In response to the following prompt: One of the common notions when talking with coaches about the differences in coaching males compared to females is that when coaching females, the coach should motivate through their relationships. When attempting to motivate males, the coach should motivate through their ego. How do you feel…agree, disagree? Your thoughts…
I do not fully agree with this statement. I do feel that it fits gender stereotypes, however, I don't think that there is one way to coach males, and one way to coach females. As a female coach, I just finished taking a male and a female student athlete to the California State Track and Field Meet three weeks ago. I spent much more time coaching the male, as he competed in the events that I coach, however, I know them both pretty well. I can say that I have a strong coaching relationship with both of these individuals, and I don't feel that I have had to use my ego or theirs as a strong motivator for either of them. Maybe it is different as a male coach, coaching athletes, however, when thinking about my male track coaching colleagues I do not believe that their ego is used as a major coaching tool either. Again, maybe this is different in more team-oriented sports, such as football, or basketball, but I feel like many male student athletes that I know and have coached, desire creating a coach/student athlete relationship as much as the females. As our text states, “although the psychodynamic approach [dealing with ego and the whole person, rather than just traits] has had a major effect on the field of psychology, especially clinical approaches to psychology, it has had little effect on sport psychology” (Gould and Weinberg, 2015). Gould and Weinberg go on to state that, “athletes often feel threatened and that they react with anxiety. As a defense against their anxiety, athletes display various unconscious defense mechanisms, such as maladaptive repression (the athletes freeze or become paralyzed during play) or denial of the problem.” In interpreting this text, I think that if an athlete is playing off of the ego of their coach, this could provoke some anxiety that could lead to poor performance. As a coach, I would rather have my students motivated through having a positive coaching relationship with me, rather than me having to break them down to get results. I think that there can be some positives to using ego as a way to pump or fire athletes up, but when used as a negative, I would not use it.
Weinburg, R. & Gould, D. (2015). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (6th ed). Human Kinetics.
I do not fully agree with this statement. I do feel that it fits gender stereotypes, however, I don't think that there is one way to coach males, and one way to coach females. As a female coach, I just finished taking a male and a female student athlete to the California State Track and Field Meet three weeks ago. I spent much more time coaching the male, as he competed in the events that I coach, however, I know them both pretty well. I can say that I have a strong coaching relationship with both of these individuals, and I don't feel that I have had to use my ego or theirs as a strong motivator for either of them. Maybe it is different as a male coach, coaching athletes, however, when thinking about my male track coaching colleagues I do not believe that their ego is used as a major coaching tool either. Again, maybe this is different in more team-oriented sports, such as football, or basketball, but I feel like many male student athletes that I know and have coached, desire creating a coach/student athlete relationship as much as the females. As our text states, “although the psychodynamic approach [dealing with ego and the whole person, rather than just traits] has had a major effect on the field of psychology, especially clinical approaches to psychology, it has had little effect on sport psychology” (Gould and Weinberg, 2015). Gould and Weinberg go on to state that, “athletes often feel threatened and that they react with anxiety. As a defense against their anxiety, athletes display various unconscious defense mechanisms, such as maladaptive repression (the athletes freeze or become paralyzed during play) or denial of the problem.” In interpreting this text, I think that if an athlete is playing off of the ego of their coach, this could provoke some anxiety that could lead to poor performance. As a coach, I would rather have my students motivated through having a positive coaching relationship with me, rather than me having to break them down to get results. I think that there can be some positives to using ego as a way to pump or fire athletes up, but when used as a negative, I would not use it.
Weinburg, R. & Gould, D. (2015). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (6th ed). Human Kinetics.