Assessing the Impact of Coaching Feedback Strategies on the Motivation and Performance of Elite Athletes

Research has consistently found that the type of feedback coaches provide their players with has a substantial impact on both the motivation and the performance of these athletes. Further, several studies have found that athletes’ motivation predicts sport performance. In order to optimize the performance of their athletes, coaches need to understand how various feedback strategies impact motivation and performance. The present study examined the relationship between coaching feedback, athletes’ motivation, and athletic performance from the perspective of self-determination theory. Feedback style was conceptualized in four categories: behavior-based corrective feedback, behavior-based supportive feedback, person-based corrective feedback, and person-based supportive feedback. Athlete motivation was conceptualized as intrinsic and extrinsic. Participants included 169 NCAA athletes (56.2% male) from Division I and III colleges and universities in the United States. This sample includes 35 golfers, 50 basketball players, and 84 baseball/softball players. All participants completed a survey reporting their perception of their coaches’ feedback style and their motivation. The commonly recorded individual performance statistics were used as the outcome measure. A factor analysis confirmed the four-factor structure of the perceived feedback scale and structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between feedback, motivation, and performance. The results revealed that athletes perceive a) more supportive than corrective feedback, b) that corrective feedback was more behavior-based than person-based, and c) that supportive feedback was more person-based than behavior-based. Additionally, Supportive person-based (β = -.22) and corrective person-based feedback (β = .18) were linked with intrinsic motivation. Both intrinsic (β = .13) and extrinsic motivation (β = .82) were related to athletic performance. Corrective person-based feedback had a significant indirect effect on performance through the mediation of intrinsic motivation (β = -.10). The findings from this study can inform coaches to use more supportive and less corrective person-based feedback to increase motivation and performance.