A Bibliometric Analysis of Coaching Behaviour and Practice Activities: Evidence from Web of Science

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine publications on coaching behaviour and practice activities through a bibliometric methodology

Method: Prior to data collection, a preliminary set of studies relevant to sports coaches' behaviour and practice activities was reviewed (n = 50). From this review, the most frequently occurring keywords were extracted to inform the search strategy. An advanced search was utilising the ''Topic'' option in Web of Science (WoS) on March 11, 2026. A total of 3719 relevant records were initially identified. Following a filtering process - restricting results to journal articles published in English within the field of sports sciences - 506 articles were retained for the bibliometric mapping. Data analysis and visualisation were performed using Microsoft Excel^®, VOSviewer^®, and WordClouds.com. While Microsoft Excel was employed to assess annual publication trends, most-cited articles and most-productive journals, VOSviewer played a pivotal role in visualising collaboration patterns and identifying key countries, institutions, authors and authors' keywords. The final co-word map was created through WordClouds.com.

Results: The results indicated that Christopher Cushion was a leading author and the most productive journal was the Journal of Sports Sciences. The most influential research institution was Loughborough University, and the country with the highest number of publications is England. The most frequently used keywords were ''coaching'', ''self-determination theory'' and ''sport''. It is noteworthy that publication volume has markedly increased since the first decade of the millennium. The highest number of publications recorded in 2020.

Conclusion: The Anglophone research community emerges as a leading contributor in the present dataset. Publications related to coaching behaviour and practice activities appears to be a growing area of interest. Content or thematic analyses enabling a clearer illustration of emerging themes warrant further investigation.

Keywords

• Coaching science
• Practice design
• Research trends
• Athlete
• Sport pedagogy

Antrenör Davranışları ve Antrenman Alıştırmalarının Bibliyometrik Analizi: Web of Science Yayınlarının İncelenmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı, antrenör davranışları ve antrenman alıştırmaları ile ilgili makalelerin bibliyometrik analizinin yapılmasıdır.

Yöntem: Araştırmada tarama yapılmadan önce; tarama yapılacak anahtar kelimelerin belirlenmesi için konu ile ilgili öne çıkan güncel araştırmalar incelenmiş (n=50), arama işlemi tespit edilen anahtar kelimeler ve Boolen operatorleri ile ileri arama teknikleri kullanılarak Web of Science (WoS) veri tabanında gerçekleştirilmiştir (11 Mart 2026). Arama sonucunda öncelikle 3719 kayıtlı makaleye ulaşılmış, spor bilimleri alanında son 43 yılda (1983-2026) İngilizce yayınlanan 506 araştırma makalesi çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. Verilerin analizinde ve görselleştirilmesinde Microsoft Excel^®, VOSviewer^® ve WordClouds.com platformları kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada sırasıyla; konu ile ilgili yıllık araştırma sayısı ve bu sayıların yıllara göre değişimi, en fazla atıf alan çalışmalar, en üretken yazar, dergi, üniversite ve ülkeler ile bu yazar, üniversite ve ülkeler arasındaki iş birlikleri ve en sık kullanılan anahtar kelimeler tespit edilmiştir.

Bulgular: Konu ile ilgili en üretken yazar Christopher Cushion, en üretken dergi ise Journal of Sports Sciences'tır. En etkili araştırma merkezi Loughborough Üniversitesi, en fazla makaleye sahip ülke İngiltere'dir. Yazarlar tarafından en sık kullanılan anahtar kelimeler; ''coaching'' ''self-determination theory'' ve ''sport'' olmuştur. İlaveten, 2010 yılından sonra konu ile ilgili çalışmaların belirgin bir artış gösterdiği, en fazla yayın yapılan yılın 2020 yılı olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Sonuç: Antrenör davranışları ve antrenman pratikleri ile ilgili literatürün merkezinde Anglofonların yer aldığı görülmektedir. Konu ile ilgili üretilen araştırma sayıları, söz konusu disiplinin ilgi gören bir araştırma alanı olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. İlerdeki çalışmalarda etkili ve öncü yayınların içerik ve tematik analizleri de metrik analizlere dahil edilerek konu ile ilgili uzmanlaşılmış, gerileyen ya da yükselen alanlar daha kapsamlı ortaya konulabilir.

Keywords

• Antrenörlük
• Antrenman dizaynı
• Beceri kazanımı
• Spor
• Spor pedagojisi

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