Coaching Efficacy Level Among Individual and Team Sports Coaches in Malaysia

Abstract

Coaches can be considered as individuals who can influence athletes in their lives and sports performance. Coaches have the responsibility in guiding the athletes to be successful in their sports performance by helping them to improve their skills. One of the factors that may influence athletes to perform at their optimal level is their belief in their coaches’ ability to guide them during training and competition. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the level of coaching efficacy among individual and team sports coaches. A total of 154 coaches who coached in SUKMA 2012 (a sports event that involved young athletes below 21 years of age) were selected through purposive sampling to participate in this study. They were categorized into individual (N = 77) and team (N = 77) sports coaches. Coaching efficacy scale (CES) questionnaire was used to measure the coaches coaching efficacy. Overall, Malaysian coaches who coached individual sports showed that their level of coaching efficacy was higher (M = 7.86, SD = 0.55) for all the subscales, namely character building (M = 7.91, SD = 0.62), motivation (M = 7.86, SD = 0.58), technique (M = 7.90, SD = 0.63), and game strategy (M = 7.78, SD = 0.61) compared with Malaysian coaches who coached team sports during SUKMA 2012. In conclusion, coaches who coached individual sports have higher level of coaching efficacy which indicates that under the guidance of efficacious coaches, athletes can gain knowledge on sport’s skills, develop leadership qualities, become more confident in their physical and mental abilities and also work hard toward achieving goals.