Exploring the coach’s and athletes’ behaviour in martial arts: A case study

Jan-Erik Romar, Markus Ranta-Aho, Emyr Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

This descriptive study examined the processes of coaching and participation in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) for both experienced (n=3) and novice (n=3) adult participant, members of a martial arts club in Finland. Over a period of six weeks, five practice sessions were videotaped with a mean duration of 84.35 minutes. Systematic observation data were used to describe the practice structure and participants’ engagement. Additionally, a modified version of the Coach Analysis and Intervention System was used to evaluate coaching behaviour. The heart rate data were also collected to evaluate the participants’ physical activity levels. Results indicated that practice time allocated to training and playing were 75% and 25%, respectively, which differs from team sport research. The coaching emphasis observed in this study highlighted competition and technique perfection. The participants’ practice activity level was high with most participants spending more than half of practice time at a moderate-to-vigorous physical activity level. These findings show that both the structure and content of coaching practice is context specific and that the coach need to identify and react to the needs of individual athletes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)196-207
Number of pages12
JournalKinesiology
Volume52
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Nov 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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