Relationship on Group Performance
Impacts of Coach-Leadership and Coach-Athlete
Relationship on Group Performance
Introduction
Coaches are the crossing point between school and students. Coaches’ beliefs, attitudes, and values influence the athletes with whom the coach interacts (Wei, 2009). The study of leadership can be traced back to ancient Greece and China. For over seventy years, scholars in modern psychological and social sciences have given their effort and energy in leadership (Cheng, 2008). The application of leadership theories to organizations or groups were only around for thirty years (Wei, 2009). Coaches’ leadership styles have greatly affected the relationship between coaches and players and the content of training (Cheng, 2008). Not only can positive mutual reaction between a coach and a player improve athletic performance; it can also mold and develop team cohesion (Cheng, 2008).
The meaning of leadership is complex and multi-faceted and often defined according to one’s theoretical position: (1) virtually all definitions share the view that leadership involves a process of influence; (2) the integration of major leadership theories has served to highlight leadership not as an individual characteristic, but as dyadic, relational, strategic and a complex social dynamics; and (3) sports coaching has been defined as a complex social process that is constituted and maintained by a set of reciprocal, interpersonal relationships and permeated by constraints (Vella, Oades, and Crowe, 2010).
There is no specific body of language that concerns leadership style in sport settings. The researches so far suggest that there are certain characteristic that are manifested by individuals who are successful coaches. For instance, Grace (as cited in Wei, 2009) indicated that a coach considers an athlete’s needs both in and outside the competition but an unsuccessful coach is the one who is more likely to dismiss various aspects of the athlete’s needs. Moreover, a successful coach is one who is competent at choosing the suitable leadership behavior for a given sport as well as for a given setting. A successful coach is one who has the ability to adjust to the needs of his or her athletes and maximize the ability of an athlete to perform at the highest level possible.
Furthermore, the athletes’ perception of their coaches influences their team’s effort towards cooperation. In the study of Rieke, Hammermeister, and Chase (2014), it was found that coaches were the models for thec contemporary leaders that are suitable for the modern day athlete. One of these modern types of coaches uses the servant leadership model, which includes trust, inclusion, humility, and service. These are seen in enhanced coach behaviors (Rieke et al, 2014). From the study, it was found that athletes who perceive their coach as possessing servant leader qualities also show a higher intrinsic motivation, are more task-oriented, more satisfied, are mentally tougher, and perform better than the athletes who are coached by non-servant leaders (Rieke et al, 2014).
Behavioral theories are also important in understanding the coach-athlete relationship. In the behavioral theories, it is said that the action of the leader influences the actions of the follower, with a transaction occurring between the leader and the follower through some kind of information exchange (Cheng, 2008).
Behavioral theories are often called transactional theories. They emphasize the leadership skills that can be taught where such skills involve some type of action on the part of the leader, which then causes an alteration in the behavior of the follower (Cheng, 2008). Leadership theories just like behavioral theories are similar since both of them do not rely on a single best method for leading and they both indicate that leaders should choose the method that is best for leading a group (Cheng, 2008).
There are two types of leadership theories which, namely Theory X and Theory Y. These theories weredeveloped by Macgregor, and they assume that followers are either Theory X or Theory Y personality types (Cheng, 2008). In Theory X followers do not oblige with the leaders and are stimulated by rewards and punishments (Cheng, 2008). On the other hand, Theory Y followers are very cooperative and self-motivated. Most members of a team are found somewhere in the middle of Theory X and Y; hence, the actions of the coach or leader can affect whether a member will fall under Theory X or Theory Y.
1. What leadership style best aids in the attainment of the group’s goal?
2. What strategy is more efficient on the group performance of a team?
Methodology
This paper will try to compare two studies that cover the coach-leadership and the coach-athlete style. The comparison includes a descriptive analysis of the two chosen researches that are specifically related to soccer players and teams.
One study was conducted by Stewart Vella, Lindsay Oades, and Trevor Crowe and was entitled The Relationship between Coach Leadership, the Coach Athlete Relationship, Team Success and the Positive Developmental Experiences of Adolescent Soccer Players. The other study was conducted by Krisha Parker and was entitled Preferred Coaching Styles in Youth Sports: A Qualitative Inquiry of Soccer Players from Generation Z.
It can be said that the study by Vella, Oades and Crowe (2013) had a more intensive collection of data for their study since the method they used was a cross-sectional data taken from 455 adolescent athletes aged 11 to 18 years old. The respondents were competing in a local soccer competition that is classified as a participation sports. Hence, the study’s theoretical focus was on developmental and skill gains. The respondents completed a Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory for Youth Sport, the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire, and The Youth Experience Survey for Sport. Team Success was measured by the total number of competition points accumulated during the season.
On the other hand, Parker’s (2007) study utilized the researcher as an instrument for the gathering of data. The researcher obtained data from interviews, discussions, and observations. The researcher has reminded herself that by using this method of gathering data, any preconceived notions on the coach leadership styles should not be entertained. The participants of the study were 10 athletes (5 males and 5 females) from the Generation Z population who were between 9 to 10 years old. They were selected from a soccer club located in the Eastern region of North Carolina. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data from the participants. The answers from the interview were transcribed verbatim out of which themes were determined.
Results
Regression Analysis
The table above shows the regression analysis for the transformational leadership behavior, coach-athlete relationship and team success. These linear regressions were performed to establish whether the transformational leadership behavior, coach-athlete relationship, and team success were important predictors of positive developmental experiences.
The transformational leadership behavior has an F of 55.89 with p <.001 adjusted at R2 , which is 11. The coach-athlete relationship is at 74.18 in F at p <.001 adjusted at R2 at 14. Transformational leadership behavior and coach-athlete relationship are significant predictors of positive developmental experiences. Team success, has F 2.54 at p < .11 with adjusted R2 of 0.
A multiple regression was also employed using backwards elimination to determine the most prominent transformational leadership behaviors in predicting positive developmental experiences. Results confirm that a combination of individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, and appropriate modeling provide the best predictor of positive developmental experiences.
Themes for the Interview
The themes above are the answers of the 10 participants in the study conducted by Parker (2007). The research covered the way that coaches handled their members with the use of their leadership style. From the themes, it can be gleaned that the players wanted to have a more democratic style of leadership and coaching in their team. In the first theme, the participants do not want a coach who yells and is always irritated. Half of the participants said that coaches should be caring and encouraging. The knowledge of sports ranked the least, and 40 percent of the participants wanted to be involved in the team’s decision making.
Discussion
The results from the study of Vella, Oades, and Crowe (2013) showed several findings. The first finding is that team success has no relationship with the overall experiences of young athletes. The second finding is that transformational leadership behaviors are positively correlated with all positive developmental experiences and are negatively correlated with negative developmental experiences. The researchers also found that all transformational leadership behaviors were related to the development of personal and social skills, goal setting and initiative (Vella et al, 2013). Intellectual stimulation and appropriate role modeling are the only factors associated with the development of cognitive skills. The observed quality of the coach-athlete relationship is also positively correlated with positive developmental experiences (Vella et al, 2013). As a result, the combination of transformational leadership behavior and the quality of the coach-athlete relationship provides the best predictor of positive developmental experiences (Vella et al, 2013).
Although the results were quite inconsistent, Vella et al. (2013) asserted that the transformational leadership behavior and the quality of the coach-athlete relationship were shown to have a positive impact on young athletes. It was also said that the role of a coach facilitated this positive impact. The results of this study confirm that the coach plays a vital and influential role in facilitating positive developmental outcomes for young adults (Vella et al, 2013) and that transformational leadership behavior and the quality of the coach-athlete relationship are important predictors of positive developmental experiences. Generally, coaches who were low on transformational leadership behavior or those who were reported to have poor quality coach-athlete relationships were more likely to have athletes who had a greater number of negative experiences and a lower level of social and personal skills, cognitive skills, initiative, and goal setting skills.
Surprisingly, team success does not have relationship with the overall ratings of positive developmental experiences. This is quite confusing since team success is used to gauge the effectiveness of the coach in handling the group; however, this study showed that it is not related to the development of positive experiences. This is a great precursor for changing the concept of developing skills in a group. Team success is not the only measurement of the cohesiveness of the team members. The influence of these findings is that coaches who practice transformational leadership within the organization, along with a good coach-athlete relationship, would aid the development of skills needed for their team in the acquisition of developmental assets.
For the research of Parker (2007), the previous themes presented in the paper are the preferred leadership styles of the participants. Understanding the styles that the athletes prefer will give coaches an idea on how they can effectively manage and lead a soccer team.
For the first theme, the athletes want their coaches to be calm and to not yell. According to Stewartand& Taylor (as cited by Parker, 2007), one of the reasons that female athletes quit is because of issues with the coaches. In the study by Stewart and Taylor (as cited by Parker, 2007), female athletes want their coaches to be fun, nice, good at listening, understanding, fair, encouraging, knowledgeable, and motivational. The players do not want coaches who are mean or rude, unfair, discouraging, yelling at the players, have poor coaching styles, are not nice, and are pessimistic (Parker, 2007). In the study by Frey, Czech, Kent and Johnson (as cited by Parker, 2007), the findings -- as reiterated by the experiences of the female athletes – showed that the participants considered a good coach to be a “good leader, teacher, motivator, and friend”.
The second theme is being caring and encouraging. The athletes want a coach who is motivating and who gives encouraging words (Parker, 2007). The participants in the study said that good coaching qualities include being willing to assist the athletes in developing their skills; being calm in explaining the athletes’ mistakes; and motivating the team to play at its best (Parker, 2007). It also shows that coaches with these qualities form positive relationship with their players. The players said they easily learn when the coaches provide this type of non-threatening environment. The players showed more positive attitudes, higher-levels of self-esteem, a greater enjoyment of the sport, and lower levels of sport individual for the coaches with caring and encouraging attitudes (Parker, 2007).
The third theme is that the coach should know well the sports. From the results, the players like a coach who is respected by players because of his knowledge about the game. The participants explained that in order to earn that respect the coach must have sufficient knowledge on the sports (Parker, 2007). Moreover, the inadequacy of the coach’s knowledge led to a bad experience to the players. The participants said that their former coach was always yelling because of he knows little on the sports yielding to their poor leadership skills (Parker, 2007). This claim was strengthened by the study of Carnegie (as cited by Parker, 2007), that usually the youth volunteers who were heavily participating in volunteer youth sports are not well-trained; hence, they are causes of poor leadership and coaching skills for the young athletes.
The fourth theme is that the members should be involved in decision making. The participants said that they wanted to be involved in the decision making process and have an input and say on their play. They also want to be able to voice out their concerns during the game (Parker, 2007). According to the study of Martin, Richardson, and Weiller (as cited by Parker, 2007), it was found out that players, together with their parents, want to be involved in the decision making process and wanted a coach who gives them the opportunity to assist in the decision making process. The participants wanted a democratic style in leadership. This leadership behavior aids in making the relationship between a coach and an athlete more positive. Thus, this kind of coach-athlete relationship will promote success in the group.
The studies used in this paper are helpful; however, they pose certain limitations. First, the validity of the results is not gauged since they use secondary data. It is better to be involved in the research so that the manipulation of data will be prevented. In general, the participants in each study are also quite limited, especially in the qualitative research by Parker (2007). It involved only ten young athletes who could be involved for sonly a number of months in the soccer team. Similarly, the quantitative research of Vella et al. (2013) involved young athletes who just joined in the team and did not have enough experience during the time of the survey.
Conclusion
The studies used in this paper provided good sources of information about the coach leadership and coach-athlete relationships in a soccer team. In the study by Vella et al. (2013), it was indicated that a coach with transformational leadership is positively correlated with the coach-athlete relationship. This enables athletes to develop positive developmental experiences, which are needed for the success of the team. The most influential leadership behaviors are individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, and appropriate role modeling. Transformational leadership behavior can work together with coach-athlete relationship to influence positive athlete outcomes in youth sports. It will be better if the program for future coaches will incorporate interpersonal and intrapersonal skills that provide youth sport coaches with the opportunity to hone transformational leadership behaviors.
On the other hand, the study by Parker (2007) underscores the emotional aspect of the players with regards to the coaching style of the coaches. Players want coaches who are not so strict, since strict coaches create a threatening environment for the players. This kind of environment makes it difficult for players to concentrate and understand the game instructions. The players also stressed the importance of having a knowledgeable coach. This means that the coach must be trained and must be adept at working with a team. Lastly, athletes should be involved in the decision making so that they feel that they belong to the team.
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