One significant topic when it comes to mental skills is cohesion. Carron, Widmeyer, and Brawley defined cohesion as “a dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs” (as cited in Gearity & Murray, 2011, p. 219). Cohesion is an extremely important aspect in sports. A study showed that cohesion is a strong predictor of a player’s view on relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Those three attributes are linked to self-determined motivation. Basically when cohesion is strong, that is a strong indication that a player is motivating himself to play, which translates into happy feelings and satisfaction in their sport (Blanchard et al., 2009). Unsatisfactory coaching can affect cohesion by dividing the team. Two themes of coaches deterring cohesion would inequity and embarrassment and ridicule. An example of inequity would be showing favoritism to a specific player or group of players. Favoritism can vary in severity. Some coaches may just be praising a certain player more than others, however it can be as significant as allowing players privileges such as getting out of practice early. This can create negative feelings not only in the unity of the team as whole, but also strong negative feelings toward the coach (Turman, 2003). Embarrassment and ridicule are more straightforward, however it affects everyone differently. For
Sports management is a really broad field, therefore I decided to focus on my minor and one of my major interests of this field: coaching. In this paper I will be explaining my personal five building blocks that make up a well-rounded coaching philosophy and coach. Those blocks are; leadership, organization, attitude, respect, and resiliency. Each of these five aspects are equally important and balance each other out. Leadership, the action of leading a group of athletes towards a goal. Organization, being able to organize a team and have a plan in order to help the team achieve goals. Attitude, it is very important for a coach to have a winning and positive attitude that is contagious to the players. Respect, there has to be a good
Coaches need to have certain skills and knowledge to undertake the role. In my opinion a coach needs to be patient, supportive, interested, aware of others as well as self, attentive and perceptive. Such elements underpin effective coaching and a genuine interest in the person being coached.
At their finest, coaches perfect their player’s flaws to push them to their potential ability, improve their skills, and create determination within the team. They can expand the importance of such a sport to intensify motivation and the value of good sportsmanship for the sake of not only their reputation, but the outcome that comes from it. Coaches must not lag when it comes to hardships that comes about; they must stay connected. The closer the connection between a player and a coach the better they are moving forward and continuing on the love of the sport and job.
There are many factors altering group behavior and effectiveness, such as decision- making, cohesion and communication (Crocker, 2016). The later has also shown a positive relationship with group task cohesion (Smith et al., 2013), and methods of enhancing intrateam
Through all of my research, one thing was constant; the single most important thing that a coach can do is build a relationship with their players. When coaches take their time to get to know each and every one of their players, the chances of the athlete respecting and responding to the coach are much greater. Giving the athlete a feeling of belonging, importance, and welcoming will increase their confidence and most likely their level of play as well. In his article, Scales explains how developing positive relationships results in athletes not only with better athletic ability, but also with better emotional control, social skills, and connection to school and community (20). One of the most important characteristics of having a relationship with the athlete is caring for them. Florida Tech swim coach thinks the most important
Finally, outside influence plays a key role in determining athletic success. Athletes must be motivated to push away negative influences, peer pressure and what others want. It’s important to have a good coach who cares about the athlete’s success and hones his skills. Coaches can mold an athlete’s physical and mental maturity and play a critical role in helping develop the athlete while putting them in a better position to handle success.
The study “The Relationship Between Ethical and Abusive Coaching Behaviors and Student-Athlete Well-Being” was conducted by Mariya A. Yukhymenko-Lescroart, Michael E. Brown, and Thomas S. Paskus, and was published in the journal Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. The researchers sought to understand the effects that a coach’s behavior had on a student’s morals, satisfaction, and impressions of team unity. Social-cognitive theory has long thought that we learn by imitating those around us, particularly those in leadership positions. The coaches of sports teams are especially prominent models in a student athlete’s life, given that they have actual authority over the student’s life. The idea of self-efficacy, which suggests that an
Having a coach in life will positively influence your character and your skills. Also, having a coach doesn’t necessarily mean that your playing on a field. A coach can be anyone from a role model to a parent or guardian, a teacher, a pastor, a mentor, or sometimes even a best friend. One of the most important things for a coach to have is influence, and more important than that is that the influence he has on his players must be positive. As a leader, a coaches job is to better his players on and off of the field. This is done by developing the character of his players through encouragement and helping them understand that the game is more than just about winning. A good coach will always put the needs of his players first before he considers himself as a factor. If a coach is successful his players will develop a strong sense of self-motivation. This helps by allowing the player to
Coaches have a huge impact on the sportsmanship and behavior displayed by their team. According to Churdar (2015), “The coach bears the greatest burden of responsibility for sportsmanship. His influence upon the attitudes and behavior of the players, the student body, and the fans is unequalled.” (p. 2). Coaches have a huge influence on the behavior and attitude of their athletes. According to John Wooden, “Profound responsibilities come with teaching and coaching. You can do so much good-or harm. It’s why I believe that next to parenting, teaching and coaching are the two most important professions in the world” (as cited in Matheny, 2015, p. 99-100). This is a very weighty but true statement. The majority of athletes look to their coaches for guidance not only in athletics, but in life.
Coaches should have sport specific skills as they need to understand certain technical aspects of the sport they are trying to teach. A coach needs to ensure that they have a good knowledge and understanding of their own sport and how the latest information in sport science can aid to develop performers, this is important so coaches can deliver demonstrations correctly and carry out good practice as if they were to demonstrate something wrongly then students could pick up bad habits by simply imitating and doing as their instructed. However if a coach is less knowledgeable in a particular area of sport they could use their transferable skills .
First, while playing sports athletes build character, even when not earning a win in his or her contest. Not one human in the world is perfect, even when participating in sports. Therefore, one could assume that those participating athletes will mess up and be corrected by a coach. Being exposed to constructive criticism, and the heated situations that these
Pratt and Eitzen (1989) conducted a study to determine if there were differences in team effectiveness that could be linked to different coaching styles. Pratt and Eitzen focused on two styles of leadership: the authoritarian and the democratic. The qualities of an authoritarian style of leadership are characterized by discipline, dictatorship impersonal and lack of personal relationships with athletes. The qualities of a democratic leadership differ in that they focus on a support system, relationship building, and common goal setting. To determine the effectiveness of the leadership style, Pratt and Eitzen used the coach’s lifetime winning percentage as a measurement for team effectiveness. They concluded that the results demonstrated that the effects of leadership style varied according to the gender of the team. For boys, the results did not reflect any significant effect on team effectiveness regardless of the leadership style used. For the girls the results were mixed since they showed a significant effect in two categories for each leadership style.
There are fundamental personal qualities, coaching competencies and skills that are needed to become a good coach.
Taking the time to reflect on why it is someone coaches is beneficial for personal growth, and for creating an awareness of one’s changes in motivation, which affects behavior. Therefore, changes in motivation can be reflected in someone’s behavior and his or her well-being. Those who feel that they are coaching because they want to, will be successful, and feel that coaching allows them to acquire relationships with their players, and display more motivation for coaching. Being aware of why someone coaches their sport is an important part of reflective practice. One person’s
My topic is similar to yours. I have always been intrigued to examine the relationship between coach and athlete. In my experience, I have found coaches who provide positive support and are constructive with their criticism are more enjoyable to play for and give the athlete a more positive experience. Coaches that come across as condescending seem to push kids away from the game. It is important that the student-athlete has a positive experience, especially student-athletes at a young age. I feel if a student-athlete has a negative experience at the interscholastic level he or she will be less likely to stick with the sport.