Athletes’ Relationship Toward Coaches in Malaysia

In order to be successful in sports, coaches, and athletes must work together. As a result, they play an important role in maintaining their relationship.

This cross-sectional study determines the athletes’ relationship toward coaches in Malaysia.

This study included 168 male athletes and 195 female athletes. Archers made up the majority of the participants (12.4%), followed by athletes in athletics (8.8%), petanque (8.8%), and pencak silat (8.5%). An online survey was used, with two measures included: (a) demographics and (b) the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q).

According to the findings, the athletes have a stronger bond with their coaches. Furthermore, it revealed a significant difference in commitment between males and females and years of experience with a coach. Male athletes are more committed to their coaches than female athletes (t = 2.39, p = 0.02). Athletes who have trained with a coach for more than ten years are found to be more committed to their coach. (t = -2.52, p = 0.01). It reveals a significant difference in complementarity to training time per week (11-20 hours and 21-35 hours) between groups of athletes (F2, 360 = 3.03, p < 0.05).

Findings suggest that additional assessment, monitoring, and treatment plans be developed for athletes, particularly female athletes, and young athletes, to ensure that their psychosocial support is prioritized in the process of building a good social network in a relationship that involves processes to influence each other.