Relationship between leadership style and performance of Perak SUKMA athletes and coaches

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership style and performance of athletes and coaches in Malaysia. One hundred and thirty seven athletes and 47 coaches from 12 sports participated in the study. Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) questionnaire was utilized to assessed athletes’ preference, perceived and coaches’ perception of their own leadership style. Result showed athletes most preferred coaching styles were training and instruction followed by democratic, positive feedback and social support. Autocratic behaviour was the least preferred. However coaches’ self-evaluation showed majority were keen on autocratic leadership style. Overall, the results of the study proposed that coaches should emphasis on training and instruction and less autocratic leadership style. Coaches also need to practise more positive feedback which proven can enhance athletes performance.Key word: Leadership style, sports performance, coach, athletes.