Evaluating Coaching Environment and Practices for Young Athletes

This report delves into the critical role of coach-created environments in motivating young athletes, particularly within the context of the Volleyball Association of Hong Kong (VBAHK). It examines the impact of different coaching approaches, including technical and relational coaching, and evaluates the effectiveness of the Achievement Goal Theory (AGT). The report highlights the behavioral, engagement, and wellbeing implications of AGT, suggesting that its emphasis on individual goals can sometimes undermine team cohesion and athlete wellbeing. It then explores the Self-Determination Theory as a more effective framework for fostering athlete motivation, emphasizing the importance of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The report provides recommendations for creating a positive coaching environment that supports athlete development and performance.

COACHING SKILL AND
PRACTICE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION........................................................................................................1
Evaluating different environments or designed practices that are created by a coach
influencing young athletes...........................................................................................................1
Most appropriate coach created environment for coaching young athletes.................................3
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
A coach created environment is known to play an essential role in activating the
participants to perform in an exceptional manner. This indicates a prime requirement of a coach
created motivational climate in order to satisfy some principal requirements of the contestants.
This is also on considering a fact where many student athletes have been observed getting fail by
not performing in a likely manner (Smith and et. al., 2016). This in turn shows a higher demand
of motivating the young athletes with a significant adoption of effective motivation theories. The
present report is together based on a similar agenda of creating a favourable coach created
environment.
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION
Evaluating different environments or designed practices that are created by a coach influencing
young athletes
Sports is referred to play a vital role in today’s emerging world with an equal participation
of individuals of all age in it. It is specially on considering today’s contending world where
sport’s is together known to subside in case there exists no such active participation of the
contestants in it. It is thus important for the coaches to take an affirmative stand over here and
look into the aspects of development for a progressive future of both the sports and the
contestant’s participating in it (O’rourke, Smith, Smoll and Cumming, 2014). This is especially
on referring to today’s contending sport’s climate where there exist several benefits of a
competitive participation of an athlete and where the coaches play an important role in
influencing the quality of youth athletes. They are also known to make an equal contribution in
deciding whether the contestant will continue participating in the sports or will discontinue it
forever.
This is to evaluate different environment created by a coach for influencing the young
athletes where they are required to design some effective practices that in turn leads to the
generation of positive coaching environment. For this purpose, two distinct type of coaching
plays an essential role to contribute into an effective coaching environment namely, technical
and relational coaching. An amalgamated approach to provide both type of training is useful in
an ultimate formation of a successful coaching (Jowett, 2016). However, these days, the coaches
are known to emphasise more on technical measures of coaching where its application is with a
prime focus on combating the intensifying state of competition among the young athletes. This is
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to attain an extra effectiveness in the sportspersons by reinforcing his or her existent aptitudes,
capacities and abilities. Although, there exists a foremost need of concentrating more upon the
formation of a relational coaching environment to reflect the development of a unique
relationship among the coach and athletes that will more of a partnership between them. Such
type of coaching namely relational coaching is evident to serve both the requirements of
fulfilling one’s personal satisfaction as well as the ambitions to be fulfilled for a successful
performance.
A coach thereby has a prominent role in influencing the overall performance of a youth
participant in an organised or competitive sport environment. However, most of the coaches with
a special context of VBAHK have found to apply the theory of goal perspective theory, also
termed as achievement goal theory (AGT) that often does not reflect a positive attribute of
motivation (Morgan, L. A., 2017). It is mainly due to its vital dependency on certain competence
based intentions that are being targeted by the individuals for the purpose of assessing the sports
settings. It is mostly reliant on individual perspectives with less assistance to the attainment of
team based goals. This in turn enlighten the two leading cohorts of this theory namely task in
terms of mastery of an individual in it and ego or performance goals that in turn leads to
distinctively impact upon the team members. Below exists some specific consideration of such
factors that are usually impacted by the above undertaken approach of the coaches for motivating
the athletes.
Behaviour
This is to determine the way in which the indivisibles get affected from the use of AGT
where it often results in setting an individualistic behaviour in the players rather than motivating
them to achieve the team based goals. It is basically on considering its presumed aggressive aims
also known as stretch agendas that often leads to incentivize a bad behaviour in the athletes. It is
where the desire of earning rewards by accomplishing such rigorous intents, a player can get into
unethical practices as a way of attaining the targets (Ivarsson and et. al., 2015). However, in the
long run, VBAHK can severely get affected from such corrupt attitude of its athletes. This is
mainly due to extending the goals too far where it could lead to failure in case the players fail to
achieve such rigorously set goals. Continual failure can directly lead to demotivate the athletes
where they can ultimately consider leaving the sports forever as a way of avoiding the sense of
disappointment again and again. This in turn criticises the application of AGT by the coaches. It
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is therefore on relating to the environment created by the coaches by using AGT that often leads
to create a negative behaviour in the players where they only focus upon attaining their
individual goals with no spirit of team working.
Engagement
This is especially on considering a prime requirement of getting positively engaged in the
achievement of either team based or individual goals where the set goals must be likely enough
for the participants. However, an applied tactic of AGT often results in conflicts among the
individuals as well as the teams. It is mainly due to a distinct priority of each of the team
members where an ultimate disagreement can lead to create a sense of disparity in them,
resulting in a disruptive environment (Zourbanos and et. al., 2016). It is also on considering a
highly oriented structure of a team where group disputes can easily take place from the athletes
having distinct motivational aspects in them. It thereby indicates a prior necessity of control by
challenging the individual abilities of the athletes to perform in a collaborative manner that needs
them to concentrate upon the achievement of shared goals and objectives. As a result, to which,
this leads in a negligible engagement of players by together creating a disputative environment in
teams while playing together and where the athletes are not making a collaborative participation.
Wellbeing
Wellbeing of the athletes who are required to perform in such competitive environment
of sports is of utmost concern after the enforcement of AGT. It is due to an extremely task
oriented leadership outlook of this conceptual model that in turn leads to a greater level of stress
in the players (Turnnidge, Côté, Hollenstein and Deakin, 2014). This is mainly due to a strictly
tied demand of controlling the situation for a desperate accomplishment of goals that could
directly result in a higher tendency of strain. This may lead to create a sense of frustration in
them by also making them disheartened for being unable to achieve the set goals and objectives.
Consequently, a negative environment is being created by the coaches with extreme pressure of
attaining the team goals with no cooperative outlook of any of the team member. Also, the
players adversely take part in the sports, negatively impacting upon the entire team.
Most appropriate coach created environment for coaching young athletes
In order to train the athletes there, there exists a need of having experienced trainer’s
which in turn helps in developing the young athletes to analyse their own strength as well as
enhance their efficiency to make efforts. Hence, there can be need of various techniques or ideas
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in which the coach would become to understand the strength of such players. However, with the
help of Self- determination theory which says that a new experience or regulatory which an
individual's self-intrinsic (Ryan, 2016). Thus, it can be said that due to determination a person is
able to analyse as well as strive to fetch the innovative ideas and develop the cohesions in them.
Hence, such thing is referred to organismic integration process. However, in terms of motivating
the young athletes of Volleyball Association of Hong Kong (VBAHK) there is need to
implement such theories into consideration as well as seek the requirements of the players and
improve their efficiency.
On the other side, this theory helps in improving three psychological requirements such
as competence, relatedness as well as autonomy. However, the autonomy is the process which in
turn helps in analysing or determining the behaviour of the athlete, competence helps in knowing
the willingness of the player in making the efforts or achieving the goals and Relatedness
presents that efforts made by player in context with attempting the challenges with the coherent
influences of other individuals (Adams, Little and Ryan, 2017). However, in terms of having the
positive coaching environment there is need to develop several skills which in turn helps the
individuals in making the positive efforts in context with attempting such challenges.
By considering the diagram the coach of VBAHK must help the athlete in analysing their
esteem as well as build up the positive environment in the field. Hence, there is need to
centralize and concept of such theory which are generally executed the need of the human in
context with making the academic efforts to achieve the goals. Hence, in terms of implementing
these three terms there can be used for motivating the players in three terms such as intrinsic,
extrinsic and Amotivation (Matosic and et.al., 2017). Hence, in terms of Intrinsic motivation the
coaches of VBAHK will be able to help the athlete in analysing the internal strength as well as
analyse the self-satisfactory level on which they could be able to develop their skills and talent to
meet such challenges. However, the extrinsic motivation helps the individual in analysing the
efforts or performance which was based on the previously learned or improved skills or
experiences. Thus, such dimension helps in analysing the results which are within the process or
within the match without having the end of match and then realising the performances of players.
These techniques focus over the integrated regulations, introjected regulations, externals and
identified regulations.
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However, VBAHK trainers need to have the adequate information’s relevant with the
loophole of the players as well as make their efforts to improve all such obstacles with the help
of these techniques. Hence, the third dimension here is lack of Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
(Howard and et.al., 2016). Thus, these techniques help in motivating the player or athlete in
having the end results or outcomes of their performances or during the match. Moreover,
Amotivation is totally based on the external determinations and perception which are related
with the performances made by athlete and not belong to the self-determination.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In terms of facilitating the adequate coaching environment or the athletes in VBAHK
with the help of Self-determination theory and the various sub factors which in turn fruitful for
the trainers in facilitating the self determination of the athletes such as Competence, autonomy
and relatedness these are the techniques over which they could be able to make their efforts.
However, such techniques help in understanding the psychology of the players in VBAHK as
well as their basic needs such as Competence will be beneficial in determine requirement which
in turn build the effectiveness in dealing within the environment. Autonomy brings the control
over efforts and the courses of other lives as well as relatedness helps in making the analysis
over the results and performances made by such individuals. Hence, such outcomes need to be
determined by coach which in turn make them able to monitor the actions of athletes as well as
present the adequate solution to improve the areas of weaknesses.
However, the regular mentoring and practical efforts helps the players in overcoming
such loopholes as well as motivating them to passionately make efforts for achieving the targets.
Hence, mainly the academic clubs or institution used to follow the goal achievement theory
which in turn motivate athletes to make the efforts for achieving the goals (Gillet and Vallerand,
2016). But as if the pressure rises over them then it turns into self-achieving goals as well as
enhancing the goals and target which make them competent in the world with players, thus, these
will decrease the team work or the bonding between team members in the Volleyball matches.
Hence, in terms of bringing the effective motivations to young athletes there is need to implicate
self-determination theory which in turn beneficial for such individuals in determine their inner
skills and willingness to improve actions or efforts in games.
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Moreover, it can be said that there is need to have appointment of the skilled and talented
coach which in turn helps them in motivating players as well as suggest them the adequate ways
with which they will have good strength. However, they must motivate such players to make the
efforts for attaining their goals as well as mentoring them in any weaker point or loopholes of
them. Thus, VBAHK need to implement the skills over which they could bring several
motivational techniques such as intrinsic, extrinsic as well as A motivation which could be
beneficial methods that helps athletes to make adequate efforts for their passionate games.
Hence, in context with such motivation the player will be able to gain the information about the
performances made by them as well as make efforts to overcome such weaknesses. These helps
in improving confidences in individual to attempt the challenges as make efficient efforts or
performance which in turn bring them the effective results. Hence, such athlete to strive the goals
and ten get the huge success which are belongs to their efforts and satisfying their ego. There has
been various roles and responsibility which in turn help in creating fruitful environment for
athletes such as:
 Cultivating the right state of mind of athletes as well as produce the adequate solution to
overcome their obstacles.
 They must motivate the players in making the adequate improvements in their efficiency
and efforts.
 Improving confidences in individual to attempt the challenges as make efficient efforts or
performance which in turn bring them the effective results.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adams, N., Little, T. D. and Ryan, R. M., 2017. Self-Determination Theory. In Development of
Self-Determination Through the Life-Course (pp. 47-54). Springer Netherlands.
Gillet, N. and Vallerand, R. J., 2016. Effects of motivation on sport performance based on self-
determination theory: Towards a person-centered approach. PSYCHOLOGIE FRANCAISE.
61(4). pp.257-271.
Howard, J. and et.al., 2016. Motivation profiles at work: A self-determination theory approach.
Journal of Vocational Behavior. 95. pp.74-89.
Ivarsson, A. and et. al., 2015. The predictive ability of the talent development environment on
youth elite football players' well-being: A person-centered approach. Psychology of Sport
and Exercise. 16. pp.15-23.
Matosic, D. and et.al., 2017. Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self‐determination
theory perspective. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports. 27(2). pp.254-
261.
O’rourke, D.J., Smith, R.E., Smoll, F.L. and Cumming, S.P., 2014. Relations of parent-and
coach-initiated motivational climates to young athletes’ self-esteem, performance anxiety,
and autonomous motivation: who is more influential?. Journal of Applied Sport
Psychology. 26(4). pp.395-408.
Ryan, R. M., 2016. 66 The Empirical Study of Human Autonomy Using Self-Determination
Theory. Scientists making a difference: One hundred eminent behavioral and brain
scientists talk about their most important contributions. pp.311.
Smith, N. and et. al., 2016. The relationship between observed and perceived assessments of the
coach-created motivational environment and links to athlete motivation. Psychology of
Sport and Exercise. 23. pp.51-63.
Turnnidge, J. and Côté, J., 2016. Applying transformational leadership theory to coaching
research in youth sport: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Sport and
Exercise Psychology. pp.1-16.
Turnnidge, J., Côté, J., Hollenstein, T. and Deakin, J., 2014. A direct observation of the dynamic
content and structure of coach-athlete interactions in a model sport program. Journal of
Applied Sport Psychology. 26(2). pp.225-240.
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Zourbanos, N. and et. al., 2016. The Relationships Between Athletes’ Perceptions of Coach-
Created Motivational Climate, Self-Talk, and Self-Efficacy in Youth Soccer. Journal of
Applied Sport Psychology. 28(1). pp.97-112.
Online
Empirical links between achievement goal theory and self-determination theory in sport. 2017.
[Online]. Available through: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11411776>.
Jowett, S., 2016. How to Create a Relational Coaching Environment. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.connectedcoaches.org/spaces/10/welcome-and-general/blogs/
general/4104/how-to-create-a-relational-coaching-environment>.
Morgan, L. A., 2017. Advantages and Disadvantages of Goal Setting. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.livestrong.com/article/217375-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-
goal-setting/>.
What is Self-Determination Theory? (+PDF). 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/self-determination-theory/>.
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