Running Head PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 1 Player Preferences for Coaching Behaviors
Year: 2016

In athletics every athlete prefers different behaviors from their coach. Research hasn't been able to explain player preferences in terms of their preferred and expected coaching behaviors and if their coaches are meeting those behaviors. This study looked to see if coaches met the expected and preferred behaviors of their athletes. In order to examine this question, St. John Fisher student athletes of both genders, and individual sport and team sport athletes were be surveyed. After examining prior research, results are expected to show that athletes prefer coaches who are inclusive in decision making, focus on building skills, and develop a positive coach athlete relationship. Of the 581 student athletes at St. John Fisher College, 87 responded to the survey. The results revealed that athletes preferred a coach to work on improving their skills and building a relationship with them in season, and a coach who does not make all the decisions by himself. There was no significant difference in the expectations and preferences between males and females, type of sport, and the year of the athlete. Document Type Undergraduate Project Professor's Name Emily Dane Staples Subject Categories Sports Management This undergraduate project is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http:/fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad/52 Running Head: PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 1 Player Preferences for Coaching Behaviors Tim Coykendall St. John Fisher College PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 2  In athletics every athlete prefers different behaviors from their coach. Research hasn't been able toIn athletics every athlete prefers different behaviors from their coach. Research hasn't been able to explain player preferences in terms of their preferred and expected coaching behaviors and if their coaches are meeting those behaviors. This study looked to see if coaches met the expected and preferred behaviors of their athletes. In order to examine this question, St. John Fisher student athletes of both genders, and individual sport and team sport athletes were be surveyed. After examining prior research, results are expected to show that athletes prefer coaches who are inclusive in decision making, focus on building skills, and develop a positive coach athlete relationship. Of the 581 student athletes at St. John Fisher College, 87 responded to the survey. The results revealed that athletes preferred a coach to work on improving their skills and building a relationship with them in season, and a coach who does not make all the decisions by himself. There was no significant difference in the expectations and preferences between males and females, type of sport, and the year of the athlete. PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 3 Player Preferences for Coaching Behaviors Making it or breaking it for an athlete is often dependent on the coaching he/she receives. When people think of great coaches they think of Coach K at Duke, Vince Lombardi of the Packers, Parsells, Wooden and more. These coaches exhibit certain behaviors that have made them successful in their sport. Coaches are a very important segment of sport because they are the first component to a college athlete's career. Coaches they are the ones that call the plays, make the line ups, and determine playing time for that athlete (Cho, Hyun Woo, Magnusen, 2013) Many things go into being a great coach including philosophy, tactics, communication, strategy, and knowledge (VEA, 2003) Great coaching is very objective but regardless, great and poor coaches have specific behaviors. All of these influence the behaviors in which the coach exhibits. Athletes like coaches, have specific behaviors they prefer or expect from their coaches. Meeting or exceeding the expectations and preferences is an integral part of coaching athletes. Figuring out what kind of behaviors athletes prefer will significantly help or hinder the development of the coach athlete relationship. Chelladurai and Sahel developed the Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) to determine the different coaching styles coaches embody. The LSS is important to this study because it will aid in defining the coaching behaviors most coaches exhibit within the different coaching styles. All of the styles Chelladurai and Sahel developed have different coaching behaviors that help to define them. These behaviors can be defined in the CBAS or Coaching Behavioral Assessment System developed by Smith, Smoll, and Hunt during their study in 1977. Their study categorizes the coaching behaviors into two broad behavioral segments. This system for categorizing coaching behavior will be very beneficial to generating a thorough survey. The study that created the CBAS is very similar to the current study but this study will look to see if college coaches meet the preferred behaviors of their athletes. This is where the study by Smith, Smoll, and Hunt and this study will differ. Smith, Smoll, and Hunt only determine PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 4 what the preferred coaching behaviors are and categorize them. It does not determine if coaches meet the preferred behaviors from their athletes. The coach athlete relationship is also influenced by the uniqueness of each athlete. Every athlete is different from one another from male to female; from individual sport athletes to team sport athletes, each athlete requires different coaching behaviors than another athlete. This uniqueness can influence the kind of motivational tactics a coach uses toward a team or player, as well as how the coach athlete relationship is developed. Prior research has examined defining what the different coaching styles are and what are the preferences based on coaching styles. This study will look at how the different behaviors rather than the styles of coaches and what behaviors of coaches are preferred and expected from the athletes, as well as seeing if coaches are meeting those expectations of their players. The results uncovered in this study can be beneficial to coaches across the college landscape. Depending on what the results reveal, coaches can use this to try to improve their relationships and interactions with their athletes, especially coaches at the college level. College coaches should be able to review the results and apply them to their own specific teams or athletes outside of St. John Fisher College. After analyzing the results coaches should be able to determine what behaviors they should exhibit in order to foster positive relationships with their athletes. By having positive relationships and learning how to best meet the preferences and expectations of their athletes, the athletes will likely have a more positive experience making them want to continue playing. Enjoying something especially in athletics, makes it much easier to increase the quality of performance because the athlete is enjoying what they are doing. The results can be used in educating coaches in certification classes to help ensure that the curriculum meets those preferences of the athletes. This is very important because player preferences of coaching behavior can affect both their attitudes toward their sport experiences and the team performance (Steward, Owens, 2011) PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 5 Literature Review Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework for this study was developed by Chelladurai and defined in a study by Rune Hogaard, Gareth W. Jones, and Derek M. Peters (2008) The framework that will help to predict and explain why the results of this study occur is the Theoretical Multidimensional Model of Leadership Behavior. The theoretical multidimensional model of leadership behavior suggested that actual coach behavior is influenced not only by the characteristics of the coach, but also by the coaching behavior (required and preferred) that is directed influenced by antecedent situational characteristics (team sport, individual sport, home or away location, success and failure) and member characteristics (gender, achievement motivation, skill level of the athlete) (Hogaard, Jones, Peters, 2008, p. 241 242) In simpler terms, the coach's behavior is influenced by the preferred behaviors of the player, what sport he or she coaches and the characteristics of the coaches themselves. Zuzanna Walach Bista interpreted Chelladurai's model of leadership by saying that the model "emphasized that the effectiveness of coaching behavior is dependent on the interplay between players' preferences for specific types of coaching behavior and the numerous contextual conditions and requirements that arise" (2013, p. 265) Chelladurai's model of leadership explains why coaches behave the way they do and the different factors that influence them to behave in that specific manor thus warranting the use of his theory for this study. This specific study will examine the required or preferred coaching behaviors from athletes which according to the theoretical multidimensional model of leadership behavior directly affects how a coach behaves. Coach Athlete Relationship Every athlete's demands are unique much like every human being is unique. Therefore each athlete might prefer difference behaviors from their coaches (Bloom, Duchesne, Sabiston, 2011) The coach athlete relationship that forms throughout the athlete's duration under the coach is vital to the growth of the athlete both physically and mentally. The strength of the coach athlete relationship can PREFERENCES FOR COACHING BEHAVIORS 6 be a direct result of the coach meeting the preferred and expected coaching behaviors of the athlete. In an interview with Vernon Davis (tight end) for the San Francisco 49ers it became evident how large of an impact a coach could have on an athlete's wellbeing. Through the heart wrenching emotional interview, Davis discussed how his former coach Mike Singletary, who is known for showing behaviors of an authority, and those of a disciplinarian. Davis attributed his success