Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dr Bob Muir
Reader
Bob is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching. He leads the Football Association Post Graduate Diploma in Coach Development and acts as a consultant for several other professional and Olympic sports to facilitate situated coach learning and professional development programmes.
Bob joined Leeds Beckett University in 2005 as the first academic appointment in subject area of Sport Coaching to lead the newly validated foundation degree in sport coaching. Shortly after arriving, Bob led the development of a new BSc (Hons) degree in Sport Coaching. The degree was also designed and delivered as a pilot two-year accelerated degree on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. In 2006, Bob was awarded the Dean’s prize for excellence in assessment learning and teaching. Since then, Bob has been centrally involved in the design, development and leadership of several undergraduate and post-graduate programmes including the MSc Sport Coaching, the PG Certificate in Coach Education and most recently the bespoke PG Diploma in Coach Development for the senior coach development teams within the Football Association and Professional Footballers Association.
A senior men’s professional basketball coach for over 20 years, Bob worked with the Leeds Carnegie and the Teesside Mohawks men’s national league basketball teams enjoying several successful seasons winning six national league titles, five national league playoff championships and seven national cup titles. Drawing on his extensive experience in coaching and coach education, Bob has spent the last 10 years working alongside England pathway, national team, Olympic and Paralympic coaches to develop a situated 1to1 coach learning and professional development strategy.
In 2018, bob completed his PhD by drawing on his experiences of implementing his strategy with over 50 high-performance coaches across 12 sports. The study illustrated ‘how’ coach learning and development can be more meaningfully embedded in coaches’ everyday practice contexts. Key features of this work included the use of audio/video feedback as a stimulus for reflection, provoking uncertainties and disruptions in practice, close cooperation and collaboration between the coach and coach developer, and iterative cycles of reflective dialogue, during which, concepts, theories and frameworks could be drawn on as ‘thinking tools’ to enhance coaches’ resources, reasoning and actions.
Current Teaching
FA PG Diploma modules:
- Sense-making in professional practice
- Coach Learning & Development Curriculum
- Professional Project.
MSc Sport Coaching modules:
- Coaching practice.
- Coach Learning & Professional Development in Practice.
Bob also currently supervises two PhD’s in the area of coach education, learning and professional development.
Research Interests
Combining his academic expertise with his applied coaching and coach development experiences Bob works across several professional and Olympic sports to enhance the learning and professional development of coaches, sport science support practitioners, coach developers and talent identification and development practitioners.
Current research and consultancy projects include:
- The British Sailing Team, 2012 – present: design, implement and facilitate CPD programmes and provide situated 1to1 support to national youth, junior, podium potential and Olympic coaching team.
- The Football Association – Player Insights Team, 2018 – present: design, implement and facilitate an expertise development programme for the England Football Association Talent Reporters.
- The Football Association – Professional Game Team, 2017 – present: leading a bespoke Post Graduate Diploma in Coach Development for 30 senior, highly experienced, coach development practitioners.
- Sport Scotland Institute of Sport, High Performance Coach Developer programme, 2019 – present: supporting twelve, highly experienced performance sport practitioners to develop their capacity and confidence as high-performance coach development practitioners.
- The English Institute of Sport / UK Sport, World Class Pathway Coach Accelerator Programme 2017 – 2019: providing consultancy support to design, implement and facilitate meaningful coach learning and professional development experiences for key individual coaches and coach developers working at the top of the England Talent Pathway across five Olympic sports.
Previous research and consultancy projects include:
- England Handball, Lead Coach Educator programme 2015 – 2017: programme leader.
- Sport England and UK Sport, Coach Connect programme 2015 – 2017: provide situated coach learning and professional development for key individual coaches working at the top of the England Talent Pathway across several Olympic and professional sports.
- UK Sport and England Hockey 2010 – 2013: Using video feedback to support coach learning and development as part of a 1to1 coach development methodology with the national age group coaches in Hockey.
- The Rugby Football League 2011 – 2012: Using video feedback to support coach learning and development as part of a 1to1 coach development methodology with the national age group coaches in Rugby League.
- UK Sport, Elite Coach Apprenticeship Programme 2011 – 2012: Technical mentor.
- Sports Coach UK and the UK Centre for Coaching Excellence 2008-2010: Specialist coaching consultant.
Ask Me About
- Coaching
Selected Outputs
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Muir R; Richards I; Duffy P; North J (2011) An Evaluation of the International Community Coaching Education Systems - A review of the methodological approach and preliminary findings. In: Promoting Global Partnerships in Sport for Development Conference, 7 November 2011 - 13 November 2011, Trinidad.
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Abraham A; Collins D; Morgan G; Muir R (2009) Developing Expert Coaches Requires Expert Coach Development: Replacing serendipity with orchestration. In: Lorenzo A; Ibanez SJ; Ortega E eds. Aportaciones Teoricas Y Practicas Para El Baloncesto Del Futuro, Spain.
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Till KA; Muir R; Abraham A; Piggott D; Tee J (2019) A Framework for Decision-Making within Strength & Conditioning Coaching. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 41 (1), pp. 14-26.
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Harvey S; Lyle J; Muir R (2015) Naturalistic Decision Making in High Performance Team Sport Coaching. International Sport Coaching Journal / ISCJ, 2 (2), pp. 152-168.
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Harvey S; Cushion C; Cope E; Muir R (2013) A season long investigation into coaching behaviours as a function of practice state: the case of three collegiate coaches. Sports Coaching Review
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Duffy P; North J; Muir B (2012) Understanding the impact of sport coaching on legacy. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics
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Cushion CJ; Harvey S; Muir B; Nelson L (2012) Developing the Coach Analysis and Intervention System (CAIS): Establishing validity and reliability of a computerised systematic observation instrument. Journal of Sports Sciences
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Muir R; Morgan G; Abraham A; Morley D (2011) Developmentally Appropriate Approaches to Coaching Children. In: Stafford; Bailey R ed. Coaching Children in Sport. London: Routledge, pp. 17-37.
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Muir R; Morley D; Morgan G; Abraham A; Webb V (2011) A 'Fit for Purpose' approach within the Rugby Football League. In: Navin A ed. Sports Coaching: A reference guide for students, coaches and competitors. Marlborough: Crowood Press, pp. 237-275.
