Learning from Serial Winning Coaches provides researchers, performance coaches and directors, and coach developers, and researchers, with the knowledge and tools to affirm and challenge policy and practice conduct further research, to inform future policy and practice in the identification, recruitment, and development of performance coaches.
Leading an athlete or team to an Olympic or World Championship Gold Medal or professional League title is a great achievement for a coach; a dream that comes true for only a small group of privileged coaches. This outstanding accomplishment can and becomes the defining moment of their careers. Winning multiple golds and championships with different athletes or teams, and across multiple major events spanning decades, is the prerogative of a very exclusive club of coaches.
This book reveals the secrets experiences and practices of 17 of these super coaches across 10 sports and 10 different countries. Through a ground-breaking combination of in-depth interviews with the coaches and their athletes, and a detailed analysis of their personality and motivational profiles, Mallett and Lara-Bercial offer a unique portrait of the day-to-day workings of these coaches: who they are, how they operate, their leadership style and their inimitable and oft serendipitous journeys to the top of the sporting world.
Learning from Serial Winning Coaches goes beyond the description of isolated coaching behaviours provided by previous research to unveil and explore the personal realities of theses exceptional men and women (coaches and athletes). The emerging multi-dimensional picture sheds light onto the unique conditions and practices that lead to the unparalleled success of these true outliers.
Learning from Serial Winning Coaches is key reading for researchers, coaching and coaching psychology students, performance coaches and directors, and coach developers, providing a novel evidence-based theoretical framework to conduct further research, shape and re-shape coach development, and facilitate the identification and recruitment of the next generation of serial winners.
About the Author: Cliff Mallett is a Professor of Sport Psychology and Coaching at The University of Queensland (Australia) and has enjoyed distinguished careers in high-performance sport and academia. He is an Olympic and World Championship podium coach in Athletics and also an internationally renowned researcher and coach developer, who has been honoured with prestigious Professorial Fellowships at The Technical University of Munich and the National Institute of Education at NTU in Singapore. Cliff consults to many national and international sport organisations (World Athletics) and corporate and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and presented 29 invited international keynote addresses in more than 12 countries.
Sergio Lara-Bercial is a Professor of Sport Coaching at Leeds Beckett University, in the UK and Vice President for Strategy and Development at International Council for Coaching Excellence. He has published widely on many sport-related topics including youth sport and coach development. Sergio consults to many high level organisations, including Nike, IOC, UEFA, and FIBA. He is a former international basketball coach for the Great Britain and coached national league for over 25 years winning 18 National Titles with both male and female teams.
