Results
CORRELATIONS FOUND:
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COACH TYPE & PRE-PERFORMANCE MEDITATION
The correlation between coaching types and pre-performance meditation is very strong. With a 0.084 correlation level, the conclusion can be drawn that the more assertive a coach is, the more likely he/she will believe meditation prior to competition is necessary. Passive and aggressive coaches may be lacking in this area, therefore, athletes may have a higher risk of pre-performance anxiety than an athlete of an assertive coach.
GENDER & RELATEDNESS
Gender and social support have a genuinely strong correlation. With a 0.08 correlation level, the conclusion can state that male coaches are more likely to offer social support than female coaches. Essentially, if an athlete has a female coach, they are statistically less likely to receive the social support he/she needs in order to reach their highest potential in the chosen sport.
SUPPORTATION OF ATHLETE & GOAL SETTING
The question stated in the MCQ regarding an athletes support given by coaches was: How important is supporting your athletes when him/her is not training/playing well? This question tests a coach’s importance of competence in his/her coaching technique. Results of this showed a .065 correlation level between goal setting and the supportation of athletes, therefore, if a coach believes competence is crucial in his/her technique, statistically, they are likely to implement goal setting in their coaching style.
PRE-PERFORMANCE MEDITATION & GOAL SETTING
The act of meditating prior to competition and goal setting have a fairly high correlation of .081. Therefore, if a coach implements pre-performance meditation into their coaching technique, they are likely to include goal setting alongside it. This is an accurate and intelligent conclusion because when one meditates prior to performance, they are frequently picturing themselves achieving during competition. An example of this is winning a race, scoring a goal, hitting a homerun, etc. This is can be considered subconsciously setting a goal. Therefore, if a coach believes that pre-performance meditation is effective, he/she is likely to believe that goal setting is as well.
INJURY RATE, CONTINUITY RATE & PRE-PERFORMANCE MEDITATION
Pre-performance meditation and a lessened injury rate among athletes had a trending correlation of .037 while pre-performance meditation and continuity rate had a trending correlation of .046. From this information, the conclusion may state that less athletes become injured when participating in meditation prior to performance, and an athletes return to a chosen sport shockingly rises when one participates in pre-performance meditation. This may be because pre-performance meditation has been shown to produce self-confidence in a chosen activity or sport, eventually leading an athlete to feel more comfortable when rejoining a sport post-injury.
CONTINUITY RATE & POSITIVE THINKING
Although there was no significant correlation between positive thinking and continuity rates among athletes, there was a slight trending correlation of 0.001. Essentially, concluding that positive thinking/encouragement instead of criticism can produce an athletes willingness to continue in the chosen sport. It is predicted that if the research study had a wider sample size, then this correlation would have been stronger and more reliable.
TEAM COHESIVENESS
Remarkably, 100% of participants surveyed showed extreme importance in team cohesiveness throughout a chosen sport, therefore, this cannot be correlated accurately with any other variables.
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Conclusion
Overall, a variety of correlations between multiple variables were found in this study, some more significant than others. Pre-performance shows many different results including a likely assertive coaching style, a high level of importance toward goal setting alongside lower injury rates and higher athlete continuity rates post-injury. This research study also showed that male coaches are more likely to provide social support to his athletes than a female coach. This study also showed how competence levels are in correlation with goal setting in which they both are likely to increase when one is present in a coaching technique. Finally, team cohesiveness was proven to be consistently extremely vital in every coaching style surveyed, therefore, no reliable correlations could be drawn from it. This information is crucial to an impeccable coaching technique, especially when dealing with injured or previously injured athletes. In conclusion, the hypothesis, if a specific aspect of motivational climate is proven to be lacking in a coaches perception, then their athletes are less likely to recover and return to the chosen sport post-injury, was shown to be correct. Adolescents commonly quit sports due to their mindset post-injury. Coaches can be a changing factor in this if we implement more pre-performance meditation, goal setting, positive thinking, and assertive coaching techniques.