Negative Focus, Self-Doubt, and Issues of ‘Tool Proficiency’: Beginner-Coaches’ Reflections on Reflective Practice

In the field of sports coaching education and learning, reflective practice is considered central to transforming experience and knowledge into expertise, and many governing bodies execute this through professional development and specific guidelines (Vallance, 2019). However, whilst the general consensus within academia and the vocational sector of coaching continue to espouse this approach, there is a lack of evidence to suggest how this is useful for beginner-coaches (defined as emerging-new, with less than three years of experience) as studies generally focus on expert coaches and oftentimes sit within the context of performance and/or elite sport. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the benefits and limitations of reflective practice, and to identify aspects of ideal learning for in-situ, practice-based context as perceived by beginner-coaches who operate more within recreational (although still competitive) sport fields. Situated within the UK context, the methodology comprised of semi-structured interviews conducted with six beginner-coaches. The findings demonstrated that whilst there were tangible benefits to the use of reflective practice (such as perceived additional competency and critical thinking), there were also limitations centred on time constraints, and an over-focus on negative emotions with a subsequent adverse impact on self-confidence and anxiety. The implications, including recommendations and thoughts for the future, are outlined within the paper.