Emotional intelligence training for sports coaches – evaluation of a time-effective online intervention and its effects on coaching efficacy

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes the way an individual manages one’s own and others’ emotions. In the context of sports, higher EI has been associated with more successful performance and coping. Past studies with athletes have shown that EI can be improved through training. However, the present study is the first evaluating an EI training specifically designed for sport coaches. Therefore, 57 coaches from individual sports (e.g., running, swimming, triathlon; recreational to international level) were randomized into intervention group (EI training) and control group (health and well-being training). Both trainings consisted of five weeks (15 sessions of 10-15 minutes), and in response to coaches’ needs for accessible and time effective training tools they were carried out online. Coaches’ EI and beliefs in their coaching skills (i.e., coaching efficacy) were assessed before and after the training. We found that coaches’ interpersonal emotional competencies, game strategy efficacy, and team efficacy improved in the intervention group, but not in the control group. In addition, results replicated a positive correlation between EI and coaching efficacy. The present study contributes to EI research and coaching science, especially by addressing the call for empirically evaluated coaching education. Overall, we can recommend the implementation of an EI training for coaches in applied sport psychological work and for coaching education programs.

Lay summary: An EI training addressing coaches’ needs for accessible and time effective training through an online-based format was evaluated. Compared to a control group training, the EI training enhanced coaches’ interpersonal emotional competencies and their perceived skills to influence athletes in competitions (game strategy efficacy) and their team dynamics (team efficacy).

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

• Coaches’ emotional competencies can be trained.

• The online-based training format addresses coaches’ needs and preferences and is promising to reach a great number of coaches.

• We recommend sports psychologists and sports federations integrate the EI training into their counseling process and education program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the entire group at the Institute of Sport Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for valuable and constructive suggestions on the manuscript. The first author would like to thank all coaches for participation.

A special thanks goes to Toni Dahmen for his effort and help in recruiting participants and to Jan Möller for his support with the website.

Data availability statement

Please find the data under the following link: https://osf.io/s2z5j/?view_only=02fa4b1892664d8fb88e28a1be5c58e9

Please contact the corresponding author for further information.

The EI training can be found under the following link (German language only): http://emotionstraining-sport.de. Please contact the corresponding author for access information.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the internal research funding of the German Sport University Cologne, FL1, 2019.