This study examined how outstanding high school football coaches developed life skills in their players. In-depth phone interviews were conducted with 10 outstanding coaches ranging in age from 47 to 68 years (M = 54). Coaches averaged 31 years of coaching experience, and were highly successful (76.6% winning percentage). Hierarchical content analysis of the data revealed that two general dimensions or categories of strategies emerged: (a) general coaching; and (b) player development strategies. Within the general coaching strategies dimension, higherorder themes focused on working with players and strategies for dealing with other parties. In the player development strategies general dimension was the higher-order theme set of teaching life skills. Results highlighted that it was clear these coaches did not view the coaching of life skills as separate from their general coaching strategies for performance enhancement and while highly motivated to win, personal development of their players was a top priority.Many of the world's greatest coaches are not only committed to teaching their players how to excel in the athletic venue, but in life as well. It is ironic, then, that the scientific community has not studied the life-skill-building strategies used by outstanding coaches more actively. This is surprising as Coleman Griffith (1926), the father of North American sport 16 Downloaded by [134.117.10.200] at 15:30 15 March 2015 COACHING LIFE SKILLS 17psychology, emphasized that a sport psychology educator's primary function is to observe the most successful and experienced athletes and coaches, record the psychological strategies and principles they employ, and utilize those principles to educate less successful and experienced athletes and coaches.While a number of researchers have examined performance-enhancement strategies employed by highly successful athletes (e.g.

This study was designed to investigate experienced coaches’ perceptions of the parent’s role in junior tennis and identify positive and negative parental behaviors and attitudes. Six focus groups were conducted with 24 coaches. Content analysis of coaches’ responses revealed that most parents were positive influences and espoused an appropriate perspective of tennis, emphasized child development, and were supportive. In contrast, a minority of parents were perceived as negative, demanding and overbearing, and exhibiting an outcome orientation. New findings included parents’ setting limits on tennis and emphasizing a child’s total development, as well as the identification of behaviors that represent parental overinvolvement and that negatively affect coaching. Results are discussed relative to sport-parenting literature, and practical implications are outlined.

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Objectives: To assess coaches' perceptions about the role of parents and their positive and negative behaviours in junior tennis. Methods: A national survey of 132 United States junior tennis coaches was completed. The extent and seriousness/impact of parent-child interaction problems and positive behaviours were rated. Results: Parents were perceived as very important for junior tennis success. Most parents (59%) that these coaches had worked with were seen as having a positive influence on their player's development. However, the respondents also felt that 36% of parents negatively influenced their child's development. Positive parental behaviours included providing logistical, financial, and social-emotional support, as well as tennis opportunities and unconditional love. Negative parent behaviours included overemphasising winning, holding unrealistic expectations, and criticising their child. Conclusions: Findings are discussed relative to current sport parenting and athletic talent development research and theorising. The need to educate parents is emphasised.

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