cote, Samela & Russell
(1995) show an interesting gap and inconsistency between effective coaching and current
expert coaching in the field of gymnastics. Totally planned systems are, in Dowdells
(2010) report, essential for effective coaching, yet expert gymnastic coaches in the study

	
  

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by Cote, Samela & Russell (1995) are not likely to have a generic plan on which to base
their coaching.
Cote & Samela (1996) further support this contradicting gap in expert gymnastic
coaching by highlighting the importance of organizational tasks for success in
gymnastics. They mention that coaches must possess high levels of organizational skills
to coordinate the various variables involved within the process of developing elite
athletes. By interviewing expert gymnastic coaches and analyzing their answers, Cote &
Samela conclude that 24% of important coaching factors are represented by an
organization component. They define this organizational component as the knowledge
used by coaches to establish optimal training and competition conditions by structuring
and coordinating various coaching tasks. The categories included in organization were:
planning training, working with assistants, working with parents, helping gymnasts with
personal concerns, monitoring weight and esthetics. The most pervasive category within
the organizational component was "planning training.” A study by Santos, Mesquita,
Graca and Rosado (2010) is consistent with these findings and shows that coaches’
perceptions of important knowledge areas included planning (yearly and consecutive
years), practice and competition orientation, personal and coaching
education/competencies. The coaches in this study indicated that broadly speaking, more
professional training is necessary and this profession development should be emphasized
for factors that affect training components (Santos, Mesquita, Graca, Rosado, 2010).
Again, it is interesting to note that "planning training" is such an important part of
coaching, and yet, most expert gymnastic coaches do not have a ready made plan with
generic knowledge that can supplement their coaching. This lack is especially

	
  

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problematic since working with assistants and delegating coaching responsibilities is an
integral part of coaching; any supporting sport generic knowledge could help when doing
assessments of individual gymnasts. One should note that while these studies by Cote &
Samela are seminal, their limitation is their relative currency. That is, with regards to the
knowledge of high performance gymnastic coaches, their studies were published in
1995/1996 and there has been plenty of time for these results to change.

CATEGORIES OF KNOWLEDGE
	
  
In their study, Cote, Samela & Russell (1995) list important concepts and
strategies used by high performance gymnastic coaches and divides them into six
different components: competition, training, organization, coaches’ personal
characteristics, athlete’s personal characteristics and level of development, and contextual
factors. They further determine that the coach’s knowledge that has the most direct
impact on an athlete’s development is implemented within organizational, competition,
and training settings (Cote, Samela & Russell, 1995). Again, here the importance of
organization is highlighted as one of the most significant aspects of athlete development
and thus athletic performance. Since planning training being a component of organization
further suggesting that a generic plan would be beneficial for coaching gymnastics.
Cote, Samela & Russel (1995) mention that knowledge within and about
competition and training settings also has a great influence on athlete performance. Many
of the properties of the categories “training” and “competition” could further be divided
into smaller categories. Competition components are categorized as “competition site,”
“competition floor,” and “trial competitions,” while the components of training are

	
  

8	
  

categorized as “coach involvement in training,” “intervention style,” “technical skills,”
“mental skills and simulation” (Cote, Samela & Russel, 1995). Cote, Samela and Russel
(1995) indicate that coaches are minimally involved with the gymnasts in competition.
This minimal interaction could be important to consider when evaluating what
knowledge areas require more emphasis and how to further create a generic plan for
gymnastic coaches. Hence, the areas in which coaches will be more involved or need a
greater knowledge-base are located within training settings and thus it would beneficial to
focus resources in this area.
The two training subcategories, “technical training” and “mental skills,” highlight
important knowledge categories needed by gymnastic coaches in that they reveal the
interdisciplinary aspect of sport performance and suggest that mind-body connections are
important for sport excellence (Aoyagi, Portenga, Poczwardowski, Cohne, Statler, 2011).
Thus, when considering strategies of sport performance improvement, not only the
physical components should be considered but the psychological factors as well (Baker &
Horton, 2004). The technical skills referred to by Cote, Samela & Russel (1995) are a key
knowledge component of expert coaches since without proper technique it is hard to
progress to a more difficult level. Harder skills increase the stress on the athlete’s body
and coaches need to be able to match the physical demands of a gymnastic skill to an
athlete’s physical abilities. A gymnast’s progress is measured by consistency in training
and the monitoring and evaluation of certain skills or movements that the particular
“physical factor” was aimed to help. The subcategory “mental skills” refers to the
psychological aspects of the sport and exists in relation to an athlete’s mental readiness.
This category includes the coach’s knowledge about mental skills as well as their

	
  

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assessment of the athlete’s mental readiness; if a gymnast is not mentally ready for a
certain skill, this particular skill should not be stressed (Cote, Samela, & Russell, 1995).
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERFORMANCE
	
  
	
  
In their review of influences on sport expertise, Baker and Horton (2004) discuss
primary and secondary influences on the development of elite performance. Primary
influences contribute indirectly or directly to performance and are categorized as
genetics, training (physical factors such as acquisition of motor skills, visual acuity, and
amount of practice) and psychological factors (common mental characteristics:
motivational factors, management of anxiety, concentration, risk-taking,
competitiveness). Secondary factors that can influence the primary factors are: sociocultural, instructional resources, familial support, sport maturity, and level of
competition. Even if these primary and secondary factors contribute to and influence
performance in sport, the effect that they have on the performance lies within their
internal relationships to each other. The extent to which each factor influences an
athlete’s performance varies from person to person, and the equation of environment and
genetics is unique to each athlete and therefore limits sport expertise research by this
uncertainty (Baker & Horton, 2004).
According to Ericsson & Charness (1994), the most likely factor for expert
performance is the engagement in deliberate and sustained practice over numerous years.
However, genetics influences the performance as to individual activity level and
temperament of the athlete. Their study further indicates that there is only a limited
number of ways to create large improvement in performance (Ericsson & Charness,

	
  

10	
  

1994), a notion backed up by Reilly, Morris & Whyte (2009) who go on to caution that
every sport-specific event requires its own set and combination of traits and factors.
Thus, to enhance performance and to elicit specific and desirable adaptations in a certain
area, one should focus on the most necessary and specific factors in relation to that
particular sport. One big challenge for coaches is to specify important factors and to
allow time and effort into each of these as to optimize performance (Reilly, Morris, &
Whyte, 2009).
Since every sport event has specific factors that are important to peak
performance, it would make sense to identify these factors that are important to
gymnastics as well as to have a ready-made plan or recommendation that would help the
coaches in their planning of training and practice, but yet be broad enough to be able to
be modified according to each specific situation and athlete. Given the need for such a
plan, we must consider what such a document would include. When looking at factors
that are important to high performance and to incorporate in training, traditional talent
identification should be considered. Traditional talent identification includes tests based
on physical, anthropometric, psychological, sociological, coordinative and technical
factors. Adequate motor coordination is a building block for development of fundamental
movement skills and fundamental movement skills has been viewed as another steppingstone to the development and learning of specific sport-skills and peak performance
(Vandorpe, et al. 2012).
Vandorpe, et al. (2012) shows that the physical performance of a gymnast reflects
their current ability rather than their potential to excel later on in their athletic career.
Hence the gymnast’s current physical abilities and results have little or no correlation
	
  

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with previous performance. Therefore, a coordination test must be able to distinguish
between elite and non-elite gymnasts and are a better predictor of future success than sole
test only measuring the athletes’ current physical abilities. On an elite level, performance
is more attributed to better coordination than physical abilities, compared to on a lower
level of competition where lack of coordination can be compensated with an increase in
and better physical abilities than the other competitors at the same level. This difference
suggests that in lower levels of competitive gymnastics, emphasis should be placed on
increasing the gymnast’s physical abilities, while in higher levels, coordination is key.
Yet this system does not indicate when and which ability should be trained first and in
which stage of athletic development. If certain windows of opportunities exists for
developing coordination and physical abilities in a young athletes, should these windows
dictate what are to be trained and when? Or should the training be decided on the basis of
current level of competition that a certain gymnast is at the moment? The answer may be
found in existing literature but are not within the scope of articles reviewed in this paper
and further research is recommended. Additionally, these results do not include important
psychological and environmental factors that can contribute to the development of peak
performance. Rather, what can be concluded is that motor coordination is an important
indicator for potential talent within homogenous groups of gymnasts with similar
anthropometric profiles. No matter what level the athletes competing at, it is important to
develop their athletic abilities. McGuigan, Wright, & Fleck (2012) refer to the goal of
athletic preparation as to maximize the performance during a competition. According to
Dorgo (2009), the purpose of coaching is to improve the physical, mental and emotional,
aspects in athletes and to prepare them for competition. From these two statements we

	
  

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can conclude that a coaching and athletic preparation can be used interchangeable.
Expert coaches have extensive knowledge that is usually accumulated over many
years of coaching, knowledge that is sport- and athlete-specific, including different
communication strategies (Dorgo, 2009). If physical abilities are what differentiates highlevel gymnastics from low level of performance (Vandorpe, et al. 2012) these would be
factors worth additional consideration from coaches when planning training sessions.
This idea is backed up by Reilly, Morris, & Whyte (2009) who state that identifying
physiological factors for performance are crucial when analyzing athletes and to optimize
training.
Strength training and conditioning is an essential part of athletic preparation and
necessary to achieve high performance and to avoid injuries (Dorgo, 2009). Strength
training has been shown to increase the strength, power, acceleration, vertical jump, and
speed of athletes as well as increasing muscle mass and decrease the risk of injury. The
physical abilities that can be trained through strength training separate athletes and their
performance from each other, even though there is limited research on transfer of strength
to motor performance. The transfer of physical abilities are very sport-specific insofar as
how much they will enhance the performance of the individual event and importance
depends on the activity performed (McGuigan, Wright, & Fleck, 2012).
A strength and conditioning coach’s practical knowledge can be dived into two
separate categories: foundational knowledge and applied knowledge. Foundational
knowledge of strength and conditioning includes broad and diverse parts that can be
divided into subcategories: strength and conditioning, facility and equipment, exercises

	
  

13	
  

and techniques, injuries, athletes that they are currently coaching, and planning. The
applied knowledge categories usually emerge form everyday coaching actions and
include: plan modification, supervision, coaching pedagogical strategies, and professional
development. The most prevailing knowledge category within the “applied knowledge”
was the “plan modification” that refers to by the ability of the coach to frequently adjust
and revise planned programs due to changing conditions (Dorgo, 2009).
According to Jones, Neuman, Altmann, & Dreschler (2001), athletes’ mental
attitude can affect their performance. This is supported by Harmison (2006) who claims
that certain psychological profiles are connected with athletic excellence and that it has
been attempt to identify psychological skills that are related to peak performance.
The athlete’s mental attitude that indicates and/or affects athletic performance can
be divided into six areas: competitiveness, emotional control, mental toughness, positive
attitude, safety consciousness, and team orientation. The highest correlations with
performance are competitiveness, positive attitude, and team orientation (Jones, Neuman,
Altmann, & Dreschler, 2001). A gymnastics psychological profile that is connected to
peak performance often contains aspects of high self-confidence, high-energy, but the
capacity for relaxation, control over feelings, the ability to concentrate and focus on task,
a positive attitude, and motivation towards the task (Harmison, 2006). The psychological
skills that are related to peak performance include goal-setting, imagery, competition and
refocusing plans, coping skills, thought control strategies, strategies to manage emotions
and attention control. Practicing these skills increases the possibility of a higher personal
peak performance (Harmison, 2006).

	
  

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There has been very limited experimentation in applied sport psychology and
there are limited supporting research, but reviews show that cognitive-behavioral
interventions can effectively regulate mental and emotional states of the athlete and thus
improve performance (Harmison, 2006).

CONCLUSION
	
  
What is widely understood is that physical as well as psychological abilities can
affect the outcome in sport and be related to peak performance and excellence. The
wealth of research also highlights important factors and questions in relation to physical
abilities and motor coordination. While it is widely accepted among coaching scholars
that planning and organization of training is one of the key elements of effective coaching
and athletic development, expert gymnastic coaches do not usually have a ready-made
plan that they follow. Almost as important as the lack of a culture of planning in
gymnastic circles is a lack of agreement on the standards for effective coaching and how
coaches integrate learning and practices from theoretical sources into applied knowledge.
Planning and organization of training is an important factor for high performance in
gymnastics, but if the coaches do not have the appropriate knowledge for optimal training
it can be hard to organize in a yearly plan since there is no “expert knowledge” to use.
While formal training is always valuable (though not necessarily correlated to overall
coaching-effectiveness), an important factor for competent coaching is experiential
knowledge gained thru years of practice. Likewise important for effective coaching is
informal, mentoring.
The next phase of this study of gymnastics coaching would be to test the efficacy
of a widespread mentoring program and network in combination with a generic plan for
	
  

15	
  

gymnastics coaches. This generic plan should be broad enough to satisfy the need for
rapid modifications in situations that emerges as well as satisfy the need of flexibility
when coaching different athletes at different levels of development. Further, this plan
would also provide a more in-depth exploration and specification of components
important to peak performance in gymnastics and how to best create enhancement
thereof. This plan could also be an information resource and compliment to coaches that
are not directly working under a mentor in their day-to-day coaching.

	
  

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REFERENCES
	
  
Aoyagi, Portenga, Poczwardowski, Cohne & Statler (2011). Reflections and directions:
The profession of sport psychology past, present, and future. Professional
Psychology: Research and Practice, 1-7. DOI: 10.1037/a0025676
Baker, J., & Horton, S. (2004). A review of primary and secondary influences on sport
expertise. High Ability Studies, (15)2, 211-228.
Cote, J., Samela, J., & Russell, S. (1995). The knowledge of high-performance gymnastic
coaches: Methodological framework. The Sport Psychologist, (9)1, 65-75.
Cote, J., Samela, J., & Russell, S. (1995). The knowledge of high-performance
gymnastic coaches: Competition and training considerations. The Sport
Psychologist, (9)1, 76-95.
Cote, J., & Samela, J. (1996). The organizational tasks of high-performance gymnastic
coaches. Sport Psychologist, (10)3, 247-260.
Dorgo, S. (2009) Unfolding the practical knowledge of an expert strength and
conditioning coach. International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching, (4)1, 1730.
Dowdell, T. (2010). Characteristics of effective gymnastic coaching. Science of
Gymnastics Journal, (2)1, 15-24.
Ericsson, A., & Charness, N. (1994). Expert performance. Its structure and acquisition.
American Psychologist, (49)8, 725-747.

	
  

17	
  

Greenwood, D., Davids, K., & Renshaw, I. (2012). How elite coaches’ experiential
knowledge might enhance empirical research on sport performance. International
Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, (7)2, 411-422.
Harmison, R. (2006). Peak performance in sport: Identifying ideal performance states and
developing athletes’ psychological skills. Professional Psychology: Research and
Practice, (37)3, 233–243.
Jones, J., Neuman, G., Altmann, R., & Dreschler, B. (2001). Development of the sports
performance inventory: A psychological measure of athletic potential. Journal of
Business and Psychology, (15)3, 491-503.
MacDonald, D., Cote, J., & Deakin, J. (2010). The impact of informal coach training on
the personal development of youth sport athletes. International Journal of Sports
Science & Coaching, (5)3, 363-372.
McGuigan, M., Wright, G., & Fleck, S. (2012). Strength training for athletes: Does it
really help sport performance? International Journal of Sport Physiology and
Performance, 7, 2-5.
Nash, C., & Sproule, J. (2011). Insights into experiences: Reflections of an expert and
novice coach. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, (6)1, 149-161.
Reilly, T., Morris, T., & Whyte, G. (2009). The specificity of training prescription and
physiological assessment: A review. Journal of Sport Sciences, 27(6), 575-589.
Santos, Mesquita, Graca, & Rosado (2010). Coaches’ perceptions of competence and
acknowledgement of training needs related to professional competences. Journal
of Sports Science and Medicine, 9, 62-70.

	
  

18	
  

Vandorpe, B., Vandendriessche, J., Vaeyens, R., Pion, J., Lefevre, J., Philippaerts, R., &
Lenoir, M. (2012). The value of a non-sport-specific motor test battery in
predicting performance in young female gymnasts. Journal of Sport Sciences,
30(5), 497-505.

	
  

19	
  

Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography
EFFECTIVE COACHING AND FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HIGH
PERFORMANCE IN GYMNASTIC

Aoyagi, Portenga, Poczwardowski, Cohne & Statler (2011). Reflections and
directions: The profession of sport psychology past, present, and future.
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 1-7. DOI: 10.1037/a0025676
This article is a review of the history of sport psychology and its
interdisciplinary background as well as an examination of its present state
while making suggestions for the future. Aoyagi et al. focus on the
development of sport psychology as an applied profession. Coleman
Griffith can be said to be the father of sport psychology in North America
and due to him the goal of sport psychology is performance. On the other
hand, Bruce Ogilvie can be viewed as the father of applied sport
psychology in North America. Both Griffith and Ogilvie developed two
different models but yet both referred to their work as sport psychology.
Today, there are two major issues that limit the profession: certifications
and title usage. This maybe because of the interdisciplinary background of
the field and the lack of appropriate training and degrees offered. Future
training in sport psychology should address performance excellence,
mental health counseling, consulting psychology and different
	
  

20	
  

performance specialty domains.
Baker, J., & Horton, S. (2004). A review of primary and secondary influences on
sport expertise. High Ability Studies, (15)2, 211-228.
In their article, Baker and Horton (2004) review factors that can affect
sport performance. They refer to primary and secondary influences on the
development of elite performance. Primary influences contributes indirect
or direct to performance and is categorized in genetic, training (acquisition
of motor skills, visual acuity, amount of practice) and psychology factors
(common mental characteristics, motivational factors, focus, manage
anxiety, concentration, risk-taking, competitiveness). Secondary factors
can influence the primary factors and are: socio-cultural, cultural
importance, instructional resources, familial support, contextual factors,
sport maturity, and depth of competition. Even if these factors contribute
to performance in sport, the effect lies within the relationship between
these variables and it is thereby limited by uncertainty.
Cote, J., Samela, J., & Russell, S. (1995). The knowledge of high-performance
gymnastic coaches: Methodological framework. The Sport Psychologist, (9)1,
65-75.
This study focused on coaches. The present study intention was to directly
ask high-performance expert gymnastic coaches about the important
concepts and strategies that they use in coaching. The authors interviewed
17 expert, high-performance Canadian gymnastic coaches with the
objective of building an organizing system of categories that emerged
	
  

21	
  

from the unstructured data and that represented the organization and
utilization of expert high-performance gymnastic coaches’ knowledge.
The result of the study, regardless of if the coaches or athletes were female
or male, consisted of six components: 1. competition, 2. training, 3.
organizing, 4. coaches’ personal characteristics, 5. athlete’s personal
characteristics and level of development, 6. contextual factors. The study
showed that it was far less likely that gymnastic coaches have a readymade schema that contains the generic knowledge necessary to develop
elite gymnasts. Rather, the perception of a particular athlete or any
challenging situation generates knowledge from different components that,
when combined, provides a new and unique estimation for each gymnast.
The most important knowledge sources that helped the coaches to develop
their coaching style were their own experience and other successful
coaches.
Cote, J., Samela, J., & Russell, S. (1995). The knowledge of high-performance
gymnastic coaches: Competition and training considerations. The Sport
Psychologist, (9)1, 76-95.
The purpose of this study was to report the knowledge used in training and
competition by 17 expert high-performance gymnastic coaches. The study
divided the activity of coaching into to two categories: competition and
training. These categories were further divided into sub categories: the
competition component is defined as the knowledge used by coaches to
help gymnasts perform according to their potential in competitions and is

	
  

22	
  

further divided into three sub-categories: competition floor, competition
site and trial competitions. The study indicated that coaches are minimally
involved with the gymnasts in competition. The training component is
defined as a coach’s knowledge used to help gymnasts acquire and
perform different skills in training and was divided into five subcategories:
coach’s involvement in training, intervention style, technical skills, mental
skills and simulation.
Cote, J., & Samela, J. (1996). The organizational tasks of high-performance
gymnastic coaches. Sport Psychologist, (10)3, 247-260.
This article focuses on the organizational tasks of expert, highperformance gymnastic coaches and the aim of the study was to identify
and categorize the organizational tasks of expert gymnastic coaches
through qualitative research. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17
expert, high-performance, Canadian gymnastic coaches, each with a
minimum of 10 years of coaching experience and who each had developed
at least one international-level gymnast and two national-level gymnasts.
Nine of the coaches worked with male athletes and eight worked with
female athletes. The study revealed that nearly 24% of coaching is
represented by an organization component. This component was defined
as the knowledge used by coaches to establish optimal training and
competition conditions by structuring and coordinating various coaching
tasks. The categories included in organization were: planning training,

	
  

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working with assistants, working with parents, helping gymnasts with
personal concerns, monitoring weight and esthetics.
Dorgo, S. (2009). Unfolding the practical knowledge of an expert strength and
conditioning coach. International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching, (4)1,
17-30.
The purpose of this study was to show the practical knowledge of an
expert strength and conditioning coach through a case study. Strength
training and conditioning is an essential part of athletic preparation and
necessary to achieve high performance and to avoid injuries. The practical
knowledge of a strength and conditioning coach can be dived into two
separate categories: foundational knowledge and applied knowledge.
Foundational, practical knowledge included broad and diverse parts of
strength and conditioning coaching and included subcategories such as
knowledge of strength and conditioning, facility and equipment, exercises
and techniques, injuries, athletes and planning. The applied practical
knowledge categories usually emerge form everyday coaching actions:
plan modification, supervision, coaching pedagogical strategies, and
professional development. The most prominent knowledge categories of
these four was the plan modification by the ability to frequently adjust and
revise planned programs due to changing conditions.
Dowdell, T. (2010). Characteristics of effective gymnastic coaching. Science of
Gymnastics Journal, (2)1, 15-24.
This study surveyed 120 gymnastic coaches from five top gymnastic clubs
	
  

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in Australia, investigating the characteristics of effective gymnastics
coaching. The result shows a list of key attributions of gymnastic
coaching: effective teaching, sport specific knowledge, goal setting, and
envisioned excellence in an integrated practice. Factors that were learned
by the coaches during coaching with specific athletes were inter-personal
communication, leadership, “spotting”, visually analyze skill practice,
predict desired outcomes and monitoring students.
Ericsson, A., & Chamess, N. (1994). Expert performance. Its structure and
acquisition. American Psychologist, (49)8, 725-747.
Ericsson and Chamess review and reexamine the existing literature on
expert performance and propose different ways to study performance and
achievement. They show how to identify and capture performance in a
laboratory setting and what how it changes both cognitive and
physiological processes in the athlete. Their findings show that the most
likely factors for expert performance are the environment, the engagement
in deliberate and sustained practice over numerous years, genetics, and
individual temperament.
Greenwood, D., Davids, K., & Renshaw, I. (2012). How elite coaches’ experiential
knowledge might enhance empirical research on sport performance.
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, (7)2, 411-422.

Greenwood, Davids and Renshaw (2012) seek to explain athlete
performance through the experiential knowledge of elite coaches and

	
  

25	
  

athletes. Even if sport scientists and elite coaches have similar
perceptions of the importance of performance research, there have
been few studies which have utilized the knowledge of elite coaches
to enhance the theoretical understanding of athletic performance and
training. The authors of this article analyzed coaches’ experiential
knowledge of the run-up task in three different sports where a run-up
is included in the particular activity, as for example a run-up to the
plan in long jump or run-up to the vault in gymnastic. The study was
based on a four-section interview of 15 elite coaches in three
different sports: track and field, gymnastics, and cricket (fast
bowling). Their conclusion is that the experiential knowledge of elite
coaches may be valuable in development of sport performance.
Coaches often found that their experiential knowledge often
supplemented the existing scientific knowledge.
Harmison, R. (2006). Peak performance in sport: Identifying ideal performance
states and developing athletes’ psychological skills. Professional Psychology:
Research and Practice, (37)3, 233–243.
This article describes the field of sport performance in relation to
psychological factors. The author describes two models for application in
sport performance as well as highlighting the role of athlete awareness and
the importance of following a developmental approach to sport
performance. The article indicates that a certain psychological profile is

	
  

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connected with athletic peak performance. It also identifies psychological
skills that are related to peak performance including goal setting, imagery,
competition and refocusing plans, coping skills, thought control strategies,
strategies to manage emotions, and attention control.
Jones, J., Neuman, G., Altmann, R., & Dreschler, B. (2001). Development of the
sports performance inventory: A psychological measure of athletic potential.
Journal of Business and Psychology, (15)3, 491-503.
This study looked at the relationship between an athlete’s attitude and
their performance. A Sport Performance Inventory was conducted and
surveyed 274 students in a mid-divisional university. They discovered six
areas that can affect athletic performance they are competitiveness,
emotional control, mental toughness, positive attitude, safety conscious
and team orientation. With the highest correlation with high performance
being within, competitiveness, positive attitude and team orientation
MacDonald, D., Cote, J., & Deakin, J. (2010). The impact of informal coach training
on the personal development of youth sport athletes. International Journal of
Sports Science & Coaching, (5)3, 363-372.
Because coaches interact with athletes, they, by definition, have an impact
on the development of youth. Athletes participating in a sport under a
trained coach have higher self-esteem by the end of the season compared
to if lead by an untrained coach. This shows that coaches can have a
positive or negative affect on athletes’ sport experience. The purpose of
this study was to establish if coach training with emphasis on positive
	
  

27	
  

youth development would increase the personal development of athletes.
The study entailed a survey of two different test groups. One group
consisted of program administrators from ten different community sport
programs. The second group was 109 athletes from the same sport
programs. Results show that informal coach training is connected to
increased personal and social skills and that coaches can positively impact
youth’s development, even without formal training. However, the study
did not establish wether informal or formal coaching training is to be
preferred.
McGuigan, M., Wright, G., & Fleck, S. (2012). Strength training for athletes: Does it
really help sport performance? International Journal of Sport Physiology and
Performance, 7, 2-5.
This article reviews the field of strength training and tries to determine if
strength training actually improves athletic performance. Strength training
has been shown to increase strength, power, acceleration, vertical jump,
and speed as well as increasing muscle mass and decreasing the risk of
injury. The physical abilities that can be trained through strength training
is what separates different athletes performance levels, however, as to
what extent the degree of strength improvement will result in enhanced
performance is very sport-specific. The importance of strength and power
to sport specific performance tend to depend on the nature of the sport
activity performed. However, strength training can be the discriminating
factor that differentiates between different performance levels.

	
  

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Nash, C., & Sproule, J. (2011). Insights into experiences: Reflections of an expert
and novice coach. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, (6)1,
149-161.

The purpose of this study was to assess how coaches create their
knowledge and to provide and understanding into the practical
application of their experience in learning. Much current research
focuses on expert coaches but not as much has focused on how these
expert coaches become “expert”. The results of the study are based
on interviews with two female swimming coaches: one expert coach
and one novice. The findings support the idea that in many different
occasions, coaches have a hard time applying knowledge that they
have gained from a coaching course. Thus, there is a need for a welldeveloped knowledge-base and a further understanding in how to put
the theory into practice.
Reilly, T., Morris, T., & Whyte, G. (2009). The specificity of training prescription
and physiological assessment: A review. Journal of Sport Sciences, (27)6, 575589.
This review tries to identify physiological factors affecting performance
by considering training specificity of aerobic, strength and power as well
as cross-training methods. Identifying physiological factors for
performance are crucial when analyzing athletes and as to optimize
training. Optimal performance is dependent on many factors, including

	
  

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genetics and the environment. Every sport-specific event requires its own
set and combination of traits and factors. To enhance performance and to
elicit specific and desirable adaptations one has to focus on the most
necessary and specific factors of peak performance in the sport.
Santos, Mesquita, Graca, & Rosado (2010). Coaches’ perceptions of competence and
acknowledgement of training needs related to professional competences.
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 9, 62-70.
This study is based on a questionnaire completed by 343 coaches from
different sports and examines the coaches’ perception of areas of
competency that needs to be emphasized in coaching education. Several
factor were perceived to need more emphasis: planning (yearly and
consecutive years), practice and competition orientation, personal and
coaching education/competencies, with a slight emphasis on the training
factor.
Vandorpe, Vandendriessche, Vaeyens, Pion, Lefevre, Philippaerts, & Lenoir (2012).
The value of a non-sport-specific motor test battery in predicting
performance in young female gymnasts. Journal of Sport Sciences, (30)5, 497505.
This study attempts to identify performance characteristics that can used to
predict performance in competition two years in advanced. This study
used a multidimensional test battery measuring 23 female gymnasts as
well as an evaluation by expert coaches. The findings show that measures
of physical performance reflect the current ability of a gymnast rather than
	
  

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the potential to excel and have little or no correlation with current results
and previous performance. Coordination tests have been able to
distinguish between elite and non-elite gymnasts and are a better predictor
of future success than what test of physical abilities are. This means that
on an elite level, performance is more determined by better coordination
than physical abilities, whereas on a lower level of competition, lack of
coordination can be balanced out with an increase in and better physical
abilities. This study did not include important psychological and
environmental factors that can contribute to development of peak
performance.

	
  

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