Brian T. Gearity

Discipline and punish in the weight room

Building on the work of scholars in sport and physical cultural studies, coach educators have recently demonstrated the usefulness of Foucaults theorising to critique dominant coaching practices. However, to date, no research has applied Foucaults concepts to strength and conditioning coaching. Much of the strength and conditioning research is void of its historical and socio-cultural context, and lacks the complexity involved in the coaching act. The purpose of this personal narrative is to demonstrate how power operates (with knowledge) upon the social body to produce ‘unintended effects’ of dominant coaching practices. A creative non-fiction story was created by drawing upon my (the first authors) collegiate strength and conditioning coaching experiences and Foucaults Discipline and Punish. In particular, the tale examines the effects of exercising power-knowledge within the context of docile bodies, underperformance, injury, poor exercise technique, and the coach–athlete relationship.

The Discipline of Philosophy in Strength and Conditioning

ALTHOUGH THE FIELD OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING IS ABUNDANT WITH RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY WITH RESPECT TO THE EXERCISE OR SPORT SCIENCES, LESS IS KNOWN ABOUT PHILOSOPHY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO REVIEW HOW THE TERM PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN USED IN STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING, TO CLARIFY ITS USE, AND TO ARGUE FOR ITS INCLUSION AS A DISCIPLINE IN THE FIELD. FURTHERMORE, THIS PAPER PROPOSES THAT PRACTITIONERS ARE “USING PHILOSOPHY” WHEN THEY SYNTHESIZE RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR OWN PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING.

Narratives of Sport Pedagogies The Poetic Representation of Life Beyond Dreams

The following article is a messy, performative text that combines the voices of student and professor to tell and show critical (auto)ethnographies. Using multiple biographical, poetic narratives, the student’s voice inscribes sport and its intersections with race, class, and gender. The professor’s theoretical-literary voice precedes the individual narratives, and provides testimony to the pedagogical value of creative analytic practices.

Educator-Coach as Stranger

The recent allegations of widespread child abuse at Penn State add to the already lengthy and never ending litany of scandals and problems associated within and around intercollegiate athletics. We begin this article by briefly situating these abuses within their socio-historical context and the complex power relations of intercollegiate athletics. We surmise that the economic, social, and moral problems associated with intercollegiate athletics (including Penn State) are nothing new, although they are currently receiving greater attention and scrutiny from scholars and the media. While criticizing intercollegiate athletics consistent inability to align itself with educational values and govern its coaches is worthwhile, its constituents comprise a tiny fraction of all sporting participants. We argue that a more prudent way forward for sport, at all levels, is through coach education and increased regulation. Curiously, the preparation and regulation of coaches has been a major omission from American society. In order to rectify these concerns, we conclude that now is the time to make the educator-coach the new norm

Review of the Routledge Handbook of Sports Coaching

Going into the first year of my doctoral degree was intimidating. The Handbook came out at an ideal time in my career, to use as a jump-start to educate myself about current research in our field. I am a coach, a student, and now a coach educator: in all of these positions, I can find viable ways to put the Handbook to use. From the calamitous events at Penn State, to news articles on coaches grappling with the difference between discipline and abuse (Clark, 2013), unfortunate current events in the coaching field are not hard to come by. In order to be better equipped to handle these situations, coaches could open this text to find pertinent information and resources. The book is separated into three manageable sections (Part I: Historical and Conceptual Overview; Part II: Perspectives on Coaching in Action; Part III: Influences of Becoming a Sports Coach), each with subsections that point the reader to their clear objectives. As a coach, I am always looking for ways to improve communication and connection with my athletes. For this, I looked straight to the subsection in ‘Part II: Exploring Social Relationships in Sports Coaching’ where, in Chapter 26, Lorimer and Jowett provide an overview of empathic accuracy in the coach–athlete relationship. While empathy can be a challenging concept to explain, the authors’ clear language provides any reader with valuable ‘take away’ knowledge. Realistically, active coaches might not read the Handbook cover-to-cover, but could easily identify and be pointed to areas of their specific interests. As a woman in the field of sports coaching, I found it heartening that a chapter about female coaches, with an all-