Time: 14:15 – 14:35
Session: Academic Talk

Actions, Reactions, and Decisions: Coaching Behaviour in Competition

Speaker Profile

Ashley Gumbrell is the Programme Lead for the Performance Football Coaching MSc at St Mary’s University and is preparing to begin doctoral research focused on matchday coaching behaviours. His work aims to develop a bespoke observation framework to better understand what constitutes effective coaching during competition.

Alongside his academic role, he works as a researcher and consultant with Minute9, providing data-driven insights for elite sport organisations, with a particular focus on half-time team talks and matchday communication strategies.

Overview

While coaching behaviours in training environments have been widely studied, far less is known about how coaches behave during competition. This session explores the current state of research in coaching behaviour analysis, highlighting the limitations of existing observation tools when applied to high-pressure matchday contexts.

Drawing on both theoretical and applied perspectives, the session considers how emerging technologies, including AI-driven analysis tools, are creating new opportunities to better understand coaching behaviours in real time. It will explore how these developments can inform future research and support coaches in reflecting on and improving their in-competition practice.