Welcome to the December 2005 Coaching & Sports section! In this month's issue we take several different approaches to address current issues in coaching and sports. We offer a feature research article on professional coaching styles, our response to a reader question about overtraining and parenting in youth sport, and a summary of exciting new developments in coaching science.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to comment on these articles, submit your own ideas for publication, or send us a coaching question you would like us to address.

Wade Gilbert and Jenelle N. Gilbert
Coaching & Sports Section Editor

The Keys to Success: Coaching Styles of Championship Coaches
Amy E. McRae & Wade Gilbert

Why do some coaches win? What differentiates championship coaches from coaches of teams that don't make the playoffs? Why is one coach's approach successful and another coach's approach a failure?

In order to find answers to these questions, I researched and conducted a study on the coaching styles of professional, North American, championship coaches of team sports. Why would this be of interest to you? Research shows that coaching styles have a direct effect on team performance.

Methodology
The present study utilized a qualitative descriptive research approach. Participants were championship coaches who coached within the past 15 years at the professional level in the United States. Five coaches were chosen by conducting searches of championship records on the official Internet sites of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, and the Women’s National Basketball Association. Assorted text (i.e., autobiographies and biographies) on each coach were analyzed.

Results
Four categories found to comprise a coaching style were leadership, relationships, pedagogy, and personal characteristics. Within the framework of these four categories, the following coaching style characteristics were common to all five coaches:

	Being genuine/true to self
	Setting clear and defined roles
	Acknowledging that their sport is just a game
	Valuing team unity/togetherness
	Comfortable with a range of leadership approaches
	Having a working coach-athlete relationship

Three other characteristics common to four of the five coaches were:

	Passion for winning
	Care for players
	Adjusting to situation/players’ needs

Although professional championship team sport coaches use an eclectic coaching style that comprises many important characteristics, perhaps the most important finding is that each coach crafts a coaching style that is true to their unique personality. This critical element was referred to as 'being genuine/true to self.'

In essence, don't try to coach like someone else. Know your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and make sure your athletes get the best 'you' possible.

About the Author:
Amy E. McRae earned her Master’s degree in Sport Psychology and is currently teaching physical education and coaching at the middle school and high school levels. She can be contacted at amers22@csufresno.edu. This research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Wade Gilbert at California State University, Fresno.

Response to Reader Question about Overtraining and Parenting in Youth Sport
Wade Gilbert

Lawrie Johns, manager of youth programs for Basketball British Columbia, recently wrote to the editors of PELINKS4U. In addition to providing us with some positive feedback about the publication (thanks Lawrie!), he asked us to consider two significant issues he has encountered in youth sport: (a) overtraining of young athletes and (b) sport parenting.

Lawrie, you are not alone in searching for information on these two very important topics. It is difficult to find clear and concise, science-based, guidelines for these two issues. However, there certainly are many resources that will provide you with the information needed to make your own informed decision on how to tackle these issues in your own unique context.

I have compiled a resource list based on my experience working in youth sport and teaching courses on coaching psychology and talent development. It is difficult to separate the two issues because most of these resources directly address both topics. I have included web links where available so that you can immediately begin exploring these resources. The list is organized alphabetically. There is surely something in this list that will meet your needs and peak your interest. Enjoy the process!

	American College of Sports Medicine: Position on Training in Youth Sports. (link)
	Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York: Ballantine.
	Brown, J. (2001). Sports talent. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
	Center for the Advancement of Responsible Youth Sport. (link)
	Center for Sports Parenting. (link)
	Coaching Youth Sports. (link)
	DiCicco, T., & Hacker, C. (2002). Catch them being good. New York: Viking. Institute for the Study of Youth Sports.
	National Alliance for Youth Sports. (link)
	National Association for Sport and Physical Activity. (1995). National standards for athletic coaches. (link)
	North American Youth Sports Institute (link)
	Smoll, F.L., & Smith. R.E. (Eds.). (2002). Children and youth in sport: A biopsychosocial perspective (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. (link)
	Sports Leadership Institute - Sports Parenting
	Starkes, J.L. & Ericsson, K.A. (Eds.). (2003). Expert performance in sports: Advances in research on sport expertise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
	The Athlete Project
	Thompson, J. (2003). The double-goal coach: Positive coaching tools for honoring the game and developing winners in sports and life. New York: Harper Collins.
	Positive Coaching Alliance
	Tofler, I. & DiGeronimo, T.F. (2000). Keeping your kids out front without kicking them from behind. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
	Wooden, J., & Jamison, S. (1987). Wooden: A lifetime of observations and reflections on and off the court. Chicago: Contemporary.
	Youth Sports Parenting Information for Sports Moms (link)

About the Author:
Wade Gilbert is co-editor of the coaching section for PELINKS4U, and also sits on the editorial boards for The Sport Psychologist and the International Journal of Sport Sciences and Coaching. Dr. Gilbert coordinates the graduate option in sport psychology, and is the director of the sport & exercise psychology lab at California State University, Fresno.

Repetitive Stress Injuries - If you coach children, you have to take particular care to avoid repetitive stress.

Sports Injury Prevention - Sports injuries prevention: A cynic would say that the way to prevent sports injuries was to not play sport, but for readers of PEAK PERFORMANCE that rather misses the point.

Core Stability Training - Core Stability Training: This exercise programme will strengthen your trunk muscles and thus help avoid back problems.

Athletes Drug Testing in Sport - Athletes Drug Testing In Sport: What do you do when running breathes meaning into every moment of your life - and you're suddenly told that you can't run anymore?

The Path of a Champion - Learn about the three qualities that are indicative of champions: desire, discipline, and direction. Also read Whose sport is it?

Speed - These workouts can boost fitness, speed, endurance and correct weaknesses - and are fun to do.

What the experts say - Injury prevention, nutrition, physiology and psychology. Read info on coaching, conditioning, ergogenic aids, and endurance, and also info on injury prevention, nutrition, physiology, psychology and conditioning.