Scheduled for Special Populations II Free Communications, Friday, April 4, 2003, 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM, Convention Center: 304


Coaching Athletes With a Disability: Case Studies into Coaches' Efficacy Beliefs and Expectations

Jamie E. Robbins, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI and Gail M. Dummer, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

A belief in your own ability to coach and a belief in your athletes’ ability to perform are influential factors in coaching effectiveness (Feltz, Chase, Moritz, & Sullivan, 1999). This study addressed these issues relative to coaches of wheelchair basketball players. Coach efficacy is important to address because it influences coach behavior, player satisfaction, and athlete performance (Feltz et al., 1999). Expectations for athletes are also significant because they influence coach behavior toward athletes, which in turn influences athletes’ behavior (Sinclair & Vealey, 1990). Previous experience also may influence coach behavior (Feltz et al., 1999). Participants in this study included a deliberate sample of four coaches; one expert in sport, one expert in disability, one who has previously competed in wheelchair basketball, and a novice in both coaching and disability. The four coaches participated in a semi-structured interview, which was transcribed and later content analyzed to identify commonalities, differences, and general themes. Six general themes emerged from the interviews including; (a) coaching philosophies, which emphasized working with each athlete as an individual, improving life skills, and being tough but caring; (b) expectations, which expressed the coaches’ desire for 100% effort, while recognizing athletes’ limitations; (c) origin of expectations, which formed either from personal experience or modeling coaching behaviors exhibited by others; (d) self-efficacy, which identified a concern about the coaches’ understanding of wheelchair basketball as well as ability to coach effectively; (e) the beginning, which revealed vast differences in their initiation into coaching, from being tricked into the job to systematically working toward a coaching career; and (f) similarities and differences, which focused on the similarities and differences between able-bodied athletes and those with a disability. Results indicate that the six identified factors influence coaches’ techniques and ultimately the quality of coaching they provide to athletes. Only the expert coach, with a background in able-bodied sport, remained completely sport focused and raised his expectations for his athletes over time, while the other three coaches seemed more focused on developing life skills and were less demanding of sport improvement. Future research on coaches for athletes with a disability should be conducted to identify the generalizability of the current findings, to further explore coaching efficacy using specific instruments designed for that purpose, and to identify coaching effectiveness from the athletes’ perspective.

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