The Relationship between Leadership Styles of Coaches and Satisfaction of Iranian Elite Judo Players

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between leadership styles of coaches and satisfaction of Iranian elite judo players which was carried out by a descriptive – correlation field method. The statistical population of this study consisted of all 162 judo players of premier league in Iran. Statistical sample consisted of 125 judo players based on Morgan sample size table. In order to collect data، demographic questionnaire، Leadership Scale for Sport (α=0. 95) and athletes'' satisfaction questionnaire (α=0. 94) were used. Descriptive methods were used to analyze the data and in order to determine the relationship، a multivariate regression was used. Data analysis showed a significant relationship between the leadership styles of coaches and the players'' satisfaction (P<0. 05). Also، the findings showed a significant positive relationship between democratic leadership style and the athletes'' satisfaction (P<0. 05). But، there was no significant relationship between leadership styles of social support، training and instruction positive feedback and authoritarian on the one hand and the satisfaction of the players on the other hand (P˂0. 05). Generally، leadership styles of coaches were important predictors of athletes'' satisfaction. Hence، it can be stated that coaches can play an important role in forming the athletes'' satisfaction.