Second order thinking is very important as it can have a major impact on athletes and coaches (Attard 2006). It states in the article of Pepper (2018) that second order thinking is the process of unravelling the implications of those impacts. It has also been stated in the article of Edwards (2007) that second order thinking is great to use for the time being, however if we do not use second order thinking we can end up with major errors in our coaching.

In my experience at BCFA I have used second order thinking in my sessions quite a few times and one of the examples was when I was carrying out freekick drills for the freekick takers. 

All together there was six players and all six took freekicks for their team. There were some first team players, as well as second and third team players. I set out a drill where there were mannequins in place and also hoops in each top corner and some athletes were scoring four or five out of ten but on the other hand I had athletes who were struggling to get the ball over or around the mannequins and into the goal as there was a lack of power in some shots and accuracy was off. 

Therefore, I suggested that the players who were unable to shoot around the mannequin should practice without having mannequins as a wall. So, the players moved to the other side of the pitch and started to practice shooting into the hoops without the mannequins to see what stage they were at. I then therefore suggested to put one mannequin in place, so it is not too difficult for them and I could see progress compared to the very start. However, this comes down to second order thinking which is when we carry out something in the present time, however our intentions and the interventions that have been put in place can cause harm in the future (Bell, 2010).

Therefore, at the time it was okay to place one mannequin for the athlete but the week after the same athlete took a freekick in their match and struggled to get it over the wall as there was more than one person in the wall and this was due to my second order thinking as in the training session it was fine to do that but had an impact later on in the week. 

In hindsight, we should have increased the number of mannequins as he progressed through each stage to ensue he is match ready for when it is neccesary for him to take a freekick as a wall usually consists of at least three or four people.

Bibliography

Edwards. (2007, September). Second Order thinking. Critical and Ethical thinking.

Fisher. (2018, April 05). Behaviour. Managing Behaviour in Sport: What Works?

Pepper. (2018, August 26). Second Order Thinking.

Bell, T., Urhahne, D., Schanze, S., & Ploetzner, R. (2010). Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges. International Journal of Science Education

Attard, K., & Armour, K. (2006). Reflecting on reflection: A case study of one teacher’s early-career professional learning. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy,