Training and participation in sports may have both positive and negative consequences (Voelker, Gould &Crawford, 2011). Bad characteristics such as poor sportsmanship and temperament may evolve if they are not learned properly and in a constructive way. From a coaching standpoint, we have the potential to instil character growth in our athletes. Each individual will have their own values and beliefs, which may ultimately influence their philosophy.
My coaching philosophy is highly centralised around developing the “human” (figure 1), with one key factor guiding coaching practice. This factor is “caring”, and if we care about the athletes we coach, we should certainly be developing these qualities and equipping them with the tools to succeed in sport and life.
Figure 1: Coaching philosophy (Rui Rodrigues)
Coaches have an advantage
In a youth setting, young individuals typical engage in sport because they enjoy taking part and want to be there. This is not always the case in other environments, such as school or colleges. In this sense, coaches have a real advantage in terms of relationship and authority to influence and drive behaviour as the athletes may be more receptive to learning. It has been previously suggested that motivation is inextricably linked to learning ability. Tallent- Runnels et al., (2006), stressed that learning motivation is the most important element in developing a successful teaching outcome. Therefore, giving coaches a significant advantage to positively influence young people. Utilizing this opportunity, we should make the most of the contact time we have with our athletes to build culture and provide an environment where they are constantly challenged to develop as athletes and people.
What are we trying to achieve?
When referring to long term athletic development, the general goal is to prepare the athlete for senior competition. As S&C we often focus all of our attention on physical qualities, however the extent to which these qualities can be developed may largely depend on psychological characteristics, often referred to as psychological characteristics of developing excellence (PCDE’s). PCDE’S characteristics are similar to physical characteristics in the sense that they can both be trained and improved (Orlick & Prtington, 1988). It has also been suggested that PCDE development is dependent on athlete stage of maturation, similar to physical qualities. These can also vary in accordance with the sport, for example teamwork or leadership may be more prevalent in team sports in comparison to team sports. Though, in my opinion, if we refer back to the point of “caring about our athletes” and “preparing them for life” I would argue that characteristics which are not developed through the sport, should be developed through S&C.
In the case of swimming, for example, it can be a solitary sport in the sense that athletes are often training independently and rely solely on their own performance when in the pool. In addition, it is also classed as an early specialisation sport, meaning that children will engage in from a very young age and in many cases dedicate most of their sporting time to that one modality. However, in most cases children engage in this activity as a part of a club. In this scenario the role of S&C can be paramount. One of the primary goals of S&C consists of balancing out the physical stresses induced by the early specialisation aspect of the sport to promote wellbeing and reduce the risk of injury. The phrase “give the athlete what they are missing in their sport” is often utilized by strength and conditioning professionals. In my opinion, this should not be exclusive to physical qualities! If we as S&C coaches have the possibility to coach children in a club environment, this is the perfect opportunity to develop the characteristics which they may not be as exposed to in the pool due to the nature of the sport.
Much of the success in the development of these characteristics will be dependent on a variety of factors, some more controllable than others. A key factor is team culture. When swim coaches share similar values to the strength and conditioning coach, the likelihood of success is potentially much higher. Meaning that if the club has a culture whereby strength and conditioning is seen as part of the swimming programme and not something external, then ultimately the buy in and athlete motivation will be reflected. Highlighting the importance of strong relationships and a clear mission/ philosophy.
Factors influencing what characteristics should be developed
Previous research has been conducted with the aim of identifying which PCDE’s influence elite performance. A study by Orlick & Prtington (1988) investigated Olympic athletes of varying success rates finding that characteristics such as commitment, goal setting and imagery training to be the differentiating characteristics determining success. Is important to observe that this was conducted on elite level athletes, meaning the characteristics stated are only ones separating success at the highest level.
In a different study, Olympic medallists were compared to family members (MacNamara, Button & Collins, 2010). Similar psychological characteristics as the previous study were found in the elite athletes, however other characteristics such as dealing with pressure and self-belief where the differentiating factors they possessed in comparison to non-elite performers. This is often seen in several sports where you can have an individual with lots of potential and labelled as physically “gifted” which performs amazing in training but then is unable to perform in competition, thereby never reaching higher levels. The research suggests that there may be certain characteristics which should be developed to reach elite levels of competition. Which leads us to the following questions: “Should we as practitioners include PCDE’s in our needs analysis?” and “Should we distinguish sport needs and athlete needs just like physical qualities?”
Before we can start to implement and drive behaviour changes/ desired outcomes it is important to establish and understand some of the factors which will influence our decisions/practice.
Factors influencing PCDE’s development:
· Coaches’ philosophy and personal values and morals
· Characteristics believed to be crucial for sporting success and for life outside of sport
· Values which align with the organisation you are working with/ Team culture
· Promoting a safe environment which gives athletes the chance to express themselves and develop.
Therefore, these characteristics may depend on the coach and the context they operated in and we can’t say for certain what characteristics should be developed. However, it is important for coaches to acknowledge and be conscious of this aspect of athlete development when carrying out practices.
Coaching process
The ability to coach and our own personal skills will ultimately determine how successful our practice is. The way we communicate and adapt our coaching style to suit athlete’s individual needs will influence how receptive the athlete is to instructions. It is also crucial that we attempt to build a trusting relationship with the athletes, of course this is a process which takes time to develop. A method which I have personally used in my practice to aid in this process is simply trying to understand what drives specific behaviours. Recognising that there is always a reason motivating a particular comportment. If a child is late with no apparent excuse, you can view it as naughty or you can ask yourself “why?”. Which then ultimately links to knowing the athlete but also having an awareness of the support systems surrounding this child i.e., what is their home life like or what other challenges can they be facing externally. I am by no means suggesting we should be invasive; Simply that we should have an open mind and be compassionate when dealing with other human beings. If we can understand behaviour, then we are more likely to change it.
So how would we change it?
Ultimately it is no different to changing physical characteristics. Once a deficit has been identified, it can then be trained. To contextualise, if an athlete has a deficit in strength, we may programme strength development in a systematic manner. What we wouldn’t do is punish them. Therefore, why would we do it in regard to a psychological characteristic deficit? Unquestionably, it is important for the athlete to understand that there are consequences to certain behaviours, it is our role to help them understand this but then ultimately provide them with tools to trigger adaptation as seen in figure 2.
Figure 2: Characteristic development process upon identification
Ultimately our goal is to help athletes understand how certain characteristics may help them, this can be done primarily through conversation and regular education. Messages should be consistent and pitched at the correct level. Strategies that apply for teenagers may not be suitable for 8-year-olds due to differing information processing capabilities (Pollock & Lee, 1997). Therefore, it is important to set clear outcomes that we want our athletes to achieve at specific maturation points.
Take home message
Research suggests that the psychosocial and psychological facets of development are likely to be a top priority in determining success, not only in sport as this is not always possible but for other areas of life. It is our responsibility as coaches to acknowledge these factors when working with youth athletes. Although values and characteristics may vary from person to person and differing environments, the goal should always be to develop good people as well as good athletes.
References
MacNamara, Á., Button, A., & Collins, D. (2010). The Role of Psychological Characteristics in Facilitating the Pathway to Elite Performance Part 1: Identifying Mental Skills and Behaviors. The Sport Psychologist, 24(1), 52-73.
Orlick, T., & Partington, J. (1988). Mental Links to Excellence. The Sport Psychologist, 2(2), 105-130.
Pollock, B., & Lee, T. (1997). Dissociated Contextual Interference Effects in Children and Adults. Perceptual And Motor Skills, 84(3), 851-858
Tallent-Runnels, M., Thomas, J., Lan, W., Cooper, S., Ahern, T., Shaw, S., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research. Review Of Educational Research, 76(1), 93-135.
Voelker, D., Gould, D., & Crawford, M. (2011). Understanding the Experience of High School Sport Captains. The Sport Psychologist, 25(1), 47-66.
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