ABSTRACT
A performance coach’s main objective is to prepare his/her athletes to perform competitively. The research sheds light on a previously unexplored area that assists in effectively coaching performance team sport–maximizing the power of the group and establishing efficacious leadership through creating a strong sense of coach social identity (SI) within the sport team. The research also suggests that SI coaches are perceived to be more effective leaders to the extent that they positively impact the sport motivation and sport confidence of their athletes and are viewed by their athletes as being competent coaches. Despite the findings from the research indicating the assertion, more research is required in the performance sports coaching domain to assess whether these findings are consistent. Coaching in practice is, as D. A. Schon described, swamp-like; that is, it is a process that should never be viewed as an absolute but rather ‘like shifting sands constantly shaped by competing and complementary elements’.
