Title: How a coachs ability in a skill increases the respect afforded to him/her by the athletes he/she trains The

level to which a coach can demonstrate his/her ability at performing a skill can be modelled as competency. Competence is comprised of a coachs qualification, expertness and overall confidence in his or her own coaching method. However in a coaching environment competence is not in itself enough to influence an athletes respect for a coach. The coachs skill has to be communicated and transferred, otherwise a coach would simply demonstrate a skill and expect the athlete to absorb all the technical information. The manner of this communication is highly dependent upon the character of the coach. Therefore, I have included research on coachs credibility in my studies, which takes into account the expertness of a skill and how it is communicated, in particular how a coachs ability in a skill increases respect. When we mention a coachs credibility we are inclined to think of how great he or she is i.e. his/her track record, success rate and reputation. However credibility has been identified as comprising of three elements or dimensions (Pogue & Ahyun, 2006) and (McCroskey & Teven, 1997). These are: Competence i.e. qualification, expertness, intelligence, authoritativeness. Trustworthiness i.e. sagacity, safety, honesty. Goodwill i.e. intent towards receiver, care.

Specifically trustworthiness and goodwill are classified as part of the coachs character. Hence when credibility is mentioned we refer to the competence and character that the coach possesses. Greatness is something that does not have a great bearing on a coachs credibility as this element is only associated with a handful of known coaches who receive media attention. Many strength and conditioning coachs greatness remains unknown to the public as their success cannot be directly attributed to a win/loss ratio nor is it the subject of media attention. Hence credibility studies in the context discussed above are highly applicable.
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In such instances effective coaching can be measured by the positive psychological responses of an athlete e.g. high perceived ability, high self esteem, motivational orientation and high level of sport enjoyment (Horn, 2002). In order to examine how the credibility of a coach impacts an athletes performance we can view the strength and conditioning coach as a teacher. Why? Because both teacher and coach work to help pupils achieve a set of collective objectives such as learning the material associated with a specific technique and then executing the technique (Kish & Woodard, 2005). Additionally, both teacher and coach assess the psychological response of a pupil to teaching and coaching which can then be fed back into adjustments to the teaching and coaching approach. We now move on to the topic of respect for a coach by a pupil. Respect is a feeling, hence it is intangible. Respect comes in many forms and there are many reasons for gaining the respect e.g. respect for law, respect for others, respect for elders etc. However, in the context of this essay respect for another person shall be defined as holding that person in high esteem and to value that persons unique abilities or distinctive attributes (Lysaught, 2004). For such reasons respect is earned and not commanded. Hence, for a coach certain attributes are able to earn him/her the respect. Credibility of a coach has been identified as one of the factors that influence an individual (Jones & Spooner, 2006). Jones and Spooners (2006) work identified that individuals need to respect the ability of the coach. Respect for a coach was a prerequisite to them being open minded to the coachs methods. The work also highlighted that a coach earned respect if elements of both competence and character were present. However, one of the limitations of this work is that only the needs of High Achievers were investigated and did not target Lesser Achievers. St rength and Conditioning coaches are frequently required to take athletes out of their comfort zones by teaching and introducing techniques which are alien to them. Hence, being competent in the skill set allows

the athlete to have faith and trust in the ability of a coach to gain an increase in physical performance. Since strength and conditioning coaches spend a huge amount of time teaching/training athletes in the gym, we can view the coach as a teacher and the athlete as the pupil within a classroom setting. Hence, the investigations into teacher student relationship models can be studied in order to identify how a teachers credibility affects a pupil. McCroskey and Teven (1997) examined how credibility affected the students learning experience. According to their results (each element with Alpha> 0.9 and P<0.0001), competency had an impact on the cognitive and affective learning of the students. The examination also showed that teacher evaluation (measurements of attitudes towards teacher and likelihood of enrolling on another course with same teacher) scored positively. Students attained a level of respect for a competent teacher leading to a more positive learning experience. Within a gym setting this translates into an athlete being able to adapt and execute skills/drills proficiently. It is common for athletes to attend strength and conditioning sessions before or after a sports practice. It is essential to keep the athlete motivated so that he/she can focus on the skills to perform in the gym without having any thoughts regarding the sports practice itself. Credibility, which comprises of competence and character, has been identified as the most salient factor in increasing the intrinsic motivation and affective learning of an athlete (Norris, 2010). According to the subjects interviewed, athletes described how their respect for their coachs competence positively influenced their learning, because they were more apt to listening and to implement teachings of someone they respected. Motivation to gain knowledge, motivation to accomplish and motivation for pleasure are the three types of intrinsic motivations (Vallerand, 2004). According to the literature several studies have shown that intrinsic motivation leads to positive outcomes including creativity, performance and persistence.
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This essay has highlighted that being competent in a particular field as a coach increased respect amongst athletes or pupils. However, competence alone does not gain respect. Being able to communicate with an athlete by gaining trust and showing goodwill, which are elements of character, are essential along with competence to earn respect. Despite that, studies have not been able to suggest whether it is respect that leads to improved cognitive and effective learning with increased intrinsic motivation or vice versa. Since respect is intangible, studies have failed to address this aspect, and hence personal accounts of athlete and pupil experience with coaches and teachers have been used in the studies. It is important for strength and conditioning coaches to earn the respect of their athletes, as this will yield a better coach-athlete relationship and understanding which in turn will positively impact physical performance. Being able to prove that you have a comprehensive command over a skill, which can be shown in many various forms i.e. performing a skill, showing evidence based practice, showing knowledge etc. can lead to increased respect. In conclusion lets look at an example to illustrate the salient points of this essay: 1. First the coach educates an athlete as to why performing Olympic lifts are important. This can be on evidence-based research or any other reliable source. 2. Next the coach demonstrates an Olympic lift with great skill. A coach should master the skill in his/her own time. 3. Then the coach teaches the lift to an athlete with effective communication. Notwithstanding the need to consider the risk of injury in performing an Olympic lift the above example illustrates how a coach can earn the respect of a pupil since education, demonstration followed by teaching of a specific skill are all essential elements of a coachs competency and character. References
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Genevie ve A. Mageu & Robert J. Vallerand (2003). The coachathlete relationship: a motivational model. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21, 883904 Horn T.S. (2002). Coaching Effectiveness in the Sport Domain. Advances in Sport Psychology, Champing, IL: Human Kinetics, 309-355. Jones G & Spooner K (2006). Coaching High Achievers. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 58, No. 1, 4050 Kish C. & Woodard R. (2005). The impact of positive motivational techniques by coaches on the achievement levels of men's junior college basketball players. Mo J Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 6-15 Lysaught M. Therese (2004). Respect: Or, How Respect for Persons Became Respect for Autonomy. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 29(6), 665-680 McCroskey J. & Teven J. (1997). Goodwill: A re-examination of the construct and its measurement. Communications Monographs, Volume 66. McCroskey, J., & Teven, J. (1997). The relationship of perceived teacher caring with student learning and teacher evaluation. Communication Education, Volume 46 Norris R.M (2010). An Analysis of Coaching Dimensions and Their Impact on Athlete Motivation and Affective Learning. Ball State University, Munice, Indiana. Pogue L. & Ahyun K. (2006). The effect of teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility on student motivation and affective learning. Communication Education 55, no.3: 33144 Vallerand Robert J (2004). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation is Sport. Encyclopaedia of Applied Psychology, Volume 2.