4Although social and personal relationships are vital for productivity, health and wellbeing, 5 conflict is inevitable and is likely to cause upset and hurt feelings as well as anxiety and 6 distrust (e.g., Jowett, 2003). Despite the potentially central role of interpersonal conflict in 7 sport, researchers have yet to pay concerted attention to exploring the nature of conflict, its 8 antecedents and consequences. Following a thorough literature search 80 research papers 9were identified, of which only a small number (6) studied interpersonal conflict directly, most 10 captured dysfunctional interpersonal processes such as breakdown of communication. The 11 current review aims to provide a critical summary of the existing literature around the 12 psychological construct of interpersonal conflict, including its antecedents, management 13 strategies and outcomes within the context of coach-athlete relationships as well as other 14 relational contexts in sport. Based on the relevant literature, a framework of interpersonal 15 conflict is proposed, which includes a specific focus on a key dyad within sport coaching -16 namely the coach-athlete dyad. Future research directions and potential practical implications 17 for sport psychology consultants, coach educators, coaches and athletes as well as other 18 stakeholders are discussed. In high level sports where the stakes are high, outcomes unpredictable, and emotions 26 heightened, effective communication and appropriate behaviour may become challenging and 27 conflict can be provoked. Sport offers potential for conflict that can transpire as parental 28 over-or under-involvement in their child/athlete's participation, administrators' excessive 29 expectations of coaches, disagreements about team selection, power struggles between 30 teammates or athletes and their coaches, disagreements about training procedures (e.g., 31workload, goals, techniques) or even coaches' interferences in athletes' personal life (e.g., 32lifestyle, significant others). 33Despite its prevalence, it is surprising how little we know about interpersonal conflict 34 within sport. Sport psychology has paid considerable attention to understanding the 35 interpersonal dynamics between coaches and athletes or members through theoretical models 36 involving coach and athlete leadership (e.g., Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980; Fransen, 37 Vanbeselaere, De Cuyper, Vande Broek, & Boen, 2014), coaches' behaviours (Mageau & 38 Vallerand, 2003;Smoll & Smith, 1989), coach-athlete relationship (Jowett & Felton, 2014), 39 communication/relationship strategies (Rhind & Jowett, 2010), collective efficacy (Short, 40 Sullivan, & Feltz, 2005), and team cohesion (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985). 41Nonetheless, there is dearth of research that explores interpersonal conflict among coaches, 42 athletes and teammates. Subsequently, this scoping review aims to examine the extant 43 literature with two central aims: a) to forward a definition of interpersonal conflict in sport 44 and b) to propose a conc...

Conflict is a part of coach-athlete relationships and should be carefully considered as it can have effects on the quality of coaching and the level of performance. Despite its practical relevance, there is a dearth of research around coach-athlete conflict. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the characteristics and topics of conflict, as well as coaches and athletes' emotional, cognitive and behavioural experiences during conflict. A total of 22 independent coaches and athletes participated in semi-structured interviews evolving around the nature of interpersonal conflict. After all interviews were transcribed, a deductive-inductive content analysis was conducted. This was guided by the interview schedule as well as the by the conceptual framework of conflict in sport relationships (Wachsmuth, Jowett, & Harwood, 2017). Data were divided into five main categories: Conflict characteristics and conflict topics, as well as conflict cognitions, emotions, and behaviours. Findings highlighted the variety of ways in which participants understood and interpreted interpersonal conflict and how their impressions of conflict influenced its evolving process. Considering the participants' cognitive, emotional and behavioural expressions of conflict, it became apparent that conflict can be described through uncertain, escalating and problem-orientated responses. Practical applications concerning (mal-) adaptive responses to conflict are discussed. (199/200).

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This study investigated coach-athlete conflict and focused on conflict management approaches employed to minimize dysfunctional and maximize functional outcomes of interpersonal conflict. A qualitative approach to data collection enabled the researchers to explore various conflict management strategies utilized by the participants. Within the scope of the current study, a total of 22 high performance coaches and athletes took part in semi-structured interviews. A thorough review of the recent literature (Wachsmuth et al., 2017) informed the interview guide which consisted of 26 questions. A cross-case content analysis revealed that coaches and athletes prevent the onset of conflict by (a) facilitating good quality relationships and optimal working environments (implicit conflict prevention) and (b) by engaging in active conflict prevention strategies (explicit conflict prevention). Further, athletes and coaches appeared to manage conflict by employing intra-and interpersonal strategies, as well as by seeking out external help. These strategies were found to be challenged by a range of conflict management barriers, and associated with functional or dysfunctional performance, intra-and interpersonal outcomes. Overall, the role of the coach was central to managing conflict effectively.

Third party interventions in coach-athlete conflict: Can sport psychology practitioners offer the necessary support?The relationship athletes develop with their coaches is instrumental for improved sport performances and wellbeing (Jowett & Shanmugam, 2016). Sport psychologists have been encouraged to facilitate the development of effective coach-athlete relationships and may also play a vital part in dealing with disruptions, such as interpersonal conflict. With this in mind, the present study aimed to explore sport psychologists' roles in preventing and managing coach-athlete conflict, as well as to examine potential challenges in doing so. Data were collected via sixteen semi-structured interviews with experienced sport psychology practitioners. A thematic analysis resulted in two overarching themes. The first theme encapsulated roles of sport psychology practitioners in managing coach-athlete conflict. The six identified subthemes included such roles as educating sport participants, facilitating dyadic interactions, or protecting individual conflict parties. The second overarching theme covered challenges perceived by sport psychology practitioners when providing support to coaches and athletes, the five subthemes included, for example, environmental and professional concerns. Based on this study, practical recommendations for the education of sport psychologists are drawn. These may include training in conflict prevention, mediation or even organizational change. Applied sport psychologists should furthermore be better prepared to cope with and manage power differences between themselves and others as well as between the various members of sport organizations (e.g., coaches, athletes, manager).

Facilitating players' skill acquisition is a major challenge within sport coaches' work which should be supported by evidence-based recommendations outlining the most effective practice and coaching methods. This systematic review aimed at accumulating empirical knowledge on the influence of practice design and coaching behavior on perceptual-motor and perceptual-cognitive skill acquisition in soccer. A systematic search was carried out according to the PRISMA guidelines across the databases SPORTDiscus, PsycInfo, MEDLINE, and Web of Science to identify soccer-specific intervention studies conducted in applied experimental settings (search date: 22nd November 2020). The systematic search yielded 8,295 distinct hits which underwent an independent screening process. Finally, 34 eligible articles, comprising of 35 individual studies, were identified and reviewed regarding their theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches and quality, as well as the interventions' effectiveness. These studies were classified into the following two groups: Eighteen studies investigated the theory-driven instructional approaches Differential Learning, Teaching Games for Understanding, and Non-linear Pedagogy. Another seventeen studies, most of them not grounded within a theoretical framework, examined specific aspects of practice task design or coaches' instructions. The Downs and Black checklist and the Template for Intervention Description and Replication were applied to assess the quality in reporting, risk of bias, and the quality of interventions' description. Based on these assessments, the included research was of moderate quality, however, with large differences across individual studies. The quantitative synthesis of results revealed empirical support for the effectiveness of coaching methodologies aiming at encouraging players' self-exploration within representative scenarios to promote technical and tactical skills. Nevertheless, “traditional” repetition-based approaches also achieved improvements with respect to players' technical outcomes, yet, their impact on match-play performance remains widely unexplored. In the light of the large methodological heterogeneity of the included studies (e.g., outcomes or control groups' practice activities), the presented results need to be interpreted by taking the respective intervention characteristics into account. Overall, the current evidence needs to be extended by theory-driven, high-quality studies within controlled experimental designs to allow more consolidated and evidence-based recommendations for coaches' work.

A fundamental feature in successful coaching outcomes and athlete performance is rooted in the quality of the coach-athlete relationship which is impacted by coaches' way of being. This investigation examined whether perceived coach behaviour associates with the coach-athlete relationship quality and self-rated season performance among members from two South African male senior national para-sport teams (n = 23, M age = 32.65). The predictive utility of coaches' perceived behaviour on the dyadic relationship quality and athletes' views on their own performance was also determined. Cross-sectional quantitative data were collected by means of the Coaching Behaviour Scale for Sport, Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire and a Likert-scale item recording athletes' subjective rating of perceived standard of performance for the respective competition season. The team members' reported fairly good standard of season performances and sound relationship standings with their involved head coaches who were seen to exhibit behaviours most illustrative of mental preparation, personal rapport, and competition tactics. Inferences drawn from the correlation analyses advised that particular adoptive coach behaviour in para-sport coaching appears to be a meaningful construct associated with the establishment and maintenance of relationships with athletes. Regression analyses also exposed coaches' competition strategy behaviour to be a significant predictor of complementarity in the coach-athlete relationship, which along with the noted positive correlations provide a good basis for further exploration in similar sport contexts.

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