What makes a great coach? Quality Coaching Behaviours: Part I

In this mini-series we will take a look at California State University Professor Andrea J Becker's research paper entitled "Quality Coaching Behaviours". Written in 2012 for the Routledge Handbook of Sports Coaching he analysed over 300 articles focussing on coaching behavioural studies to understand what the best coaching behaviours are that one should exhibit in order to enhance their athletes' development and performance.

Becker’s (2012) comparative study identified the behavioural qualities which have been seen to enhance athletes' development and performance. In analysing these articles, Becker found that around 49% of the articles continuously made reference to seven behavioural qualities that led to great coaching.

The idea behind our 'Guided By The Facts' posts are that they are both informative and easy to digest. Therefore, as there is a lot of information to read and condense in this particular article we will be rolling the seven qualities out over a mini-series of blog posts. The first of which discusses the importance of being a positive coach and is the largest of the seven qualities in terms of data found. Hopefully this series can give you some tips on how you can improve your behaviour as a coach.

#1 Behaviour - Positive

Whilst many coaches are inherently positive, for others it doesn't come altogether that easily and even then it can be more of a choice rather than a natural feeling. Some coaches believe that by putting pressure on players and instilling a "fear" factor in them it will force players to do whatever it takes to win. There is no doubting the fact that this method has been successfully used over time, and if you are thinking to yourself this method works for you then nobody is going to stop you. However perhaps taking some time to acknowledge a different approach and being more purposefully positive could help your coaching. If this is of interest then I invite you to read on.

Becker (2012) highlights that coaching is:

"Considered to be positive when it provokes desired changes in athletes' behaviours while also protecting or enhancing their psychological states"

Firstly, the above quote encapsulates an extremely important part of being a coach; influencing the "psychological state" and "behaviour" of players. By no means do you need to have a grounded understanding of psychology but thinking about the psyche could help you in your future coaching endeavours. Whilst the answer isn't simple, it is certainly not rocket science. In Becker's analysis, he outlines the following sub characteristics of positive coaching behaviour which can be adopted by any coach with minimal effort;

Being a positive coach means being instructive

The first point centres around employing an instructive positive behaviour. Put simply, instead of telling your player they did something badly or getting angry at them, coaching literature advocates constructive and informative criticism as it leads to "higher levels of athlete satisfaction, competence, motivation and overall performance" (Becker 2012; Amorose and Horn 2000; Mouratidis et al. 2008). Particularly in this day and age, players are a lot more sensitive than they might have once been, it is therefore more important than ever to try and be a compassionate coach when the opportunity lends itself to doing so.

Being a positive coach means concentrating on abilities and strengths as opposed to flaws

Part of being a good coach is helping realise your players' and teams potential. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, players need a little positive push in the right direction;

"Great coaches provide their athletes with a vision of what they are capable of doing and becoming" (Becker 2012; Becker 2009; Voight and Carroll 2006).

In adopting this characteristic and giving players a goal, great coaches focus less on what athletes cannot do and more on what they can do. In return, coaches are often rewarded with higher motivation and confidence from their players as a result of the trust they have shown in them.

Being a positive coach means channelling confidence

Confidence, whether in sport or life is a vitally important quality. As a coach, both instilling confidence in your players and portraying confidence in yourself are important factors of being a good coach. You may be thinking to yourself, but what if I'm not a confident coach? Don't worry. You are certainly not the only one out there feeling this way. You don't have to be naturally confident to portray confidence and instilling confidence in your team doesn't have to be flashy. It can be a simple change in the words you use that helps breed confidence within your team. Imagine it's half time and your team are clearly lacking in confidence. Becker suggests when talking to your team use "terms such as 'When we…' and 'We will…' as opposed to 'If we…' and 'Try to…'" (Becker, 2012) . In using positive words of affirmation, the coach is tapping into what their players can and will do if they believe in themselves like the coach does. By communicating this confidence the players are more likely to focus on the game at hand and less likely to question their own abilities or even be distracted by thoughts about what their coach is thinking.

Being a positive coach means putting more emphasis on attitude and effort rather than results

This is a rather simple, self explanatory quality but often overlooked. For example, having been a player myself, I have been involved in games where the coach is so focused on getting the right result that they start talking about the league table and the number of points we need to go above X team. Becker suggests that this focus from the coach on the result adds increased "unnatural pressure" and often serves as a "mental distraction that inhibits rather than enhances athlete performance" (Becker, 2012). In my case, I have the benefit of hindsight but more often than not, the player is aware of the teams position and thus already has imposed their own "natural pressure" on themselves. A coach should look to motivate their players by trusting them and letting them go out and enjoy themselves in any given situation no matter the stakes. Thus focussing more on a players attitude and effort as opposed to the result.

Being a positive coach means focussing on performance execution

Similar to the previous point, in sport; in particular football it is impossible to have the desired outcome all of the time. With various factors impacting any given game particularly at a grassroots level. Therefore even if results aren't going your way, as a coach it is important for you to stand up and praise a player who has had a good game despite a bad team result. When referring to dealing with players' emotional reactions after a bad result, Becker suggests they can be "particularly problematic when athletes' solely base their perceptions of competence and self-worth on the results they attain". Hence the importance of being straightforward and telling a player they played well. On the other hand be sure not to give false praise where it is not deserved as this can lead to a false sense of security in ones performance and could ultimately cause a player to perform to that same standard thinking that is what you expect of them.

To sum up…

It is clear that positive coaching qualities are vast and intricate. Whilst you may not agree with them all, I hope that you can take something positive (excuse the pun) away from this little recap of Becker's work on Quality Coaching Behaviours. Check back next week for part two of this mini-series where we will discuss his findings on being a supportive, individualised and fair coach.

Bibliography
Amorose, A.J. and Horn, T.S. (2000) ‘Intrinsic motivation: relationships with collegiate athletes’
gender, scholarship status, and perceptions of their coaches’ behavior’, Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology, 22: 63–84.

Becker, A.J. (2009) ‘It’s not what they do, it’s how they do it: athlete experiences of great coaching’,
International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 4: 93–119.

Becker, A.J. (2012) 'Quality Coaching Behaviour' Routledge Handbook of Sports Coaching, 15: 184 - 195

Mouratidis, A., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W. and Sideridis, G. (2008) ‘The motivating role of positive
feedback in sport and physical education: evidence for a motivational model’, Journal of Sport and
Exercise Psychology, 30: 240–268.

Voight, M. and Carroll, P. (2006) ‘Applying sport psychology philosophies, principles, and practices
onto the gridiron: an interview with USC football coach Pete Carroll’, International Journal of Sports
Science and Coaching, 1: 321–331.