Table of Contents

• Players’ Opinions on Coach Control

  • Quote of The Week

  • An Even Deeper Dive

In some exciting news, this year I (Sam) had a paper published in the Journal of Sport Behaviour! It is based on my Master’s research, looking at Secondary School 1st XV Rugby Players’ Perceptions of the Coaching Environment.

The aim of the research was to get player voice on their coaching environment. We held focus groups with 16-18 year olds who were playing in a top Secondary School 1st XV Competition in New Zealand and asked for their thoughts and opinions on their coaching, and how that impacted their experience of sport. There were 4 major themes that emerged from the research; Coach Control, Power Dynamics, Expectations, and Brotherhood. Over the next few newsletters I’ll use one of these themes as topic to write about, referencing the research. This week we’ll look at Coach Control.

Before we get into it, I’d just like to give a massive shout-out to my co-authors - Simon Walters, Craig Harrison, and Andrew Lenton. They did a ton of the legwork to turn the thesis into a journal-acceptable article!

If you are wanting to read the full article, it is freely available here:

Secondary School 1st XV Rugby Players’ Perceptions of the Coaching Environment: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Players’ Opinions on Coach Control

Are you here to serve the players, or are the players here to serve you?

It’s a loaded question, but a vital one for any coach to answer.

At its heart, this question asks:
Do you see players as extensions of you on the field, there to execute your vision?
Or do you see yourself as being there to support them, helping them perform at their best?

Your answer shapes your coaching behaviours, especially how much control you take. That control, in turn, has a massive impact on your players’ motivation, performance, and overall experience.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a framework for understanding human motivation - why we commit to something and stick with it. SDT says we’re most intrinsically motivated when three needs are met:

• Autonomy – feeling in control of our choices

• Competence – feeling capable at what we do

• Relatedness – feeling connected to the people around us

The opposite of autonomy is the feeling of being controlled, - where you don’t have any say in what you do. Research across sport, education, and the workplace is clear: autonomy-supportive coaching boosts motivation and enjoyment, while controlling coaching increases the risk of burnout, drop-out, and disengagement.

The feeling that coaches were behaving in controlling ways was one of the major themes that emerged from my research on 1st XV rugby players’ perceptions of their coaching environment.

When a coach operates in a controlling way, the relationship is top-down and one-way: the coach dictates, and the players’ job is to comply.

It’s command-and-control, sometimes literally, like a coach with a PlayStation controller, moving players around the field and getting frustrated when the “game” doesn’t go to plan.

For the 1st XV players, coach control was particularly evident in trainings and on game day.

One player described game-day like this:

“Our backs’ coaches are usually on the side communicating to the boys, and they have the mics, the walkie-talkies… During the game, if they see something they want to change, they’ll communicate it, then the guys on the side will just shout to the boys and tell us what we need to do.”

The feeling was summed up simply:

“Yeah, it’s the coaches—they’re always telling us what to do.”

Players said this made them feel ‘robotic’:

“We’re just following the game plan… everyone is just doing what they’re told.”

And they wanted something different:

“On game day, I think coaches need to stop screaming from the sideline and telling us what to do; just let us play.”

Perhaps most tellingly (and worryingly), one player reflected:

“The only fun I’ve had was in the Under 14s. That’s it… yeah, that’s where everyone got to express themselves.”

Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, puts it plainly:

“Coaching is not controlling, it’s guiding. Change is not going to happen by me saying you have to do this or have to do that.”

Kerr played under Phil Jackson at the Chicago Bulls which no doubt shaped his views on coaching. In the NBA, it’s standard practice to call a time-out if the opposition scores six straight points. But Jackson often refused, frustrating his assistants, because he wanted players to figure it out themselves. He knew they wouldn’t develop resilience or adaptability if the answers always came from the sideline.

On The High Performance Podcast, Alex Inglethorpe, Academy Director at Liverpool FC, noted that the best players who came through their system often had a “maverick” streak. They saw the game differently, even differently from their coaches. It’s led him to believe that maybe the best things coaches can do for them is get out of their way!

If you try to control everything, you’re bound by your own preconceptions of what’s possible. You risk stifling creativity and limiting what players might become.

Though, it doesn’t make coaching redundant. It merely reframes it. Throw away the PlayStation controller. Be the guide who helps players reflect, review, and discover what they can do.

So, are your players here to serve you, or are you here to serve them?

If you’re still unsure, I’ll leave the last word to Steve Kerr:

“The main thing you do as a coach is you feed the guys confidence, remind them to stay poised, give them the space to do what they do.”

If you’d like to read the full journal article, follow the link below! If you’d like to discuss the findings/themes in more detail please reach out to us at [email protected]

Also - if you’re a real sucker for punishment and would like to read the full Master’s thesis you can also find that here:

Secondary School First XV Rugby Player's’ Perception of the Coaching Environment: A Qualitative Descriptive Study (Master’s Thesis)

Want to discuss anything you’ve read? Email us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!