Research Analysis paper
SPORT PSYCH0IOGY10D/«r JOURNAL OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY, 1982,4, 107-114
Assertiveness Training for Coaches: The Issue of Healthy Communication
Between Coaches and Players
Thomas W. Miller University of Kentucky
VA Medical Center
Communicative dimensions of the coach/player relationship can have a pro- found impact on the self-esteem of the adolescent personality involved in sport activities. Assertiveness training as a part of standardized coaching clinics can be an important ingredient in improving the coach/player relationship. An asser- tiveness training module is outlined with emphasis on a specific precept cognitive model which has been shown to improve the quality of interpersonal com- munication. It has favorable applicability to the coach/player interaction. Issues of import for future research together with measures to assess the effectiveness of assertiveness training for coaches are discussed.
Wolpe (1969), Lazarus (1971), and Rimm and Masters (1974) have demonstrated that aggressive behavior generally results from nonadaptive anxiety which inhibits the appropriate expression of assertive and effective communicative responses in the individual. The application of assertiveness training for athletip personnel, including coaching staff, has received minimal attention in the literature. It has been applied in the development of management skills (Miller, 1981), has been found effective with women's groups (Alberti & Emmons, 1978), and has become the object of many popular books dealing with effectiveness in communication and the development of assertiveness training (Lange & Jakubowski, 1976).
Assertiveness training has gained much attention and popularity among a variety of groups, yet its principles and procedures have applicability to the sports world and in particular to the way in which coaching staff relate to players and officials of the game. Assertiveness training was introduced to Andrew Salter in the late 1940s primarily for use by individuals who could benefit from a structured approach to in- terpersonal communication. Salter's efforts were quickly adopted by several of the mental health disciplines, and in the 1960s efforts to assist women in becoming able to verbalize their thoughts and feelings more effectively ushered in the new popular use of assertiveness training. Since that time, it has received wide application for both men and women in a variety of health care, academic, and work settings.
Request for reprints should be sent to Dr. Thomas W. Miller, Chief, Psychology Service, VA Medical Center, Lexington, KY 40511.
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The development of an assertiveness training program for athletic personnel and coaching staff is based largely on the work of Wolpe (1958, 1969) and Wolpe and Lazarus (1966). It focuses on what the psychological establishment has stressed as a learning-based or behavioral approach to effective communication. Assertiveness in- volves appropriate expression of thoughts and feelings so that the esteem of the other is not impaired in the process. The decision as to whether a particular act is ap- propriate is, of course, a matter of social judgment. In the case of professional coaching, the decision to use a particular play by a player also represents a matter of j u d g m e n t . The key issue to be emphasized with coaching staff is the importance of the appropriate expression of thoughts and feelings without impairment to the self- esteem of those to whom those thoughts and feelings are being directed. In most cases, this occurs where anger and frustration exist, and a good rule of t h u m b is to stress the implementation of the minimally effective response. By definition, the minimally effective response is that behavior which would ordinarily accomplish the goal of clarifying for the athlete the error made with a minimum of effort and ap- propriate positive emotional climate.
In its present form, it is referred to as a "cognitively o r i e n t e d " behavioral ap- proach to improved interpersonal effectiveness. What this means is that it involves the development of a particular thinking style or approach to most interpersonally oriented coaching situations. It requires the individual who wishes to use it to employ specific behaviors that are conducive to expressing and emphasizing effectively one's thoughts and feelings to another. A model has been developed that has been used with coaching staff and players in training them in communicating skills and development.
The question may arise as to what assertiveness is and how a coaching staff member can recognize if a coach needs such training. Coaches must be aware of how they relate to their players and to other staff, especially at the high school and college level. Consideration of the following questions by both coaching staff members and the coaches themselves can aid in identifying potential coaching candidates for com- munication training.
• Do you always have to get your opinions across, even at the expense of your players' self-concept and feelings as a person?
• Do you find you often have to become verbally or physically forceful with players?
• Do you find that most of your conversations with players or officials easily turn into arguments?
Coaches who are reminded of themselves in these questions may very likely be ag- gressive in their interactions with people.
• Do players take advantage of you? • Do you avoid confrontations because they make you t o o nervous?
If coaches answer yes to either of these questions, they may be nonassertive. Many nonassertive coaches find it difficult to express their actual feelings. Often they feel hurt or disappointed because they have difficulty communicating effectively with players or sport officials when they need t o . Aggressive coaches, on the other hand, are able to express their thoughts and feelings, but they do so at the expense of other
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people's feelings. They may feel good about their behavior, but they may at the same time be impairing their relationships with their players or game officials.
There is a better way of relating to others. It is called assertiveness. Put simply, assertive coaches are able to effectively express their thoughts and feelings. They do so without demeaning others, and in the process, they feel better about themselves. The training sessions in assertiveness help people change their behavior patterns so that they can become more effective in communicating criticism to players. In con- sidering a model for training in assertiveness, the following model has been found to be very effective with coaches. As can be seen in Table 1, there are eight "essential components," ranging from accurately identifying the issue or situation the coach wishes to address to doing an actual homework assignment which may emerge as a result of the sequential steps in the model. For each step, which in the training phase of the coaches assertiveness program is closely adhered to, there is a facilitative or therapeutic objective. For example, the therapeutic objective for "accuracy in iden- tifying the issue or problem" is problem clarity between the coach and the player. What problem clarity means is that the receiver of the message, in this case the player, and the sender of the message, the coach, agree on the definition of the issue
Table 1
Assertiveness Training iVIodule for Coaching Staff
Essential Components Therapeutic Objective
Identifying the situation
Ciarifying details for accurate understanding
Covert Rehearsal (Imagine two or more ways of responding to problem)
Consideration of alternatives
Role-playing
Alternative actions
Homework assignment and reassignment
Master the technique
Problem cieariy identified and defined by coach to player
Coach understands details of problem or issue
Cognitive skills utilized in organizing thoughts, feeiings, and behavior
Verbalizing perceived options toward implementing a workable strategy
Experiencing thought content and process, appropriate affect, and acceptable behavior in practicum experience
Reassessment of most appropriate strategy for person in light of coaches' ability to observe and experience interpersonal encounter
Application and re-evaiuation of coaches' social skill with regard to both content and process in vivo
Generalize the use of assertiveness in a variety of interpersonal situations, involving sport and coaching attitudes
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or the problem. It seems extremely important to ensure that what one is talking about is clearly and accurately described in the player/coach interchange.
It is the sport psychologist who has the capability of assessing the effectiveness of how coaching staff is relating to staff and players. When this issue can be addressed as a routine part of an educational experience, the perceived effectiveness is con- siderably improved. Attitudes of coaching staff are positive when no single person is addressed. It is difficult for the psychologist to directly confront coaches on more ef- fective ways of dealing with this issue. The psychologist can, however, suggest that preseason coaching clinics include a training component which focuses on issues related to the maturing adolescent and on the importance of interpersonal and com- municative effectiveness in relating to team members and game officials. Although the model used may vary, the following procedure, training module, and simulated training commentary offers the core of the training procedures. It can provide a one- time program or, as in the enclosed situation, as many as six hourly sessions over the course of 3 to 6 weeks.
Procedure
The Assertiveness Training for Coaches Module was conducted by a sports psychologist in groups of from 6 to 10 coaching staff.
Training Module
An overall view of the training module and the relative order of presentation of material during the six sessions follows. The first two sessions usually involve elements one and two, with the rest of the session recycling the whole module.
1. Definition of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and nonassertive behaviors. Thor- ough presentation, discussion, and review of the components of assertiveness train- ing. These include eye contact, body posture, gesturing, facial expression, voice tone, inflection and volume, timing and content of messages. Presentation of three step approach and examples.
2. Discussion and consideration of situations appropriate for assertiveness train- ing. Assessment of the situations presented and group identification with each.
3. Detailed description of a coaching situation with clarification component. 4. Covert rehearsal phase, verbal suggestions, and alternatives. 5. Consideration of verbalized alternatives by group members. 6. Modeling situation with principle member of group observing. 7. Consideration of the qualities and styles modeled with alternatives recon-
sidered. 8. Role-playing of the principle group member and follow-up assessment and
alternatives for change. 9. Option to recycle at any of the previous stages and work through to comple-
tion. 10. Acceptance of homework assignment with commitment to report results to
group at next session.
Simulated Training Commentary
The goal of the assertiveness training session for coaching staff is to help coaches change their behavior patterns so that they can become more sensitive in what they
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say and how they say it to their players. As a part of the program, coaches are of- fered a model of assertive behavior which they should attempt to put into practice in their coaching capacity. The model has three steps.
When coaches are in a situation in which they want to express their thoughts and feelings to a player, the first assertive step is simply to describe the situation as they see it as objectively as they can. In step 2 of this model, coaches tell the player how it affects them or the team. And in step 3, coaches let the player know what they think should be done in that situation.
Consider an example of how this model might work. In this situation, a player has failed to follow through on a blocking assignment or a zone coverage and it has cost the team a considerable loss. The initial response by the coaching staff may have been to chew this player out to the embarrassment and deflation of the player's self- esteem. The three-step approach would encourage a response as this:
Step 1—Describe the Situation Your assignment was to cover the halfback on that trap.
Step 2—Teli How It Affects the Team When you follow through on the assignment, it provides the coverage you need to stop the play.
Step 3—Teli What You Thinii Shouid Be Done I'd really appreciate it if you would master your assignment and follow the strategy in that coverage now and in the future.
In learning this model, coaches recognize that the content of their message and their timing are very important in delivering the intended message.
Discussion
The role of the sport psychologist in the process of educating coaches should ad- dress itself not only to the physical needs and well being of the players but also to the psychological well being and emotional security which can be enriched and enhanced by encouraging more effective means of communication between coach and player. There is much to be said for a cognitively structured approach to interpersonal situa- tions. It initially provides the nonassertive individual, whether coach or player, the opportunity to organize and integrate in an appropriate manner the way in which he or she may approach most interpersonal encounters. One of the critical features in screening and assessing coaches for assertiveness training has been the dearth of ef- fective ways that aggressive coaches cognitively organize their approach to mean- ingful interpersonal encounters. One of the advantages of this model is that the ini- tial descriptive statement focuses on the situation and not on the person, therefore neutralizing the evaluative quality of the initial statement. The nonevaluative initial phase enables the aggressive coach to prevent the player from feeling guilty and to communicate without accusation to the player the situation of concern. "There is a great deal of noise in this locker room" or "that play needs a lot more work" are nonaccusatory statements of the precipitory circumstances. By describing the situa- tion without evaluation, the assertive coach is giving the receiver of the message a clear and complete one-sentence summary of the provoking situation. The receiver should be well aware of the situation which needs his or her attention before feelings about or suggestions for behavioral change are made.
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After the situation is clearly expressed in a nonjudgmental manner, the second step in the model suggests an "I statement" related to how this situation affects the group or team. The rationale for this encourages the receiver to be able to make the association between the situation he or she may have provoked and the effect it has had on the coach and/or team. Thus, "noise affects our concentration" or "busted play hurt our chances of success" emphasizes an expression of what impact the situa- tion will have on outcome.
By describing the feeling level of the asserting individual, the receiver of the message now has both a nonjudgmental statement of the provoking situation and an estimate of its effect on the asserting person's feeling level. The association of the two should provide the receiver with the core ingredients to understand the provok- ing event and its effect on the person provoked. The third phase encourages the asserting person to offer an acceptable alternative or option to the individual pro- voking the situation. The alternative is offered by the asserting person as at least the minimal acceptable resolution to the provoking situation. It should reflect the con- fidence of an "I statement" so that the receiver understands and interprets it to be an acceptable alternative to the asserting person. Thus, "I would appreciate your keeping the noise down" or "please concentrate on each phase of the play for perfect execution" state clearly and distinctly a statement of expectation. The expec- tation expressed in this situation encourages a response at that level or better.
The three-step approach to organizing and implementing a "plan for action" by the assertive coach offers some consistency and reliability once the steps are learned. It should be noted that escalation or argumentation are discouraged. The entire package, with the option to recycle, includes three sentences. The first sentence should briefly but clearly define the situation in the nonevaluative manner. The sec- ond sentence should be a clear expression of how this situation makes "me" feel. The third sentence should offer an acceptable option or alternative for what needs to be done. The confidence in self that this model offers to the aggressive coach com- bines the need for structure with the focus on both the verbal and nonverbal behavioral skills essential to effective interpersonal functioning. Coaches readily perceive and accept this model and find the structured aspect of it something they can incorporate into their personality style and method of communicating with their players.
Litigation is a critical issue related to the coach/player interaction. A coach has to be more careful today than in the past because of the increasing prevalence of law- suits over treatment of players. A lawsuit may very likely occur when the health and well being of the player has been jeopardized by aggressive, hostile, or esteem- impairing statements by coaching staff. Although coaches are not thinking about lawsuits but about teaching their players and winning games, they also must recognize the fact that they have undertaken a responsibility for their players' safety and well being.
In the formative years of early and late adolescence, it is essential that coaching staff learn to communicate effectively with their players. The communication pro- cess can and does have a profound impact on how the emerging adolescent perceives him or herself. The model defined here is designed specifically to aid in that growth in self-confidence. Certainly every player on a team sport faces the humbling ex- perience of missing an assignment or failing to follow through on an important play, and the first words from the coach may well determine the psychological impact of this experience on the adolescent. A highly judgmental and accusatory statement
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may serve as a catalyst for withdrawal or oppositional tendencies which may only sabotage the goals of athletics and good sportsmanship. On the other hand, it may totally deflate the self-image of the player, causing him or her to experience a depressed state of "learned helplessness." Although a single statement is not going to produce such a response, if the pattern becomes consistent, the result in depres- sion and ego impairment cannot be ruled out.
The issue of the psychological impact of coaching is an essential component related to the health of sport coaches and participants. Because the role of the sport psychologist is one which should promote health, sensitivity, and awareness of both coaching staff and team members, the potential value of an assertiveness training module as a part of the coaching staff orientation program provides both an oppor- tunity for specialized continuing education and personal skill development. The perceived effectiveness of a module such as this is that it provides both team members and staff the realization that sensitivity to their personality growth and their productivity have been given equal weight.
A number of measures lend themselves to evaluating the effectiveness of a pro- gram such as this. Preprogram assessment may include one or more of the well- publicized measures of assertiveness, self-expression, or action-orientation. These measures give an estimate of verbal response style in various social situations and can offer some generalizability to the profession of sports and coaching. Locus of con- trol measures may also provide an estimate of personality style and potential for im- proved functioning which may emerge as a result of the assertiveness training module. Other measures could include estimates of state-trait anxiety, expressed emotionality, and self-esteem. Postprogram use of the same measures can provide both the participants and leaders with a measure of change due to the specific didactic-experiential component of the module. Perhaps the most significant estimate of the program's effectiveness is the response of players and staff to the im- proved level of verbal response of coaching staff toward their players.
Assertiveness training is a behaviorally oriented approach to learn how to deal more effectively with significant others in one's life. While Wolpe (1973) and Wolpe and Lazarus (1966) have assumed that assertiveness and anxiety are to be considered incompatible, Rimm, Snyder, Depue, Haanstad, and Armstrong (1976) suggest that assertiveness training really does involve counter conditioning and predicts that following such training, individuals, including those placed in highly intense and emotional situations such as coaches during athletic activities, would as a result ex- perience less anxiety. Speculation still exists as to whether or not counter condition- ing is the underlying mechanism accounting for the lower levels of anxiety experi- enced as a result of being assertive. What is to be gained on the athletic field or in everyday-life encounters is the realization that the message that was intended to be sent was sent clearly and effectively and without impairment to the self-esteem of those for whom the message was intended.
The applicability of an assertiveness training module for coaching staff can focus on the panorama of coaching experiences, from little league through high school and college sports, and can ensure that the quality of communicative styles can be reflected in the enthusiasm and morale realized by all members of the team.
References Alberti, R.E., & Emmons, M.L. Your perfect right: A guide to assertive behavior (3rd ed.).
San Luis Obispo, CA: Impact Press, 1978.
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Lange, A.J., & Jakubowski, P. Responsible assertive behavior. Champaign, IL: Research Press, 1976.
Lazarus, A.A. Behavior therapy and beyond. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971. Miller, T.W. Assertiveness training for hospital supervisors. Hospital Supervisors Bulletin,
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York: Academic Press, 1974. Rimm, D.C, Snyder, J.J., Depue, R.A., Haanstad, M.J.,& Armstrong, D.P. Assertive train-
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Wolpe, J. Psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1958.
Wolpe, J. The practice of behavior therapy. Oxford: Pergamon, 1969. Wolpe, J. The practice of behavior therapy (2nd ed.). Oxford: Pergamon, 1973. Wolpe, J., & Lazarus, A.A. Behavior therapy techniques: A guide to the treatment of
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Manuscript submitted: December 8, 1980 Revision received: December 24, 1981