Coaching preferences of athletes.

The study examined the coaching preferences of 80 male and 80 female athletes, as measured by the Leadership Scale for Sports (Chelladurai and Saleh, 1978, 1980). In addition, it attempted to assess the applicability to sport of the Life-cycle and Path-goal theories of leadership. Comparisons between groups were made on the basis of sex, age, and type of sport. A MANOVA indicated that athletes in independent sports preferred more democratic behaviour (p less than .001) and less autocratic behaviour (p = .028) than athletes in interdependent sports. No differences in coaching preferences were found which could be attributed to the age or sex of the athlete, or the variability of the sports task. These results partially supported the Path-goal theory, but did not support the Life-cycle theory. Athletes of all groups tended to favour coaches who displayed training behaviour and rewarding behaviour "often", democratic behaviour and social support behaviour "occasionally", and autocratic behaviour "seldom". This consistency may be a useful finding for those organizations and institutions interested in preparing coaches.