Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep 10:10:2064.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02064. eCollection 2019.

Strategies for Maintaining the Coach-Analyst Relationship Within Professional Football Utilizing the COMPASS Model: The Performance Analyst's Perspective

Affiliations

Strategies for Maintaining the Coach-Analyst Relationship Within Professional Football Utilizing the COMPASS Model: The Performance Analyst's Perspective

Michael Bateman et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

There is a considerable body of research by that has investigated the coach-athlete relationship in sport. However, given the multi-disciplinary nature of modern elite coaching, there is a scarcity of research focusing on the relationship between coaches and other members of the coaching and support team. This study examined the perceptions of six elite professional football analyst's relationships with their respective coaches. Semi structured interviews utilizing the COMPASS Framework were conducted focusing on Conflict, Openness, Motivation, Preventative Strategies, Assurance, Support, and Social Networks. The results verified that the COMPASS Model of relationship maintenance was applicable to this dyad. Content analysis indicated that there was 215 raw data units comprising of 16 higher order themes across the model which was further broken down into 29 lower order themes. All aspects of the model were found to contribute toward a positively maintained relationship. Having an open relationship underpinned by honesty and being able to provide an opinion was seen as the highest rated attribute that was closely followed by supporting the coach by understanding their requirements for successful coaching practice. Not meeting the coach's expectations was found to cause conflict and was further highlighted by an inductive analysis that revealed the existence of a relationship that is fundamentally dictated by the coach. Implications of this investigation are that professionals which support elite performers need to set out clear expectations of working practice and hierarchies in order to minimize the chance of internal conflict that can impact on the service levels received by the performer.

Keywords: analysts; coach; elite sport; power relationships; relationship maintenance; soccer; sports performance analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Adie J. W., Jowett S. (2010). Meta-perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship, achievement goals, and intrinsic motivation among sport participants. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 40 2750–2773. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00679.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bampouras T. M., Cronin C., Miller P. K. (2012). Performance analytic processes in elite sport practice: an exploratory investigation of the perspectives of a sport scientist, coach and athlete. Int. J. Perf. Anal. Sport 12 468–483. 10.1080/24748668.2012.11868611 - DOI
    1. Butterworth A. D., Turner D. J. (2014). Becoming a performance analyst: autoethnographic reflections on agency, and facilitated transformational growth. Reflect. Pract. 15 552–562. 10.1080/14623943.2014.900014 - DOI
    1. Canary D. J., Stafford L. (1994). Maintaining Relationships Through Strategic and Routine Interaction. in Communication and Relational Maintenance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
    1. Carson P., Carson K., Roe W. (1993). Social power bases: a meta-analytic examination of interrelationships and outcomes. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 23 1150–1169. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1993.tb01026.x - DOI

LinkOut - more resources