Coaches…does your working environment affect the way you behave towards your athletes? Juliette Stebbings, Ian Taylor, & Chris Spray – Loughborough University Coaches get stressed too… A significant portion of research within the sport context focuses on the athlete, and the stress, anxiety, and worries that they face. Whilst this is clearly important, research is now starting to identify that coaches experience lots of stressors too (Olusoga et al., 2009). With the typical “blame the coach” culture evident in many sports, together with the current economic crisis and lack of funding, coaches often have to deal with worries about their job security. Coaches can also feel that they do not have opportunities for professional development. They may not be able to attain further qualifications or gain experience working with older/more experienced athletes. Last, the frequent long days, early mornings, weekend matches, and travelling away from home means that coaches often have to sacrifice a lot of their personal time. This can result in an unhealthy work-life balance for a number of coaches, impacting negatively on their family commitments or other employment responsibilities. How might these issues affect coaches? a) Human needs Research from many life domains has shown that we need three key things from our environment. 1. To feel competent (i.e. that we possess enough knowledge and experience to feel capable in what we are doing); 2. To feel autonomous (i.e. that we have the freedom to make decisions about what we do), and 3. To feel related (i.e. to experience a sense of belonging and connectedness with other people). Sometimes, however, our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are thwarted, or undermined, (for example, we are made to feel incompetent, we are pressured into doing things, or we feel rejected by other people). We believe that coaches who experience a strong sense of job security, opportunities for professional development, and a healthy work-life balance, are more likely to experience satisfaction of their needs. On the other hand, those coaches who lack job security, opportunities to develop, and experience work-life conflict, may feel that their needs are being undermined. The table below gives some examples as to how these issues may affect coaches‟ sense of competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
Competence Coaches with a strong sense of job security may feel that this is due to their skills and effectiveness as a coach.
Autonomy A secure position may allow coaches the freedom to go about their work as they wish
Opportunities for Professional Development
Coaching courses may develop coaches‟ practical knowledge. If coaches do not have access to such courses they may feel as if they cannot be a good coach
Work-Life Balance
A healthy work-life balance will allow coaches to put in enough time and energy into coaching. Conflicting demands for coaches‟ time and energy, may lead coaches to feel as if they cannot perform to the best of their ability in their coaching role
Developing skills and experience may lead coaches to value coaching as a profession to a greater extent. If coaches cannot see a clear pathway to progress, they may not value coaching as a profession If the demands of coaching impact upon coaches‟ family life and other responsibilities, coaches may start to feel as if coaching „isn‟t for them‟, and value it less.
Job Security
Relatedness If coaches perceive a strong sense of job security from their employer or organisation, they may feel as if they belong within it. A lack of job security may make coaches feel rejected or not part of the organisation Coaching courses may allow coaches to meet and engage with other coaches
If coaches do not experience a clear balance between coaching and their other responsibilities, this may impact negatively on coaches‟ relationships with their athletes, employers and organisations.
b) Human needs and Psychological well-/ill-being When we feel competent, autonomous, and related in our environment, we then enjoy a sense of psychological well-being. To be psychologically well is to experience happiness, enjoyment, and other positive emotions in the coaching role. Psychological well-being also relates to a sense of vitality (positive energy), and a feeling of fulfilling one‟s potential. When our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are undermined, this can lead to psychological ill-being. This is the experience of negative emotions such as frustration, nervousness, and distress, and is also the experience of emotional exhaustion.
c) Psychological well-/ill-being and coach behaviour The ways in which coaches behave towards their athletes can have a very large impact on athletesâ€&#x; experiences within sport. Research has shown that some coach behaviours, such as offering opportunities for athlete input and encouraging athletes to ask questions, can increase athletesâ€&#x; motivation, enjoyment, and sport performance. On the other hand, some coach behaviours, including, using controlling criticism and embarrassing athletes as punishment, can lead to poor quality motivation in athletes, and cause athletes to drop out of sport. Research has shown that coaches who are psychologically well will use more positive behaviours towards their athletes. Coaches who do not feel psychologically well, however, will use more negative behaviours towards their athletes (Stebbings, et al., 2011) Our Study Our study aimed to explore how the issues of job security, opportunities for professional development, and work-life balance affect coachesâ€&#x; human needs and, in turn, their psychological health and their behaviours towards their athletes. 418 voluntary and paid coaches from 32 different sports completed an online questionnaire. Results are summarised below and shown in the diagram. Our study revealed that coaches who experience a strong sense of job security, opportunities for professional development, and a healthy work-life balance, are more likely to experience competence, autonomy, and relatedness and, therefore, a sense of psychological well-being whilst coaching. On the other hand, those coaches who lack opportunities to develop and who experience work-life conflict may feel that their needs are being undermined, and may suffer psychological ill-being in their coaching role. Our study also revealed that coaches who experience psychological well-being were more likely to engage in positive interactions with their athletes. Coaches who suffer psychological ill-being whilst coaching, however, were more likely to use negative behaviours towards their athletes. This figure shows a model of the whole study. This study has implications for coaches (in terms of their psychological well-being) and athletes (in terms of positive interactions with coaches).
Job security Opportunities for professional development
Competence Autonomy & Relatedness needs satisfied
Psychological well-being
Positive behaviour
Competence Autonomy & Relatedness
Psychological ill-being
Negative behaviour
Work-life balance
Lack of opportunities for professional development Work-life conflict
needs undermined
What does this mean for me as a coach? As a coach, it is important to feel secure in your role, that you have opportunities for professional development, and that you have a healthy work-life balance. So how do you go about this? The table below shows some ideas to increase your awareness surrounding these issues. These are also good strategies to consider even if you are not currently experiencing any problems. This will ensure you remain supported in your coaching role. Job Security
Discuss with your employer/organisation the future plans of the organisation, and how your role remains relevant within the organisation. Discuss with them how you see yourself fitting in with what the employer/organisation is trying to achieve in the next few years.
Opportunities for professional development
Discuss with your employer/organisation whether there are any chances for you to participate in further coaching awards, qualifications, workshops etc. If the cost of the courses is an issue, discuss with them if any funding could be made available to you, or negotiate to pay half if they pay half. For self-employed coaches, contact the organisers of the courses to see if any funding could be made available for you. If your coaching role interferes with your family life, discuss with your employer/organisation whether any childcare facilities are available, or whether there are any opportunities to bring children and/or partners along to matches/competitions when these matches/competitions require you to be away from home. Discuss with the organisation the idea of coaching partnerships. This is where two or more coaches are responsible for a team, and these coaches share the responsibilities, therefore allowing each coach to negotiate which duties each will perform, at which times are convenient for each coach.
Work-Life Balance
Of course, we recognise that it isnâ€&#x;t always possible to enjoy a secure position, professional development opportunities and a healthy work-life balance. In this case, it is still important that your needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are satisfied in your coaching role, so that you can still experience psychological wellbeing, and interact positively with your athletes. The table below shows some ways in which you can increase your feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These are also good strategies to consider even when levels of competence, autonomy, and relatedness are high, in order for you to remain challenged and remain supported. These can be done independently or through discussions with your employers (National Governing Body, head coach, club manager, performance director etc.). To Increase Competence Attend professional development courses and workshops to increase skills/knowledge/ experience, and help to fulfil your potential as a coach
To Increase Autonomy Seek out the appropriate personnel to discuss ideas and opinions about your coaching role
Try to gain some positive and constructive feedback from employers, other coaches, or athletes regarding coaching methods, and then work on any suggestions made
Be proactive in creating opportunities for input and decision-making with regards to: 1. how to conduct training sessions 2. how to manage athletes 3. how to optimally prepare athletes/teams for competition
Develop, with the aid of employers, some clear and realistic goals as a coach, and set targets for coaching areas in need of development. Track progress towards these goals, and develop new ones when attained
If you feel pressured into doing certain things, or prevented from making choices, discuss with employers how to have more personal input
To Increase Relatedness Seek out ways to discuss ideas and experiences with other coaches, including other coaches at your club, or via coaching networks/events Look to find yourself a mentor with whom you can discuss your coaching practices, experiences, and any difficulties you may encounter. This could be a head coach at your club, or a more senior/more experienced coach within your sport. You could even mentor less experienced coaches yourself Look to create a coaching network within your club/region, where coaches can meet to share experiences. This could also be done via the internet through the creation of an internet forum
A Research Opportunity‌ Our research team at Loughborough University is currently setting up a new research study...would you like to be involved? It will be a very simple study which will not involve too much time or effort. Participants will simply answer some questions before and after some coaching sessions. The study will look at how coaches perceive their behaviours and coaching styles, and whether or not this corresponds to how their athletes/players perceive the coaches' behaviours and coaching styles. If you would like us to come to your club and would like to be involved in the research, or if you would simply like some more information about what the study involves, please contact Juliette at J.Stebbings@lboro.ac.uk
Authors Juliette Stebbings (J.Stebbings@lboro.ac.uk) is a PhD student in sport psychology at Loughborough University, and is supervised by Dr Ian Taylor (I.M.Taylor@lboro.ac.uk) and Dr Christopher Spray (C.M.Spray@lboro.ac.uk). Further reading Olusoga, P., Butt, J., Hays, K., & Maynard, I. (2009). Stress in elite sports coaching: Identifying stressors. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21, 442-459. Stebbings, J., Taylor, I.M., & Spray, C.M. (2011). Antecedents of perceived coach autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviors: Coach psychological need satisfaction and well-being. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33, 255-272.