ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on research that has explored the antecedents and outcomes of coaching efficacy, before detailing recent intervention attempts to enhance coaches' confidence in influencing positive psychosocial responses in young athletes. It presents future research directions in terms of the role of the coach in athlete psychosocial development, and specifies the need to target applied coaching efficacy research at more micro- and situational levels across a range of sports. From a methodological perspective, coaching efficacy scale (CES) is valuable as an empirically validated assessment tool, and perhaps longitudinal intervention research offers greater insight into the development of motivation and character-building efficacies - the most psychosocial dimensions of the scale. Coaching efficacy is important contemporary construct in the psychology of coaching; there is a great deal of opportunity and currency for applied researchers to consider the mechanics of psychosocial coaching efficacy, and the importance of innovative interventions that may enhance both the self-belief of coaches and the personal development of athletes.