A Behavioral Approach to Youth Sports Coaching Developing Skillfulness and Fair Play in Sports

Part I: A Behavioral Approach to Developing Skillfulness in Sport

1. Toward a Culture of Positive Sport Experiences for All

2. A Brief History of Behavioral Approaches and Their Applications in Sports

3. The Language of Behavioral Approaches to Developing Skillfulness in Sport

4. Reinforcement and Punishment-Guidelines for Use

Part II: Applications of Behavioral Approaches to Developing Sport Behavior/Performance

5. Key Strategies for Developing Skillful Performance

6. Shaping Behavior and the Learning Environment

7. A Framework for Coaching Youth Sports

8. Instructional Principles for Coaching Sports

9. Behavioral Applications to Coaching Performance Sports

10. Behavioral Applications to Coaching Target Sports

11. Behavioral Applications to Coaching Net-Court Sports

12. Behavioral Applications to Coaching Striking-Fielding Sports

13. Behavioral Applications to Coaching Invasion Sports

Part III: Fair Play: The Essence of Sport

14. What Constitutes Fair Play and Why It Is So Important

15. Developing Fair Play Behavior

Biography

Hans van der Mars (PhD, The Ohio State University, 1984) is Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University where he oversaw the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in Physical Education Teacher Education/Sport Pedagogy. He is widely published, authoring or coauthoring over 170 published research papers, professional papers, book chapters, proceedings papers, and three textbooks. He presents frequently at international, national, regional, and state-level conferences. He has provided over 85 continuing professional development/outreach workshops. He is a Research Fellow in the Society of Physical and Health Educators of America (2005), the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (2006), the North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport, and Dance Professionals (2009), the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP, 2019), and National Association of Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE 2021).

Peter Iserbyt (PhD, KU Leuven, 2011) is a professor at KU Leuven in Belgium where he is the program director of the Movement and Sport Sciences Program as well as the Master’s in Teaching Physical Education program. Besides a master’s degree in Movement Sciences (KU Leuven, 2005) and physical education teacher certification (KU Leuven, 2006), he also holds a master’s degree in applied behavior analysis/special education from Arizona State University (2025). He has published over 100 research articles and authored or coauthored multiple practitioner books for physical education teachers and sport coaches. He has been an invited speaker in different countries and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences on physical activity, sport pedagogy, and coaching. In 2011, he received the Young Scholar Award from the International Association of Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP), and in 2022 he became a Fellow of AIESEP. He currently serves as a board member for the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education and the International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education.