An examination of ‘explicitation techniques’ to enhance decision-making in Korfball: an Action Research study

 This thesis develops the use of ‘explicitation techniques’as a pedagogical tool for coaches to enhance players’ awareness and decisions.Recent research  has  highlighted  a  new  appreciation  for  the  use  of phenomenological methods in sports coaching(e.g. Mouchet, Morgan & Thomas,  2018).  Furthermore,  Mouchet’s  research  (2005;  2008)  has highlighted the use of explicitation interviews to enhance rugby players’ understandings of previous decisions. Through extended questioning, the interviewer attempts to invoke an ‘evocative state’ of the interviewee where they re-livea previous experience in order to access information stored in the subconscious. By utilisingan Action Researchapproachover twelve weeks, the aim of the study was to developthe use of these techniques within my own coaching practice in order to enhance my players’ game awareness and develop their in-game decision-making. The study used a group of five experienced Korfball players who engaged with the explicitation informed interviews as part of their regular training sessions, they then discussed their experiences in Focus Groupsat the end  of  each Action  Researchcycle. The  results extendthe  existing research into ‘explicitation interviews’ by developing theappliedutilityof explicitation techniques through short interviewsduring coaching practice.The results show that through engagement with these interviews the participants developedtheir game awareness whilst playing and believed that further engagement in the explicitation techniques would be beneficial for themselves andother players.