Should males and females be coached differently?

Until fairly recently, this question would have been seen as retrogressive, carrying with it the taint of outdated attitudes to women, their physical capacities and their place in sport. But, in the last few years, questions regarding appropriate treatment for women and girls have surfaced in a variety of contexts, either implied by pieces of positive action or direct questions and concerns from coaches, athletes and others.

Unlike most areas of coaching theory, many of the factors under examination for their effects on female under performance in athletics do not fall into the area of hard science. Based in historical myths, socio-cultural assumptions and the gender power relationship, they are played out in the individual performance context within the minutiae of inter-personal relationships, athlete self-perception and self-determination. “Small things,” as one top athlete has observed, “that make a very big picture.” These are not areas of investigation that coaching has seen as a priority, nor do they appear to have fallen squarely within the emerging sport science industry. It has therefore been difficult to reach a consensus as to how, or even if, gender is relevant to coaching.

Those aspects that do relate to specific biological difference are complex and under-researched. Neither can they be isolated from the psycho-social context.

Note: This resource has been divided into approximately sociological (Introduction and chapter 1), physiological (chapter 2), and psychological (chapters 3, 4 & 5) sections for the sake of simplicity. However, it cannot be over emphasised that a holistic approach is vital to the true understanding of gender in the real world of athletics and each chapter and exercise contains references and/or implications for others.

Appendix A (Concerns About Women’s Athletics) identifies a wide list of concerns which have been raised as problems over and over again by knowledgeable observers of female athletics. It is true that, as far as we can judge, without a central database with which to track participation and performance trends, participation is declining for both sexes and that this may be true for other sports. (Though not for women’s soccer and rugby, two of the fastest growing sports in the last decade.) But it is clear that teenage drop-out in athletics is far more severe among girls than among boys and that it has become a given that, at elite level, British male athletes are in general superior to our females in terms of world ranking and medals won.

Figure 1 - Points (Top 8) Gained by UK Athletes at Global Championships 1980 - 2005

The dearth of female coaches and decision-makers is further evidence of the lack of a level playing field for the sexes in athletics. It is no longer good enough simply to assume that this is just evidence of girls and women “voting with their feet” and making other life choices. The problems need objective scrutiny and we can start by seeing the specific concerns on the above list for what they are – issues or the outcomes of issues which are inadequately addressed by existing coaching lore or development systems. For the purposes of this level 1,2,3 workshop, dropout and retention are the umbrella concerns to which all these omissions are likely to make a contribution , although implications for mature performance can certainly be drawn.

Probably the nearest we can come to making a universal statement is to say that there are observable areas of mismatch between the traditionally accepted boundaries of coaching knowledge and some of the specific needs of female athletes.

This piece of work is a response to the emerging recognition that the question, “should males and females be coached differently?” is relevant and urgent. The fact that UK Athletics has commissioned it is a significant step toward equality of the sexes in athletics. However there is still a long road to travel and at this point there are no definitive answers in terms of best practice to many of the questions raised. The fourth module objective is the platform upon which future advancement will depend.

“To encourage coaches to develop strategies and practice for the advancement of female athletes based on available research.”

The role of this module must be to facilitate more realistic thinking about gender, not to dictate coaching methods. The commitment and innovative ability of coaches has always been the strength and most positive force for change in British Athletics. The art (as opposed to the science) of coaching is in the adaptation of appropriate theory to the capacities of individual athletes. The aim of this module is to add gender to the theoretical melting pot. It is then the role of the coach to test and adapt this and to develop best practice accordingly. It is to be hoped that a way will be found to monitor and record coaches’ findings and ways in which they have incorporated aspects of this module into their coaching. It is important that future updates include and circulate these ideas.