Exploring Different Perceptions of Coach-Athlete Relationship: The Case of Chinese Olympians

Transcription

1 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol.9 No.2 July pp59-76 Exploring Different Perceptions of Coach-Athlete Relationship: The Case of Chinese Olympians Bo Li*, University of Arkansas, U.S.A Stephen W. Dittmore, University of Arkansas, U.S.A Jae-Ahm Park University of Arkansas, U.S.A Abstract The study aimed to investigate how Chinese Olympians coach-athlete relationships differ from a convenience sample of Western Olympians within the context of the interpersonal constructs of Closeness, Co-orientation, and Complementary (three Cs). A total of 12 Olympians, including six Chinese Olympians and six Western Olympians, were invited to participate to this study. All participants had won medals at either World Championships or Olympic Games in their sports. A semi-structured interview was conducted with five open-ended questions about their coach-athlete relationships. Content analysis revealed Chinese Olympians have higher satisfaction than selected Western Olympians in terms of the commitment of coach and dedication of time of their coaches. Western athletes described the relationship as a partnership, but Chinese Olympians described the relationship as paternal. In addition, Chinese athletes were dominated in dyadic relationships since their personal lives were controlled by their coaches, while Western athletes were given more freedom and democracy by their coaches. With respect to gender, female athletes tended to train with male coaches but male athletes were more concerned with a coach s knowledge rather than their gender. The study also indicated that athletes were more sensitive when they were in different gender coach-athlete relationships than in same gender relationships. Keywords: coach-athlete relationship, chinese olympians, western olympians Received March 12, 2015 Revised June 12, 2015 Accepted June 20, 2015 *Corresponding Author: Bo Li, University of Arkansas, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72701, United States. Phone: (413) boli@uark.edu 59

2 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park Introduction Excellence in athletic performance is decided by many factors, both internal and external. Besides the athlete s own personal talents and hard work, coaches also play a crucial role by transferring their experience, competence and knowledge to assist with athletes success and achievement. The coach-athlete relationship, as a platform where the coach and the athlete communicate and cooperate for achieving success and accomplishments, is a process in which both parties needs are communicated and satisfied (Jowett & Cockerill, 2002). McCready (1984) demonstrated that coaches prefer dedicating more effort to technique and administration due to their better-defined and more controllable nature. Ignoring the influential nature of coach-athlete relationships could impair the development of athletes potential. When the coach and the athlete work in a harmonious relationship, great results can be achieved (Coe, 1996). Indeed, the effective coach--athlete relationship is connected closely with athletes successes. One of the most successful Olympians in history Michael Phelps, for instance, has not thought about working with any other coach rather than his long-time coach Bob Bowman whom he started to work with when he was 11. Bowman has witnessed Phelps grow from a boy of a divorced family to a winner of 22 Olympic medals. Their relationship works well on different levels parent-child, business partners, and best friends - rather than just as a coach and an athlete (Newberry, 2012). Even though most academic research supports that coach-athlete relationship plays a significant role of athletes achievement in their athletic careers, scholars started to focus on the coach-athlete relationship from a sport scientific respective until the 1970s. Most conceptual and empirical research focused on coach leadership (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1978), and coach behaviours (Smith, Smoll & Hull, 1977). Wylleman (2000) argued several areas of this research lack empirical evidence. First, the interpersonal relationship is not referred to as an independent scientific subject but is in the middle among various scientific fields. Second, the concept of this relationship only emphasizes its importance in their performance, without considering the role of other relationships such as parents and spouses. The third contributing reason is that there is an absence of psychometric instruments for researchers to study this relationship. Lastly, the importance of studying this relationship is to narrow it down to the relationship members emotional feelings, thoughts and ethnicity (Wylleman, 2000). In order to describe accurate coach-athlete relationship, sport psychology developed a variety of conceptual models in recent years. Poczwardowski, Barott, and Henschen (2002) indicated that the coach-athlete relationship includes three major components: an instructive component defined as performing the task, a social-psychological component including cognitive facets as well as a behavioral, and a spiritual component involving the trust between coach and athlete. In addition, Mageau and Vallerand (2003) created a motivational model of the coach-athlete relationship incorporating cognitive evaluation theory (Deci & Ryan, 1980, 1985) and the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997, 2000) to measure how coaches could impact athletes motivation. They proposed that the degree to which the 60

3 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 coach exhibits autonomy-supportive behaviours to the athlete were determined by three factors-- the coach s personal orientation, the coaching context, as well as the coach s perception towards the athlete s motivation and behaviour. The coach s behaviours in terms of autonomy-supportive behaviours, provision of structure and the level of involvement with his or her athlete also impacted athlete s perceptions of competence, autonomy and relatedness. These three factors, in turn, determine athletes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Jowett (2001, 2003, 2005) introduced another conceptual model based upon Kelley et al. (1983) s definition of interpersonal relationships where two people s emotions, behaviours and thoughts are mutually and causally interdependent. Accordingly, the constructs of closeness, co-orientation and complementarity (3Cs) were selected independently to examine the coach and the athlete s emotions, behaviours and thoughts (Jowett, 2003; Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Jowett& Meek, 2000). Jowett and Ntoumanis (2004) developed a self-report instrument (CART-Q) measuring affective, cognitive and behavioural aspects of the coach-athlete relationship by utilizing 3 Cs modal. Closeness is defined as the coach and the athlete feeling emotionally close to one another. The terms of feelings such as liking, trusting, caring for as well as respecting between a coach and an athlete were used to describe the nature of the closeness in this relationship (Jowett, 2001; Jowett & Meek, 2000). Researchers (e.g. Bloom, Durand-Bush, Schinke, & Salmela, 1998; Hellstedt, 1987; Sarason, Sarason, & Pierce, 1990) in the sports psychology area have proved the significance of emotional connection in this relationship in their literature. The construct of co-orientation reflects in establishing a common frame of reference by relationship members to share their perspectives (common goals, values, expectation, interests and beliefs). The athlete and the coach could share one another s experiences, thoughts and worries through open communication channels including dialogue, talk, self-disclosure and negotiation. Complementarity represents the cooperative interaction between coaches and athletes especially in training, and it develops team-work, mutual assistance and collaboration. Estroff and Nowicki (1992) indicate that complementarity has a positive relationship with performance in experimental situations which means the athlete would improve their performance if he or she works with the coach in a friendly, motivating, willing, responsive environment. The constructs of Closeness, Co-orientation and Complementarity (3 Cs) have been applied by a variety of qualitative case studies. Jowett and Cockerill (2003) chose 12 Olympic medalists to investigate their athlete and coach relationship by analysing their narratives and recollection via the 3Cs model. They found that the feelings of closeness, thoughts of co-orientation as well as complementary resources played significant roles in their successes and achievements. Furthermore, Jowett (2003) continued to study the interpersonal conflicts between the coach and the athlete by utilising the 3 Cs model, and identified that the coach had showed different perception from the athletes about their relationship, emotional isolation, incompatibility and disagreements. In addition, Jowett and Timson-Kathcis (2005) also investigated the parental impacts on the athlete-coach relationship. After interviewing 15 participants from five coach-athlete-parents triangle relations by applying 3 Cs model, they identified that a variety of information, emotional supports as well as plenty of opportunities provided by athlete s parents, which could significantly 61

4 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park affected the relationship between the coach and the athlete. Moreover, Philippe and Seiler (2006) examined the quality of male athletes and their male coaches relationship by studying five male swimmers from the Swiss national swimming team. They revealed that swimmers stressed that maintaining a good relationship with their coaches benefited their achievements through discussion in the 3 Cs model. To date, the majority of sports psychological literatures focused on Western athletes coach-athlete relationships, particularly in the North America and Europe (Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Jowett, 2003; Philippe & Seiler, 2006). One of key voice missing here is that of Asian athletes, and how they view their coach-athlete relationships, especially Chinese athletes. China is a fast growing sport country and it recently won 88 medals, the second-most in the 2012 London Olympic Games, followed by the U.S. Due to the difference in sport history, culture, and sports development model, that s likely that Chinese athletes have completely different perceptions toward their coach-athlete relationships compared to Western athletes. As Joweet and Poczwardowski (2007) suggested, the future direction of examining coach-athlete relationship could focus on across cultural, and subcultural context. Therefore, it is worth investigating the coach-athlete relationship in Chinese elite athletes, especially those successful Olympians. This study was to examine the degree to which the coach-athlete relationship has shaped and contributed to elite athletes performances in China, and also investigate whether Chinese Olympians have different perceptions toward their coach-athlete relationships from a convenience sample of Western Olympians due to the difference of their sport system and culture. Methodology In order to address research questions developed previously, this study was guided by post-positivist approaches which used an existing model to code and analyze the data that researchers have collected, and then it could minimize the influence of researchers (Taylor, 2014, p.183). Participants The participants of the study consisted of 12 Olympians (6 Chinese Olympians, 6 Western Olympians) competing in individual sports in the recent Olympic Games. Western Olympians refer to athletes who are from countries in Europe, the Americas and Oceania where individualistic culture dominates. The participants were selected on the criteria that they needed to be Olympians; had won medals at either the World Championships or the Olympic Games; and could communicate effectively in either English or Chinese. All participants are current athletes and international competition medalists, and participated in Olympic Games from 2004 to Three of the participants are female athletes with an average age of 24; while nine are male athletes with a mean age of The sports in which Western Olympians participated in are diving (3), shooting (1), judo (1), and track and field (1), representing USA (2), Germany (1), Brazil (1), Ukraine (1) and 62

5 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 Jamaica (1). The sports in which Chinese Olympians participated in are swimming (3), diving (1) and gymnastics (2). Nine participants are Olympic medalists; six of them are gold medalists. Simonton (1999) emphasized that the importance of the psychological study of notable athletes due to their uniqueness and significance (p.426). The participants of this research are notable athletes since all of them have won medals at international competitions and their athletic achievement distinguishes them from other athletes with less success. In addition, all these athletes are in the peak of their careers and are all preparing to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. To guarantee anonymity, each participant was assigned with letter A and the numbers 1-12 were used to identify themselves. Instrument A semi-structured interview about the athlete s interpersonal relationship with their coach was chosen in this study as the main methodology to assess the role of the relationship in their successes. As mentioned previously, these participants are still in the peak of their athletic careers, and all of them have busy training and competition schedules throughout the year. Also, participants are from different countries, and they train and compete in different locations, it creates a challenge that researchers was unable to conduct multiple interviews with them for gathering the data. Therefore, in order to collect the most valuable data in a certain period of time, researchers determined to apply semi-structured interview approach since it was the best method when you would not have more than one chance to interview someone, and also assisted interviewers to collect reliable and high quality qualitative data (Bernard,1988). A pre-designed interview guide containing five key interview questions was used in this research after considering Jowett and Cockerill s (2003) research regarding Olympic medalists coach-athlete relationship. The interview guide consisted of two main parts. A brief introduction was used to obtain the demographic information and build up trust with interviewees. During this stage, the participants were given time to consider their coach-athlete relationship and determine which particular coach he/she would describe about in this study since all of them have more than one coach in their career. The second part included five open-ended questions for measuring the nature and the importance of the coach-athlete relationship. All participants were asked five questions in the same order for the sake of avoiding interviewers biases (Kvale, 1996), however, additional follow-up questions were used as required. Procedure The Olympians were approached by the first author through s or internet messages to ask about their interests of participating in this study. After confirming with them, the participants were required to complete the online questionnaire first before scheduling interviews. The interviews were conducted by either phone call or Skype. Eventually, seven interviews were conducted by Skype. Due to the restriction of time and cost, conducting interviews through cellphone and Skype is more convenient. Although telephone interviews may be absent of nonverbal communication, researchers have found that it has no significant difference in both 63

6 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park quality and quantity when compared with face-to-face interviews (Sweet, 2002; Jowett & Katchis, 2005). The interviews lasted between 20 to 30 minutes and were recorded with the permission of the participants. Interviews with Western Olympians were conducted in English, and Chinese participants were interviewed in Mandarin (Chinese). All interviews were then transcribed into A4 double-space text. The interviews in Chinese were translated into English by the first author who is fluent in both Chinese and English. In order to maintain the veracity, the transcribed interviews were reviewed by an American doctoral student majoring at journalism and then finally reviewed by the translator. Data analysis The interview data analysis followed the procedure of prior research (e.g., Jowett, 2003; Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Jowett & Meek, 2000). The interviews were transcribed literatim and then translated into English. To ensure the original meaning remained unchanged, the back-translation was introduced. After being reviewed by two sport management professors, the data was ready to be analyzed. Content analysis (Weber, 1990) was introduced in this study for probing the obtained data and classifying phrases into fewer content categories (closeness, co-orientation and complementarity). A hierarchy of responses was then induced from specific to general categories including first-order and second-order themes. In the aftermath, based on the deductive-inductive content analysis mode (Bardin, 1991, Philippe & Seiler, 2006), a number of sub-domains and themes were created, and frequency analysis in terms of percentage was applied. The frequency analysis, which was used to determine the frequency of second-order themes and general content categories being cited, was adopted in content analysis (e.g., Greenleaf et al., 2001; Jowett & Meek, 2000; Scanlan et al., 1991). Lincoln and Guba (1985) stated that interviews were conducted by experienced and knowledgeable researchers which ensures credibility and trustworthiness of the data collection. Meanwhile, Lincoln and Guba (1985) also noted that member checking, which means the subject reviews the transcript for authentication before the analysis process, is the other effective method for establishing trustworthiness. In order to improve the trustworthiness of the study, some practical strategies were applied during the research. For instance, researchers clearly communicated the goals and background of the research with interviewees before the interviews. Secondly, since all participants were interviewed by the first author before and built up a great friendship with him, it assisted them in speaking more honestly during the interview. Also, the first author s rich interview experience due to his journalism background assisted the interview gather more valuable information in the limited time. Finally, the subjects of the interviews were required to check the transcription and confirm the accuracy of content. All participants agreed that the content of the transcriptions was accurate. Results A majority of the participants (11) were highly satisfied with their athletic relationship with their 64

7 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 coaches. It is understandable because all participants were world-class athletes in their sports. It is also unsurprising that their coach-athlete relationships were effective since their outstanding achievements in their sports have proved it. Overall understanding of coach-athlete dyads As motioned previously, nine male athletes and three female athletes participated in this study. The coaches of four of the participants have different genders from them including three female Olympians and one male Olympian. Based on the data, both Chinese Olympians and Western Olympians insisted that working with their coaches in a harmonious relationship help them to achieve the best results. Mutual trust and effective communication were viewed by the majority of participants as the core in coach-athlete relationships. For instance, one Western athlete (A11) said, The most important part for the coach-athlete relationship is mutual trust between the coach and the athlete. Athletes have to believe the coach is going to get them what they want, and trust they have their best interests in mind. The same thing is that coach must trust the athletes. Coach believes that this guy is going to work very hard and he is capable of winning. Sometimes maybe you don t believe the athlete could be the best in the world, or the best ever; but they would believe about their dreams. The athlete needs to trust the coach will get them everything. One Chinese Olympian (A4) echoed this sentiment by saying, I think trust and communication are the most important things in this relationship. As long as the coach and I trust each other, we could communicate well and work in a harmonious environment. In effect, this result showed that a majority of the participants were satisfied with their coach-athlete relationships. Two Chinese participants were highly satisfied with their relationships. One of them (A1) mentioned, My coach-athlete relationship is the most ideal one I could have and I believe that I am the luckiest and most happy athlete in China. The other participant (A2) described Chinese coaches as the most hard-working coaches in the world. No other coaches in the world work as hard as Chinese coaches since they are fully dedicated in their time and effort to their jobs. Our coaches spend much more time with us than with their family members. Some Olympians, both Chinese and Western, reported that their coach-athlete relationships have changed over time. Some Chinese athletes started to work with their coaches from a very young age and they described a feeling of anxiousness while working with them at the beginning. However, this fear no longer existed when they matured allowing them to achieve world-class results. One participant (A2) said, When I started working with him, I was only fourteen-years-old. I went to Beijing to train with the national team for the first time. I was scared of my coach because I was very young at that time. I didn t know 65

8 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park what to do since my parents were not there with me. I was afraid of voicing my opinions to my coach. However, I am an adult now and it s no longer an issue for me. Western athletes also experienced a change in their coach-athlete relationships as time progressed. One participant (A11) claimed he no longer had a close relationship with his coach at the end of their partnership. He said, At the beginning, it was definitely like friendship. He was someone I looked up to and had more information that I wanted to learn from. We always had tensions but there was also a great friendship lasting for a long time. After I became the Olympic champion, I felt like our relationship started to feel distant. He was barely coming to help me with my training although his office was so close to my training venues. I felt like that I was training by myself all the time, and I tried to communicate with him, but it did not work. I didn t want that but that is the way it was. For the last four to six years, I haven t been very satisfied with the coach-athlete relationship at all. Closeness Twenty-nine percent of the raw data coded from the interview questions fall into the category of Closeness ; 28.3% are reported in Co-orientation category and 22% are attributed to the Complementarity category. However, almost 20.4% of the data were uncategorized. After coding the data associated with Closeness, two sub-themes were created: personal feelings and social relationship Table 1. Sample raw data regarding closeness All participants reported establishing an effective relationship with the coach was important and expressed strong bonds with their coaches through mentioning trust, like, regard, and respect. For instance, a Chinese Olympian (A3) claimed, I fully respect my coach because he wants me to feel that he really loves our sport... Both of us have the same commitment to our goals, and he encourages me to chase that 66

9 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 goal. Based on the data, coach-athlete dyads usually fall into three categories: parental, friendship and partnership. Chinese and Western Olympians viewed their dyadic relationships with their coaches differently. The data indicate that five out of the six Chinese participants considered their coach-athlete relationships to be parental while four out of the six Western participants viewed their dyadic relationships as partnerships. One Chinese athlete (A2) mentioned, My coach is like a father to me. We started to work together when I was little and he lives in the team accommodation with us. He s dedicated all his time to helping me succeed. Chinese athletes also mentioned their coaches were more domineering in this relationship. One candidate (A5) said, Like most Chinese coaches, my coach collected our cellphones and computers every day before midnight because he wanted to ensure we would not be distracted by other things. We obviously have different thoughts. The coach would like to control everything and make sure we could focus on our training, but we preferred more freedom. On the contrary, more Western athletes described their coach-athlete relationships as partnerships. One participant (A9) said, I have built up a great partnership with my coach. I think that the most important thing for us is that we need to have democracy. Coaches have been coaching for a long time and I have been diving for a long time. Sometimes, when you commit in the thing both experience, it will set you up for lots of successes. Friendship was also reported in this dyadic relationship. One athlete (A12) mentioned that my coach is like a close friend. I knew him for a long time. We used to train and compete together, and he became my coach after he retired. However, some athletes also mentioned that being too close with the coach could be detrimental to the effectiveness of training. For example, one Chinese Olympian (A4) expressed, the problem between my coach and I is that I am not afraid of him. Being afraid of your coach could increase your trust and respect for him. A Western Olympian (A8) also agreed with this opinion. He stated, Coach-athlete relationships is the relationship where the coach can be a friend of the athlete, but at the same time not to be too friendly, because the athlete needs the sense of authority once it comes to the business. Being an athlete, you have to respect authority. Co-orientation Some responses given during the interviews stressed the importance of the construct of co-orientation. 67

10 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park Two sub-themes were identified including shared knowledge as well as shared goals and understanding. Table 2. Sample raw data regarding co-orientation Ten of 12 Olympians stressed the role of interpersonal communication was significant in their coach-athlete relationships. The majority of the participants stated that their coaches had not only shared about the knowledge and the experience of their sport with them, but also had communicated about other things outside of sports such as life skills. Only one Olympian mentioned that his coach rarely shared many things with him other than training. Participants stressed that sharing the same goals with coaches and understanding mutual demands contributed to their athletic improvement. The athletes emphasized that the most effective way to work as a team was for both the athlete and the coach to be clear on what they expected to achieve. For instance, one candidate (A12) mentioned, We have the same goals. We are working to win the (gold) medal at Olympic Games. So when we are aware of this, we try to find out the most effective way to get there. However, conflicts are often unavoidable in the coach-athlete dyads. Finding a solution to minimize the differences is a significant element in establishing a healthy coach-athlete relationship. Most of the participants mentioned that they would find the common ground when they had some disagreements with their coaches. One of the athletes (A8) said When we had disagreements, we would talk about it first. He will explain his point of view, and listen to mine. We generally agree on trying both ideas, and try to see which idea works best for me. The result also indicated that the female athletes shared different opinions from male athletes in their perceptions of the importance of coach s gender in this dyadic relationship. Female athletes stressed they preferred working with male coaches than female coaches because male coaches were easier to 68

11 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 communicate with in and out of training. In contrast, male athletes claimed that gender was not a concern for them when selecting the coaches, viewing knowledge as a more influential factor. All female participants in this study stated that they have worked with female coaches before and they described them as emotional, subjective, and control freak. However, they mentioned male coaches were open-minded, easy to communicate with, and easy-going. One female athlete (A4) said, The male coach I worked with is more open-minded than female coaches and he always provided me with opinions from different perspectives. I felt that I was closer to him and thus it was easier to communicate with him. Female athletes found it easier to admire male coaches. Maybe he considered my female-figure, so he was more careful. Also, the other female participant (A5) stated, Many female coaches I used to work with were subjective and unaccepting of athlete s opinions. They think that they are the best, so we have to be subordinated. However, one female athlete (A3) also mentioned some weaknesses while working with a male coach. She said, Male coaches have difficulty understanding us when we are (emotionally) down. My coach tried not to disturb me when I was down emotionally. He tried to make some jokes and encouraged me in other ways. Few male participants in this study have worked with female coaches. From their perspective, gender was not a main concern in their working relationship. One male participant (A8) said, A same gender coach-athlete relationship for male athletes has no difference from in an opposite gender relationship. The thing that matters most for male athletes is whether the coach could give them what they want and help them to improve. Four participants who work in different gender coach-athlete relationships claimed that they were more careful and more sensitive than others in same gender dyadic relationships. Female athletes were clear that they could be friends with their male coaches but they could not be too close with them. The male athlete (A7) who works with a female coach indicated that he was very careful when he communicated with his coach whenever they had disagreements. He said, When my coach and I had some arguments sometimes, I am very careful about the language I use since she is a female. If we had argument, I would go and apologize first because I am a male. Complementarity Two sub-themes with regard to complementarity- respect of reciprocal role and support- were created after a content analysis. 69

12 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park Table 3. Sample raw data regarding complementarity Based on the data reported, all athletes emphasized that respecting reciprocal roles was an important factor of determining the nature of coach-athlete dyads. Both Chinese and Western Olympians stated that both they and their coaches clearly understood the roles they were playing. For instance, one participant (A2) stated, My coach knows his role is to help me improve. He tries his best to find the most proper instruction for me and my role is to implement his training plan. Coach needs to have a successful athlete to prove his ability and at the same time I also need to show I am the best in this sport. We understand our need and our roles. The majority of the participants also stressed that they would reach a high level of effectiveness in their training when they and their coaches understood mutual demands. Examples from athletes are as follow: When I moved to Colorado, my coach worked very hard with me on the things that I struggled with like (competing in the) final. He came out with different strategies to help me improve. That made a big difference (A11). He always explains his plan, why he thinks that is proper for me, and what the benefit it has for the future. We are very honest with each other, and that s the best way to solve the problem (A6). The differences between Chinese Olympians and Western Olympians in understanding their reciprocal roles also were identified in this study. Chinese male athletes tended to be more passive when working with their coaches while Western athletes played a more active role while having discussion with their coaches. For instance, One Chinese Olympian (A2) expressed, He makes the instruction for me, and I cannot negotiate with him because he is the coach. As a coach, he is the expert of this area and I trust him and then follow what he requires. On the contrary, Western Olympians stated that their coaches were 70

13 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 more flexible during training. One participant (A10) stated, The importance of working with my coach is that he is extremely flexible, and he is not the dictatorial who forces us to follow whatever he says. It s more democracy in our relationships. Chinese male athletes also mentioned their male coaches flexibility in their practices. One (A3) mentioned, He makes the entire training plan for me. If I didn t feel well, I would let him know and he would adjust a portion of training. Discussions and Conclusions Exploring coach-athlete relationship has some practical implications in current sports world. Through examining coach-athlete relationships, it could help the coach and the athlete manage their interpersonal encounter their satisfactions. Additionally, discovering an appropriate approach to establish health relationship and avoiding and solving potential problems can assist coaches and athletes to reach their personal and performance goals (Joweet & Poczwardowski, 2007, p.13). Compared with previous studies, where the majority of sport psychologists mainly employed undergraduate students as convenient samples (Joweet & Poczwardowski, 2007), this study provides valuable insights about how world-class athletes view their coach-athlete relationships. This research applied Jowett (2003) s 3Cs model to explore Chinese Olympians perceptions of coach-athlete dyads, and how it differs from that of Western Olympians by studying the three interpersonal constructs of closeness, co-orientation and complementarity. In accordance with this model, the results of the content analysis reveal that all participants agree that coach-athlete relationships play a significant role in their athletic careers with the quality of the dyadic relationship influencing their athletic achievement and psychological well-being. All Chinese Olympians who participated in this study stressed that effective communication was the key in this interpersonal dynamics between coaches and athletes. It has been proved by other scholars (such as Joweet & Poczwardowski, 2007; Montgomery & Baxter, 1998) that communication has been referred as a bridge of a coach-athlete relationship, and it plays a vital role of establishing a stable and harmonious coach-athlete relationship. In succession, the dyadic relationship also influence the quality and quantity of communication. The findings of the study present that differences exist in the perceptions of Chinese Olympians and selected Western Olympians in their coach-athlete relationships. Chinese Olympians express that they are closer to their coaches than Western participants which is in line with the prior study (Yang & Jowett, 2010). In addition, Chinese athletes consider their coaches as parents in this study while a majority of Western athletes view their coaches as their working partners. The result could be caused by the cultural differences in China and Western world. The individualism-collectivism framework explained how human development and social relations have been organized in different culture (Hofstede, 1984). People from 71

14 Bo Li, Stephen W. Dittmore, Jae-Ahm Park collective culture (such as Chinese) view themselves as part of more collectives such as family, and give their priority to their kinship with members of these collectives (Triandis, 1995). People from individualistic cultural countries (such as American) who view themselves as independent of collectives, are motived by their goals, needs and own preferences (Triandis, 1995). Therefore, it could explained why Chinese athletes feel that they have a closer tie with their coaches than Western athletes. In addition, Chinese athletes and Western athletes different perspectives of athlete-coach relationship may be caused by the different sport systems applied in China and other countries. All Chinese participants demonstrated that they grew up in the country s national sports system, a multi-tiered enterprise dedicated to harvesting talent from among the youth of China and powering it to international sporting success (Dickie, 2007) where they were selected to be in the national team from a very early age and working and living with their coaches since then. The style of working builds up a close tie between the coach and the athlete. Since the coach not only provides instructions in training to improve the athlete s performance, but also takes some responsibilities of the athlete s parents to help them to develop life skills. Therefore, Chinese Olympians consider their coach-athlete relationships as a parental relationship rather than friendship or partnership. Additionally, the difference in age and marriage status may also explain the difference in how Western Olympians view their relationships. In the study, the average age of Western Olympians (28.2) was higher than that of Chinese Olympians (24.5). All Western participants were either getting married or were in a relationship while most of the Chinese participants were single. Therefore, Chinese participants may need more social support from their coaches than Western Olympians since the latter could be more mature and also could receive more assistance and support from other family members and friends. The results also indicate that the Chinese athletes are dominated in dyadic relationships since their personal lives are controlled by their coaches while Western athletes were given more freedom and democracy by their coaches. The findings are in line with previous research showing that Asian athletes preferred certain types of leadership in some sports. Both Chelladurai et al. (1988) and Kang s (2003) studies contended that East Asian athletes preferred more autocratic behaviors from their coaches than Western athletes. Chelladurai et al. (1988) indicated that Japanese athletes who participated in Western sports preferred more social support and autocratic behavior than Canadian athletes. Kang (2003) indicated that Korean collegiate athletes in athletics and basketball preferred more autocratic behavior from coaches compared to their American counterparts. Moreover, Zheng et al. s (2004) study demonstrated that athletes from the collectivist culture (such as Chinese) showed a higher locus of external control, which may result in higher anxiety, lower self-confidence, and less achievement motivation, than athletes in individualized cultures (such as the U.S), and are inclined to desire to be subordinated. When Wylleman (2000) defined coach-athlete relationships basing on the behaviors of both parties, he argued that a dominance-submission dimension has reflected a strong and weak of the relationship. Joweet and Poczwardowski (2007) 72

15 International Journal of Coaching Science Vol. 9 No. 2 July 2015 explained that athletes behaviors would determine the responses from coaches that are reciprocal for behaviors. A coach s dominance would attract athletes submission, and vice versa. Researchers in this study also indicated that male athletes might have different perceptions and understandings toward coach-athlete relationship compared to female athletes. The female athletes seem prefer being coached by male coaches since males are more flexible and easier to communicate than female coaches while male athletes cared less about the gender of the coaches than the knowledge they possessed. The result is supported by a prior study conducted by Seiler, Kevesligeti and Valley (1999) in which the reason for female athletes having higher satisfaction with male coaches was that male coaches always showed more feminine features, such as being more patient in communication style, listening and responsive when coaching female athletes, while female coaches presented more masculine attributes including decision making and leadership. In a prior study by Sherman et al. (2000), athletes in same-gender sporting environments had no difference in preferences for coach behaviors from those in different-gender sporting environment in Australian football and netball. The result was supported in this study while investigating athletes participating in individual Olympic sports. The study indicated that athletes in a dual-gender relationship with coaches were less sensitive than athletes in a single-gender nature. Female athletes tried not to stay too close with male coaches and male athletes were concerned about their gentle attributes in front of female coaches. The carefulness of female athletes may be associated with the concern of the sexual harassment and abuse with male coaches. Previous research (Nielsen, 2001, Fasting et al., 2003) demonstrated that a significant number of female athletes had experienced inappropriate behavior from male coaches and elite athletes experienced more sexual harassment from male authority figures than others since they have more opportunities to work together, such as travelling for competitions. Limitations and future research There are some limitations in this study. First, results from this exploratory study cannot be generalized to all Chinese Olympians and Western Olympians since only 12 Olympians were involved in this study. Also, Western Olympians is a broad concept since American Olympians may have different perceptions of their coach-athlete relationships from European Olympians. Thus the opinion of Western Olympians in this study cannot be generalized to all athletes in the many different countries of Europe and America. In addition, some athletes mentioned that the coach-athlete relationship in different sports might be very different. Therefore, combining all individual sports athletes to compare with their coach-athlete relationships is another limitation of this study. Further research could observe Chinese coaches perspectives to investigate their opinions of coach-athlete relationships, and how their opinions in this field differ from Western coaches. As participants reported, the relationship between a coach and an athlete were dynamitic. Thus, the future 73

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