Background/Purpose: Observation of successful basketball coaches, such as John Wooden and Pat Summit, has noted the importance of instruction. Few studies have been conducted with high school coaches. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the behaviors of a successful female and male high school girls' basketball coach. A secondary purpose was to examine the correlation between coaches' behaviors and athlete expectancy status.
Method: Verbal and nonverbal behaviors were video recorded over eight practices. 553 min. consisting of 3,141 of the female coach's and 590 min. consisting of 3,678 of the male coach's practice behaviors were coded using the Arizona State University Observation Instrument. After two weeks of practices and again, two weeks after the season, coaches completed the Modified Expectancy Rating Scale on athletes selected for the varsity teams.
Analysis/Results: Both coaches provided instruction more often (Female=35.5%; Male=29.2%) then any behavior when the categories of pre-instruction, concurrent instruction, and post instruction were combined. The female coach exhibited management (27.9%) and the male coach praise (22.1%) more than any other behavior category. The praise to scold ratio for both coaches exceeded a 2:1 ratio. Pearson Product Correlation suggested that coaches' perceptions of athletes' expectancy remained consistent from the beginning to the end of the season. MANOVA revealed no differences in the coaching behaviors that coaches directed toward high and low expectancy players.
Conclusions: This data suggest that successful coaches treated athletes the same in terms of the 13 coaching behaviors and that coaches spend the majority of their time using instruction.
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