Coaching Styles and Their Impact on Athletes

A coach is the kind of person who will be one of the most influential for a young
athlete. There is a lot of research regarding the psychological impact a coach has
on an athlete and a team’s success. Various coaching styles have been shown to have either
a positive or a negative effect on performance. There is even evidence showing that
a coach’s behavior and actions can affect the motivation of athletes. In this paper,
I wanted to investigate how the different coaching styles and behaviors truly affect
an athlete’s and overall team success.

All coaches have their own unique coaching style and the way it is implemented will
affect their athletes’ performance. Marcone (2017) suggests that the impact on an
athlete’s motivation and performance can be extremely significant; the varying styles
of coaching could either fulfill or neglect an athlete’s psychological needs. Marcone
(2017) explains that recent research has shown that an autonomy supportive coaching
style/behavior fulfill the needs of athletes and result in a greater success overall
in their improvement and performance. Similarly, Jones (2020) also investigated different
coaching styles and their impact on athletes. To find the most efficient coaching
styles, the leadership scale for sport and the multidimensional model for leadership
was used. Jones (2020) found that youth and high school athletes prevailed most under
democratic and social support coaching styles; in college athletes, it was suggested
that a democratic style of coaching led to more team cohesion and freedom. Jones (2020)
then suggested that an autocratic/authoritarian style of coaching was not efficient
for any athletes. An autocratic style doesn’t allow the freedom or autonomy that athletes
need to succeed (Jones, 2020). In a similar study, Brinton et al. (2017) revealed
that authoritative coaching styles were a significant predictor of autonomy and competence
by the athlete. An authoritarian coaching style was a significant negative predictor
of athlete autonomy levels (Brinton et al., 2017).

Mertens et al. (2018) investigated the impact of competence support provided by coaches
and athlete leaders on players’ competence satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and
performance and found that teams achieving higher levels of competence satisfaction
and intrinsic motivation had the competence support from the coach. This study reveals
the importance of support from leaders/coaches to improve team performance and it
reiterates just how easy it is for coaches to influence their athletes. Coaches have
the power to motivate their athletes’ minds and muscles as they train to improve performance
(Northcentral University, 2018). The only way to achieve this is by maintaining a
positive relationship with their players and proving that they can trust and fully
commit to their team.

Many athletes will continue to learn and grow with multiple coaches along the way.
It is a coach’s job to be one that many would call a role model as they will be impacting
their athlete’s lives more than they originally may think. To be a successful coach
and role model, it will be important for them to consider many different coaching
styles that will be most effective for their team’s performance. It takes some experimenting
to find the most efficient path, but the time taken will be worth it. As shown in
the research above, the least effective coaching style is the authoritarian style.
This style will make a coach seem controlling and strict. This has proven to cause
a negative psychological impact on athletes. The athletes who experience coaches who
behave in an authoritarian way cannot create the trust and positive relationships
that are critical for team success. A similar authoritarian style has proven to show
improvements in competence and performance, but there are still the positive connections
and support that are missing for an athlete’s psychological needs. Studies have shown
that the most effective coaching style among all ages is the autonomy style. The autonomy
coaching style is recommended because it allows for players to have freedom and support
from the coach. These are the kinds of coaches who are considered role models as they
provide positive psychological effects for athletes. It’s important for coaches to
consider their options and understand that they will be impacting many athlete’s lives.
This isn’t the kind of job where coaches can be selfish because they need to be available
to enhance and support their athletes’ needs and goals.

Coaching is a difficult job. There are a lot of things that need to be considered
and implemented to achieve success in a team’s performance. Athletes are impacted
every day by the decisions and actions put forth by their coaches. This is why it
is a coach’s responsibility to put the goals and needs of their athletes first and
strive to provide their athletes with the tools they need to succeed.

References

Brinton, C. S., Hill, B. J., & Ward, P. J. (2017). Authoritative coach: Building youth
through sport. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 35(1), 51–65. https://doi.org/10.18666/jpra-2017-v35-i1-7296

How coaches can impact athlete focus. Northcentral University. (2018, February 7). https://www.ncu.edu/blog/how-coaches-can-impact-athlete-focus#gref.

Jones, K. (n.d.). Coaching styles and its effect on team performance. Digital Commons @Brockport. https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/pes_synthesis/120/.

Mertens, N., Boen, F., Vande Broek, G., Vansteenkiste, M., & Fransen, K. (2018). An
experiment on the impact of coaches’ and athlete leaders’ competence support on athletes’
motivation and performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 28(12), 2734–2750. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13273

Marcone, M. (n.d.). The impact of coaching styles on the motivation and performance of athletes. Digital Commons @Brockport. https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/pes_synthesis/21/.