The Coach - Athlete Relationship: Necessary Skills for the Future
By Georg Anders

The coach has to fulfil two areas of responsibility, first of all the training, and secondly he is responsible for looking after the athletes. I do not wish to address the methods which can be applied to improve the conditional, techno-motorial or tactical performance, speed or strength. System conditions which constantly change in top performance sports, such as professionalisation and commercialisation, lead to coaches being subjected to immense performance and competitive pressure. As top performance sports have become of great social importance, with all the resultant problems, in particular the coaches must prepare themselves or be prepared in order to meet these high demands. 

Nowadays a good manager in the industry and a good coach must in many cases face similar challenges. The two qualification profiles are related in their structure. They play a role which demands far more than only „expert competence". They deal with people and must lead the collaborators respectively and the athletes efficiently along the path to the peak of success. 

In recent discussions on the role of the coach, the term social competence has arisen again and again. Why is it that social competence is of such great interest nowadays? Social competence has always been required in the relationship between coach and athlete. The phenomenon of social competence is therefore no new manifestation, but problem pressure seems to have arisen through which this subject has come more to the fore. A glimpse over and beyond the sports fence shows that this is a subject which in industry has boomed for several years now in connection with concepts such as quality management and employee motivation. 

Industry has attached high importance to the social competence of its managers for many years and to an ever-increasing extent.

The beneficial but also restraining influence of the coach on the competitive sports development of the athlete cannot be rated highly enough. Having analysed the determining factors of drop out in women’s athletics Bussmann (1995; 1996) came to the following result: The coach is a decisive factor both for a successful career of the athlete and the drop out. 

Singer (1992) discovered similar circumstances with 228 young handball players. With all due and respective caution with regard to the consideration and appreciation of any justification for abandoning a career, it can, however, be seen that drop-outs in particular criticise the human and social qualities of the coach, whereby it is interesting that there is no difference between how often male coaches or female coaches are criticised: Female athletes abandon their careers probably when  "they rate the professional qualification and above all the human qualities of their coach negatively" (page 334).

On the other hand Alfermann/Bussmann (1993) have shown that a socially supportive climate and a good relationship with the coach can have a positive influence on an athlete’s career.

Recently Frei et al. (1998) confirmed these results in a study of woman gymnasts. I took some examples of German research. But there are similar findings in other countries.

One of the most successful coaches in the German Football League, Otto Rehagel, is well known for the fact that the football players show a great respect towards him, even those who have been critisized harshly. When he was asked to disclose his secret of success he answered: "My motto is: I criticize the performance of the athletes, not the person, the human being". 

A top manager of Mercedes-Benz layed emphasis on the fact in this way: important is solely the human being, the individual. 

Why has social competence become more and more important, or if we put it in another way, why is a lack of social competence become increasingly seen as very serious? 

The answer refers to the developments which have occurred in the meantime in top performance sports. Training and measures which accompany training, such as for example medical, physiotherapeutic, performance diagnostic, psychological and social care have all become more comprehensive, more differentiated and simply on the whole more costly. In view of the growing professionalisation of top-ranking athletes, the economic chances and opportunities of a successful career on the one hand and the negative consequences of the failure of a career on the other hand, have both grown enormously. 

The marketing possibilities which the athletes have, in other words the commercialisation, bring into play considerations of the rate of return and profitability calculations regarding the "production factor athlete". 

This development can be summarised as follows: all direct and indirect measures which influence the athlete’s performance represent investments which should not only be profitable for the sportsperson him or herself, but also for his environment in the form of coaches, managers, sponsors and other persons, and this also means at the same time: bad investments have become more and more costly. In the past, when the athlete was still an "amateur", it was in contrast possible to abandon a sports career without any great financial loss for the athlete himself or for others, or even to end a career without having to show consideration for anyone else. 

In these investment calculations we come across the requirements of the social system of top performance sports. Investments are already made in young children as has been impressively illustrated by the example of Haas the tennis player. A coach should not endanger this investment. Corresponding pressure arises from sponsors and managers, and one should not forget the public funding for top performance sports. The allocation of taxpayers money must be justified and there is no justification which is more impressive than success - and then, as far as possible, permanent success. 

The role of the athlete and the structural conditions of this role have been subject to change. This had led to corresponding adjustments becoming necessary regarding the role of the coach and the demands made on his or her way of acting, as well as on his or her personality. The coach is the most important interaction partner of the athlete. 

If one is socially competent then this also means that one has the ability to recognise the structural social conditions of one’s own way of acting and to actively focus one’s attention on the matter. 

It would be tempting at this point to deviate and address the consequences which result from the tendency to form a business partnership between the athlete and the coach. One consequence of such a business relationship could lie in the fact that the coach does not wish to pass on his knowledge to "everyone" (for example at an Olympia base). However it is not possible to deal with this point in depth here. 

One consequence has, however, in the meantime become obvious: compared to the past athletes who are able to market themselves well have gained a considerably stronger position in comparison to their immediate interaction partners. In the extreme case they can choose their coach themselves because they are also the person who pays for the coach. The professionalisation of the athletes in general is connected with a growing independence from the federations. 

Top-level athletes who draw their motivation - at least in part - from financial reward must be handled differently to athletes with intrinsic motivation. At the same time we find in the changes in behavour, motive and requirement structures of the athletes a reflection of social developments in society, as is known from the discussions held in industry and commerce under the title "modern management". Just like the employees in trade and industry, sportsmen and women want more and more

- to be involved in production and organisation
- to be able to bring forward their own ideas and criticism
- to have convictions
- to have transparent decisions
- to have openness and trust
- to have partnership quality in the coach-athlete relationship. 

This is shown by the corresponding actions undertaken by the athletes of the various federations. The "mature athlete" - and this target to have "mature athletes" is officially pursued by the German Sports Federations - demands sensitivity for partnership-like behaviour in the interactions. 

This change of requirements in the relationship between coach and athlete is reflected in a statement of Gertrud SchŠfer, the coach of the World Champion in heptathlon Sabine Braun. I quote: "My behaviour concerning Sabine has changed very much in the course of our cooperation. Formerly I used to decide things very quickly hoping to improve the performance and the results in the same way. But today I confine myself to making suggestions and I let her come to a decision on her own. And that means she has to take over responsibility and to bear consequences of her actions. By this she learned to assess and to value work. Our relationship has become a partnership on the basis of equal rights". 

What does the change in the conditions of the top performance sports system and the role of the top-level athletes really mean for the aspect of social competence for the coach? 

The pressure to succeed and success orientation of the coach demand that the coach „gets along" with the athlete over a longer period of time. First-class performances need six to eight years of development and accordingly the coach needs such a period of time to work together with the athlete.

The same applies for the coach as for the manager in industry. Under the aspect of the principles of modern management, the management abilities of a manager are questioned when among his employees. 

• there is a very high fluctuation; unwanted fluctuations represent bad investments - from the point of view of the company surrendering the employee - in the training of the employees, and corresponding new recruitments cause avoidable new costs.

• there is a high rate of absenteeism.

• general motivation problems occur.

Drop-outs in high-performance sports always also raise the question - naturally not exclusively - of the social competence of the coach, his skill in motivating and developing the athletes in the long term, "to keep them up to scratch" and also the question of damage to their health which arises through (over)strain aiming at quick success. Talent conservation is one of the most pressing tasks in the solution of the constantly addressed problem of promoting young talent in high-performance sports. 

If action is not always taken on the principle of the long-term career development, then this indicates that there are deficits in the awareness of the coaches and also of the officials, and at the same time points to structural constraints upon the way of acting. Sometimes socially competent management behaviour cannot correct the causes of the problem, but only make tension on a personel level more bearable. 

Social competence therefore also plays an important role in using the capability of the individual athlete or team to the full. This does not only apply to the long-term perspective of performance development but also to the acute performance mobilisation. Higher commitment, higher efficiency and performance, higher satisfaction of all employees and superiors are seen as the consequence of the development or improvement of social competence. 

To exhaust the developmental potential of the athletes the coach needs tactfulness, which means the willingness and ability to respond to signals from the social environment and to assess other people in accordance with their own standards without offending them.

Perhaps the term tactfulness sounds somewhat strange in this context but tact is a necessary element of social competence. How many female athletes have been hurt in their human dignity because of a lack of tactfulness! 

Only if the coach succeeds in coming up to the needs and interests of the athletes they will be willing to follow him. Therefore it is clear: Leadership without empathy is no leadership at all but sheer dictate. 

Social competence is often mistaken for leniency or "softness". Socially competent action neither in comparison excludes conflict - think of the discussions which Adam and Lenk had on the group dynamics of teams under the aspect of the performance promoting quality of conflict - nor does it exclude "hard" behaviour towards athletes in order to achieve a general interest.

Misunderstandings in the handling of the term of "social competence" arise easily as there is no generally accepted definition and there are also different ideas and expectations of the contents of the concept. With regard to the high-performance sports, we want to understand social competence as the ability to create interpersonal relationships in such a manner that the common aim of performance and success is achieved within the framework of acceptable rules of the sports system, under consideration of the needs of the athlete. This also makes clear that the coach who has a high social competence can deploy his specialist competence in training of technique or strength or tactics etc. all the more effectively. Such an ability can also then be used to manipulate people. Concrete deployment of this ability therefore depends on which image of mankind is possessed by the person who avails himself of this ability. The way in which the coach acts, his handling of the athletes who are often still children or teenagers, calls for ethic substantiation. The coach should orientate himself towards an image of mankind which does not reduce the competitive athlete exclusively to the dimension of a performer who is treated in the sense of a material examination, but rather the competitive athlete is to be seen in the entirety of his or her needs, interests and development phases. Such an orientation results, for example, in the fact that the post-sport career of the athlete and the transition into an everyday working life is not lost from view. The coach in high-performance sports also bears responsibility for human destiny. 

The behaviour should be grounded on an ethical sense of responsibility because the pressure and the success-oriented expectations might lead to a neglect of social competence. And to take up again the parallel with the industry: there is a growing tendency to discuss the role and significance of ethics in the context of market economy.

Especially female athletes are victims of lacking social competence. Sometimes we read about acts of violence - may be sexual violence - against girls and women in sport in the newspapers. In order to give orientation for the behaviour of coaches in training and competition the German Sport Confederation elaborated a code of honour for coaches. The German Sport Confederation and the member federations bind themselves to support the coaches to adhere to the code.

I mention some principles which are included in the code of honour:

    * Coaches give all relevant informations to the athletes
    * Coaches give the athletes a share in decisions which touch the personal sphere        of the athletes
    * Coaches support and promote the self-determination of their athletes
    * In cases of conflict coaches endeavour to find just and human solutions
    * Coaches don’t exert violence - in which form so ever - against their athletes
    * Coaches promote the self-responsibility and self-management of athletes especially with respect to the post-sport career and life.

The code of honour passed the chair of the German Sport Confederation (DSB) last year.

Saying that social competence is necessary does not mean that one knows how it can be achieved.

In the same way that there are motorial talents and musical and other talents, there are also social talents, that means people who have it particularly "easy" in the handling of other people. A coach who also has such social talents will surely find it easier to successfully - maybe even masterly - create social interaction.

With regard to social competence and as opposed to expert competence the personality is of great importance and plays a decisive role. In this sense the personality with its characteristics is, as it were, the limiting factor for being able to execute social competence. Characteristics such as charisma and the ability to create enthusiasm may illustrate this fact.

If we wanted to completely follow the theory that leadership qualities cannot be purchased but that you either have them or not, then all management seminars would be a waste of time and money. 

In all contentious discussions on the possibility of whether social competence can be imparted or not, there is nevertheless a certain extent of agreement in the hope that a socially competent way of acting can be achieved by mastering learnable techniques. 

As social competence is to do with the creation of interpersonal relationships, communication and consequently communication techniques are of great importance.

Language is important. Because we interact with our partners by language. To find the adequate level of verbal communication is one of the indispensable requirements in order to solve and to avoid conflicts. Often this is not easy, because language is not unequivocal and bears always the danger of misunderstandings. 

Effective communication masters the problem of the ambiguity of our language, the complexity of social situations and the multitude of personality features of the interaction partners. 

What must be done to achieve social competence? What can be learned? What can be taught?

Rhetorical skills and the capacity to communicate in a competent way can be taught. Empathy and the emotional intelligence - as some people say - can be learned through practice, which means by being exposed to the concrete social situation and the concrete problem which has to be solved. 

One should aim at a combination of learning techniques and knowledge, as well as the development of personality. One should remember the demand for "personal development" related to industrial management mentioned here at the beginning. It is, for example, a matter of

á team spirit
á tolerance
á knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses
á the ability to conduct a dialogue
á the ability to listen
á intuition
á credibility
á knowledge of social processes and structures
á the ability to reflect on matters
á pedagogical - didactic abilities
á empathy (the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes)

Empathy can be defined as the capacity for experiencing the feelings of another as one’s own. It means the ability to understand her or his thinking and acting by anticipating the emotions, reactions and behaviour.

Although we find a large variation in behaviour within the sex categories there are female particularities.

Personal coaching plays a dominant role for women. Women are more dependent on a situation, they are more sensitive and react more emotionally to external circumstances, in many cases also violently. Female athletes are far more people-oriented, they need a partner of their choice for a stronger, more emotional feedback, in order to receive approval or consolation. 

Despite of the primacy which is given to rational objectives the coach has to be anxious to come into emotional accordance with the athletes.

Especially female athletes highly appreciate this emotional aspect. We often trust people we like much more than those we don’t like, and therefore tend to adopt their arguments quickly.

Concerning the differences between male and female athletes Gertrud SchŠfer, the coach of Sabine Braun and Beate Peters states that female athletes act more individually and observe their social environment more intensively. Based on her experiences she is of the opinion that the interaction with female athletes is more difficult than with male athletes.

From the considerations that social competence as a key qualification is on the one hand urgently required by coaches and on the other hand - to a certain extent - can be taught and learnt, the consequence results that:

1. Social competence should form part of the aims and contents of further or secondary education of coaches at all levels of training and performance.

In the studies mentioned Singer und Bussmann point out how inadequate the pedagogical and psychological qualification of a coach is.

2. The emphasis of coach education must be more directed towards social competence. The federations are called upon to introduce corresponding alterations.

3. Existing research results regarding the creation of interactions between the athlete and the coach should be adapted and made suitable for practical use.

Finally I would like to say that:

Whereas in a previous meeting of experts in Germany the provocative question was once asked as to whether we can afford to have social competence in high-performance sports, the results of this workshop should be clear: We cannot afford to do without social competence.

References

Alfermann, D./Bussmann, G.: Athlet/in und privates Umfeld. In: StrŠhl, E./Anders, G. (Hrsg.): Spitzensportler - Helden und Opfer. Magglingen 1993, 195-206 
Bussmann, D.:Dropout-Problematik in der Frauenleichtathletik. Eine Ursachenanalyse bei C-Kader-Athletinnen. Kšln 1995 
Bussmann, G.: Trainerbezogene Bedingungen des Dropout. In: Anders, G./Braun-Laufer, E. (Red.): Frauen im Leistungssport. Kšln 1996, 57-62
Frei, P./LŸsebrink, I.: PŠdagogische †berlegungen zum weiblichen Kunstturnen - Anforderungen, Motivationsprobleme, InteraktionsablŠufe. Teil A. In: Olympisches Turnen Aktuell 9 (1998), 2, 15-18
Dies: PŠdagogische †berlegungen zum weiblichen Kunstturnen - Anforderungen, Motivationsprobleme, InteraktionsablŠufe. Teil B. In: Olympisches Turnen Aktuell 9 (1998), 5, 13
Singer, E.: Abbrechen oder Fortsetzen - PrŠdiktoren fŸr den frŸhzeitigen Karriereabbruch von Auswahlspielerinnen und -spielern im Jugend- und Juniorenalter im Hallenhandball. Diss. TŸbingen 1992.

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