Pedagogical dynamics of language use in coach–athlete orchestration

Insights from Wittgenstein’s language-game philosophy

Bibliographic Data

ID21783832
AuthorsJuyoung Ryou (0000-0001-8656-682X, Loughborough University, corresponding author), Christopher J Cushion (0000-0001-8674-9597, Loughborough University), Daniel J A Rhind (0000-0002-2595-4607, Loughborough University), Ed Cope (0000-0002-6554-504X, Loughborough University)
Year2026
Pages1-20
Publication date2026-02-19
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhysical Education and Sport Pedagogy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-8989 • E-ISSN: 1742-5786
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17408989.2026.2626902
OpenAlexW7130525551
LanguageEN
References cited51

Background: Ludwig Wittgenstein played a pivotal role in sparking the linguistic turn (i.e. shifting the focus of social research from what reality is to how reality is constructed through language). Some sport-related studies have paid attention to the therapeutic feature of Wittgenstein's philosophy, which stresses the descriptive orientation towards everyday language use and its resistance to aprioristic theorisation. However, another gist of his later works is aspect-seeing—where experts and novices can perceive the same aspect heterogeneously, and the latter are linguistically guided to see/feel what the former do. Despite its potential to further develop coaching as an act of orchestration in which coaches support athletes in developing their ways of seeing, the issue of aspect-seeing remains underexplored in sport pedagogy.Purpose: This article investigates Wittgenstein's philosophy to deepen the understanding of language-use-in-orchestration; this mediating process requires coaches' subtle ‘string-pulling’ to linguistically scaffold athletes in expanding their epistemic states (aspect-seeing).Findings: After tracing Wittgenstein's philosophical transition, its implications for coach–athlete interactions are discussed. We then unpack two forms of linguistic reflexivity necessary for pedagogical orchestration. First, private language, a direct expression of one's internal sensory experience, tends to be apparent only to the speaker (e.g. ‘it’ or ‘this’). Recognising its tacit nature, coaches should establish external references (e.g. non-verbal activities) as the basis for the language game; in doing so, coaches and athletes can collaboratively bridge their sensorial divergences in how performance is—and could be—felt. Second, family resemblance is the crisscrossed web of linguistic threads and meaning fibres between coaches and athletes. Instead of transmitting embodied knowledge through an objective definition, family resemblance enables its meaning to emerge and resonate during coach–athlete interactions. To activate family resemblance as a linguistic mechanism for pedagogical orchestrations, coaches ought to dialogically overlap and metaphorically expand this reciprocal web grounded in athletes' evolving epistemic states. Otherwise, the web will likely be thinner, leaving their communicative efforts as mere sounds without shared symbols.Conclusion: These findings highlight how language, which acts as a flexible tool, can be reflexively harnessed to orchestrate aspect-seeing in coach–athlete dyads.Impact statement: Attending to the neglected centrality of language in (re)configuring the pedagogical dynamics between instructors and learners, this philosophical inquiry (a) reinforces linguistic comprehension of coaching-as-orchestration, (b) catalyses critical rumination on the premise of ideal language often taken for granted in coach–athlete interaction literature, and (c) encourages practitioners to reflect on their (un)pedagogical language use in everyday coaching contexts

Natural language · On Language · Doping in Sports · Sport Psychology and Performance · Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications

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