An Analysis of Coaches’ Perceptions of Inappropriate Coaching Behaviors

The use of inappropriate coaching behaviors has been an ongoing concern for many years. However, not yet well researched is the use of inappropriate and bullying behaviors by coaches toward student-athletes. The purpose of this study was aimed at gathering relevant information on coaches’ use of inappropriate behaviors towards athletes, as reported by coaches. Participants for this study included 488 public/private school sport coaches, males (N=332) and females (N=153), from eight states. Data were gathered via an on-line survey in which participants identified if they had engaged in any of 22 listed actions among three types of bullying (physical, relational, verbal). Participants identified three actions (‘poking fun at an athlete’, ‘embarrassed an athlete in front of others’, and ‘name calling without hurtful intent’) as having been done by at least 30% of them. In summary, most actions were reported to have not been used by most coaches, three-fourths of the actions were considered inappropriate, and less than half were considered bullying. Keywords: coaching, bullying, sports