Coaching effectiveness in the sport domain (APA article)

Research in the coaching effectiveness area has been conducted under the general assumption that coaches exert a large influence not only on the performance and behavior of their athletes but also on the athletes’ psychological and emotional well-being. In this research context, leadership has been rather generally conceived of as “the behavioral process of influencing individuals and groups toward set goals” (Barrow, 1977, p. 232). Obviously, this broad definition encompasses many dimensions of coaches’ leadership behavior, including the goals and objectives that they set for themselves and their athletes, the processes that they use to make decisions, the types of learning activities that they employ in practice situations, the type and frequency of feedback that they give in response to athletes’ performances, the techniques that they use to motivate or discipline individual athletes, and the type of relationship that they establish with athletes. Most of the research that has been conducted in the coaching effectiveness area within the last three decades has been motivated by a desire to identify the particular coaching characteristics, competencies, cognitions, practice strategies and techniques, leadership styles, or behavioral patterns that are most effective. Under this research approach, coaching effectiveness is typically operationalized in terms of outcome scores or measures. That is, effective coaching is defined as that which results in either successful performance outcomes (measured either in terms of win-loss percentages, individual player development, or success at the national or international level) or positive psychological responses on the part of the athletes (e.g., high perceived ability, high self-esteem, intrinsic motivational orientation, or high levels of sport enjoyment and satisfaction). Because the text as a whole focuses on psychological issues as they relate to sport, the review and analysis of the literature in this chapter is primarily limited to those studies that have examined the effect of coaches’ behavior on the psychosocial growth and development of athletes. Thus, the chapter does not include a review of the research that has examined the relationship between coaches’ behavior and athletes’ sport performance and skill learning. Interested readers should consult the literature in sport pedagogy and motor learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)