Professor Brendan Cropley outlines the importance of exploring how high peformances coaches can manage and improve their own performance, particularly given the considerable demands of the job and their wider personal life.

Find out more: southwales.ac.uk/research

Welcome to Sixty Second Spotlight. I’m Dr Brendan Cropley, Professor of Sport Coaching at the University of South Wales. Through the field of sport psychology, my research focuses on understanding the concept of performance in coaching.

Recently, researchers have rightly argued that coaches should be considered as performers in their own right. This is because sport coaching has become recognised as a stressful and complex profession.

Specifically, coaches have to manage a range of personal and interpersonal demands coupled with long working hours and high levels of job insecurity, whilst being ultimately accountable for the performance of their athletes.

As for all individuals working in any industry, the ability to cope with such demands impacts their own personal and professional functioning – and certainly the job has been found to lead to personal health-related costs.

Consequently, we have developed an interest in understanding the mental well-being of those working in sport and how coaches can manage their well-being as a way of enhancing their personal and professional performance.

Our research has uncovered that performance through managing psychological well-being can be improved by developing purpose, growth and mastery, connecting with the right people and autonomy by taking control over our developmental journey.