Chris Kilmurray is a renowned coach in downhill and enduro mountain biking, with a background in sports science and coaching education having spent time working all over the world as a coach educator for the UCI.
We had a wide ranging conversation that felt like we we were on a mountain bike going downhill at great speed!! We had a healthy discussion / debate about the realative applications and limits of the ideas that are proposed by ecological psychology and cognitive psychology in his coaching.
These are the key points from our discussion...
- Downhill mountain biking is a gravity-fed sport, similar to downhill skiing, where potential energy is converted to kinetic energy.
- Chris's coaching philosophy involves 'not breaking the raw material', helping athletes 'amplify' themselves, and balancing professionalism with the extreme sports culture..
- Coaching philosophies and curriculum development should focus on putting the athlete first, considering their unique needs and sporting environment.
- Traditional coaching education tends to focus on idealised parameters and standardised approaches, which may not always be effective for individual athletes.
- The historical and cultural influences on coaching and education are slowly shifting away from traditional hierarchical teaching methods, but cultural inertia and path dependency still impact how sports and languages are taught.
- The benefits of ambiguity and system dynamics in coaching can be explored through various perspectives, such as ecological psychology, cognitive psychology, and complexity theory.
- A holistic approach to coaching involves adapting methods to suit individual athletes and situations, as well as balancing performance-driven goals with the overall well-being of the individual.
- Long-term relationships between coach and athlete are valuable, and coaches should be open-minded to different approaches and engage with original research to develop a well-rounded coaching philosophy.
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