We found this in a tweet by the Chronicle of Evidence-based Mentoring, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Items a) through h) can be the goals, not just outcomes, for all coaching-mentoring. CEBM posted this research in support of the Coaches' Mentoring Challenge 2014.
Why coaches matter: Implications for mentoring By Ronald E. Smith and Frank L. Smoll
Ronald E. Smith and
Frank L. Smoll are Professors of Psychology at the University of
Washington and co-directors of the Youth Enrichment in Sports Project.
The y-e-sports.com website contains descriptions of the coach and
parent interventions and of their underlying scientific studies. Their book,
Sports Psychology for Youth
Coaches: Developing Champions in Youth and Life is a must-read for anyone interested in
this important topic.
Today, approximately
68 million children and youth between the ages of 6 and 16 participate in
athletic programs in the United States. There is strong scientific evidence
that an important determinant of youth sport outcomes (which are not always
positive) lies in the relationship between coach and athlete, and that a
relatively brief and economical educational intervention can enhance the
experiences of both athletes and coaches alike. In our Youth Enrichment in
Sport Project, we have done research over the past three decades to determine
the effects of coaching behaviors on children. In one series of studies,
trained observers coded more than 100,000 coaching behaviors during practices
and games to create behavioral profiles of numerous coaches, then assessed the
attitudes of their athletes after the season. Clear behavior-outcome relations
emerged, and we then applied this information to create an evidence-based
intervention for coaches
Because we know from
our research the kind of sport environment that has the most positive effects
on youngsters, we can communicate clear behavioral guidelines (coaching and
parenting “do’s” and “don’t’s”) in a workshop format. In a series of
experimental program evaluation studies, we and other sport psychologists have
shown that our Mastery Approach to Coaching intervention
(a) fosters positive
coach-athlete relations and greater mutual respect.
(b) increases the amount of
fun that athletes experience;
(c) creates greater team cohesion and a more
supportive athletic setting;
(d) promotes higher mastery-oriented achievement
goals in sports and in school;
(e) increases athletes’ self-esteem;
(f) reduces
performance-destroying anxiety and fear of failure;
(g) decreases athlete
dropout rates from approximately 30% to 5% regardless of won/lost records, and
(h) has equally positive effects on male and female athletes.
Consistently, we
find that the coach-athlete relationship is far more important than winning
records in determining children’s liking and desire to play for the coach in
the future. Moreover, the 75-minute Mastery Approach workshops, far from being
perceived as burdensome, are very well received by coaches who later report
that applying the principles not only created a more enjoyable season for their
athletes and themselves, but also positively influenced their own parenting
practices. More recently, in an effort to get coaches and parents on the same
page, we have developed a companion Mastery Approach program for parents of
young athletes.
Given the success of
these brief evidence-based interventions, we have entered the dissemination
phase of our work. With the support of the William T. Grant Foundation, which
is dedicated to promoting children’s welfare, we have transformed the coach and
parent workshops into 60-minute DVDs and have recently published “how-to” books
on the Mastery Approach to assist coaches and parents in promoting children’s
growth through sports. Information on these materials is available on our
project website (y-e-sports.com). We would be happy if every sport program in
the country profited from what we have learned and produced.
We are convinced that
any program disseminated to coaches and parents should have a sound scientific
basis and evidence for its effectiveness. If we want sport participation to
have its desired positive impact on the lives and development of young
athletes, coach (and parent) education is not only feasible, but essential.
l-discuss-the-importance-of-coaches-in-youths-lives/?utm_content=buffer927e7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Ret. 8-12-14
No comments:
Post a Comment