APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2020 , Vol . 6
2008 ). Additionally , Longshore and Sachs ( 2015 ) displayed , in an intervention-based investigation , that mindfulness is advantageous to calming coaches . No apparent psychological skill ( other than Think Aloud ) was used . The indication this gives is that coaches neglect , or are not aware , of psychological skills to assist them with their own coping / performance .
Avoidance coping was used by the sample ( mainly humour ). This was also the case in another Think Aloud study , however , this was non-related to coaching ( Swettenham et al ., 2020 ). Additionally , avoidance coping is a method used in previous coaching literature . Olusoga , et al . ( 2010 ) accounted for it being used seven times by coaches . Surujilal and Nguyen ( 2011 ) displayed it coming up twice within soccer coaches , however , this was in the form of ignoring the issue . This differs from its use in the form of humour , in this study . In alignment with the literature , avoidance coping was utilised but not to a great extent . This could mean it is not a beneficial coping mechanism as its use throughout the literature is minimal .
Limitations
The current study is not without limitations . Coaching may not always be a conscious process and Think Aloud cannot assess what happens to decision-making and coaching processes outside of awareness ( Bowers et al ., 1990 ; Jacoby et al ., 1992 ). Therefore , future research may consider adopting both Think Aloud and video observations , where coaches can engage in stimulated recall to supplement the additional Think Aloud data .
Furthermore , Think Aloud could have had an impact on the coaches ’ verbalisations of stress . Despite there being no noticeable evidence in the audio recordings , coaches may have felt self-conscious ( Stephenson et al ., 2020 ) and as a result reactivity may have occurred , where the coaches think more about their thinking ( Double and Birney , 2019 ). This may in turn have had an impact on what the coaches may have verbalised .
The sample size used in the study was only six . This depicts a relatively small sample size in comparison to previous research in Think Aloud literature . Swettenham et al . ( 2020 ) and Whitehead et al . ( 2016 ) used 16 participants , Welsh et al . ( 2018 ) employed seven and Samson et al . ( 2017 ) used 10 . Although the study differed slightly from these above in the sense that it took a qualitative constructivist approach , a larger sample could have provided additional stress and coping themes or further strengthened the current findings . Future research should aim to match or go beyond what is expected in terms of sample size in current Think Aloud studies .
Additionally , the use of a single-gender sample limits the results to males . The study only offers results from the male perspective , meaning results cannot be applied to both genders . Future studies should aim to include a mixed gender sample or a female-specific sample .
Conclusion and practical implications The purpose of this study was to analyse male football coaches ’ stressors and coping mechanisms , during competition , utilising Think Aloud . The findings of the study demonstrate six main stressors ( performance , opposition , officiating , coach performance , player welfare and organisational ) during competition and a range of coping mechanisms ( all allocated into problem , emotion or avoidance-focused categories ). These results provide readers with real-time stressors and coping mechanism experience by football coaches , using a novel method of data collection ( Think Aloud ).
From a practical perspective , coaches may want to adopt the use of Think Aloud in their future coaching to gain an insight into their own stress and coping responses , which in turn can help support their development in managing this stress and incorporating more successful coping responses . Consequently , this could lead to an improved performance within the team or athlete being coached . This is something that we also recommend for future researchers who wish to adopt the use of Think Aloud as a coach development tool .
Key points
• Think Aloud is an effective measure of stress and coping for football coaches .
• Football coaches ’ stressors , during competition , span over performance , opposition , officiating , coaching performance , player welfare and organisational-related stressors .
• Football coaches cope with such stressors by mainly dealing with the problem itself directly ( concentration , planning , technical correction ) or through focusing on the emotional aspect of the situation ( positive talk , venting emotion , acceptance and relaxation ).
• Football coaches may benefit from adopting certain psychological techniques to cope with stress during competitive match coaching .
28