LO2 Know the importance of psychological factors in leading sports activities
Psychological factors perform a major role when conducting sporting activities especially in world
wide matches such as the premier league. In this coursework, I will be investigating the importance
of psychological factors in leading sporting activity. There are three types of leadership styles,
autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire1.
What style it is What sporting activity it suits the
best
Autocratic This approach is suitable when
⮚ With an autocratic approach,
playing in teams however this may
leaders take complete control and sometimes cause the team insurgent
tend to make decisions for the against their coach.
team, rather than asking for their
input2.
⮚ Effective in team sports with large
numbers.
⮚ This approach tend to have a more
winning focus
⮚ The training structure is inflexible
⮚ More preferable towards older
players
Democratic This approach is suitable for
⮚ The democratic leadership style is
individual sporting activity as the
when a leader determines what is individual can set their own goals and
needed to be done, explains this, targets.
seeks feedback from the
team/players and then decides
how to proceed3.
⮚ More preferable towards younger
players as it helps them develop a
sense of control and focus on
preparing for an autocratic
coaching approach.
Laissez-Faire This approach is suitable for both
⮚ The Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
individual and team sporting activity
is when a leader does not take an
active approach. A laissez-faire
leader may decide what needs to
be done but will then seek advice
from athletes and then enable
athletes to make the decision4.
⮚ Builds a pleasant environment
1 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-organizationalbehavior/chapter/leadership-styles/
2 https://www.thriveability.co.uk/blog/3-main-leadership-styles-and-their-benefits
3 https://www.leadershipandsport.com/leadership-styles-in-sports-coaching/
4 https://www.leadershipandsport.com/leadership-styles-in-sports-coaching/
, which leads to players feeling
confident and comfortable to
practice their skills; this also allows
the coach to build a healthy
relationship with their players .
Autocratic leadership style is applied when playing in teams rather than playing individual sports.
The focus of this style is to win therefore it is more preferable by older players rather than younger
players. This is because older people have more experience which allows them to understand the
sports fundamentals. However, younger players do not have a lot of experience therefore they tend
to play for fun rather than winning; they do this by expressing their own views and ideas when
performing a particular sport. Furthermore, in sports psychology, some case studies identify that
gender can also impact on whether a team or individual prefers to follow this leadership style.
Democratic leadership is based on an individual's input therefore it can be used for teams as well as
individual sports. However, this leadership style is mostly preferred by individual sports performers
as this allows them to set their personal targets rather than focusing on the overall results. This
would allow the athlete to only focus on improving their own mindset and techniques and not worry
about others achieving their goals. Overall, this leadership can be suitable for both individual and
team sports as it increases self esteem and teamwork. Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests
younger athletes prefer this style because it allows them to have their own input and views.
Laissez-Faire focuses on teams naturally improving. This leadership style would allow the athlete to
build up confidence. This would benefit the team as they would be keen to show up at training
despite bad circumstances such as environmental and external factors. However, this depends on if
the athletes are mature enough to understand that they should focus on their goals which will assess
them to winning. Furthermore, if this leadership style is applied by young athletes then there would
be a high risk of injuring themself as they would want to challenge their full potential without being
mature enough and thinking about the sporting pressure it would cause on themself.
Leaders would circulate with different leadership styles depending on the circumstances and the
approach the athlete requires; for example, training and playing matches. Therefore, leadership
style is a behavioural process. This would help an athlete to adapt to different styles depending on
the situations; this can influence their athletes characteristics as well as views and choices. In order
to adapt to a leadership style the individual would go through many personality traits. For example,
an individual being a leader at the football Premier League may fail to inspire young athletes; this
could be a result of lack of experience or unable to influence or work with the certain age groups.
Adapting to a certain leadership style depends on which age, gender or experience group you'll be
working with. For example, an example of a good leader is Sir Alex Ferguson; he is able to adapt and
use all the leadership styles therefore enabling him to manage the teams performance.
Moreover, being a good leader also depends on the individual's personality. Therefore, the leader
would need to develop different personality traits and work on an individual's strengths and
weaknesses. This would benefit the leader as effective communication can be applied when
communicating with athletes or others such as other managers or public. This would result in a
better working environment as the communication would enable individuals to understand and
manage work. The type of communication a lender applies plays a huge role. For example, being
positive would create a comfortable environment which would allow the athletes to participate and
correlate. This would therefore make the sessions effective and easy.
Psychological factors perform a major role when conducting sporting activities especially in world
wide matches such as the premier league. In this coursework, I will be investigating the importance
of psychological factors in leading sporting activity. There are three types of leadership styles,
autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire1.
What style it is What sporting activity it suits the
best
Autocratic This approach is suitable when
⮚ With an autocratic approach,
playing in teams however this may
leaders take complete control and sometimes cause the team insurgent
tend to make decisions for the against their coach.
team, rather than asking for their
input2.
⮚ Effective in team sports with large
numbers.
⮚ This approach tend to have a more
winning focus
⮚ The training structure is inflexible
⮚ More preferable towards older
players
Democratic This approach is suitable for
⮚ The democratic leadership style is
individual sporting activity as the
when a leader determines what is individual can set their own goals and
needed to be done, explains this, targets.
seeks feedback from the
team/players and then decides
how to proceed3.
⮚ More preferable towards younger
players as it helps them develop a
sense of control and focus on
preparing for an autocratic
coaching approach.
Laissez-Faire This approach is suitable for both
⮚ The Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
individual and team sporting activity
is when a leader does not take an
active approach. A laissez-faire
leader may decide what needs to
be done but will then seek advice
from athletes and then enable
athletes to make the decision4.
⮚ Builds a pleasant environment
1 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-organizationalbehavior/chapter/leadership-styles/
2 https://www.thriveability.co.uk/blog/3-main-leadership-styles-and-their-benefits
3 https://www.leadershipandsport.com/leadership-styles-in-sports-coaching/
4 https://www.leadershipandsport.com/leadership-styles-in-sports-coaching/
, which leads to players feeling
confident and comfortable to
practice their skills; this also allows
the coach to build a healthy
relationship with their players .
Autocratic leadership style is applied when playing in teams rather than playing individual sports.
The focus of this style is to win therefore it is more preferable by older players rather than younger
players. This is because older people have more experience which allows them to understand the
sports fundamentals. However, younger players do not have a lot of experience therefore they tend
to play for fun rather than winning; they do this by expressing their own views and ideas when
performing a particular sport. Furthermore, in sports psychology, some case studies identify that
gender can also impact on whether a team or individual prefers to follow this leadership style.
Democratic leadership is based on an individual's input therefore it can be used for teams as well as
individual sports. However, this leadership style is mostly preferred by individual sports performers
as this allows them to set their personal targets rather than focusing on the overall results. This
would allow the athlete to only focus on improving their own mindset and techniques and not worry
about others achieving their goals. Overall, this leadership can be suitable for both individual and
team sports as it increases self esteem and teamwork. Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests
younger athletes prefer this style because it allows them to have their own input and views.
Laissez-Faire focuses on teams naturally improving. This leadership style would allow the athlete to
build up confidence. This would benefit the team as they would be keen to show up at training
despite bad circumstances such as environmental and external factors. However, this depends on if
the athletes are mature enough to understand that they should focus on their goals which will assess
them to winning. Furthermore, if this leadership style is applied by young athletes then there would
be a high risk of injuring themself as they would want to challenge their full potential without being
mature enough and thinking about the sporting pressure it would cause on themself.
Leaders would circulate with different leadership styles depending on the circumstances and the
approach the athlete requires; for example, training and playing matches. Therefore, leadership
style is a behavioural process. This would help an athlete to adapt to different styles depending on
the situations; this can influence their athletes characteristics as well as views and choices. In order
to adapt to a leadership style the individual would go through many personality traits. For example,
an individual being a leader at the football Premier League may fail to inspire young athletes; this
could be a result of lack of experience or unable to influence or work with the certain age groups.
Adapting to a certain leadership style depends on which age, gender or experience group you'll be
working with. For example, an example of a good leader is Sir Alex Ferguson; he is able to adapt and
use all the leadership styles therefore enabling him to manage the teams performance.
Moreover, being a good leader also depends on the individual's personality. Therefore, the leader
would need to develop different personality traits and work on an individual's strengths and
weaknesses. This would benefit the leader as effective communication can be applied when
communicating with athletes or others such as other managers or public. This would result in a
better working environment as the communication would enable individuals to understand and
manage work. The type of communication a lender applies plays a huge role. For example, being
positive would create a comfortable environment which would allow the athletes to participate and
correlate. This would therefore make the sessions effective and easy.
