OCTOBER 2009 FEATURE

Building an Effective Coach–Athlete Relationship: Perspectives from Great Female Coaches and Athletes

by Penny Werthner

Following the 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, a study was undertaken to analyse the Canadian performances. The review process was initiated and funded by Own the Podium*, and the primary objective was to identify, from both the athletes’ and the coaches’ perspectives, the key factors that contributed to a successful performance or, in some cases, an underperformance at the Games. In total, 27 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and 30 coaches were interviewed. From the analysis of the 27 athlete interviews, five key themes were developed: the development, over time, of a high degree of athlete self-awareness; the importance of a strong coach–athlete relationship; the creation of an optimal training environment; the creation of a strong support system, from both financial and human resource perspectives; and excellent management of the Olympic environment, primarily by the coach and athlete, often with help from the high performance director and others, such as consultants in sport psychology and exercise physiology.

The second theme, the importance of a strong coach–athlete relationship, clearly emerged as a crucial factor in winning an Olympic medal or producing a personal best at the 2008 Olympic Games. Each of the 27 athletes spoke at length about her or his coach and how they worked together to create an environment that enabled them to succeed. The following quotations are a sample of how these athletes felt about their coaches.

• “We had the best coach, with a great deal of international experience. He was skilled technically, but he kept it simple.”
• “My coach is like a mentor to me. We have a good relationship, and are open to learning from each other.”
• “We have complete confidence in our coach.”
• “With my coach, we knew exactly what I needed, physically, technically, mentally—our motto was ‘Execute excellence.’”
• “I have a great coach.”
• “The key pieces of success were a very good coach and very good training as a result of good coaching and a good support team.”

Given the results of this review process, particularly with the Olympic athletes’ emphasis on the importance of a strong working relationship with their coaches, I thought it would be intriguing to look a little deeper at this relationship, at how an effective coach–athlete relationship is created and at how it is maintained. I could think of no better way to do this than to interview some of our best national women coaches along with one each of the wonderful women athletes they coach. The coaches and athletes who agreed to talk with me were Xiuli Wang, national long track speed skating coach, a former Olympic speed skater for China, and a two-time Olympic coach for Canada, and Clara Hughes, winner of two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympic Games, the 5000m bronze medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and a gold medal in the 5000m and silver medal in Team Pursuit at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games; Melody Davidson, national women’s ice hockey coach, and Hayley Wickenheiser, a silver medallist at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games and gold medallist at the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games; and Yi Hua Li, national diving coach and former Olympic diver for China, and Émilie Heymans, the winner of silver and bronze medals in 10m synchro at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and the 10m silver medallist at the 2008 Olympic Games. Expanding the dialogue slightly, I also spoke with Elaine Dagg-Jackson, national women’s coach for the Canadian Curling Association and coach at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, about how she created effective relationships with the 16 coaches and teams who are currently part of the national program.

I began each interview by asking the women to tell me about their coach–athlete relationship and how it had become strong and productive. The coaches all spoke about their technical skills, not surprisingly, because sport is all about technique, tactics, and training. They also spoke at length about the importance of communication and trust. The three athletes each spoke of the open-mindedness of their coaches and their willingness to listen to what they each needed and thought. They pointed out that their coaches were also open-minded in the sense of being willing to bring other experts into the team, and that they cared for them not just as athletes but as individuals.

* Own the Podium 2010 is a national sport technical initiative designed to help Canada’s winter athletes win the most medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and to place in the top three nations (gold medal count) at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.