ABSTRACT
This chapter explores coach learning alongside a contemporary understanding of expertise as it applies to coaching in soccer. It considers how findings about current coach development may, or may not, contribute to the development of coaching expertise. The chapter then presents evidence-informed guidance for coach development focusing on developing adaptive coaching expertise. Coaches frequently report that informal learning grounded in everyday experiences has much more influence on their development in comparison to the impact of formalised coach education. Researchers have tended to report coaches’ perceptions of formal learning opportunities, with much criticism directed at the use of prescriptive teaching strategies aligned to a simplistic ‘instruction’ paradigm, decontextualised delivery, and limited relevancy or influence on the ‘real-world’ dynamic demands of coaching. Reflective practice is important in developing expertise as well as being a feature of adaptive expertise. There are many types of reflection (e.g., descriptive and creative), but the key type in coach development is critical reflection.
