The Importance Of Coaching In Sports

Sport coaches all coach their players in different ways. Some coaches use forms of encouragement more than others, and some use punishment more. There is a lot of information and research on what coaching style is considered the most effective. But among all the research there are arguments on the “correct way” of coaching. Research on this topic is qualitative because there is no one definite answer, there is almost always an exception. What is it that promotes a positive response and outcome in athletes and coaches most of the time? Promotes a negative response in both athletes and coaches?

Jowett, S., & Sagar, S. (2012). “Communicative acts in coach-athlete interactions: When losing competitions and when making mistakes in training.” Western

They considered two specific interpersonal situations that coaches and their athletes go through during a sports season. The two situations that the researchers wanted to find out more about between coaches and athletes were when athletes lose competitions, and when they make mistakes in training. Jowett and Sagar hoped that if they learned more about how coaches react to their players during negative situations they could better understand what type of coaching reactions encourage a positive and motivational reaction in their players. The researchers thought that if the coach reacts negatively towards a player, (yells, blames, ignores, aggressive, etc.), then the player will react negatively and become less motivated and feel angry and disappointed in themselves. Using a survey and a large sample size in both male and female athletes from various sports show that athletes perceive their coaches’ reactions to losing competitions to be both positive and negative. When coaches were positive it promoted a positive drive in athletes, and when they were negative it had the same negative reactions in the athletes. I choose this article because the researchers are directly looking at reactions of coaches towards athletes when in negative situations. This benefits me with my own research because it helps me better understand how coaches react differently in similar situations and how their reactions affect their

The study looked at coaches’ verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors, as well as the athletes own levels of satisfaction and unity. Turman separated athletes by “starters” and “nonstarters” to see if athlete’s, satisfaction and team cohesion was influenced by playing status. Turman argued that, “coaches communicate with their athletes to foster a learning environment to help ensure positive learning outcomes.” Positive outcomes that came from coach-athlete interaction are facilitated by the development of interpersonal relationships between these two parties. Findings indicated that apparent verbal immediacy behaviors were a substantial predictor for social attraction to the group and social group integration. I selected this article because it not only examined the verbal interactions between coaches and athletes but it also looked at the non-verbal communication in the relationships.

Aşçı, F. H., Kelecek, S., & Altintaş, A. (2015). The Role Of Personality Characteristics Of Athletes In Coach–Athlete Relationships1,2,3. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 121(2), 399-411.