Coaching of Athletes with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Whereas there has been an increasing interests of media and society in Japan in para-sports, partly due to Tokyo 2020, there is a lack of research and study on para-sport coaching, including and particularly, relating to para-sports for persons with intellectual disability. The main purpose of this research is to deepen the understanding on the challenges in coaching top-athletes with intellectual disability (ID) and how to develop required coaching skills and knowledge for top-athletes with ID. This research focuses on para-table tennis, which is one of the three sports included in Paralympics (remaining two are athletics and swimming). Six purposefully selected coaches who has had a coaching experience of para-table tennis players with ID including participation in at least one official international competition during 2018-2019. The results include informal modalities of acquiring coaching skills for players with ID mostly through learning by doing, and adopting inclusive and athlete-centered approaches taking long-term athlete development into consideration.