Developmental Consulting in a Professional Football Academy: The 5Cs Coaching Efficacy Program

Transcription

1 The Sport Psychologist, 2008, 22, Human Kinetics, Inc. Developmental Consulting in a Professional Football Academy: The 5Cs Coaching Efficacy Program Chris Harwood Loughborough University The purpose of this article is to present practitioners and applied researchers with specific details of a developmental sport psychology program and coaching intervention at a professional football (soccer) academy in Great Britain. Based on a positive youth development agenda, initial consulting work with players and parents focused on education and monitoring of the 5Cs of football: Commitment, communication, concentration, control, and confidence. This was subsequently followed up with an educational and behavioral coaching intervention related to integrating the 5Cs in training and practice situations. The 4-month program aimed to specifically enhance a coach s efficacy in shaping positive psychological and interpersonal skills in young players ranging in age from 9 to 14 years. Six coaches responsible for the development of 95 young players were involved in the program. The results of the intervention are presented for each individual coach and supplemented by interview data. Insights are provided into the role, value, and methodology behind applying sport psychology in youth-sport settings. In November 2002, the Football Association of England (FA) launched its Psychology for Football (i.e., soccer) strategy. As part of a long-term educational and service-oriented initiative to develop better players and coaches in England, a core objective was to increase the awareness and application of sport psychology within professional clubs, youth academies, and national squads. A progressive range of online and residential courses aimed at coaches, players, and support staff (including sport psychologists) subsequently followed to educate these groups in the concepts of football psychology and to unite them with qualified sport psychology professionals (see Cale, 2004). From being part of a traditionally close-minded industry that limited their knowledge and perceptions of what sport psychology had to offer (Pain & Harwood, 2004), an increasing number of professional clubs and academies are now formally integrating sport psychology support into their programs. As a sport psychology academic and practicing consultant at one of these professional clubs for the past 6 years, I have come to appreciate the extensive scope, needs, and perhaps as yet untapped potential of sport psychology services that exist in the institutionalized Harwood is with the Sport and Exercise Psychology Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK. 109

2 110 Harwood culture of English football. This is with particular reference to the still rather unique developmental scenario where young players are scouted and then sign for professional clubs at as young as 8 years of age. In this respect, unlike many other sport structures, the professional football club presents the consultant with a living and ecologically sensitive version of the full long-term player-development model (Côté, 1999; Côté & Hay, 2002; Côté, Baker & Abernethy, 2003; Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004) a highly organized and structured community of schoolboy academy (8 16 years), apprentice academy (16 19 years), and senior players spanning more than a generation. Therein lies a potential opportunity to develop multidimensional programs or systems geared toward shaping psychosocial competencies and performance-enhancement skills that are appropriate to the player s stage of development (Fraser-Thomas, Côté & Deakin, 2005; Holt & Dunn, 2004; Smith & Smoll, 2006). This is a significant professional undertaking and one that requires the club and the consultant to target investment in a youth agenda, as opposed to channelling resources exclusively to senior players, first-team affairs, and the league results. The purpose of this article is to present one specific element of an ongoing consulting program designed to weave psychological development into the daily fabric of a professional-football academy. In so doing, a developmental philosophy is followed that inherently values work focused on applying sport psychology principles when young athletes first engage in a sport (i.e., the sampling years; Côté et al., 2003) and when they subsequently begin to progress in that sport with an increased investment of time and effort (i.e., the specializing years). This view holds that psychological skill-development activities in youth sport (Weiss, 1995, 2004) are equally as (and, at some levels, more) important than work geared toward academy apprentices and senior players. This article also aims to raise a general awareness in practitioners of some of the key practices and responsibilities that might apply when working in an academy environment. Following a presentation of an initial consulting project with the academy players and parents, I will articulate both the scientific and practical rationale for a subsequent intervention program which, in this instance, was an environmental project with youth-academy coaches. Then, I will introduce the intervention process, results, and qualitative insights of participant coaches before offering some reflective observations for both practitioners and applied researchers. Psychological Elements of Positive Youth Development Although my initial role within the professional club involved servicing a 3.5 day per week contract with the senior playing squad, I devoted time toward the development of a sport psychology program across the entire club. Whereas much of the emphasis at this early stage was focused on performance enhancement and nonclinical inter- and intrapersonal issues facing apprentice academy and senior players (Gardner & Moore, 2004), I realized quickly that very little in the way of developmental sport psychology support was happening in the schoolboy academy sector (U-9s to U-16s). Following the completion of a 2-year contract with the senior sector of the club and a change of first-team manager, I continued consulting with the academy, targeting developments in the provision of psychology for the young schoolboy player.

3 Consulting in Youth Football 111 A number of authors have recently urged practitioners and researchers to take a greater interest in the role of organized youth-sport programs in fostering positive youth development (Conroy & Coatsworth, 2006; Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007; Danish, Hodge, Heke, & Taylor, 2003; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005; Gould, Collins, Lauer, & Chung, 2007; Lerner, Fisher & Weinberg, 2000). Fraser-Thomas and colleagues provide a compelling overview of the issues and potential solutions noting the importance of programs built on fostering developmental assets (Benson, 1997). In the youth-development literature, developmental assets are divided into internal and external assets. Internal assets represent attributes of the individual such as commitment to learning (e.g., achievement motivation), interpersonal competence (e.g., communication skills), restraint, and self-esteem. External assets are characterized by the quality of the environment shaping the child, including access to positive role models, social support, and positive peer influence. Drawing from Bronfenbrenner s (1999) bioecological model of youth development, Fraser- Thomas and colleagues affirm that it is the regularity and quality of reciprocal social relationships experienced by players with coaches, parents, and peers that underpin successful development and which are integral to effective program design. Together these internal and external assets in a given youth setting are thought to play protection, enhancement, and resiliency roles (Benson, 1997). In youth sport, for example, children high in developmental assets protect themselves against engaging in high-risk, illegal, or antisocial behaviors; they are more successful and more likely to show enhanced leadership skills, optimism, and enjoyment; and finally, they are believed to develop greater resilience in difficult and adverse situations (e.g., positive responses to setbacks and failure). In a similar way, Lerner et al. (2000) refer to the 6 Cs of positive youth development: competence, character, connection, confidence, caring, and, ultimately, contributions. These reflect the desired outcomes in their Model of National Youth policy toward the development of a civilized society. As a practitioner, the overall message stemming from this literature is that these psychosocial competencies and assets are important to develop in any youth program, and that applied sport programs with positive adult influences provide an effective means for these developments. Further, in youth football there is the obvious potential for a reciprocal effect; by developing an early emphasis upon psychological competencies in football, one may enhance the young player alongside equipping the young person with internal assets transferable to other life domains. In academy-youth football, Holt and Dunn s (2004) qualitative investigation revealed how commitment, resilience (i.e., coping strategies; confidence) and discipline (as psychosocial competencies) alongside social support (as an environmental condition) were parameters perceived to be associated with successful player progression. Although this research focused upon the apprenticeship age group (i.e., years) at early stages of the investment phase (i.e., progressing into full-time pro football), it offered detail on the internal assets expected of young football professionals, as well as the external assets in the form of parental and coach social support. Arguably, to be fully prepared for the transition to academy apprentice and beyond (Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004), these competencies should be targeted for growth at earlier stages of development. The next section presents an initial and continuing project that focused on introducing and shaping psychological qualities in players at these earlier stages.

4 112 Harwood Introductory Academy Work: The 5Cs Match Log The first season (2003 through 2004) working with the schoolboy academy (U-9 to U-16 age groups) was largely focused on player education and parental influence. In brief, I incorporated the development of a match reflection logbook for young players that focused on core psychological and interpersonal football competencies. In keeping the project uncomplicated, player-friendly, and time-friendly, players and parents were introduced to the 5Cs of football: commitment, communication, concentration, control, and confidence (Harwood, 2005; please refer to Higham, Harwood, and Cale [2005] for more details on the 5Cs or contact the first author for log-book advice.) These terms served to reflect the key motivational, self-regulatory, and interpersonal attributes that typically form the spine of educational interventions (Vealey, 1988; Thelwell, Greenlees & Weston, 2006). They also appropriately represent some of the aforementioned internal developmental assets (Benson, 1997) noted to be of importance in youth football (Holt & Dunn, 2004). Interactive induction presentations were conducted for players and parents reinforcing the achievable behaviors associated with each C in match situations. For example, commitment referred to motivated behaviors (see Roberts, 2001) such as physical effort regardless of the scoreline and persistent involvement in the game. More important, each player received an individual 5C Match Log consisting of a 5C behavior-rating page, a section for goal setting, and a positive lessons reflection sheet for follow-up comments by the player. The logbook contained instructions for players, a fully completed example review with goal setting (using a senior player role model at the club), and a section for the coach s comments. Two different logbooks were produced according to the cognitive developmental stage of the player with the U-9s to U-11s receiving a much more simplified series of statements (e.g., This is how good I was at encouraging my teammates. ) alongside a 5-point happy-tounhappy cartoon-face rating scale (e.g., FACES; Wong & Baker, 1988). Parents were encouraged to support their child in completing each match review with positive and progressive reflections, but only to guide or assist where absolutely necessary and at the player s request. To triangulate the support for players, my role with the coaches was to encourage collection of match logs every 2 weeks in order for them to write a supportive, reinforcing, and learning-oriented comment in the coach-comment section related to each match. This particular program with guided player- and parent-education formed an early developmental venture with the academy. It is presented here as a straightforward example of one developmental consulting method that is player-centered, coach- and parent-supported, and completed with behavioral regularity (i.e., every match) in line with social environmental activities proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1999) and Fraser-Thomas et al. (2005). The two most powerful forms of feedback related to this program came from (1) parents who felt that their sons became more diligent in schoolwork, learning-focused, and engaged on task as a result of the weekly log and (2) coaches who felt that they gained both a deeper insight into, and a means of supporting, the player through the match-reflection process. My own personal reflections after the first year of the program led to a subsequent intervention with the coaches, and this serves as the focus for the remainder of this article.

5 Consulting in Youth Football 113 Psychological Coaching Efficacy After the first season of work, I gave more attention to the training and coaching context, asking the broad question, What psychological development is going on when coaches coach? I included a training reflection sheet for players in their 5C logbook. In view of the work players were already doing, however, this was only a monthly reflection. I was interested in working with the coaches to help them understand what a 5C training environment might consist of for the young footballer. Pain and Harwood (2004), in their study of the perceptions of sport psychology in English football academies, reported a lack of coach knowledge, time, and awareness of sport psychology as internal barriers to its effective implementation within clubs. During my initial experiences of building rapport with academy coaches from the club, a lack of knowledge and implementation of psychological principles per se were a lesser issue. What became apparent was the lack of structure to this knowledge (i.e., a lack of process knowledge; Gould, Darmijian & Medbery, 1999), the limited awareness of when they were actually employing psychological principles, and the resultant inconsistency of applying these principles systematically in their coaching practice. One evening, I asked one of the coaches how confident they were of delivering a training session that would directly help players to develop their mental skills in football (i.e., the 5Cs). His response, echoed by other coaches, was that academy sessions did not specifically focus on achieving psychological outcomes and therefore confidence in incorporating these was limited. Nevertheless, when considering some of the social-cognitive principles of Smith and Smoll s (2006) Coach Effectiveness Training (CET), most of these coaches demonstrated some of the behaviors that would shape players motivation and self-confidence (Weiss, 1995). I reasoned that coaches weren t aware of what they knew and that they didn t possess the self-efficacy to develop a session using what they knew. Ultimately, this resulted in a rather poorly coordinated and inefficient use of psychological coaching resources. Coaching efficacy has been defined as the extent to which coaches believe they have the capacity to affect the learning and performance of their athletes (Feltz, Chase, Moritz & Sullivan, 1999). Traditionally, the construct of coaching efficacy has been multidimensionalized into technique, motivation, game strategy and character-building efficacies, and assessed via the Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES; Feltz et al.,1999). Taking this construct further, however, I was interested in a more specific type of psychological coaching efficacy: the confidence that the coach possessed in delivering a training session that sought to influence the psychological development of the player. This was to become the main outcome variable in the subsequent intervention. Program Design, User-Friendliness, and Integrative Support Gould et al. (1999) provided a detailed insight on how tennis coaches integrated mental skills training into their programs. More significantly, however, they presented evidence as to why coaches weren t integrating mental skills a key reason

6 114 Harwood being a lack of coaching efficacy in this area. Coaches noted insufficient content information, salience and knowledge of psychological skills, as well as a lack of user-friendly examples with limited concrete, hands-on resources. They reported being uncomfortable with the process of integrating psychology without having a clear knowledge. These results resembled the psychological state of the academyfootball coaches who followed a highly structured technical and tactical weekly curriculum with no attention to psychological outcomes within their compulsory session plans. Clearly, any program designed to enhance psychological coaching efficacy needed to be empowering in terms of content, strong on user-friendly ideas, and high on consultant support. In November 2004, following discussions with the academy director and the schoolboy academy coaching team, I embarked on the development of the 5Cs coaching program that would progress to the end of season (April 2005). The purpose of the program was first to introduce coaches to the concept of shaping psychological and interpersonal qualities in players in normal curriculum-based coaching sessions. Second, by implementing educational, peer support, and behavioral coaching techniques (e.g., Smith & Smoll, 2006) related to the 5Cs, the program aimed to enhance a coach s efficacy in stimulating positive psychological and interpersonal responses in players. Participant Coaches Method Six schoolboy academy coaches responsible for the U-9 s (2 coaches), U-10 s, U- 11 s, U-12 s and U-13 s age groups (a total of 95 players) at a large professional football club in Great Britain took part in the program. All were male, age years (m = 34.2 years) and qualified to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) B-license standard. Each coach received the education program, engaged in subsequent coaching sessions, and completed review tasks and follow-up interviews. As will be detailed in the Results section, only 4 of these 6 coaches completed the full requirements for accurately monitoring efficacy changes. Intervention Design The program of work followed the principles of a supervisory consultation or organizational empowerment model (Smith & Johnson, 1990), whereby education and instruction was provided to coaches who then integrated psychological strategies and behaviors in their normal coaching sessions. While maintaining a professional focus on my consulting role with the academy, I followed a field-based scientific research design as closely as feasible. I adopted a quasi-experimental approach that incorporated certain features of a multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design (Kennedy, 2005; Martin, 2003) for each of the coaches. In this case, each coach was assessed with respect to their 5C coaching efficacy and perceptions of their squad s 5C responses in training before the intervention (see the Instrumentation section). Following this single preintervention assessment in December 2004, coaches received a 90-minute interactive workshop focused on one of the 5Cs after which they were asked to experiment with specific coaching behaviors and strategies related to that C in their next four coaching sessions (see the 5C program

7 Consulting in Youth Football 115 description). After every coaching session, coaches reported on their application of specific behaviors and strategies and rated their squad s psychological responses in the session. Two weeks later (i.e., after four sessions), 5C coaching efficacy was reassessed followed by a workshop on the next C, and so the cycle continued for approximately 10 weeks until the final C (confidence) had been covered and practiced. This design permitted a continuous examination of the impact of the education and subsequent use of differing coaching behaviors and strategies on psychological coaching efficacy and player responses (i.e., the 5Cs). It also presented me with a clear understanding of those behaviors and strategies that were most and least frequently employed by coaches (see Instrumentation and Results). The overall program lasted approximately 4 months. Instrumentation Two scales were designed for assessing changes in psychological coaching efficacy and coach perceptions of squad responses as the intervention progressed. Assessing 5C Coaching Efficacy. The original CES (Feltz et al., 1999; Malete & Feltz, 2000) contains 24 items measured on a Likert scale in terms of efficacy strength, ranging from 0 (not at all confident) to 9 (extremely confident). Items begin with the following stem question, How confident are you in your ability to...? In keeping with the 5C philosophy at the academy, I adapted the CES based on the sport psychology literature, personal experiences in youth football, and consultation with the academy director. Three player behaviors associated with each of the 5Cs (i.e., 15 behaviors in total) were selected to represent positive psychological and interpersonal competencies in the young player. These are presented in Table 1. Table 1 5C Behaviors in Training Sessions Commitment Communication Concentration Control Confidence Showing elevated levels of effort Asking questions of coach about a drill or skill Staying focused on key components of a drill without being distracted Recovering quickly after mistakes without a negative reaction or emotion Maintaining high positive body language to all events and consistency throughout Averting arguing or blaming teammates alongside negative emotions Wanting the ball with no fear of mistakes Persistence at skills in the face of mistakes or failure Sharing information with coach and accepting feedback Listening to instructions attentively and maintaining eye contact Bringing a presence to training that exudes confidence Showing interest and engagement in mastery with no avoidance of difficult skills Encouraging, praising, and instructing teammates clearly and confidently Helping others to refocus quickly, indicating an organizational focus Maintaining a positive approach to the session indicative of a genuine belief

8 116 Harwood To assess 5C coaching efficacy before and during intervention, all coaches completed the 5C Coaching Efficacy scale. For each of the 15 items, with a similar 10-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 to 10), each coach responded to the following stem question: How much confidence do you possess in employing behaviors or strategies that actively help players to...? Coaches were blind to the 15 behavior items being specifically related to the 5Cs throughout the program. It was simply labeled as a Coaching Confidence Questionnaire. Assessing 5C Player Responses. To continuously assess the perceived psychological and interpersonal responses of players in training sessions (i.e., the 15 behaviors), a similar measure of coach perception was employed. After every training session throughout the intervention program, coaches were asked the following stem question: How much did you notice the following behaviors and responses within your squad during tonight s session? The 15 items were then listed and rated on a 10-point interval scale ranging from 1 (no players/none of the time) to 10 (all players/all of the time). To establish preintervention scores, coaches had completed a preintervention version of this scale with a slightly revised stem to assess the squad s recent 5C responses in that season. Coaches were again blind to the 5C structure of the questionnaire that was simply labeled as the Football Training Review. Social Validation Processes. Following the intervention, social-validation insights were collected in the form of an interview with each of the coaches. Each interview centered on perceived improvements in knowledge regarding psychologyrelated coaching skills, reflections on delivery experiences and strategies, specific confidence (i.e., efficacy) changes, and perceptions of player improvement. The 5C Program Description Background Principles. The development of the 5C educational program was guided by earlier experiences of applying achievement-goal theory in youth sport (Harwood, 2005; Harwood & Swain, 2002) and my interest in the behavioral reinforcement principles of Smith and Smoll s (2006) CET program. With respect to these theoretical models, the perceived values and behaviors of coaches (vis-àvis their definition of success or failure) are thought to influence a young athlete s perception of the motivational climate and their subsequent achievement goals. My reasoning, therefore, was that if coaches can influence the quality of athlete motivation and perceptions of competence, then they can influence the development of other psychological and interpersonal skills (see Gould et al., 2007 and the role of coaching for character). Based on these principles, I established eight coaching-behavior directives that would shape the development of a psychological climate in coaching sessions (see Table 2). These directives or guidelines focused on behaviors or strategies that were relevant to incorporate at the start of a session (i.e., prebriefing), throughout the session, and at the end of the session (i.e., debriefing). Each guideline was discussed in the 5C workshops for coaches.

9 Consulting in Youth Football 117 Table 2 Coaching Behavior Directives for Shaping a Positive Psychological Climate 1 Intentionally promote a particular psychological skill or competency just as they would for a technical/physical skill. 2 Increase awareness of what the skill or competency comprises by differentiating good and bad examples to players. 3 Emphasize the positive value of possessing the skill or competency. 4 Role model the skill or competency at all times and employ role model examples. 5 Structure the session in a manner that helps teach and train the skill. 6 Publicly reinforce those players who respond by demonstrating the targeted skill or behavior. 7 Employ peer reinforcement of targeted skill (e.g., buddy system) and subsequently reinforce those players who support their peers. 8 Review the presence of the skill or competency throughout the session and at the end using coach, player and peer review. Workshop Delivery. Each 90 min workshop followed a similar protocol: 1. Presentation of the C and allow 15 min of free-flow, coach-led discussion on what coaches would do to facilitate that skill, attribute, or response in a player during a training session; 2. Coach education of key theoretical principles behind each C and the attributes related to each C (see Table 3); 3. Presentation of C-related football coaching strategies and behaviors (using the eight directives) that might stimulate or help develop that C during a session; 4. Group discussion of coach-specific ideas related to implementing these C- related strategies and behaviors in the session; and 5. Distribution of a coaching session checklist that listed the C-related strategies and behaviors. For every subsequent coaching session, coaches were asked to rate on a 5-point scale how well they felt they had implemented a particular strategy or behavior in that session. Table 3 presents the order and summary content of the five workshops including the key skills and competencies brought out of discussions, key theories and principles underpinning the coach education, and a selection of coaching strategies

10 Table 3 5C Workshop Content Workshop theme #1 Commitment Key player attributes and competencies Intrinsic motivation Task/mastery goals Approach goals Motivated behaviors (e.g., effort; persistence) #2 Communication Peer praise and encouragement Positioning instructions Listening Acknowledging Giving feedback Positive nonverbal behavior Core theories and principles Example strategies on coaching session checklist Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) Achievement-goal theories (Nicholls, 1989; Elliot, 1999) Interpersonal communication: contextual and developmental issues (DeVito, 1986; Gouran, Wiethoff, & Doelger,1994) Skill-specific feedback and reinforcement Attention to equality and consistency in reinforcing player achievements Encouragement of persistence after mistakes Reinforcement for approach behaviors (i.e., trying new skills; a no fear climate) Demonstrations of specific verbal and nonverbal communication Silent football and nonverbal drills Appointing a player as communication monitor Reinforcement of players who send information and acknowledge/receive feedback 118

11 #3 Concentration #4 Control #5 Confidence Attention to narrow or broad internal and external task-relevant cues Ability to switch attentional styles Maintain correct attentional focus (e.g., distractions and fatigue) Emotional awareness Relaxation and energising routines Positive body language or self-talk Quick self or peer recovery from errors Full involvement No fear of mistakes Positive physical & psych presence Accepts challenging goals Internalizes accomplishments Nideffer & Sharpe s (1978) attentional control principles (i.e., width and direction stimulus control categories) Mental and physical arousal regulation techniques (e.g., breathing, mental rehearsal, selftalk, communication with teammate) Self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977) Use of progressive goal setting Verbal persuasion of self and others Role model or copying of others Player awareness of the role and importance of concentration Good vs. bad demonstration of each attentional style category Drills to practice focusing on internal and external cues Reinforcement of players who display appropriate attention Incorporate use of distractions Appoint a concentration monitor to give peer feedback Good vs. bad demonstration of player self-control Allowing players to role play or act out different emotions or arousal levels in drills to aid awareness Reinforcement for quick recovery and response to mistakes Introduce players to routines in dead ball situations Specific drill where players publicly acknowledge progressive self-accomplishments Peer acknowledgment of skill achievement (i.e., social support) Encouragement of persistence and approach behaviors Allowing players to copy or act out confidence and confident players Note. Please refer to Higham, Harwood, and Cale (2005) for more details on the 5Cs or contact the first author for log book advice. 119

12 120 Harwood and behaviors related to that C. The workshop series (every 2 weeks) progressed in a logical order, beginning with a core intrapersonal attribute (commitment) and followed by focusing on a core interpersonal skill that was central to teamwork (communication). Subsequently, Sessions 3 and 4 targeted the development of contextual self-regulation skills (concentration and control) that were critical to performance management. Finally, Session 5 focused on confidence-oriented coaching. This was incorporated as the final C to reinforce and maximize the end of a 10-week process that (in itself) was designed to result in greater confidence (i.e., developments in the earlier 4 Cs might positively influence player confidence, and coaching strategies in this final phase would optimize the effects of the previous coaching work). As noted earlier, all 6 coaches engaged in the education sessions and coaching activities. With the absence and illness of 2 coaches causing them to miss occasional sessions, only 4 coaches completed all of the sessions and monitoring tasks. In addition, because of constraints in the schedule brought about by school holidays, the concentration and control education sessions were held 1 week apart. In view of this constraint, coaching efficacy was only reassessed again after both concentration and control coaching had been completed, as opposed to after each separate session. Results Figures 1 through 4 display each individual s shifts in coaching efficacy alongside their mean perceptions of their squad s responses across the 5C training sessions. The results will be presented for the two U-9 s coaches (Nick & Ron), the U-10 s coach (Dan), and the U-12 s coach (Frank) followed by key selective insights from their social validation interviews. Nick and Ron s 5C Experience Nick reported low levels of commitment and concentration coaching efficacy with moderately high levels of the other three coaching efficacies prior to the intervention (see Figure 1a). After the commitment coaching phase, his commitment efficacy increased slightly with the other efficacies remaining relatively stable. After the communication coaching phase, however, his coaching efficacy increased considerably in all of the 5Cs, particularly communication (4.7 > 8.7), control (7.0 > 8.3) and concentration (4.3 > 8.0) efficacy. These efficacy perceptions were not entirely retained at the same level after the concentration and control coaching phases. Finally, after the confidence coaching phase, confidence efficacy was maintained and commitment (6.3 > 7.0) and communication efficacy (6.3 > 7.7) increased again. Across the intervention, therefore, Nick s coaching efficacy had improved in all areas but retention of those improvements in certain efficacies (e.g., control efficacy) was not entirely established. Nick s perception of his young players psychological responses depicted low levels of the 5Cs before the intervention perhaps not unexpected given the age group (see Figure 1b). His 5C coaching strategies appeared, however, to progressively register an impact on these perceived player behaviors. His commitment coaching corresponded with perceived elevations in all of the 5Cs, and his

13 Consulting in Youth Football 121 communication coaching corresponded with the further increases in the number and frequency of squad members demonstrating these psychological responses. During the concentration and control coaching phases, all 5C responses apart from motivational behaviors (i.e., commitment) were maintained before he reported a marginal decrease in the players responses during the confidence phase. Overall, however, Nick reported a profile of developmental improvement in the number of players demonstrating the 5Cs across the intervention period. Figure 1(a) Nick s 5C coaching efficacy across the intervention. Figure 1(b) Nick s perceptions of U-9 s psychological responses.

14 122 Harwood Ron commenced the intervention with low to moderate 5C-coaching efficacy, reporting increases in commitment (5.3 > 7.0)and confidence efficacy (6.3 > 7.7) after the commitment coaching phase and further efficacy gains in communication (6.3 > 7.0), concentration (6.7 > 7.3) and control (6.7 > 8.0) efficacies after the communication coaching phase (see Figure 2a). These levels of efficacy were not entirely retained after the concentration and control coaching phase, but the confidence coaching phase seemed to stabilize his efficacy profile. As with Nick s experience with the same squad of players, Ron recorded his greatest overall psychological coaching efficacy after implementing communication-oriented coaching behaviors. Although ending the intervention without full retention of these 5C efficacy levels, his confidence in these areas had marginally increased from 5 months earlier. Ron s perception of the U-9 s squad responses largely complemented Nick s perceptions in that players responded to commitment coaching with perceived increases in all of the 5Cs (see Figure 2b). Communication coaching corresponded with further reported developments, and, after concentration and control coaching, all of the 5Cs were evident in most players, much of the time (i.e., 7 out of 10). Ron s perceptions of his players did not hold to exactly the same degree after confidence coaching, but reported squad improvements were distinctive from preto postintervention. Dan s 5C Experience As illustrated in Figure 3a, Dan s coaching profile was remarkably similar to the patterns reported by Nick and Ron. From modest starting points, commitment coaching fostered increases in commitment (6.3 > 8.3), confidence (5.7 > 7.7), and concentration efficacy (5.3 > 8.0) with communication and control efficacy remaining relatively stable. After communication coaching, both communication (6.7 > 8.3) and control efficacy (6.3 > 8.0) increased with the other three areas Figure 2(a) Ron s 5C coaching efficacy across the intervention.

15 Consulting in Youth Football 123 Figure 2(b) Ron s perceptions of U-9 s psychological responses. Figure 3(a) Dan s 5C coaching efficacy across the intervention. maintained at high levels. Once again, though, a number of these efficacies were not sustained through the concentration, control and confidence coaching phases. Perceived improvements in the U-10 squad s demonstration of commitment, concentration, control, and confidence-related behaviors was evident solely after commitment coaching, with communication coaching subsequently being associated with an increased quality of communication behavior reported in the squad

16 124 Harwood Figure 3(b) Dan s perceptions of U-10 s psychological responses. (see Figure 3b). This represents a similar developmental profile to the U-9 s squad. Dan reported a decrease in overall squad responses during concentration and control coaching before they returned to higher levels during the confidence coaching phase. Frank s 5C Experience Figure 4a depicts rather modest, cumulative, and progressive changes in 5C efficacy for Frank, the U-12 s coach. Commencing the program with moderate and clustered 5C efficacy, the commitment coaching phase had a minor impact on his confidence coaching efficacy (6.3 > 6.7). After this phase, Frank s confidence in providing psychological-skill-related coaching tended to rise in relation to the specific C that had been the focus of that coaching phase. Communication (5.7 > 7.0), concentration (5.7 > 6.3), and control (6.0 > 6.3) efficacies improved only after their respective coaching phases. The other Cs retained their levels. It was only after confidence coaching that coaching efficacy increased further in all of the 5Cs. A very similar pattern ultimately emerged with respect to Frank s perception of his players (see Figure 4b). First, commitment coaching appeared to influence reported confidence-related behaviors in the players more than his perceptions of their commitment. Second, although communication coaching was greeted with greater perceived player communication, the concentration, control and confidence coaching phases corresponded with multiple 5C effects on the players. Small reported increases were noted across most of the 5Cs during these periods. By the end of the intervention, Frank perceived that his squad had improved in each of the respective 5Cs compared with his preintervention perceptions.

17 Consulting in Youth Football 125 Figure 4(a) Frank s 5C coaching efficacy across the intervention. Figure 4(b) Frank s perception of U-12 s psychological responses. Social Validation Insights Postintervention interviews with the coaches offered some stimulating insights into the reported findings. All coaches expressed increases in process knowledge related to how they could influence the 5C psychological responses of players in training sessions. Nick noted,

18 126 Harwood My knowledge of these 5C areas was very, very limited and having gone through the sessions, I ve learned a lot more. Now I m focusing more on these qualities in sessions and really putting the point across as opposed to just being general... and I can see the development in the lads. Ron reinforced how it was the focused and intentional application of a psychology-related coaching behavior that aided his confidence the most: It s the fact that you are actually initiating a child to specifically improve their commitment, or communication, or concentration etc that was different. The kids are actually doing some of this stuff already, but you don t recognize it or appreciate it naturally. Just an actual recognition that you are working on commitment makes a difference. We can now apply the strategies that will help that quality in a session. Coaches generally employed a prebrief to the session during which a 5C quality was introduced and players were asked to name a role-model professional who possessed that quality or behavior and why it was important. This interaction with players then set up the tone, reference point, and climate of the session. Dan noted that his young players also identified with popular tough characters from Playstation computer games and was able to use these as a focusing influence. Furthermore, Nick, Ron, and Dan reported using player monitors a great deal in their commitment and communication coaching, whereby young players were given the role of monitoring the rest of the peer group with respect to specific, valued, and targeted behaviors (e.g., effort, persistence, encouragement, and instructions). As Nick noted, We set up a commitment monitor at the beginning and got the kids to give us a role model linked to running with the ball, crossing, or a specific item on the syllabus, and that got them thinking, and they tried to emanate that. Then we d stop the session and ask the commitment monitor, How hard do you think we are all working? Our lads actually ask now, Who s going to be the monitor. Can I be the monitor? In his interview, Frank clarified that such a peer technique wasn t as well used or appropriate to the older players (i.e., 11- and 12-year-olds) who responded more favorably to open questions being asked by the coach when reviewing a drill. Frank also noted how he tended to continue using some of the same coaching strategies and behaviors from an earlier coaching phase into the next phase and add to rather than replace his range of coaching strategies for those next four sessions. This might help explain the progressive and more retentive nature of his profile. In tandem with other coaches, Ron expressed how communication coaching had been the biggest breakthrough for him with the 8- and 9-year-old players: I think communication has been the biggest improvement personally for this age group. We gave them silent drills; we gave them drills where only one player could communicate; and [we gave them] drills where everybody communicated but at certain levels. I can see a big improvement in 5 of our players. I hear positive communication [such as] well done that was a great pass, that

19 Consulting in Youth Football 127 was and encouragement [such as] don t worry about that pass, you ll get it better. It s good to see a 9-year-old coming out with things like that. Most important, Nick added that such improvements had translated to matches: For some this [communication] has stayed with them for matches. They ve said well done to the person in front of them, great pass, or great touch. The parents have said to us, Gosh they re really talking to each other aren t they?! It seems to be a lot more of a team now and the parents recognize it. Similar transfer of skill learning to matches was noted by Dan in terms of developing player self-control. In his coaching control sessions he used a simple nonverbal thumbs-up technique, whereby a player simply gave a quick and immediate thumbs up after a mistake or error to let the coach and the rest of the team know that he was refocused back on the game or drill. The player was subsequently praised or reinforced for his demonstration of emotional control. Nick and Ron used a similar technique by reinforcing and praising players who shouted, I m back with a show of positive body language after any setback. Both of these strategies were subsequently employed by players in matches. During concentration coaching, Nick applied attentional techniques using the stimulus of best and worst responses to situations to demonstrate the value of concentration: During the session when they re running with the ball, the players off the ball should be concentrating on their positions. I ve frozen the game and said, Where s the worst place you could be standing right now? Or the worst things that you can be doing? They come up with playing with their hair, hands in pockets, not in space etc. Now show me the best thing that you can be doing.... and they spread out, change their body language, get into position. I think that s quite a good set-up for introducing them to concentration skills. In terms of confidence coaching, Frank acknowledged the value of setting up drills with progressive accomplishments and adopting a strict no-fear-of-mistakes policy: You do something they can all do, move onto the next stage and they can do even more. Then you bring a more difficult skill progression into it and they find they can do that. Throughout the whole 90 minutes, we re constantly trying to make things achievable. We ve tried to set up a no-fear-of-mistakes policy, never highlighting mistakes, but simply asking open-ended questions in a constructive way. They ve often solved it themselves by telling us the answer on their own. Both Nick and Ron noted using the strategy where a young player is encouraged to acknowledge that he feels confident and ready, as well as to verbally acknowledge when they see teammates playing confidently. Ron stated, Confidence has been a great one for the U-9 s. I might say, Right, who s confident? and you ll get 5 or 6 little voices saying, I m David Beckham

20 128 Harwood confident or such and such confident, and then other players will pluck up. It gives a bright chirpy impetus to the session. Then the communication comes in and they start praising each other when they see someone who is playing confidently. They ll say things like Topman s on it [i.e., having a great session] using their first names or nicknames. It s a real plus for them. Discussion The purpose of the 5Cs coaching intervention was both to ensure that young players received more integrated psychological education and development in their training sessions and to enhance the coaches beliefs that they were capable of employing sport psychology principles in an intentional and deliberate manner. The intervention was founded on the basis that positive youth development should be an integral feature of sport programs (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005), that psychological assets and interpersonal competencies can and should be shaped by key significant others from an early age (Benson, 1997; Bronfenbrenner, 1999; Côté et al., 2003), and that coaches need support, education, and practical ideas to build their confidence in executing this specific role (Gould et al., 1999). The design of the program was purposely self-exploratory for coaches in taking one C at a time and experimenting with the strategies. From a quasi-experimental perspective, I had envisaged that improvements in coaching efficacy would follow the C that had just been discussed and practiced. I didn t anticipate how much of a transferable impact commitment and communication coaching might have on the remaining efficacy elements. It was clear from the results and coaches experiences that the coaching strategies and behaviors shown in commitment and communication coaching were associated with perceived elevations in players concentration levels, their self-control, and their self-confidence during those sessions. These sessions focused on creating a mastery-oriented, effortful, cooperative, and socially supportive climate where interpersonal skills were valued and intentionally practiced (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005). It is therefore understandable that such adaptive psychological responses might be fostered in players and that coaches felt greater coaching efficacy in stimulating these responses when they reflected on their coaching at the end of that period. It is also worth noting that the quickest and most responsive increases in the 5Cs were reported in the youngest age groups in which the differentiation between ability and effort has not yet fully occurred (Nicholls, 1989). This might suggest that during the period when children remain less differentiated (i.e., naturally task involved), the effect of mastery-oriented coaching behavior is complementary and optimizing. An implication here lies in ensuring that these coaching behaviors are started early and built up in preparation for the time (at about 11 years old) when children differentiate ability from effort and become more susceptible to comparing their ability to others. Such a wellestablished mastery-rich coaching environment might buffer against the potential maladaptive effects of this natural developmental process and help a young player to continue engaging a task involved approach to sport. For 3 of the 4 coaches, there was a reduction in some of their 5C efficacy beliefs after the next phase (i.e., concentration and control coaching). The exploratory design of the program might not have helped matters in that coaches were tasked

21 Consulting in Youth Football 129 with starting a brand new trial of coaching strategies in the next phase. The list of concentration and control strategies (e.g., reinforcing the use of routines, exploring attentional styles, practicing with distractions, encouraging players to explore and act out different emotions and moods) did not perhaps possess the same transferability to other areas. With the cessation of behaviors and strategies that had been motivational and then interpersonal in focus to strategies that were perhaps less easy to integrate, more educational in nature, and less engaging for players, it might explain the minor decreases in coaching efficacy for that period. Coaches did report a resistance to employing some of the more advanced strategies associated with control coaching. Strategies that incorporated the use of routines in dead-ball situations (e.g., free kick; set pieces), imagery, increasing emotional awareness in players, creating pressure situations, and encouraging peer feedback on teammates self-control were infrequently employed by coaches. These results were reflected in the coaching-behavior checklists in which coaches reported a more frequent and wider range of commitment and communication strategies than control and concentration strategies. When interviewed, a number of coaches suggested that emotional control was a skill that players learn through matches as opposed to coaching sessions and that some strategies were less relevant to employ within training. With respect to the youngest age groups, the coaches had a valid developmental point because some of these strategies were too advanced. For example, the thumbs up, I m back strategy was developmentally appropriate for U-9s and U-10s and highly employed by those coaches. At this age, mistakes begin to matter to young players and raw emotions can follow. With this strategy, however, they are able to associate their understanding of making a mistake with a positive, supportive, and even humorous signal of their immediate ability to recover and move on. A more developmentally advanced control strategy such as encouraging peers to share perceptions of each other s emotional responses to events would not be appropriate for these players. Such a strategy demands a level of emotional awareness and social confidence that might only be expected in players approaching the teenage years. Notwithstanding these points, however, I detected that coaches were somewhat discounting the educational process for developing self-control in players, and I also reconciled a failing in my education of the coaches in giving them more specific process advice in this core developmental area. The intervention caused me to reflect greatly, and my advice to practitioners and applied researchers who wish to advance upon this design is first to provide more time for coaches to practice the core commitment - and communication-oriented coaching techniques so that key behaviors are likely to be sustained and ingrained. Alongside confidence coaching that contained some similar self-efficacy-related social reinforcement and goal-setting strategies to commitment coaching, coaches could confidently employ the eight coaching-behavior directives and gain a real sense of coaching efficacy in these areas. Because these coaches, however, lacked a depth of training in the techniques that consultants would use for developing skills such as attentional and emotional control, they found it excessively challenging to experiment with tasks such as imagery or emotional awareness that might seem basic to ourselves as practitioners. One 90-minute interactive session with coaches was insufficient in this respect; the coaches needed more specific educational sessions about the mental-skill training process before a session on implementing these principles in a training session.