Why do individuals seek out adventure sport coaching?Individualisation is a key aspect of coaching practice. This is particularly important for adventure sport coaches, given the demands of the hyper-dynamic coaching environment and the various motivations to participate in adventure sports. However, the literature on individualisation is limited. As a logical beginning, the aim of this study is to understand why individuals seek coaching in the context of adventure sports. Semi-structured interviews with adventure sport clients (N = 15) were thematically analysed, revealing that clients seek three different but not mutually exclusive experiences: holistic, authentic, and developmental. Importantly, the extent to which each experience was desired varied between individuals. These differences in individual desires place a fundamental emphasis on coaches' understanding of why an individual seeks coaching as well as their longer-term participation goals, and then having the adaptive expertise to meet those expectations. Further research is required to understand how aspects of the developmental experience are achieved, specifically in the desired contexts.

This paper presents a mixed-method investigation of client's perceptions of a good adventure sports coach. Semi-structured interviews were analysed thematically, and the findings used to inform a subsequent larger survey that sought to verify the importance of the themes identified in the interviews. The findings draw an alignment between the attributes of good coaches in traditional sports, as reported in previous studies, and those of adventure sports coaches. However, they also identify three additional attributes that are critical for good adventure sports coaches: (1) in-depth knowledge of the adventure sports environment, (2) a very high degree of individualisation, and (3) an explicit focus on developing the participant's confidence.The implications for training adventure sports coaches are discussed.

An increasing body of evidence has demonstrated that high-level adventure sports coaches are developing their learners towards a personalised conception of independence in their activities. However, how coaches do this has yet to receive much attention. This investigation draws on a thematic analysis of 10 semistructured interviews that followed coaching sessions with an explicit focus on developing independence. Three themes emerged: developing a cognitive performer, an attuned coaching process that fosters independence, and developing the individual’s capacity to learn. The findings suggest that learners have an explicit comprehension of the “what and why” of the performance and coaches develop the learner’s ability to learn both how and where to continue their development postcoaching. The coaches achieve these two objectives by developing a long-term independent performance in their coaching practice. Coaches are not trying to develop fully independent performances during coaching, but instead to prepare learners to continue their development with adaptable performances within the practicalities of learning in adventurous environments.

This autoethnography commentary critically examines the experiences of an adventure sports coach turned academic as they consider the ethical considerations of real-world research in adventure sports coaching. These considerations centre around two self-perceived challenges facing researchers in adventure sports: maintaining rigour and the practicalities of researching in adventurous environments. Through discussion of these challenges, limited guidance is offered for those seeking to research adventure sports. KEYWORDS Autoethnographic; ethical research; real-world research; adventure sports coachingIn the UK, adventure sports participation has witnessed a substantial increase in the 12 months up to 2019 (Sport England, 2019). As part of this growth, there is a demand for adaptable outdoor professionals with a wide range of skills (Valkonen, Huilaja, & Koikkalainen, 2013) that can deliver the adventurous coaching experiences learners desire (Eastabrook & Collins, 2020). The increase in demand may be related to a rise in research concerning the adventure sports coach (

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