Psychological Impacts of Coaches on Players

By Cade Brenner, Luke Fletcher, Owen Monahan, and Kelly Shurelds

Coaches coaching players Based on the experience of others in the athletic field, coaches tend to have a heavy influence and effect on players’ mental and physical well-being. This effect can span to the players’ ability and motivation to achieve peak performance. For years, coaches have been focused on the key question: “How can I inspire the highest level of performance and achieve the most positive response from my athletes?” The purpose of this post is to take a deeper dive into the effects of coaches on their players, and specifically the psychological impacts the coaches have.

Review of Literature

Over the last 10 years, numerous studies have focused on and examined the positive and negative psychological effects coaches have on their players. Positive influence from coaches on players can be characterized by multiple actions. One of these actions that was shown to have a positive correlation with the performance and psychological well-being of players is competence support. This means that a coach will encourage his players through their actions, which causes the players to feel more competent. For example, in a study conducted on 18 competitive male basketball teams, “teams in which either the coach or the athlete leader supported team members’ competence performed better compared to teams in the control group” (Mertens et al., 2018). Further, in the same study it outlined that when coaches appoint athlete leaders, and these leaders show that same competence support, then the team displayed more confidence with higher intrinsic motivation. Another action that had positive correlation on players psychological well-being is when coaches develop an interpersonal relationship with their players. For instance, based on a study that examined the coach-athlete relationship of figure skaters through narratives, athletes that have that relationship with their coach are shown to invest more into the sport (Kuhlin et al., 2019). On the other hand, the same study showed that this relationship, in some cases, can cause a player to become more focused on pleasing the coach than playing for the success of the team. This can have a negative effect on the team because it takes away from the team’s purpose of working towards ultimate success, but also a negative effect on the athletes because it involves the athletes putting more pressure on themselves. Outside of this occasion, the majority of negative effects on players result from a controlling and demanding coaching style.

One example is a study involving 1,166 athletes, aged between 9 and 18, that focused on the correlation of coaches’ controlling style and the players’ competitive anxiety. The findings showed that, “controlling feedback could switch the goals of the athletes from more intrinsically to more externally regulated, and in the long term, lead to external burdens and anxious symptoms toward competition” (Ramis et al., 2017). This shows that when coaches tend to lean more towards the controlling style, impacts on their players can be detrimental to the individual and the team. Furthermore, not only does this controlling style contribute to an athlete’s downfall while currently playing a sport, but it can also have psychological impacts after their playing careers are over. This is backed by a study conducted through interviews of eight retired, elite, female Canadian National Team members said to have had a horrible training environment. This study found that there were “similarities between the effects reports by the athletes and the symptoms that characterize PTSD” (Kerr et al., 2020). These symptoms persisted even during retirement.

These negative environments can cause a team to part ways with their coach. A study examined this in the top two tiers of soccer teams in four European countries over 15 seasons and measured the difference in points scored following a coaching change. They found that an average boss or coach contributes to the group 1.75 times more than an average worker or player. In the same study, their research also displayed that when a coach is dismissed, the team’s mean points drastically spiked by almost an entire point on average (Bryson et al., 2023). This again brings about the narrative that a player will be more willing and motivated to play for a coach that is not controlling and promotes negative atmospheres. To conclude, multiple studies have been conducted on the correlation between the style and actions of a coach and the psychological impacts on players. Further insight and studies could provide a deeper understanding into what could make coaches, and their respective teams, ultimately successful.

Implications on the Practitioner

Based on the research gathered in the studies listed above, many implications on the coaching world can be inferred. Coaches should promote encouraging and positive environments to create the most healthy and empowering cultures for their athletes. This supportive culture will then translate to an increase in the athletes’ motivation, satisfaction, and even performance (Mertens et al., 2018). Furthermore, coaches should steer clear of a controlling style as it was shown to produce multiple negative effects on athletes’ mental health. These effects include a sense of nervousness, sadness, stress, fear, and anxiety linked to their sport training (Kerr et al., 2020). Another implication is that dismissing a controlling coach can cause players to regain energy and positivity towards their sport, which is shown to improve their overall performance, even at the highest level (Bryson et al., 2023). In the end, if coaches can utilize these insights and implications, they can create a more positive, healthy, and successful atmosphere for their players’ psychological and physical well-being.

Conclusion

A coach’s style has a definite impact on an athlete’s psychological well-being. To achieve a positive effect, coaches need to promote positivity, empower athlete leaders, provide competence support, and develop relationships with athletes. A controlling and demanding coaching style will contribute to negative effects on athletes, but a new coach could change the culture and increase motivation and performance. A coach’s style can either greatly enhance or severely diminish his players’ psychological well-being.

References

Bryson, A., Babatunde Buraimo, Farnell, A., & Simmons, R. (2023). Special ones? The effect of head coaches on football team performance. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 71(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12369

Kerr, G., Willson, E., & Stirling, A. (2020). “It Was the Worst Time in My Life”: The Effects of Emotionally Abusive Coaching on Female Canadian National Team Athletes. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 28(1), 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2019-0054

Kuhlin, F., Barker-Ruchti, N., & Stewart, C. (2019). Long-term impact of the coach-athlete relationship on development, health, and wellbeing: stories from a figure skater. Sports Coaching Review, 9(2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2019.1620016

Mertens, N., Boen, F., Vande Broek, G., Vansteenkiste, M., & Fransen, K. (2018). An experiment on the impact of coaches’ and athlete leaders’ competence support on athletes’ motivation and performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 28(12), 2734–2750. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13273

Ramis, Y., Torregrosa, M., Viladrich, C., & Cruz, J. (2017). The Effect of Coaches’ Controlling Style on the Competitive Anxiety of Young Athletes. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(572). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00572