Self-belief in youth sport: How the relation-inferred self-efficacy (RISE) model can be used to improve the communication skills of physiotherapists and coaches

This paper examines the notion of self-belief in young athletes and its role in maintaining good performance. We draw on the concept of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1990, 1997) and suggest that revisions to Bandura’s original model to improve its explanatory power, particularly in a sporting context. We believe that the addition of two interpersonal components (see Lent & Lopez, 2002) can guide the communication skills of coaches and members of their support team, such as physiotherapists. A fictitious case illustration is used as a vehicle to show how the above concepts can be used in a clinical situation where a young athlete was displaying performance anxiety which, in part, resulted from the poor communication skills of the athlete’s support team (coach and physiotherapist). We make recommendations about how the communication can be improved.