Effects of Athletic Coaching Styles on Athletes

The purpose of this review is to understand the effects that coaches have on their athletes and how they can benefit their athletes the most. Research shows that there are two predominant types of coaching styles: autocratic and democratic. While an autocratic style is more control focused, a democratic style is more support focused. There are situations when both styles may be needed, but the effects they have on athletes are very important. The studies in this review of literature discuss the various ways these styles affect athletes in terms of motivation, performance, and social development. The methods reported in this review were questionnaires, Likert scales, surveys, and the Leadership Scale for Sport. These methods gave clear indications of which styles athletes preferred and in what ways and and how severely they were being affected by these coaching styles. The results showed that, regardless of age, race, gender, or experience, many athletes preferred to be coached using a more democratic coaching style. Participants reported a positive correlation between increased intrinsic motivation, social responsibility, confidence, prosocial behavior, and prolonged success with democratic coaching. This review can be used to implement characteristics of a democratic style and to help educate coaches on the effects of different coaching styles and the preferences of athletes.