The journal will accept these case studies in two formats: i) a written journal article, and/or ii) an electronic poster or infographic. Guidelines for the written article are provided below and a template for the electronic poster (created in MS PowerPoint) can also be provided by emailing Chris Bishop directly (C.Bishop@mdx.ac.uk). You can also email him with any other questions or enquiries.
Guidelines for case studies: for a journal article
Abstract
As per all journal articles, a 200-word executive summary/abstract should be provided, outlining the aims, methods used, key findings, and implications for practice.
Introduction
This section provides the rationale for the methods undertaken in your case study, which can be applied to any athlete of any sport. We will accept both quantitative and qualitative case studies (or even mixed methods approaches), and you can find some examples for both approaches below as follows:
Quantitative case studies
Taking the example of a 12-week training intervention in a tennis athlete, where the coach is trying to optimise physical performance for the start of a busy competition schedule, the introduction should outline some of the following information:
- Key movement characteristics for tennis (eg, serving, accelerations, decelerations, lateral movements, changes of direction, etc.)
- The physical test measures which correspond to the movement patterns of the sport
- Previous training interventions and their efficacy at improving these proxy measures or movement patterns in the sport
- Agreed aims (with the athlete) of what is deemed a priority for their development.
Qualitative case studies
Taking the example of investigating a coach’s practices and perspectives for a national cricket team pre-, during, and post-competition, the introduction should outline some of the following information:
- What do we currently know broadly on the topic area? (eg, how do coaches prepare for competition, what strategies are employed, are there any challenges?)
- What do we currently know in cricket? (eg, how does this differ from other sports, is there any research on this, etc.)
- Highlight the research gap and benefit of undertaking your case study (eg, given a small sample of n = 1, why is it important to investigate this particular coach’s practices and perspectives of how they do things)?
Methods
For quantitative case studies
- Case study design: just one paragraph providing an overview of the broad methods employed for this case study write-up
- Participant(s) description: age, height, body mass, key performance indicators (for their sport), years of experience in the sport, years of experience in structured S&C training, ethical approval, and consent provided (by all relevant parties) to share this information
- Athlete test battery: written description of pre- and post-intervention test protocols that were undertaken – with pictures or figures, if required
- Training intervention: brief written description of the main goals and purpose of the intervention, with accompanying details (usually in table format) of the training intervention. Note, if multiple phases or blocks of training have been undertaken, more than one example table may be required
- Data analysis – key information to include: pre- and post-testing reliability data (eg, intraclass correlation coefficient with 95% confidence intervals, coefficient of variation, standard error of the measurement, etc.), analysis of change in test scores (eg, percentage change from baseline, comparison of change relative to measurement error, possibly even effect sizes – although note, when n = 1, confidence intervals cannot be created so this would include just the point estimate).
For qualitative case studies
- Case study design: just one paragraph providing an overview of the broad methods employed for this case study write-up
- Participant(s) description: age, sex, country, race/ethnicity, job role, qualifications, years of experience, ethical approval, and consent provided by the participant to share this information
- Procedures: how information was obtained (eg, survey, interview), how was this instrument developed and validated, provide full instrument as hyperlink/appendix
- Data analysis: how data was obtained, organised, and analysed (eg, frequency analysis, thematic analysis, etc.), who conducted the analysis and was consensus reached amongst the author team on the final output?
Results
- Brief written overview of key findings (which should mirror what analysis has been mentioned in the data analysis sub-section of the methods). Importantly, this section simply represents ‘the what’ in your findings
- Accompanying tables and figures showing summary of reliability data and change in test scores (for quantitative case studies). NB: we encourage practitioners to be as creative as possible with their visual representation of data.
Discussion
- Typically, the discussion section of a journal article represents ‘the why’, where a deep dive is taken to try and explain why the results are what they are. For example, if certain test measures elicit poor reliability, is this because there was a learning effect, or is it because the athlete wasn’t warmed up well enough, or were our instructions not clear enough? Alternatively, were coaching practices and perceptions influenced by external factors such as athlete relationships or competition results? Importantly, we don’t want this section being a written repeat of the results; rather, we want to try and explain why the data is what it is
- Importantly, use this section as a critical reflection. For example, what went well in your coaching practice and what can be improved or how the approach or questions used to survey/interview the head coach may have led to forms of bias in responses. Although some of this will be driven by the changes in data or responses from participants, we are also interested in some of the more nuanced factors (eg, relationship-building with athlete(s), conflict-management, how practice can be developed moving forward, etc.).
Practical applications
- Essentially, this section is all about what practitioners can consider doing in their day-to-day work, as a result of your findings and coaching practice
- The section need only be 1-2 brief paragraphs, but the key messages are about how we can develop as practitioners, as a result of your intervention strategies.
