We examined the varying performance and organizational stressors experienced by coaches who operate with elite athletes. Following interviews with eleven coaches, content analysis of the data revealed coaches to experience comparable numbers of performance and organizational stressors. Performance stressors were divided between their own performance and that of their athletes, while organizational stressors included environmental, leadership, personal, and team factors. The findings provide evidence that coaches experience a variety of stressors that adds weight to the argument that they should be labelled as "performers" in their own right. A variety of future research topics and applied issues are also discussed.

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The current study examined whether, where, when, and for what purposes coaches use psychological skills. A total of 13 elite-level coaches completed a structured interview using open-ended questions to examine their use of self-talk, imagery, relaxation, and goal-setting skills. Data were analyzed via deductive content analysis and indicated self-talk and imagery to be cited more frequently than relaxation and goal setting throughout the interviews. In addition, some purposes for using each skill were specific to training or competition across each time frame (before, during, and after), whereas there were several purposes consistent across each environment. Although the findings suggest that coaches employ psychological skills, it is imperative that they become aware of what skills they require and what skills they possess if they are to maximize their use across their wide-ranging coaching roles.

The aim of the present study was to supplement previous work that identified the stressors experienced by coaches and examine the coping strategies that elite-level coaches employ to overcome stressors. Three elite coaches were interviewed and were required to identify three prominent stressors that they had experienced before discussing how they attempted to cope with them. The selected stressors included both performance and organizational types, and the associated coping attempts included strategies conforming to problem-, emotion-, avoidance-, appraisal-, and approach-focused dimensions. While specific forms of coping were identified, findings also highlighted that coping strategies were employed across performance and organizational stressors, rather than being employed for one or the other. Implications for future research opportunities within the area are presented.

The present study sought to examine the various stressors faced, and associated coping strategies employed, by five single-handed sailors entered into the 2006/2007 Velux 5 Oceans roundthe-world race. Interviews conducted with the skippers were transcribed and then deductively and inductively content analyzed. Skippers revealed organizational (e.g., environmental conditions, isolation, sleep deprivation), competitive (e.g., lack of progress, yacht-related problems), and personal (e.g., family-related issues) stressors. Strategies used to deal with these demands included problem-(e.g., prioritized sequential thinking), appraisal-(e.g., rationalizing situations), emotion-(e.g., using available communications), and approach-focused coping (e.g., "what if" scenario planning). The present study proposes that future research should examine more closely the stressor-coping strategy relationship to guide the development of successful coping interventions.With increasing demands and pressures being placed on professional sports performers, it is unsurprising that numerous stressors have been identified within the literature. Fletcher, Hanton, and Mellalieu (2006, p. 329) defined stressors as the "environmental demands encountered by an individual" and categorized them into three main forms: Competitive (i.e. principally related to competitive performance), organizational (i.e. primarily related to the organization within which the performer is participating), and personal stressors (i.e. mainly associated with the individual's non-sporting life events).Competitive stressors form a large part of the environmental demands placed on sport performers.