Coaching Leadership Behaviors: Comparison of High School and Collegiate Wrestling Coaches

Download or read book Coaching Leadership Behaviors: Comparison of High School and Collegiate Wrestling Coaches written by Jason J. Holder and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: The researcher sought to compare the leadership styles and coaching behaviors of high school and collegiate head wrestling coaches, and the dynamic changes throughout the course of the wrestling season based on the perception of their student-athletes and the coaches' self-perceived leadership styles. The purpose of the current study was to compare the coaching behaviors and leadership styles of high school and Division III collegiate head wrestling coaches across three different points in time throughout the wrestling season (pre, mid, post). The Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S) was administered to high school and collegiate student-athletes three times throughout the season. The self-perceived version of the Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) was administered one time to high school and collegiate head wrestling coaches. Qualitative measures in the form of one open-ended question was administered to student--athletes at each of the three time points throughout the season, and two open-ended questions were administered to the head wrestling coaches one time simultaneous to the LSS. Results of the LSS selfperceived version showed no significant main effects in leadership strategies between high school and collegiate head wrestling coaches. Significant differences throughout the course of the season were indicated on the CBS-S in the subscales of goal setting, positive rapport, physical training and conditioning, and mental preparation. Goal setting and positive rapport increased for both groups from the preseason to midseason, and then leveled off from the midseason to postseason. Physical training and conditioning, and mental preparation increased gradually throughout the season. Significant difference between groups existed on the CBS-S in the subscales of technical skills and competition strategies. Based on the perceptions of the student-athletes on the CBS-S scores, high school head coaches scored high on the subscales of technical skills and competition strategies when compared to collegiate coaches. The results of the open-ended questions indicated that according to the student-athlete perceptions, and self-perceptions of the head coaches, high school and collegiate head coaches displayed many similarities in some leadership and coaching behaviors, most notably training, technique and practices, but also had notable differences in leadership and coaching behaviors, most notably, individual instruction, support, tapering, management and organization, and recruiting and retention. Responses of open-ended questions as perceived by the student-athletes also indicated that difference in the dynamic changes throughout the course of the season occur between high school and collegiate wrestling coaches, most notably the amount of support provided to studentathletes and the usage of sport psychology strategies used.