Coping with stressors in elite sport: A coach perspective

Abstract

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.

Talent Detection and Competitive Progress in Biathlon - A National Example

“…The results revealed that sport specific criteria were highly satisfactory among coaches but lack of reciprocity in communication was a decisive aspect often referred to among the control group members. The findings are well in line with previous research stressing the relevance of quality in relations between coach and athletes [25,29,55,56,57].…”

Stressors, coping, and well-being among sports coaches: A systematic review

“…The ongoing debate about how to categorize coping strategies presents itself here and makes it difficult to compare, contrast, and synthesize the findings of studies that were retrieved. To illustrate briefly, some researchers (e.g., Frey, 2007) have referred to cognitive (e.g., altering thought processes, perspective taking), emotional (e.g., social support, visualization), and behavioral (e.g., exercise, reading) coping strategies, while others (e.g., Thelwell, Weston, & Greenlees, 2010) have used problem-(e.g., talking with others), emotion-(e.g., self-talk), avoidance-(e.g., consuming alcohol), appraisal-(e.g., reflection), and approach-focused categories (e.g., goal-setting). In other research, Didymus (2016) examined coping as an adaptive process and used seven families of coping (dyadic coping, escape, information seeking, negotiation, problem solving, selfreliance, and support seeking) that each relate to a different function in adaptation to categorize the strategies that coaches used.…”

“…Qualitative research methods were used in nine of the 13 studies that were retrieved and focused on coaches' ways of coping. Five studies used semi-structured interviews (Didymus, 2016;Frey, 2007;Lundkvist, Gustafsson, Hjälm, & Hassmén, 2012;Olusoga, Butt, Maynard, & Hays, 2010;Thelwell et al, 2010), two used unstructured interviews (Bloom, Durand-Bush, & Salmela, 1997;Thelwell, Weston, Greenlees, & Hutchings, 2008b), one used online focus groups , and one used diaries (Levy et al, 2009). One of the earliest qualitative studies in this area explored the use of competition routines (Bloom et al, 1997).…”

Exploring stressors and coping among volunteer, part-time and full-time sports coaches

“…Sports coaches frequently experience an array of stressors that are specific to them in their role as a coach, thus contributing to the unique nature of the coaching profession. For example, coaches may experience stressors that relate to the relationships that they have with their athletes (Frey 2007); administration duties and the competition environment (Levy et al 2009); conflict and isolation (Olusoga et al 2010); poor performances, selection, other coaches, and officials (Thelwell et al 2010); athlete injuries (Chroni et al 2013); the training environment (Rhind, Scott and Fletcher 2013); and expectations of others (Robbins, Gilbert and Clifton 2015). In addition, other researchers (e.g., Knights and Ruddock-Hudson 2016) have reported that the development and improvement of players is a frequently reported stressor, as well as stressors originating from the coaching-life balance and balancing multiple responsibilities (e.g., training and match selection).…”