Mental toughness in youth sport coaches: A phenomenological exploration

Abstract

The growing privatization and professionalization of youth sport have undeniably resulted in an increase in the demands for coaches who work with children and adolescents. Researchers have suggested that mental toughness (MT) is a psychological resource that helps individuals cope with challenging circumstances. Although MT has been investigated extensively in athletes and other performers, there is a gap with respect to the construct as it relates to coaching. Accordingly, the purpose of the current study was to explore youth sport coaches’ experiences of MT. Fourteen youth sport coaches (nine male, five female; M_age = 37.7 years) from a variety of sports participated in phenomenological interviews. Using a hermeneutic process, five themes were developed: (a) mentally tough youth sport coaches overcome adversity, (b) mentally tough youth sport coaches control their emotions, (c) mentally tough youth sport coaches communicate effectively with athletes, (d) mentally tough youth sport coaches maintain high standards for themselves and the athletes with whom they work, and (e) mentally tough youth sport coaches develop athletes beyond the sport setting regardless of existing performance pressure. While there appears to be some consistency with previous conceptualizations of MT, the current results also highlight unique aspects of the construct (e.g., intrapersonal elements, focus on holistic development) as it pertains to coaches.

 Lay summary: Mental toughness (MT) is a psychological resource that helps people manage challenging circumstances. This study was designed to address a gap in the literature by exploring youth sport coaches’ MT. While the findings indicate similarities in the MT of coaches and other performers, they also highlight aspects specific to coaching.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

• It appears that MT cannot only increase the likelihood that youth sport coaches function at an optimal level (e.g., serve as a coping resource to manage the demands of the role and, thus, experience more well-being) but, in turn, also allows them to effectively support athletes’ development.

• The current findings indicate value in developing youth sport coaches’ emotional intelligence, which can help them demonstrate empathy and set a positive emotional tone for the athletes with whom they work.

• Youth sport coaches in this study perceived that being open to input and emphasizing holistic development necessitated MT. It seems important for sport psychology professionals and coach educators to facilitate environments in which youth sport coaches feel more comfortable to go against the trend of focusing primarily on performance and, instead, develop athletes holistically.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, JR. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.