The Academic Background of Youth Soccer Coaches Modulates Their Behavior During Training

This investigation aims to explore the relationship between the academic backgrounds of youth soccer coaches (U10 and U12 age groups) in Spain and the type of verbal behavior used during training sessions. The sample consisted of 70 coaches divided into two groups, depending on whether or not they had engaged with a university-level academic studies related to Physical Education and or Sport Sciences. A modified version of the “Coach Analysis and Intervention System” (CAIS), developed by Cushion et al. (2012), was used to collect data. A total of 32,886 verbal behaviors were noted and analyzed. Our results suggest that the coaches with university academic backgrounds frequently use more verbal behaviors and that these could be associated with positive effects on the players’ learning and development processes. We suggest it is important to develop specific training programs aimed at optimizing the coaches’ communicative and socio-affective skills in order to maximize their impact in youth athletes’ learning process.

Introduction

Communication, in its different manifestations (verbal or non-verbal), directly affects the optimization of the learning process and represents an important factor influencing positive athlete development (Allan and Côté, 2016). Coaches should use effective communication to promote positive relationships with, and among, players by developing a sport performance model focused on human development (Turner et al., 2018). The most common type of communication between coaches and athletes in sports is based on the use of verbal instructions.

Studies have shown that verbal strategies and coached-created motivational climates are particularly useful for improving sports performance and motivation in children and young athletes (Cushion and Jones, 2001; Torregrosa et al., 2008; Møllerløkken et al., 2017).

Longarela et al. (2015) contended that verbal behaviors aid the reinforcement of players’ decisions and actions, throughout the match and training conditions across the age groups. Thus, studying the coaches’ verbal behavior becomes highly relevant, especially when working with early age groups, as it contributes toward improving motivation, sports adherence, as well as promoting a number of disciplines, psychological and pedagogical dimensions (Keegan et al., 2009).

From an educational perspective, during the youth stages of sport development, coaches play a critical role in the teaching and learning processes as they are responsible for the player’s training, as well as their motivation to attend practice (Gilbert and Trudel, 2004).

Previous research has focused on the relevance of coaches’ intervention during the competitions (Partington and Cushion, 2012). Nevertheless, during the earlier formative stages, we consider the analysis of the pedagogical processes used during training sessions (typically developed during twice or three times per week) to be more relevant than the communication during the competition stage (once per week and with high contextual interference). The orientation of different teaching elements, such as the transmission of verbal information, will increase both the quality and the effectiveness of the training process. In this sense, findings by Hansen and Andersen (2014) have shown that coaches who express stimulating verbal behavior create a more effective learning environment guiding the athlete toward achieving their goals, as well as encouraging them to put more effort into training sessions. In this vein, Claxton (1988) demonstrated between-group differences in verbal communication of more successful and less successful coaches. In addition, López et al. (2016) highlighted that training using the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), including the use of a questioning strategy, improves the motivation of the players and can have a positive effect on their performance. Furthermore, Zourbanos et al. (2007) found that positive feedbacks contributed toward encouraging a positive inner dialogue within players, while the opposite effect was observed when coaches used negative statements.

Coaches’ verbal behavior depends on many variables. Some studies have highlighted that the educational training represent the most relevant variables that influences the coaches’ verbal behavior (Leo et al., 2010; Huertas et al., 2018). On the other hand, the study carried out by Ford et al. (2010), points out the difference that may exist in the emission of verbal behavior by the coach depend on the context (match vs training) and the ages of the athletes. It is interesting to note that the study by Côté and Gilbert (2009) highlighted the importance of interpersonal relationships, the context where training takes place, the personality of the athletes and the results obtained by the team.

Studies have also analyzed the effect of coaches’ pedagogical intervention during competition (Leo et al., 2010; Grijalbo, 2015). For instance, Sánchez and Ramírez (2002) showed the importance of the coaches’ verbal behavior, highlighting that they generally provide information (predominantly tactical regardless of which team is winning/losing) to their players four times per minute, varying the information received by the player from between 8 and 36 messages per game. Similarly, Leo et al. (2010) reported that the coaches’ educational background is linked with their communication strategies during the competition, namely, showing that coaches with experience of university studies presented verbal interaction with greater means; using a more descriptive, prescriptive, and explanatory information and delving deeper into different specific contents of the activity than those coaches without university profile. However, it should be noted here that few studies have addressed the analysis of the coaches’ verbal behavior during the training process (Zetou et al., 2011; O’Connor et al., 2018), and at the time of writing, none have been focused on coaching at the grassroots training stages.

Regarding the importance of soccer coaches’ academic background, it is important to highlight that in a few countries (e.g., as Spain or Italy) obtaining the sports licenses for coaching in youth soccer can be achieved through several educational pathways (soccer federations, private authorized educational centers, or public centers regulated by the Ministry of Education, etc.). In addition, in Spain it is common for Sports Sciences University graduates not to enroll in coaching license courses during their university program. Previous findings have also revealed the differences in the academic content and time given to subjects related to Pedagogy and Training Methodology (Lledó, 2015). Consequently, it could be argued that coaches may employ different teaching methodologies depending on their educational background. It should be noted that coaches who have received a university degree in the subject area of Physical and Sports Education usually give more relevance to the general contents related to a holistic Physical Education perspective of sports training. Regarding this, Lledó et al. (2014) found that the Spanish University licensed coaches used a more comprehensive and participative methodologies, while coaches without a university background generally gave more importance to the sport-specific content using a more directive and less participative methodologies.

The focus of this research will be to analyze how the academic background of soccer coaches in Spain, specifically coaching younger age groups (U10 and U12), relates to the type and frequency of verbal behavior used during the training session. Given the different coaches’ educational background and variety of academic curriculum related with psycho-pedagogical and methodological content, we expect to find differences in the communication styles between coaches with different academic background. We hypothesized that the coaches with university experience will exhibit verbal behavioral patterns that are more suited to the requirements of young soccer players than coaches who lack a university level education.

Materials and Methods

Participants

The sample was composed of seventy youth soccer male coaches engaged in the training of U10 or U12 age categories in non-professional soccer clubs in the Region of Valencia (Spain). The coaches were aged from 20 to 35 years old (M = 25.87, SD = 4.00), with experiences of working as an Assistant or Head Coach between 2 and 10 years (4.53 ± 2.42). They were grouped according to their academic background in two different groups (see Table 1). One group was composed by 35 coaches with university studies (Diploma, Bachelor or Master’s Degree) related to Physical Education and or Sports Sciences (PESS), while the other group of 35 coaches did not have such a PESS university academic background. All coaches held the required license to train at these age groups. We selected exclusively male coaches to control the potential differences in communication and coaching styles between male and female coaches reported in several studies (Millard, 1996; Smucker and Whisenant, 2005; Bolter and Lucas, 2018).

TABLE 1

Table 1. Characteristics of the coaches according to their academic background.

We used this sample size without an a priori power analysis. Therefore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using G^∗Power (Faul et al., 2009) which showed that with our sample size (N = 70), the minimum effect size that could have been detected for α = 0.5, and 1 – β = 0.80, for two groups, is f = 0.33 (minimum detectable effect).

Participation in the study was voluntary and all of the coaches and club’s managers were briefed with regards to the general purposes of the study (analysis of the training methodology, without explicit reference to verbal behavior) prior to any data collection taking place. Selected coaches who met the inclusion criteria signed an informed written consent form. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki (last update: Seoul, 2008) and was part of a larger research project that was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Catholic University of Valencia under the reference UCV2015-2016-44-V.3.

Procedure

Initially, researchers arranged an appointment with the managers of the clubs that met the inclusion criteria. During this first meeting, the goals of the study and its design were explained to the managers. Then after receiving each club’s approval, each coaches academic background was obtained from their curriculum vitae. Upon receiving all relevant documentation (parent and/or tutor informed consent), a schedule of the video recording for the training sessions was planned.

Data of the coaches verbal behavior was obtained using a video camera (Nikon Coolpix A10–Japan) and audio voice recording (Wrist Band Bracelet, Genius, Taiwan) during two training sessions of the same week during the same competitive period (January to May, 2017). The first training session was used to familiarize the coaches with the use of the bracelet, but the obtained data were not analyzed. In the second session, which took place on the last day of training prior to competition, we collected the data that would eventually be processed and analyzed. The initial transcription of the verbal behaviors, video and audio synchronization was performed through the Microsoft Windows Movie Maker software, version 5.1 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, United States). After that, the verbal behaviors were coded in an Excel spreadsheet following the criteria described by Cushion et al. (2012) and Grijalbo (2015). Note that in the present study, we performed only the Step 1 of a modified version of the “Coach Analysis and Intervention System” (CAIS) (see Table 2) due to the reason that we analyzed the verbal behaviors used by the coach during the main part of the training (excluding warm up and cool down). Previous studies (Cushion et al., 2012; Stonebridge and Cushion, 2018; Eather et al., 2020) have confirmed the validity and reliability of CAIS in the context of study of verbal behavior in youth soccer.

TABLE 2

Table 2. Definition of verbal behaviors according to the CAIS.

Data Analysis

Firstly, 30% of the verbal behaviors were analyzed and coded to determine the reliability and internal consistency of the CAIS model. The analysis of this process showed similar results to those obtained in previous studies (Cushion et al., 2012; Allan et al., 2016). Cohen’s Kappa index showed a value of 0.95 and was therefore deemed valid. The alpha reliability coefficient of Cronbach was 0.95, therefore it was considered reliable (Vaske et al., 2017).

Data analysis occurred in different steps. Initially, the frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were calculated for each dependent variable, which were the 19 types of verbal behaviors analyzed from the CAIS, and for each coach. Finally, the one-way analysis of variance ANOVA were used for each of the categories defined by the CAIS to analyze the differences in the percentage of each type of verbal behaviors used by the coaches according to their academic experience. A level of significance of p < 0.05 was established. F and partial Eta-squared value were reported for the effect size. According to Richardson (2011) and Cohen (1969, pp. 278–280), benchmarks effect sizes were defined as small (0.0099), medium (0.0588) and large (0.1379). The SPSS version 24.0 statistical package was used for the data analysis.

Results

A total of 32,886 verbal behaviors were registered, which were distributed according to the categories defined in the CAIS. Table 3 shows the distribution of the coaches’ verbal behaviors according to their academic experience.

TABLE 3

Table 3. Percentage (±SD) of the distribution of the verbal behaviors of coaches according to their academic background.

Our results (Figure 1) showed significant differences between the coaches according to their academic background, observing that coaches with an university degree in PESS used 1.8% more negative general feedback [(F(1,68) = 7.48, p = 0.008, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.09$)], 1.81% positive general feedback [(F(1,68) = 5.18, p = 0.026, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.07$)]; 1.2% corrective feedback [(F(1,68) = 5.86, p = 0.018, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.07$)], 0.93% convergent question [(F(1,68) = 9.96, p = 0.002, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.12$)], and 0.92% more humor [(F(1,68) = 9.33, p = 0.003, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.12$)] than coaches without university studies in PESS.

FIGURE 1

Figure 1. Main results summary. *Verbal behaviors with significant differences in favor of Coaches with university studies in PESS. **Verbal behaviors with significant differences in favor of Coaches without university studies in PESS.

In contrast, the coaches without university studies related with PESS used 6.77% more instruction than those who did have that academic education [(F(1,68) = 6.60, p = 0.012, ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2=0.08$)].

There were no significant differences between the groups of coaches in the following behaviors: positive specific feedback (p = 0.56), hustle (p = 0.957), game information/result (p = 0.150), management criticisms (p = 0.184), others (p = 0.201), encourage (p = 0.576), response to question (p = 0.188), negative specific feedback (p = 0.305), alert/report (p = 0.707), divergent question (p = 0.159), positive modeling (p = 0.360), verbal protocol analysis (p = 0.319), praise (p = 0.874), negative modeling (p = 0.494), scold (p = 0.060), explanation/information (p = 0.080), and punishment (p = 0.119). Physical assistance behavior was not observed in either group.

Discussion

The main objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the coaches’ verbal behavior and academic background in PESS. The present study is novel in approaching the study of coaches’ verbal behavior in relation to their academic experience. Earlier research by Lledó et al. (2014) observed that coaches with an experience of university PESS studies conferred greater importance to the use of inclusive methods of coaching delivery, while those who did not have PESS university experience rated more directive methods more positively. It should be noted, however, that the details relating to these preferences were gained through self-reporting and there was no direct observation of the methods and teaching approaches used by the coaches.

The results obtained in our research have allowed us to confirm the stated hypotheses. In general, our results showed that those coaches who have completed university studies related to PESS showed more varied verbal behavior patterns related to the pedagogical and methodological needs of young players in categories U10 and U12 than those coaches without PESS university experience. Similar to other previous studies, the coaches in this study with PESS University used positive behaviors more frequently in their coaching. These included feedback behaviors (Wulf et al., 1998, 2002), verbal questioning behaviors (Averill et al., 2016; Theeboom et al., 2016), and humor (Spencer, 1996; Banas et al., 2019). Our results have shown that the coaches with PESS university studies used more general feedback, both negative and positive, than coaches without. The use of this type of general feedback, especially positive feedback, has been deemed useful to create positive learning environments (Mouratidis et al., 2008). Also, the use of positive feedback is in line with the long-term training principles described by Jayanthi et al. (2013) and Kliethermes et al. (2020), as well as, it is noted in the soccer related studies by Ford and Williams (2012) and Haugaasen et al. (2014). Studies carried out in other sports have also shown the importance of feedback. In basketball and volleyball, Iglesias et al. (2007) and Markland and Martinek (1988), respectively highlighted the positive influence of positive verbal behaviors on strengthening the self-esteem and self-confidence of the players. In addition, it helped their level of involvement in the game and influencing an improvement in the intuitive decisions making of the players.

Furthermore, our results showed that the coaches with university studies frequently used more corrective feedback, convergent and divergent questions, which are important to create pedagogical environments centered on the athletes’ development. A study by Tzetzis et al. (2008) showed that the proper use of corrective feedback in the teaching of skills of different levels of difficulty is useful in empowering young athletes and the enhancement of their self-confidence.

Concerning the use of questions, the greater use of convergent and divergent questions by coaches with a PESS university experience may stimulate an athletes’ autonomy and intrinsic motivation (Moen, 2012). Both types of questions have an essential role in any child’s cognitive development, especially divergent questions. These are characterized by having an unlimited number of responses, the seeking of, and, exchange of opinions and requiring a high level of thinking that will favor a child’s cognitive restructuring process (Wittmer and Honig, 1991; Felicia, 2019). Through its implementation, it may be possible to optimize a higher level decision making of the player (Harvey and Light, 2015). Thus, promoting divergent thinking within an individual is deemed a key aspect in the long-term performance of soccer players (Memmert et al., 2013).

Our results are in line with those outlined by Lledó and Huertas (2012) and Lledó et al. (2014), verifying that coaches with the experience of PESS university studies valued the use of more inclusive teaching styles in their training, such as guided discovery and problem-solving, where converging and diverging questioning are more frequently used. In contrast, the coaches without university experiences in PESS rated the use of more traditional-managerial models more positively than coaches with university experiences.

It is also important to note that the coaches with PESS university studies used humor behaviors to a greater extent than those without. This type of behavior will favor the optimization of positive teaching-learning environments (Halula, 2013; Hu et al., 2017) which may improve the mood and influence the emotional status of the players (Ronglan and Aggerholm, 2014; Grijalbo, 2015).

For the coaches without university studies in PESS, it should be highlighted that they used more instructions than the PESS coaches. Instruction is considered as a verbal behavior associated with the “directive behaviors.” This type of verbal behavior limits the development of autonomy and creative thinking in young people, significant perspective for improving medium- and long-term performance of soccer players (Light and Harvey, 2017). These types of verbal behaviors are more typically found in directive learning styles, which do not necessarily respond to the cognitive, adaptive, and creative needs of the learning process (Morgan et al., 2005). In general, our findings are in line with those described by Lledó (2015) and Leo et al. (2010), showing that the coaches without PESS experience valued directive instructional strategies more than those coaches who have completed PESS university studies.

Concerning the limitations of our study, it is important to note that despite the high number of verbal behaviors coded (32,886), the effect sizes obtained when comparing both groups and obtaining significant differences were medium (from than 0.07 to 0.20). This could be explained by the variability between participants, due to the coaches’ verbal behavior during the only one training session analyzed. This, in turn, could have been influenced by different contextual variables affecting the team (e.g., daily training goals, result of previous matches, characteristics of the next match, classification of the team, new players in the group, …) or external personal problems affecting the coach. Although we consider that this variables are not affecting the main result in our study because they could affect both groups of coaches similarly, our findings should be cautiously interpreted. Future extended follow-up studies during a longer time might consider measuring the influence of these variables on the coaches’ behavior and more importantly, how the players develop their general and specific technical, tactical, physical, and psychological skills effectively. Other limitations in the present research is the exclusion of Spanish professional clubs (LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank Clubs) due to the fact that previous studies have shown that most coaches in the academies of professional clubs are already university graduates (Lledó, 2015), which would generate a bias when analyzing and interpreting the results. On the other hand, the conclusions of the present study cannot be extrapolated to female football as no female teams or female coaches were included in the selected sample. Further research should include and compare the verbal behavior used by female coaches. Finally, it should be noted that the outcomes of our investigation cannot be fully generalized based on the diversity of the educational coaching structure in different countries.

Conclusion

Our findings allow us to affirm that the coaches with the experience of PESS university academic studies use verbal behaviors that could stimulate the athlete’s active participation and cognitive development. Conversely, those coaches who have not obtained a university education may tend to use, to a greater extent, a more directive and less participative instructive behaviors.

Since it has been shown that the coaches academic background modulates the quality of the communication processes, we propose the review of the coaches’ educational curriculum to promote a greater understanding of the pedagogical aspects related to coach-athlete communication. A step forward in the coaches education process, that we believe, will impact positively in the sporting development of young people.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Catholic University of Valencia under the reference UCV2015-2016-44-V.3. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.

Author Contributions

DA: conception and design of the study, data acquisition, statistical analysis and interpretation, drafting of the article, final approval of the version to be published, and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the research. RB and WT contributed to data interpretation, critical revision of the study, final approval of the version to be published, and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the research. JJ-B: data acquisition and interpretation, final approval of the version to be published, and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the research. FH: main role in the conception and design of the study with a relevant role in project coordination, statistical analysis and interpretation, critical revision of the article, and final approval of the version to be published, and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the research. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Funding

This research was partially supported by grants from the San Vicente Martyr Catholic University of Valencia (2019-158-003 to FH). The funding bodies had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all those who collaborated in the development of this research project, especially the team managers and coaches who kindly and responsibly provided the necessary data to complete the study. Special thanks to Emilio Lledó, who began this research and died in the course of it. Rest in peace our friend, from heaven you have done a great job.

References

Allan, V., and Côté, J. (2016). A cross-sectional analysis of coaches’ observed emotion-behavior profiles and adolescent athletes’ self-reported developmental outcomes. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 28, 321–337. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2016.1162220

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Allan, V., Turnnidge, J., Vierimaa, M., Davis, P., and Côté, J. (2016). Development of the assessment of coach emotions systematic observation instrument: a tool to evaluate coaches’ emotions in the youth sport context. Int. J. Sports Sci. Coa. 11, 859–871. doi: 10.1177/1747954116676113

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Averill, R., Drake, M., Anderson, D., and Anthony, G. (2016). The use of questions within in the moment coaching in initial mathematics teacher education: enhancing participation, reflection, and co-construction in rehearsals of practice. APJTED 44, 486–503. doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2016.1169503

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Banas, J. A., Bisel, R. S., Kramer, M. W., and Massey, Z. (2019). The serious business of instructional humor outside the classroom: a study of elite gymnastic coaches’ uses of humor during training. J. Appl. Commun. Res. 47, 628–647. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2019.1693052

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Bolter, N., and Lucas, S. (2018). Female and male youth sport coaches’ perceptions of teaching sports person ship to female and male athletes. Int. J. Sports Sci. Coa. 13, 619–628. doi: 10.1177/1747954118786061

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Claxton, D. (1988). A systematic observation of more and less successful high school tennis coaches. J. Teach. Phys. Educ. 7, 302–310. doi: 10.1123/jtpe.7.4.302

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Cohen, J. (1969). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences. New York, NY: Academic Press.

Google Scholar

Côté, J., and Gilbert, W. (2009). An integrative definition of coaching effectiveness and expertise. Int. J. Sports Sci. Coa. 4, 307–323. doi: 10.1260/174795409789623892

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Cushion, C., Harvey, S., Muir, B., and Nelson, L. (2012). Developing the coach analysis and intervention system (CAIS): establishing validity and reliability of a computerised systematic observation instrument. J. Sports Sci. 30, 201–216. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2011.635310

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Cushion, C., and Jones, R. (2001). A systematic observation of professional top-level youth soccer coaches. J. Sport Behav. 24, 354–376.

Google Scholar

Eather, N., Jones, B., Miller, A., and Morgan, P. J. (2020). Evaluating the impact of a coach development intervention for improving coaching practices in junior football (soccer): the “MASTER” pilot study. J. Sports Sci. 38, 1441–1453. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2019.1621002

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., and Lang, A. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G^∗Power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav. Res. Methods 41, 1149–1160. doi: 10.3758/BRM.414.1149

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Felicia, E. (2019). “Convergent/Divergent thinking: effect of question types on reading comprehension tests results,” in MDC International Conference, Enugu.

Google Scholar

Ford, P. R., and Williams, A. M. (2012). The developmental activities engaged in by elite youth soccer players who progressed to professional status compared to those who did not. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 13, 349–352. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.09.004

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Ford, P. R., Yates, I., and Williams, A. M. (2010). An analysis of practice activities and instructional behaviours used by youth soccer coaches during practice: exploring the link between science and application. J. Sports Sci. 28, 483–495. doi: 10.1080/02640410903582750

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Gilbert, W., and Trudel, P. (2004). Role of the coach: how model youth team sport coaches frame their roles. Sport Psychol. 18, 21–43. doi: 10.1123/tsp.18.1.21

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Grijalbo, C. (2015). Conducta Verbal del Entrenador en Competición y Percepción de éste por los Jugadores: Análisis en Función de Diferentes Variables Psicológicas. master’s thesis, Universitat de València, Valencia, CV.

Google Scholar

Halula, S. P. (2013). What Role Does Humor in the Higher Education Classroom Play in Student-Perceived Instructor Effectiveness? Dissertation, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI.

Google Scholar

Hansen, P., and Andersen, S. (2014). Coaching elite athletes: how coaches stimulate elite athletes’ reflection. Sports Coach. Rev. 3, 17–32. doi: 10.1080/21640629.2014.901712

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Harvey, S., and Light, R. L. (2015). Questioning for learning in game-based approaches to teaching and coaching. J. Educ. Health Sport 6, 175–190. doi: 10.1080/18377122.2015.1051268

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Haugaasen, M., Toering, T., and Jordet, G. (2014). From childhood to senior professional football: elite youth players’ engagement in non-football activities. J. Sports Sci. 32, 1940–1949. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.970218

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Hu, D. L., Lefton, L., and Ludovice, P. J. (2017). Humor applied to STEM Education. Syst. Res. Behav. Sci. 34, 216–226. doi: 10.1002/sres.2406

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Huertas, F., Agusti, D., Juan-Blay, J., and Ballester, R. (2018). La Formación Académica de los Entrenadores de Futbol base Como Factor Modulador de los Feedbacks Verbales Durante el Entrenamiento. A Coruña: X Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Ciencias del Deporte.

Google Scholar

Iglesias, D., Cárdenas, D., and Alarcón, F. (2007). La comunicación durante la intervención didáctica del entrenador. Consideraciones para el desarrollo del conocimiento táctico y la mejora en la toma de decisiones en baloncesto. Cult. Cienc. Deporte 3, 43–50. doi: 10.12800/ccd.v3i7.153

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Jayanthi, N., Pinkham, C., Dugas, L., Patrick, B., and LaBella, C. (2013). Sports specialization in young athletes. Sports Health 5, 251–257. doi: 10.1177/1941738112464626

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Keegan, R. J., Harwood, C. G., Spray, C. M., and Lavallee, D. E. (2009). A qualitative investigation exploring the motivational climate in early career sports participants: coach, parent and peer influences on sport motivation. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 10, 361–372. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.12.003

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Kliethermes, S. A., Nagle, K., Côté, J., Malina, R. M., Faigenbaum, A., Watson, A., et al. (2020). Impact of youth sports specialisation on career and task-specific athletic performance: a systematic review following the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) collaborative research network’s 2019 youth early sport specialisation summit. Br. J. Sports Med. 54, 221–230. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-101365

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Leo, F., García, T., Sánchez, P., Sánchez, D., and Gómez, F. (2010). Análisis de las diferencias en la conducta verbal entre entrenadores de fútbol con formación y sin formación universitaria en la iniciación deportiva. Kronos 9, 81–88.

Google Scholar

Light, R. L., and Harvey, S. (2017). Positive pedagogy for sport coaching. Sport Educ. Soc. 22, 271–287. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2015.1015977

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Lledó, E. (2015). El Técnico de Fútbol en el Deporte en Edad Escolar en la Comunidad Valenciana. Dissertation, Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir, Valencia, CV.

Google Scholar

Lledó, E., and Huertas, F. (2012). Perfil del técnico de fútbol en escuelas de clubes de primera división en la comunitat valenciana. Apunts, Educ. Fís. Deport. 108, 35–45. doi: 10.5672/apunts.2014-0983.es(2012/2).108.04

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Lledó, E., Martínez, G., and Huertas, F. (2014). Perfil del entrenador de fútbol en la etapa escolar en escuelas de clubes de élite de la comunitat valenciana. Cult. Cienc. Deporte 9, 57–68. doi: 10.12800/ccd.v9i25.389

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Longarela, B., Fernández, J., and Saavedra, M. (2015). Análisis de las conductas de los entrenadores después del tiro en baloncesto. Anal. Behavi. Coach. Basketball Shot. Cuad. Psicol. Deporte 15, 205–210. doi: 10.4321/S1578-84232015000300023

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

López, I., Práxedes, A., and del Villar, F. (2016). Efecto de la aplicación de un modelo de enseñanza TGFU sobre las variables cognitivas y de ejecución en la educación física escolar. Eur. J. Hum. Mov. 37, 88–108.

Google Scholar

Markland, R., and Martinek, T. (1988). Descriptive analysis of coach augmented feedback given to high school varsity female volleyball players. J. Teach. Phys. Educ. 7, 289–301. doi: 10.1123/jtpe.7.4.289

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Memmert, D., Hüttermann, S., and Orliczek, J. (2013). Decide like lionel messi! The impact of regulatory focus on divergent thinking in sports: RFT and creativity. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 43, 2163–2167. doi: 10.1111/jasp.12159

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Millard, L. (1996). Differences in coaching behaviors of male and female high school soccer coaches. J. Sport Behav. 19, 19–31.

Google Scholar

Moen, F. (2012). Subjective beliefs among coaches about how relational factors affect intrinsic motivation, responsibility and development in Sport. Athl. Insight J. 4, 219–235.

Google Scholar

Møllerløkken, N., Lorås, H., and Vorland, A. (2017). A comparison of players’ and coaches’ perceptions of the coach-created motivational climate within youth soccer teams. Front. Psychol. 8:109. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00109

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Morgan, K., Kingston, K., and Sproule, J. (2005). Effects of different teaching styles on the teacher behaviors that influence motivational climate and pupils’ motivation. Eur. Phys. Educ. Rev. 11, 257–285. doi: 10.1177/1356336X05056651

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Mouratidis, A., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., and Sideridis, G. (2008). The motivating role of positive feedback in sport and physical education: evidence for a motivational model. J. Sport Exercise Psy. 30, 240–268. doi: 10.1123/jsep.30.2.240

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

O’Connor, D., Larkin, P., and Williams, A. M. (2018). Observations of youth football training: how do coaches structure training sessions for player development? J. Sports Sci. 36, 39–47. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1277034

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Partington, M., and Cushion, C. (2012). Performance during performance: using Goffman to understand the behaviors of elite youth football coaches during games. Sports Coach. Rev. 1, 93–105. doi: 10.1080/21640629.2013.790167

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Richardson, J. T. E. (2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measurements of effect size in educational research. Educ. Res. Rev. 6, 135–147.

Google Scholar

Ronglan, L. T., and Aggerholm, K. (2014). ‘Humour helps’: elite sports coaching as a balancing act. Sports Coach. Rev. 3, 33–45. doi: 10.1080/21640629.2014.885776

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Sánchez, D. L., and Ramírez, J. V. (2002). Análisis del discurso de un entrenador de fútbol: comparación entre dos situaciones diferentes de competición. Eur. J. Hum. Mov. 8, 161–173.

Google Scholar

Smucker, M., and Whisenant, W. (2005). The impact of comparisons on the satisfaction of Interscholastic Coaches of Girls’. Sports. Public Organ. Rev. 5, 109–124. doi: 10.1007/s11115-005-0953-9

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Spencer, A. (1996). Make ’em laugh humor as a teaching and coaching tool. Strategies 10, 12–14. doi: 10.1080/08924562.1996.10591230

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Stonebridge, I., and Cushion, C. (2018). An exploration of the relationship between educational background and the coaching behaviours and practice activities of professional youth soccer coaches. Phys. Educ. Sport Pedagogy 23, 636–656. doi: 10.1080/17408989.2018.1485143

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., and Vianen, A. E. M. V. (2016). The differential effects of solution-focused and problem-focused coaching questions on the affect, attentional control and cognitive flexibility of undergraduate students experiencing study-related stress. J. Posit. Psychol. 11, 460–469. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2015.1117126

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Torregrosa, M., Sousa, C., Viladrich, C., Villamarín, F., and Cruz, J. (2008). El clima motivacional y el estilo de comunicación del entrenador como predictores del compromiso en futbolistas jóvenes. Psicothema 20, 254–259.

Google Scholar

Turner, A., Bishop, C., Cree, J., Carr, P., McCann, A., Bartholomew, B., et al. (2018). Building a high-performance model for sport: a human development-centred approach. Strength Cond. J. 41, 100–107. doi: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000447

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Tzetzis, G., Votsis, E., and Kourtessis, T. (2008). The effect of different corrective feedback methods on the outcome and self-confidence of young athletes. J. Sports Sci. Med. 7, 371–378.

Google Scholar

Vaske, J., Beaman, J., and Sponarski, C. (2017). Rethinking internal consistency in Cronbach’s Alpha. Leis. Sci. 39, 163–173. doi: 10.1080/01490400.2015.1127189

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Wittmer, D. S., and Honig, A. S. (1991). Convergent or divergent? Teacher questions to three-year-old children in day care. Early Child Dev. Care 68, 141–147. doi: 10.1080/0300443910680113

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Wulf, G., Mcconnel, N., Gärtner, M., and Schwarz, A. (2002). Enhancing the learning of sport skills through external-focus feedback. J. Mot. Behav. 34, 171–182. doi: 10.1080/00222890209601939

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Wulf, G., Shea, C. H., and Matschiner, S. (1998). Frequent feedback enhances complex motor skill learning. J. Mot. Behav. 30, 180–192. doi: 10.1080/00222899809601335

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Zetou, E., Amprasi, E., Michalopoulou, M., and Aggelousis, N. (2011). Volleyball coaches behavior assessment through systematic observation. JHSE 6, 585–593. doi: 10.4100/jhse.2011.64.02

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Zourbanos, N., Hatzigeorgiadis, A., and Theodorakis, Y. (2007). A preliminary investigation of the relationship between athletes’ self-talk and coaches’ behavior and statements. Int. J. Sports Sci. Coa. 2, 57–66. doi: 10.1260/174795407780367195

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar