Henriksen Kristoffer, Dideriksen Sofie, Kuettel Andreas, Schlawe Anusofia, Storm Louise Kamuk
Department of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Department of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Psychol Sport Exerc. 2025 Sep;80:102877. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102877. Epub 2025 May 14.
Elite athletes train and compete within high-performance sport environments that significantly influence their performance, development, and well-being. Within an enormous portfolio of tasks, a key role of a coach, therefore, is that of an 'architect' who designs, builds, and maintains successful high-performance environments. To understand this role in more depth, we conducted four case studies in which we interviewed one high-level coach in Danish Olympic and Paralympic sport, their manager, and two of their athletes. Each case was first analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify key themes. Second, in a cross-case analysis focusing on how these four coaches develop and maintain environments conducive to top performance, we crafted two overarching themes. Non-negotiables refer to ways of leading that coaches described as so essential that they were never up for discussion, and included leading through values and clear structures, leading whole persons, and leading the whole staff. Delicate balances refer to dilemmas that coaches had to navigate when leading their HPSE, including balancing intensity with sustainable development, individual consideration with the team, a focus on the best with a focus on the rest, and athlete responsibility with coach guidance. The study illustrates that high-performance coaches play a critical role as architects of their athletes' environments and thus contributes to the understanding of the complexity of modern coaching, highlighting a need for ongoing professional development for coaches to enhance their leadership competencies in high-performance settings.
精英运动员在对其表现、发展和福祉有重大影响的高性能运动环境中进行训练和比赛。因此，在大量的任务中，教练的一个关键角色是成为一名“建筑师”，设计、构建和维护成功的高性能环境。为了更深入地理解这一角色，我们进行了四项案例研究，采访了丹麦奥运会和残奥会的一名高级教练、他们的经理以及两名运动员。每个案例首先使用反思性主题分析来确定关键主题。其次，在一项侧重于这四位教练如何发展和维护有利于顶级表现的环境的跨案例分析中，我们提炼出了两个总体主题。“不可协商之事”指的是教练们认为至关重要、绝不容讨论的领导方式，包括通过价值观和明确的结构进行领导、领导完整的人以及领导全体员工。“微妙平衡”指的是教练在领导其高性能运动环境时必须应对的困境，包括在强度与可持续发展之间取得平衡、在个人考量与团队之间取得平衡、在关注顶尖选手与关注其他选手之间取得平衡，以及在运动员责任与教练指导之间取得平衡。该研究表明，高性能教练作为运动员环境的建筑师发挥着关键作用，从而有助于理解现代教练工作的复杂性，凸显了教练持续进行专业发展以提高其在高性能环境中的领导能力的必要性。
