Coach’s Actions Quality Perception by Powerlifters-Veterans in

“Coach-athlete” Dyad

Galiya Ldokova

1 a

, Kadriya Volkova

1 b

and Zinaida Kuznetsova

2 c

Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University, 89, Kazanskaya Street, Elabuga, Russia

University of Management “TISBI”, 10, Tatarstan str., Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia

Keywords: Coach-athlete, Coach’s Actions, Powerlifting, Veteran of Sport.

Abstract: The research deals with psychological interaction between a coach and a powerlifter from a veteran group.

We define the dominant actions of a coach concerning the athlete, who is older than 40 years old. We received

the results of 30 powerlifters (older than 40) with the help of the questionnaire survey. Athletes estimated 13

criteria in the aspect of real and desired actions of a coach. Among real behavioral trainer’s techniques the

most dominant are the following: “helping during the competitions (warming-up, marching on platform)” (the

average grade-9,4), “mastering own methodology of training athletes” (the average grade-8,8), “attendance

of the competitions” (the average grade-8,6) and “my individual characteristics taking into consideration

(health state, mood, difficulties in life and others)” (the average grade-8,6). The priority positions of the

desired coach’s actions have the following items: “helping at the competitions” (warming-up, marching on

platform) (the average grade-10), “mastering own methodology of training athletes” (the average grade-9,9).

The athletes of the veteran age group are experienced enough, but they need team work “coach-athlete”. This

conclusion can improve “nature” understanding of the relations between a coach and a powerlifter, who is

older than 40. It can also provide the role and the importance realization of a coach’s personality in a sports

career of a veteran athlete.

1 INTRODUCTION

The topics of sports research works are mainly

focused on examining young athletes. It is reasonable,

as this group presents the prestige and the authority of

the country at the International level.

In terms of demographic shift to lifetime increase

more and more mature and elderly age people take

part in sport. These events have created generations

of Masters athletes (Baker, 2015). Earlier sport was

considered important for youth development. But

nowadays the opportunity to take part in sport is seen

positively during the whole life. The number of

healthy middle aged people who are active in sports

has increased significantly during the past generation

(Foster, 2007). The increasing number of athletes,

who take part in the World Masters Games proves

that elderly age people become more involved in

competitive sport (Delvecchio et. al., 2013).

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3527-8574

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2840-5387

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5558-474X

Sport as a social sphere of a person’s activity

forms a communicative platform. In the individual

kinds of sport the nearest interaction is realized

through the partnership with a coach. The quality of

relations in “coach-athlete” dyad is the key moment

between a coach and an athlete (Jowett, 2017). High

quality of coach–athlete relationship positively

predicts athletes’ general happiness (Lafreniere,

2011).

The development and display of physical strength

has been a hallmark of humanity from the very

beginning. So it is likely that there will always be a

demand for a competitive barbell sport like

powerlifting (Warpeha, 2015). Powerlifting is

characterized by the ability to generate maximal

force. However, an understanding of the factors

affecting strength in PL athletes is poorly understood

(Latella et al., 2018).

The research was held in order to study real and

desired actions of a coach concerning a powerlifter,

126

Ldokova, G., Volkova, K. and Kuznetsova, Z.

Coach’s Actions Quality Perception by Powerlifters-Veterans in “Coach-athlete” Dyad.

DOI: 10.5220/0008053901260131

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2019), pages 126-131

ISBN: 978-989-758-383-4

who is older than 40. This question is very interesting,

both in the context of powerlifting and in the context

of sport. As the perceived by the athlete quality of

relations with a coach is connected with the level of

the athlete’s burnout (Isoard-Gautheur et al., 2016).

2 ORGANIZATION AND

RESEARCH METHODS

For this research organization the authors created the

questionnaire. It helped to reveal important actions of

a coach and of his participation in athlete sports

activity from the point of athletes view.

The novelty of this questionnaire is in the fact that

it groups the actions. They demonstrate the role of a

coach in powerlifters sports activity.

2.1 Participants

30 athletes took part in studying significant actions of

a coach concerning the attitude to veterans of

powerlifting.

According to age-related classification of the

International Powerlifting Federation Rules

(International Powerlifting Federation, 2019), the age

group starting from 40 years-old corresponds with the

category “veterans”.

The criterion of the respondents selection for the

participation in the research was the partnership in

“coach-athlete” relations for this category no less than

three months.

The average age of the respondents was 47,3

years-old; the experience of going in for powerlifting

– from 5 till 21 years. The group of the respondents

also included people, who went in for powerlifting

before veteran age. The sampling also included

people, who started to go in for powerlifting after 40

and earlier went in for another kind of sport. Sports

qualification of the respondents was the following:

candidate master, “Master of sports of Russia” and

“World-class athlete of Russia” in powerlifting.

2.2 Instruments

In terms of the research work the respondents

answered the questions of the created questionnaire.

The questionnaire included 13 items of possible

actions in two aspects: real and desired participation.

The questionnaire content of the actions can be

considered from two positions. 8 actions of the

questionnaire are connected with technical and

methodical support of an athlete (for example, “is

present at the trainings”, “explains the methodology

of the exercises fulfillment”, “is present at the

competitions”, helps at the competitions (warming-

up, marching on platform)” and others). The rest five

items of the coach’s actions reflect the attitude to

powerlifter as a personality (for example, “provides

psychological support during trainings and

competitions”, “uses humor”, “estimates my

success/failures” and others).

The respondents estimated each criterion of a

coach’s participation in sports activity according to

the influence degree on an athlete. The scales of

answers varied from 1 (strongly disagree) to 10

(strongly agree). Given to the definite factor rank 1

has the most important value and rank 13 has the

lowest value for the athlete.

2.3 Data Collection

Data collection for the research was realized during

the Championship of Powerlifting Federation in

Russia among the veterans (since March, 28 till April,

1, 2018 in Cherepovets, Russia).

Before the beginning of the questionnaire the

participants were informed about general aims of the

research and the demands for participations. The

questionnaire fulfillment was realized personally by

the athletes during the competitions. We informed the

athletes of the fact that data collection was

confidential. It took the respondents 15-20 minutes to

fill in the questionnaire. Also we guarantee that the

questionnaire filling in was voluntary.

2.4 Statistic Analysis

The importance determination of the coach’s actions

influence on powerlifters, who are older than 40

years-old, was held on the basis of the arithmetical

mean calculation.

Then the materials of the questionnaire were

ranged. The results of summary statistics are

presented in Table 1, 2.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

During the research we realized the role of a coach

study in powerlifters older than 40 years-old sports

activity. Statistical results of the questionnaire

according to real actions of a coach towards

powerlifting veterans are presented in Table 1. The

results of the questionnaire according to the desired

actions of a coach concerning the attitude to

powerlifting veterans are shown in Table 2.

Coach’s Actions Quality Perception by Powerlifters-Veterans in “Coach-athlete” Dyad

127

3.1 Real Actions of a Coach Analysis

concerning the Attitude to

Powerlifters

According to Table 1 the most significant actions,

which are used by a coach during his interaction with

powerlifters, are the following: the I rank- helping at

the competitions; the II rank – has his own

methodology of training athletes, the III, 5 rank- is

present at the competitions, the III,5 rank – takes into

account athlete’s individual characteristics.

Table 1: Hierarchy of a coach’s real actions towards

powerlifters of veteran group.

Coach’s actions

Rank

(the

average

grade)

Helping during the competitions

(warming-up, marching on platform)

I (9,4)

Mastering own methodology of training

athletes

II (8,8)

Attendance of the competitions

III,5 (8,6)

Taking into consideration athlete’s

individual characteristics (health state,

mood, difficulties in life and etc.)

III,5 (8,6)

Athlete’s success/ failures estimation

V (8,5)

Psychological support provision during

the trainings and competitions

VI (8,2)

The methodology of exercises fulfilment

explanation

VII (7,9)

Making the plan of trainings

VIII (7,2)

Humour use

IX (7,1)

Personal demonstration of the exercises

fulfilment

X (6,7)

Taking part in athlete’s life (personal,

educational, professional)

XI,5 (6,6)

Attendance of the trainings

XI,5 (6,6)

Reasonable demands demonstrations

(regimen during the trainings and

competitions, nutrition regimen and etc.)

XIII (6,3)

Dominant position of a coach’s action “helping

during the competitions” conditions the following: no

matter how psychologically mature and experienced

the athlete is, he always needs sports help of a coach.

It is an obvious and reasonable choice of the

respondents, as competitions are the final event in the

athlete’s activity.

High importance of a competition as the stage of

sports career provides physical and emotional

influence. Competitive trait anxiety may have

negatively impacted performance (Judge et al., 2016).

Attendance of the coach in competitions helps to

share emotional tension and realize technical

(bandage winding around the knees, putting on

equipment uniform and etc.) and organizational

support (barbell weight claiming for further attempts,

tactical struggle in counting the final sum).

In terms of competitions «competitive trait

anxiety may have negatively impacted performance»

(Judge et al., 2016). The help of a coach during the

competitions is very important for an athlete.

For a mature athlete his coach is not only a

mentor, but also a friend. Very often during the

competitions they interact as colleagues. A coach

fulfills a supporting function. For a powerlifter, who

is older than 40, it is important to have a coach-friend

during the competitions. He would help during

warming-up and marching on platform. A person,

who won’t be a mentor, but would give practical

advice, would help to create the strategy in interaction

with the opponents.

The second place belongs to the action. The coach

uses it towards the athletes of veteran group –

“mastering own methodology of training athletes”.

An athlete, who is older than 40, as a rule, has an

experienced coach. A long-term experience of a

coach provides own methodology formation. In this

situation a coach and an athlete are two like-minded

people, who work to achieve one aim.

It should be noted that the trainings of young and

elderly athletes have much in common: they demand

great caution, attention to details. Joints can be

depleted because of long-term trainings. Age-related

changes influence all physiological systems,

including those, which are used during the exercises

and sport (Reaburn, 2014). That is why experienced

coaches have their own methodical secrets of

additional muscle volume strengthening (for

example, back squat; wide grip pull-up; load transfer

to legs during deadlift fulfillment and etc.). Coaches

share their experience of training for the

competitions, trainings optimization, trauma

avoidance and etc. (Austin et al., 2012; Sutphin,

2014). The aim of a coach during own methodology

creation is to preserve health and sports longevity of

his “trainee”.

The third rank position is given to two actions:

“attendance of the competitions” and “taking into

account my individual characteristics”. In general, all

priority described actions, in our opinion, are

connected. A coach-friend during the competitions

helps an elderly athlete achieve the state, which is

described in literature as tactical efficiency (Ilin,

2012; Kuznetsova, 2018).

Psychological determination is an important part

in training athletes. It is “subjectively formed on the

basis of physical and psychological organism

activation before the future definite activity”

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(Sergeev, 2008). A young athlete learns how to

control own emotions, but excitement still dominates.

A mature athlete has less problems with own

emotions control. He needs only support of an

understanding person.

A coach is not just focused on developing and

nurturing the skills and optimum physical abilities of

the athletes but also considers his own personal

characteristics that could have positively or

negatively effect on his/her behavior towards

coaching (Gustl, 2018). Knowing his own athlete

helps a coach to feel his emotional mood, feel slight

changes in his physical and psychological state and

take this into account while choosing the ways of

distorting factors overcoming (Ljdokova et al., 2014).

Each coach has his own means: humor, pleasant

memory, favorite music and etc..

3.2 Desired Actions of a Coach towards

Powerlifters Analysis

Table 2: Hierarchy of a coach’s desired actions towards

veteran group powerlifters.

Coach’s actions

Rank

(the

average

grade)

Helping during the competitions

(warming-up, marching on platform)

I,5 (10)

Psychological support provision during

the trainings and competitions

1,5 (10)

Mastering own methodology of training

athletes

III (9,9)

Athlete’s success/ failures estimation

IV (9,7)

Humour use

V (9,4)

Taking into consideration athlete’s

individual characteristics (health state,

mood, difficulties in life and etc.)

VI (9,3)

The methodology of exercises fulfilment

explanation

VII (9,2)

Attendance of the trainings

VIII (9,1)

Making the plan of trainings

IX (9)

Personal demonstration of the exercises

fulfilment

X (8,8)

Taking part in athlete’s life (personal,

educational, professional)

XI (8,4)

Attendance of the competitions

XII (8,2)

Reasonable demands demonstration

(regimen during the trainings and

competitions, nutrition regimen and etc.)

XIII (7,5)

We analyze the actions of a coach, which powerlifters

define, as the desired ones. The first two positions of

the desired actions are the following: “helping during

the competitions” and “psychological support

provision during the trainings and competitions”; the

third place belongs to “mastering own methodology

of training athletes”.

As we see, the actions, used by a coach towards

the veteran group athletes and their desires are almost

identical. It corresponds with athletes age-related

characteristics.

Athletes, who are older than 40, don’t have a vivid

egocentrism, ambitions that everyone around should

provide conditions for their success. An important

characteristic in adult personality formation is an

effective, productive moment of his activity. A

mature athlete uses his best formed qualities in higher

aims achievement. A coach doesn’t treat veteran

powerlifter as a young beginner. A coach understands

that it is necessary to negotiate with a middle aged

athlete.

Received during the research result shows the

following: a coach realizes the actions, which are

desired by an athlete. It forms a difficult process of an

effective interaction between a coach and an athlete,

when there is thoughts and actions symbiosis. It leads

to sports success.

3.3 A Coach’s Real and Desired

Actions Results Comparative

Analysis

Note. Vertically – ranks; horizontally: 1 – plan of trainings

creation; 2 - attendance of the trainings; 3 – explaining the

methodology of exercises fulfillment; 4 - attendance of the

competitions; 5 – mastering own methodology of training athletes;

6 – taking part in your life; 7 – helping during the competitions; 8

- psychological support provision during the trainings and

competitions; 9 – personal demonstration of the exercises

fulfilment; 10 – humor use; 11 - reasonable demands

demonstrations; 12 - my success/ failures estimation; 13 – taking

into account my individual characteristics.

Figure 1: A coach’s real and desired actions toward

powerlifting veterans comparison.

Indices of a coach’s real and desired actions

comparison (Figure 1) demonstrates the following

fact: 12 from 13 items of the desired actions are

extremely more important than the points of a coach

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Real Desired

Coach’s Actions Quality Perception by Powerlifters-Veterans in “Coach-athlete” Dyad

129

real actions. We can suppose that this condition proves

elderly age powerlifters’ strong desire to have their

coach’s attention and support.

Such kind of a coach’s action as “attendance of the

competitions”, in a real aspect has the following

average grade – 8,6 units and in a desired one- 8,2

units. It means that a real atmosphere satisfies the

athlete’s desire and compensates his needs.

For a powerlifter the fact of the competitions

attendance is not very important. For the performance

effectiveness it is important if a coach takes part in

warming-up, equipment putting on, barbell weight

order between the attempts, psychological support

after a not successful attempt or before an important

attempt. Mentioned above actions dominate in a

desired behavior of a coach and have the highest

average grade (10) – “helping during the competitions”

(warming-up, marching on platform) and

“psychological support during the trainings and

competitions”. Odd actions spend physical and

emotional energy and it leads to over-tension, fatigue,

emotional and physical imbalance.

The results (Figure 1) show how the activity of a

coach is important for powerlifters, who are older than

40 years-old.

4 CONCLUSIONS

This research gives an idea of veteran group athletes’

attitude to real and desired activity of a coach. The

research results are directed toward highly-qualified

relations with the athletes and their high effectiveness

stimulation.

The athletes from a veteran group are experienced

and independent enough. They are integral

personalities, but need team “coach-athlete” work.

These results can improve “nature” understanding

of relations between a coach and powerlifters, who are

older than 40. They can also provide the role and

importance of a coach’s personality understanding in

sports career of a veteran group athlete.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank all participants for

their time and effort involved in this study.

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