Implementation strategies associated with social support provided by coaches in a Singaporean University

Abstract

Background: The potential benefits of social support have been well documented in past research, leading to active encouragement for athletes to seek and utilize social support. Although sport specfic measures of social support have been developed to better understand athletes’ perceptions of available support, limited amount of research has addressed how sport coaches are specifically implementing strategies related to the provision of social support, and their philosophies for doing so. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how in the coaching context, coaches are currently implementing social support strategies. The study was guided by three research questions: (a) Are there any differences between the perceptions of athletes from team-based sports and athletes from individual sports? (b) What are the coaches’ philosophies in providing social support? and (c) What are some strategies that should be highlighted to provide a better understanding of how coaches are providing social support to their athletes? Participants: A total of 72 participants (8 sport coaches and 64 athletes) were selected for this study. Data Collection: An online questionnaire assessing the perceptions of social support provided by their coach was administered to the athletes while interviews were conducted with the sport coaches. Data Analysis: An independent-samples t-test was conducted to analyse the athletes’ questionnaire results while the interview transcripts were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Findings: The results revealed that there were no significant difference in perceptions between team and individual sport athletes, and both team and individual sports coaches shared several similarly themed strategies across the four dimensions, with some distinguishable differences in the way these strategies were implemented. Conclusion: In documenting the lived experiences of sport coaches, key strategies valued highly amongst both team and individual coaches were highlighted, providing implications for coaches to focus on incorporating these strategies into their coaching approach.