Influence of Coaching Behaviors on Athletes Achievement Outcomes in Sport

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Influence of Coaching Behaviors on Athletes
Achievement Outcomes in Sport

• Tony Amorose, Ph.D.
• Illinois State University

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Effective vs. Ineffective Coaching/Leadership

• What are the outcomes associated with effective
  leaders/coaches?
• How do we evaluate whether a coach or leader is
  effective or ineffective?

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Outcomes Associated with Effective
Coaches/Leaders

• high level of personal achievement for the group
  members
• high level of group or team achievement
• extensive skill development (physical, social,
  psychological)

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• positive group interactions (e.g., strong group
  cohesion)
• positive affective responses (e.g., satisfaction,
  pride, enjoyment) for the individuals, group, and
  organization
• enhanced position of the organization (e.g., fan
  support, financial support)

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Questions?

• Who are these coaches/leaders?
• What attributes do these effective
  coaches/leaders posses?
• What types of behavior do these effective
  coaches/leaders exhibit?
• How do they differ from ineffective
  coaches/leaders?

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Questions?

• Are there occasions or situations where these
  "effective" attributes and behaviors are actually
  "ineffective"?
• If so, when and under what conditions?

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Horns (2002) Model of Coaching Effectiveness

• integrates other coaching/leadership models
• Multidimensional Model of Leadership
• Mediational Model of Leadership
• helps organize research on coaching behavior

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Examples of Research on Coaching

• feedback and reinforcement
• general leadership styles
• expectation effects

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Principles of Reinforcement and Performance
Feedback

• Behavioral Coaching
• Basic Premise
• behavior is heavily influenced by the
  consequences associated with the behavior

behavior ? consequence ? future behavior
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consequences of behavior involve either the
presentation, the nonoccurrence, or the removal
of a positive or aversive stimulus
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Positive vs. Aversive Control

• positive approach (i.e., positive control) is
  designed to strengthen desired behaviors by
  monitoring players to perform them and by
  reinforcing them when they occur

negative approach (i.e., aversive
control) involves attempts to eliminate unwanted
behaviors through punishment and criticism, with
the main motivation factor being fear
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Important Point

• The negative approach is a very successful at
  modifying behavior!

However, there are undesirable consequences of
this approach
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Keys to Effective Behavioral Coaching Using the
Positive Approach

• 1. identify the desired behaviors
• focus on the behaviors you want, not those you
  wish to avoid
• focus primarily on controllable behaviors
• e.g., technique vs. outcome
• e.g., effort and other desirable behaviors
• be as specific as possible

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• 2. monitor and reinforce the desired behaviors
• evaluate behaviors on a regular basis
• provide reinforcement contingent to behavior
• use self-referenced criteria
• reinforce successful approximations (shaping)
• use appropriate schedule of reinforcement
• select effective reinforcements

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• 3. evaluate the effectiveness of the behavior
  modification program
• determine whether behaviors change overtime (if
  not, why?)
• determine how the athletes feel about the system

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Coaching Effectiveness Training Studies

• research by Smith, Smoll, and colleagues
• based on the Mediational Model of Leadership

Phase 1 development of the Coaching Behavior
Assessment System (CBAS) through systematic
observation of youth sport coaches
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Phase II

• Are specific coaching behaviors are related to
  the athletes sport experiences?

• Basic Results
• Behaviors positively related to post-season
  evaluations
• reinforcement (for desired behaviors)
• encouragement (after errors)
• technical instruction (after errors)
• general technical instruction
• Behaviors negatively related to post-season
  evaluations
• non-reinforcement (for desired behaviors)
• punishment with or without technical instruction

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• Findings used to develop a series of coaching
  guidelines labeled the Positive Approach to
  coaching

• General Guidelines
• provide encouragement after mistakes
• provide lots of instruction
• do not respond with negative remarks
• do not withhold praise for a good performance

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Philosophy of Positive Approach

• 1. Winning isnt everything, nor is it the only
  thing. Young athletes cannot get the most out of
  sports if they think that the only objective is
  to beat their opponents. Although winning is an
  important goal, it is not the most important
  objective.

2. Failure is not the same thing as losing. It
is important that athletes do not view losing as
a sign of failure or as a threat to their
personal value.
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• 3. Success is not equivalent to winning.
• Neither success or failure need depend on the
  outcome of a contest or on a won-loss record.
  Winning and losing pertain to the outcome of a
  contest, whereas success and failure do not.

4. Athletes should be taught that success is
found in striving for victory (i.e., success is
related to commitment and effort). Athletes
should be taught that they are never losers if
they give maximum effort.
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Phase III

• Used the guidelines of the Positive Approach to
  train coaches

• Summary of Results
• Athletes from trained coaches
• reported greater enjoyment over the season
• evaluated their coach as a better teacher
• reported greater team cohesion
• had higher self-esteem
• reported lower stress/anxiety
• reported a greater desire to play again next year

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Important Point

• using the positive approach guidelines generally
  results in positive outcomes
• However
• it is not enough to just provide high frequencies
  of these coaching behaviors
• effective feedback must also be given contingent
  and appropriate to performance

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• Contingent
• whether the feedback is tied to or given
  specifically in response to the athletes
  performance or behavior

Appropriate whether the feedback is given
appropriate for the level of performance or
behavior
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Why?

• non-contingent and inappropriate feedback have
  been shown to have negative consequences for
  athletes

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Horn (1985)

• high frequencies of criticism related to
  increases in perceived competence
• high frequencies of praise or reinforcement
  related to decreases in perceived competence

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Explanation of Results

• praise was often given non-contingently and
  inappropriately to the athletes (e.g., given for
  success at easy tasks or mediocre performances)
• criticism believe to signal low effort as the
  cause for failure
• criticism consisted of pointing out what was done
  incorrectly, and was usually followed with
  technical instruction

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Key Point

• It is not necessarily the quantity of feedback
  that is important, rather the quality of the
  feedback!

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Guidelines for Effective Feedback

• use the positive approach
• Big Mac attack or Sandwich Approach
• positive ?information ? encouragement
• when in doubt, given information to communicate
  there is room for improvement

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• make sure feedback is contingent and appropriate
• positive feedback for good performances
• corrective instruction for poor performances
• reinforce process variables more than performance
  outcome
• learn what works for your athletes
• be consistent

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General Leadership Styles

• Price and Weiss (2000)
• Research Questions
• Do coaches who vary in burnout differ in the
  behaviors athletes perceive they exhibit?
• Are coaching behaviors related to athletes
  psychological responses?

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Burnout

• What are possible signs or symptoms of burnout?
• Burnout Defined
• a psychological syndrome characterized by
  physical and emotional exhaustion,
  depersonalization, and reduced personal
  accomplishment

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Results

• coaches burnout and behavior
• coaching behaviors and athletes psychological
  responses

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How Can We Reduce Burnout?

• 1. suggestions by athletes
• 2. other suggestions
• reducing stress and pressure
• - individual strategies (e.g., ? coping
  resources, ? self-confidence)
• - situational strategies (e.g., parent/coach
  behaviors, training/travel)

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• increasing enjoyment
• personal control and identity issues
• addressing unproductive thoughts (e.g.,
  perfectionism)

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Expectation Effects

• expectations that a coach forms about the
  abilities of an athlete can serve as prophecies
  that dictate or determine the level of
  achievement that athlete will ultimately reach
• Important Points
• not all coaches are pygmalion prone
• effects are not limited to coaches

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Step 1

• coach form expectations

• Person Cues
• sex
• race/ethnicity
• family background
• body size/type
• style of dress

• Performance Cues
• past achievements
• feedback from others
• scores on skill tests
• personal observations

• Important Points
• multiple cues are used to form initial
  expectations
• expectations may be accurate or inaccurate

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Step 2

• coachs expectations affect his/her behavior

• Differential treatment of athlete include
• 1. the frequency and quality of the coach-athlete
  interactions
• low expectancy athletes tend to
• have less interpersonal contact (social or
  skill-related) with their coach
• receive less warmth and positive affect

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• 2. the quantity and quality of instruction
• For a low expectancy athlete a coach may
• reduce the amount of material/and or the skills
  those players are expected to learn
• be less persistent in helping these athletes
  learn difficult skills
• allow the athlete less time in practice drills

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• 3. the type and frequency of verbal feedback
• Low expectancy athletes tend to receive
• a lower frequency of praise or reinforcement
• less appropriate feedback
• less informational feedback or mistake-contingent
  instruction

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Important Points

• not essential that coaches treat all athletes
  exactly the same
• differential behaviors that are designed to and
  actually facilitate the achievement of athletes
  are good!

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Step 3

• coachs behavior affects the athletes
  performance, behavior, and psychological
  responses

Step 4
athletes performance conforms to the coachs
expectation confirms the coachs belief that
he/she is a good judge of natural abilitywhich
can intensify the whole process
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Important Point

• not all athletes are susceptible to negative
  expectation effects
• certain groups particularly at risk
• youth sport athletes
• groups affected by athletic stereotypes (e.g.,
  race/ethnicity, gender)

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Conclusions

• Coaches should
• recognize that their initial assessment of an
  athletes ability may be inaccurate, and
  therefore need to be revised (be flexible)
• design instructional activities and provide
  quality feedback so all athletes have an
  opportunity to learn and improve their skills

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Take home Message

• coaches can have a significant impact on
  athletes behaviors, cognitions, and affective
  responses
• effective coaching behaviors will depend on
  personal and situational factors, but should be
  pursued at all costs!