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Invasion team sports coaches are faced with the problem of developing players who, in any given situation, can make decisions that lead to successful outcomes. Research into human decision making has established three widely accepted perspectives, which sports coaching has used to understand player decision making and inform practice: information processing, ecological psychology, and naturalistic decision making. As a result, coaches are challenged with perspective-specific terminology and having to draw connections between similar findings that are explained in quite different ways. This conceptual paper presents a plainer account of player decision making by proposing a communal language within a conceptual framework for decision making in invasion team sports. It is hoped that the proposed language and framework will, together, facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers and coaches for the betterment of player development.

Three perspectives were taken to explain decision-making within team sports (information processing, recognition primed decision-making, and ecological dynamics perspectives), resulting in conceptual tension and practical confusion. The aim of this paper was to interrogate empirical evidence to (1) understand the process of decision-making within team sports and (2) capture the characteristics of decision-making expertise in a team sport context. Nine electronic databases (SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PsycTests, PubMed, SAGE journals online, Web of Knowledge, Academic Search Complete, and Web of Science) were searched until the final return in March 2021. Fifty-three articles satisfied the inclusion criteria, were analysed thematically, and synthesised using a narrative approach. Findings indicate that the relative absence or presence of mental representation within the decision-making process depends on factors, including complexity, typicality, time available, and contextual priors available in the game situation. We recommend that future research integrate concepts and methodologies prevalent within each perspective to better understand decision-making within team sports before providing implications for practitioners.

A growing body of literature identifies the importance of conditionality in coaching and coach education. In simple terms, the complexity and hyperdynamic nature of many coaching environments makes it increasingly unlikely that any one approach, tool or even paradigm will be appropriate to every situation. Accordingly, in this paper, we critically consider the use of Professional judgment and Decision-Making (often referred to as "it depends" coaching) as a valid approach to coaching, using three exemplar constructs backed by both literature and practical challenges. We conclude by comparing the underpinnings and logic of this approach and presenting implications for coaching practice. Our intention is to stimulate debate amongst coaches, coach developers and researchers.

Although there have been increasing calls to recognise the “voice of the coach” in both policy and research, there has been very little work that has asked the coaches directly: “what are your main issues and problems?” and “where do you go for support?” Instead, assessments and decisions have been made on these issues by the media, policy makers, support agencies, governing bodies, and researchers with results often reflecting the perspectives and interests of the latter. This paper presents new research with a reasonably representative sample of over 1,000 U.K. coaches that considers the issues and problems, and support networks from the perspective of the coaches themselves. The results suggest that coaches experience a wide range of problems but that they can be broken down into 17 main categories with places to play sport (e.g., facilities), problems with player–coach interaction, and problems with coaching knowledge and skills, being most frequently mentioned. In terms of support networks, the coaches tended to look “closest to home”: to themselves, their family/friends, participants and parents, and local coaching networks. Governing bodies and coaching associations tend to be less well used. Some implications for policy and practise are discussed.