Effects of a one-year coaching educational program on athlete perception of the coach–athlete working alliance

Abstract

The current study investigated the possible effects on athletes in a variety of sports of a one-year coaching educational program based on formal mentoring on their perceptions of the coach–athlete working alliance and their perceived performance development in their sports. The study also investigated if the athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ communication skills and their performance development during the one year could predict their perceptions of their working alliances with their coaches. The current study did not find any significant results from the coaching educational program regarding their perceptions of their coach–athlete working alliance and the three dimensional bond, goals, or tasks nor their perceptions of their performance development. However, the results showed that attending and influencing skills in communication uniquely predict the variance in the coach–athlete working alliance and the bond, goal, and task dimensions. The results also showed that their performance development can uniquely predict all variables except for the bond dimension. The results are discussed in terms of applied implications and possible future research.