The journey is the destination : Reconsidering the expert sports coach

Abstract

This paper seeks to critically consider the traditional linear staged model of expertise development commonly employed in the sports coaching literature, which has been principally based upon the accumulation of threshold amounts of hours of experience. Here, we draw upon recent developments in the broader expertise literature, which is starting to represent expertise as complex, dynamic, non-linear, and contingent upon contextual influences. In particular, this paper considers the potential utility of Grenier and Kehrhahn’s (2008) Model of Expertise Redevelopment (MER), as a tool to further enhance our critical understanding of expertise in coaching. An example is provided in order to illustrate how the MER might be useful for re-conceptualising expertise in coaching. This example not only acknowledges progress towards expertise, but also what happens after initial expertise is achieved, why redevelopment is sometimes required, and how redevelopment occurs in the developmental journey.