PGA of GB&I Advanced Fellow Professional at the Impact Golf Academy, Ian Peek, will be presenting at the 2015 Coaches Circle from 27-28 July at Pravets Golf & Spa Resort.  Here, Ian explains more about his presentation as well as additional pre-event reading.

Research has shown coaching and the relationships between players, parents and diverse coaches to be an often “messy” and complex process. My interest in the subject of inter-coach relationships initially stems from my own experiences during an eight year period (2001-2008) where I was a highly motivated junior coach at Sigmaringen Golf Club in South-West Germany.

During that period and under my guidance, our junior programme developed 5 elite players who went on to gain state (regional) or national recognition through their on-course achievements.  My relationship with the various county and national coaches during that period varied from very collaborative to passive-aggressive to non-existent.

Feedback from many home and regional/national coaching colleagues throughout Europe indicate tension or a lack of communication often exists between them and one can reasonably assume these seemingly fractured relationships impact negatively upon player development.

During my 2015 Coaches Circle presentation I will initially discuss the “why?” behind the differing relationships between home and county/national coaches.  Part of this discussion will cover the micro-politics of governing bodies within Golf, the various effect of pyramid systems on coaches and players, and why coaches may find it difficult to “park their ego” when working with junior players.

To conclude my presentation I will suggest two possible strategies for developing more productive home and regional/national coach relationships.

Pre-Event Reading

• Branton, J. A. (2013) Understanding the relationships between parents, coach and golfer and their Role in talent development (MPhil Dissertation, University of Birmingham).
• Collins, D., Abraham, A., & Collins, R. (2012). On Vampires and Wolves—Exposing and exploring reasons for the differential impact of coach education. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 43(3), 255.
• Carfaro, V. A. (2013) Early developmental experiences of professional golfers: a case study from the UK (MPhil Dissertation, University of Birmingham).
• Jones, R. L., Armour, K. M., & Potrac, P. (2002). Understanding the coaching process: A framework for social analysis. Quest, 54(1), 34-48.
• Jowett, S., & Cockerill, I. M. (2003). Olympic medallists’ perspective of the althlete–coach relationship. Psychology of sport and exercise, 4(4), 313-331.

For more information on the 2015 Coaches Circle Visit the Event Hub Page: http://eur.pe/2015CoachesCircle