Influence of coaching efficacy and coaching competency on athlete‐level moral variables in Botswana youth soccer

This study examined coach‐perceived coaching efficacy and athlete‐perceived coaching competency, perceptions of coaches' endorsement of unfair play, and team norm for aggression on athlete‐level moral variables in Botswana youth soccer. Participants were youth soccer players (n = 506) and their coaches (n = 24). Players completed the coaching competency scale, the Judgments About Moral Behavior in Youth Sports Questionnaire, and the Team Norm Questionnaire. Coaches completed the Coaching Efficacy Scale. Multilevel analysis revealed that team norm for aggression, athletes' perceptions of their coaches' endorsement of aggression/cheating, and Game Strategy Coaching Competency were significant predictors of athletes' likelihood to aggress and perceptions of peer cheating. The findings contribute to previous research demonstrating the influence of the coach on athletes' antisocial behaviors.     

Coaches' assessment of their coaching efficacy compared to athletes' perceptions

This study compared coaches' assessments of their own coaching efficacy with their athletes' perceptions of the coaches' efficacy. Coaching efficacy was measured with the Coaching Efficacy Scale. Participants were 9 football coaches and 76 football players from the same team. Analysis indicated coaches were confident in their coaching abilities (range 6.5 to 9.0 on a 9-point scale). For 7 of the 9 coaches the coaches' ratings of themselves were higher than the athletes' ratings. For the other 2 coaches, athletes' ratings of coaches' efficacy were higher than the coaches' ratings of themselves. All coaches' ratings fell within the 95% confidence interval based on the athletes' ratings of the coaches' efficacy. Results are discussed in terms of the interplay between athletes and coaches efficacy beliefs and its influence on behavior.     

The Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Coaching Behaviors in a Sample of Army Recruits

In this article we outline a model of coaching that is conceptually grounded in workplace and sport coaching literature and present 2 studies conducted to test this model: the extent that coaching behaviors are present in a military training setting, and their association with performance-related outcomes. Following an extensive review of literature and rigorous development and validation procedures the 28-item Military Coaching Behavior Scale was tested. The measure showed good content and predictive validity for 2 dependent variables (satisfaction and resilience). We concluded that the Military Coaching Behavior Scale offers a psychometrically sound, brief, and easy-to-administer measure of high-performance coaching behavior.     

Relative age effect in Japanese male athletes

The present study investigated the relative age effect, a biased distribution of elite athletes' birthdates, in Japanese male athletes. Japan applies a unique annual-age grouping for sport and education, which is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. A total of 4,318 male athletes was evaluated from 12 sports: baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball, golf, horse racing, rugby, American football, sumo, Ekiden (track and field in long distance), and badminton. They played in the top level of Japanese leagues for each sport in 2010. The distribution of the birth dates was examined in each sport and showed significant relative age effect in baseball, soccer, volleyball, Ekiden, basketball, sumo, and horse racing, but not in all sports. The findings suggest that although the school year in Japan starts on April 1, significant relative age effects are observed in some sporting events.     

Contact sports, moral functioning and planned behaviour theory

The goal was to test the psychometric properties of the Moral Functioning Scale in a Greek athletic context, and to investigate any possible relation between moral functioning and planned behaviour. The sample comprised 384 athletes, 103 from the sport of football (soccer), 97 from basketball, and 184 from water polo. To measure moral functioning the researchers used a scale developed by Gibbons, Ebbeck, and Weiss. Planned Behaviour was assessed with a questionnaire based on Planned Behaviour Theory. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated strong association for Attitudes, Intention, Role Identity, and Perceived Behavioural Control with the four dilemmas of the moral functioning scale. The moral reasoning measure is a promising tool for measuring athletes' moral dilemmas in Greece.     

The Effects of Coaching on Situational Judgment Tests in High‐stakes Selection

Although the evidence for the use of situational judgment tests (SJTs) in high‐stakes testing has been generally promising, questions have been raised regarding the potential coachability of SJTs. This study reports the first examination of the effects of coaching on SJT scores in an operational high‐stakes setting. We contrast findings from a simple comparison of SJT scores for coached and uncoached participants (posttest only) with three different approaches to deal with the effects of self‐selection into coaching programs, namely using a pretest as a covariate and using two different forms of propensity score‐based matching using a wide range of variables as covariates. Coaching effects were estimated at about 0.5 SDs. The implications for the use of SJTs in high‐stakes settings and for coaching research in general are discussed.     

An Experimental Field Study on the Effects of Coaching: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital

Coaching is a developmental intervention implemented in organisations to improve individual attitudes and behaviours. Few studies, however, have tested these assumptions and explained the mechanisms involved. We propose psychological capital (PsyCap), a set of positive individual resources, as a possible mediator. We investigated whether coaching framed in goal setting and conservation of resources theories is effective in improving PsyCap and, through this, individual attitudes and performance, and whether its effects maintain over time. We conducted an experiment with 56 employees in a marketing company, who were either randomly assigned to a coaching intervention or a wait-list control group. Measures of interest were collected before the programme started (T1), and after the programme, which lasted 4 months (T2). A follow-up measure for the experimental group was collected after a further 4 months (T3). ANOVAs showed coaching was associated with increases in PsyCap, job attitudes, and one dimension of job performance. The mediating role of PsyCap was supported for job attitudes. The effects on PsyCap and job attitudes lasted over time, as revealed by within-subjects repeated measures analyses. This study fills a gap in our knowledge of the explanatory processes of coaching effectiveness by building on solid research design features.     

Task familiarity and task efficacy: a study of sports coaches

The purpose of the study was to establish a profile of coaching efficacy with Hong Kong community coaches who differ in knowledge and hours spent in coaching. Coaching efficacy can be described in four dimensions, namely, Motivation, Strategy, Technique, and Character Building. It was hypothesized that coaches who had spent more time coaching and were more knowledgeable about the sport and coaching would score higher on those four dimensions of a Coaching Efficacy Scale. The scale was administered to 252 coaches working with beginning and district-level athletes in a variety of sports. Analysis suggested that their self-reported efficacy on Strategy was least strong. This means that the coaches were not confident in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams, making decisions on the type of game strategy to employ, and maximizing athletes' strength in competitions. Coaches with less coaching experience were also less confident about motivating athletes. This information on coaching efficacy may be useful in deciding content for a program of education for coaching.     

High School Coaches’ Coaching Efficacy: Relationship with Sport Psychology Exposure and Gender Factors

Coaching efficacy (CE) is largely influenced by mastery experiences such as formal education and coaching experience. However, specific education has not previously been considered in relation to CE. Therefore, examining specific educational experiences, such as those related to sport psychology, which have previously been reported to increase self-efficacy, may prove helpful in advancing CE. Also, previously reported gender differences in CE and perceptions of sport psychology advocate for gender consideration. The purpose of this study was to explore high school coaches’ coaching experience to determine whether sport psychology exposure and gender factors relate to CE. Participants (N?=?2,018) completed the Coaching Efficacy Scale II–High School Teams. An analysis of covariance revealed that more sport psychology education and more frequent contact with sport psychology practitioners resulted in statistically higher CE (p < .05). Analysis of covariance indicated that female coaches reported significantly lower CE than males (p < .05), and coaches of only female athletes reported significantly lower motivation efficacy and physical conditioning efficacy than their peer groups (p < .05). Sport psychology consultants and coach educators should consider these differences when consulting and when developing educational materials and workshops.     

Terror management and the vicissitudes of sports fan affiliation: the effects of mortality salience on optimism and fan identification

The present research examined the hypothesis derived from terror management theory that identifications with sports teams shield against the potential consequences of awareness of death. Experiment 1 demonstrated that Dutch participants who were reminded of their death expressed greater optimism about the results of the national soccer team compared to a control condition. Experiment 2 conceptually replicated this finding with American participants and college sports teams. In addition, Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that success of a team is a prerequisite for sports fan affiliation to function as a buffer against death concerns. Before the college football season began, participants who were reminded about death expressed greater relative preference for a more salient, but less successful college football team over a national college champion basketball team compared to control participants. However, after the football team lost its first game of the season, participants who were reminded about death indicated greater relative preference for the successful basketball team. Results are discussed with regard to the psychological function of social identifications. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does decision making transfer across similar and dissimilar sports?

ObjectivesThe ability to make decisions under time pressure is crucial to performance in sport. However, there remains a paucity of research that examines whether the skills underpinning decision-making transfer across similar or dissimilar sports. We examine whether decision making transfers from soccer to other sports that may be deemed to be either similar (basketball) or dissimilar (tennis) based on sports taxonomy.MethodsSkilled soccer players (N = 20) completed a video-based temporal occlusion test designed to measure decision-making involving offensive sequences of play from soccer, basketball, and tennis. Participants were required to decide on an appropriate action to execute for each situation presented.ResultsResponse accuracy was higher in the soccer decision-making task compared to the basketball and tennis tasks. Furthermore, accuracy scores were higher on the basketball compared to the tennis task.ConclusionsThere appears to be some positive transfer of decision-making between sports that share similar elements, supporting the importance both of specificity and generality in expert performance.     

Dimensions of Coaching Behavior, Need Satisfaction, and the Psychological and Physical Welfare of Young Athletes

Grounded in self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 2000), the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of dimensions of coaching behavior to intrinsic need satisfaction and indices of psychological and physical well-being among male adolescent athletes. Participants were 265 British soccer and cricket players (M _age = 16.44). Structural equation modeling analysis, using maximum likelihood robust method, showed athletes' perceptions of autonomy support, mastery focus, and social support from the coach to predict their satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, respectively. The satisfaction of the need for competence emerged as the most important predictor of psychological and physical well-being. The findings suggest that particular aspects of the social environment may be salient for fostering particular psychological needs. The results also underline the importance of perceived competence for the psychological and physical welfare of adolescents in team sports.     

The Effects of Coaching and Speeding on Big Five and Impression Management Scale Scores

We examined the effects of coaching and speeding on personality scale scores in a faking context (N = 192). A completely crossed 2 × 2 experimental design was used in which instructions (no coaching or coaching) and speeding (with or without a time limit) were manipulated. No statistically significant effects on scale scores were evidenced for speeding. Coaching participants significantly elevated scores (average d = .76) for each of the Big Five personality factors but did not significantly elevate the scores on the Impression Management scale (d = .06). Cognitive ability was significantly positively related to impression management for uncoached participants but not for coached participants. An exploratory simulation suggests that coaching would have an effect on who would be selected for a job.     

A Review of: “Bear,G. G. (2010). School Discipline and Self-Discipline: A Practical Guide to Promoting Prosocial Student Behavior.”

Previous research demonstrates that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can experience social difficulties. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of cross-age peer coaching on social behaviors of first graders with significant symptoms of ADHD using a multiple baseline design. Four students who met criteria for ADHD participated, along with four third- or fourth-grade coaches without ADHD. Coaching pairs met each morning to establish a goal for the younger child to meet during free time. Although results were variable, findings suggested that the cross-age coaching program led to decreases in negative social behavior, and was highly acceptable to participants.     

Sport-Related Concussions: A Review of Epidemiology, Challenges in Diagnosis, and Potential Risk Factors

Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a common mild traumatic brain injury among young, active individuals, affecting approximately 300,000 young American adults annually. In this review of the epidemiology of SRC, we describe the challenges in identifying concussion occurrence and review the studies describing concussion incidence in various sports. In high risk contact sports, American football, soccer (European football), hockey, lacrosse, and basketball athletes experience concussion unintentionally during the course of play. Among these, football concussion incidence is reviewed in greatest detail because it has the highest incidence among the contact sports, and some studies have shown long-term neurophysiologic and neurodegenerative outcomes. Mechanisms of injury differ significantly by sport and can be potential targets for concussion risk mitigation. Despite the apparent high incidence of SRC, risk factors determining initial concussion, recovery periods, recurrence, and long-term outcomes remain poorly understood and warrant further study exploring the influence of age, sex, genetics, and athletic factors.     

Development of a tool for quantifying need-supportive coaching in technology-mediated exercise classes

Technology-mediated interventions to promote physical activity are growing in popularity and appear to be effective for supporting continued adherence for some people. Some of this efficacy may be related to the cultivation of motivation that is self-determined (i.e., autonomous), which is posited to arise from the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. We developed an observational coding tool for quantifying the frequency of needs-supportive and needs-indifferent coaching during technology-mediated exercise classes. The Peloton Instructor Needs-Supportive Coaching (PINC) tool shows evidence of reliability (average kappa = .91). We also demonstrated the utility of the PINC for characterizing needs-supportive coaching profiles across 4 different types of classes (Beginner, Power Zone, Groove, and High-Intensity Interval Training) and the construct validity of the PINC with respect to examining the relationship of needs-supportive coaching to intrinsic motivation. The PINC offers a useful tool with which future studies could evaluate whether and how instructor coaching impacts self-determined motivation to exercise within a technology-mediated context.     

Anger and perceived legitimacy of aggression in male Hong Kong Chinese athletes: Effects of type of sport and level of competition

ProblemThe vast majority of research examining the interplay between aggressive emotions, beliefs, behaviors, cognitions, and situational contingencies in competitive athletes has focused on Western populations and only select sports (e.g., ice hockey). Research involving Eastern, particularly Chinese, athletes is surprisingly sparse given the sheer size of these populations. Thus, this study examines the aggressive emotions, beliefs, behaviors, and cognitions, of competitive Chinese athletes.MethodSeveral measures related to aggression were distributed to a large sample (N = 471) of male athletes, representing four sports (basketball, rugby union, association football/soccer, and squash).ResultsHigher levels of anger and aggression tended to be associated with higher levels of play for rugby and low levels of play for contact (e.g., football, basketball) and individual sports (e.g., squash).ConclusionsThe results suggest that the experience of angry emotions and aggressive behaviors of Chinese athletes are similar to Western populations, but that sport psychology practitioners should be aware of some potentially important differences, such as the general tendency of Chinese athletes to disapprove of aggressive behavior.     

A Pre-Match Video Self-Modeling Intervention in Elite Youth Football

In this study, a self-modelling video intervention was delivered to four elite youth soccer players over 13 weeks of the competitive soccer season. A multiple-baseline, repeated measures single-subject design was used to explore the impact of the intervention on subcomponents of soccer performance and psychological variables, including self-efficacy and positive/negative affect. Statistical analysis indicated that there were significant changes between pre- and post-intervention scores for two players (1 & 3) on three subcomponents of performance (turns, headers and tackles). The findings of this study highlight the potential benefits of designing individualised pre-match video interventions with elite youth athletes.

Lay Summary:

Video self-modelling (VSM) is a behavioural intervention in which an athlete views a video of themselves engaged in adaptive behaviour, in order to learn to reproduce it effectively under pressure. In this study, the impact of a self-modelling video intervention is examined within a youth football soccer environment.     

The use of reflection-card by elite youth basketball players,head coach and team manager: effects on players’ performance and perceptions of users

The purpose of the present paper was to test the effectiveness of the r-cards in sport performance, and to examine what kind of benefits and challenges the head coach, team manager and female basketball players (N = 12) faced when using the r-cards. Mixed methods were employed to gather specific data to answer the research questions. Inferential statistical analyses were conducted to examine whether players’ performances in terms of their targeted defensive rebound percentage and free-throw percentage differed across the five matches played. No significant differences were found. However, evidence from the qualitative data provides a contrasting but insightful perspective. Subjectively, the r-cards strategy was seen as beneficial because it improved the team’s performance and preparations, helped the players in goal setting, identification of weaknesses, and recognition of effort. In contrast, realistic goal setting, irrelevance of some reflection questions, effort recognition, and feedback to head coach were found challenging in r-cards usage. The paper closes with a critical discussion on the implications for future use of r-cards in the field of sport coaching.