Performing with Others

• Tuckerman's theory of team cohesion says that teams go through 4(or 5) stages of development:

  • Forming - meet and establish ground rules,
  • Storming - communicate but still seen as individuals, resist control and show hostility,
  • Norming - work together as part of a team and recognise that working together is the best,
  • Performing - work together in open and trusting environment,
  • Adjourning - recognise members contributions.
• Carlyle developed a Trait theory of Leadership in the mid 1800's which suggests that people are born with traits that predetermine if they will be a good leader e.g. decisiveness, confidence and emotional stability.
• Coaching is a specific form of leadership oriented towards improving athletic performance through direct instruction and encouragement to improve motivation and team work.
• Jowett and Cockerill suggested that there are 3 aspects in the quality of a coach and athlete relationship:

  • Closeness - emotional bond between the athlete and the coach,
  • Co-orientation - shared views and priorities,
  • Complementarily - co-operative behaviour between coach and athlete.

  Research has shown that athletes place the strongest emphasis on closeness and that their motivation was closely linked to being cared for and respected by their coach.
• Coach Effectiveness Training (CET) includes teaching the coaches to use reinforcement of effort, encouragement of athletes, and modelling of skills.
• Smith and Smoll aimed to test the effectiveness of a training program for baseball coaches working with children in order to increase player self esteem.
• Smith and Smoll studied 34 male Little League baseball coaches who recruited from the sample of coaches who took part in the preliminary study. They had an average of 8 years of coaching experience.
• Smith et al used a field experiment where 18 coaches were randomly allocated to the CET and 16 acted as controls. The CET was an evening training session which stressed the importance of reinforcement, encouragement and modelling. Behavioural feedback were given to these coaches using a Coaching Behaviour Assessment System (CBAS) for the first 2 weeks of the season. Coaches also completed a self monitoring form to indicate what percentage of the time they used the techniques and 325 players were interviewed about their coach, attitudes to baseball and self esteem.
• The CBAS found that coaches on the CET programme used reinforcement significantly more than controls, which players agreed with in interviews. Players in the CET condition enjoyed playing for their coach more and rated their relationship with their coach and teammates higher. Players in the experimental condition had higher self esteem compared to the previous year.
• Smith and Smoll concluded that the training programme for coaches has a significant impact on their behaviours towards their players which impacted their players attitude to the coach and other aspects of their sporting experience, in particular raising their self esteem.
• Make CET a compulsory requirement

  Make CET mandatory for coaches to obtain their coaching certificates e.g. a training programme based on Smith and Smoll's research especially the importance of positive reinforcement.
• Team Building

  Use Tuckerman's theory of group cohesion teams should attend team building days to help the, work together and progress through the 4 stages to achieve group cohesion.
• Create team cohesion

  Carron et al offered a 4 point model to create team cohesiveness:

  1. Increase team distinctiveness - a uniform or mantra,
  2. Increase social cohesiveness - holding team award events,
  3. Establish clear team goals - having team goals on posters,
  4. Improve team communication - having productive meetings to encourage players to listen to each other.

  This will make the tea more likely to overcome problems and achieve shared goals.