Resilience in Youth Sport: A Qualitative Investigation of Gymnastics Coach and Athlete Perceptions

Abstract

Sport presents an opportunity for young people to experience the joys of success and cope with setbacks to develop resilient behaviours. However, there is a lack of clarity about how sport can cultivate resilience, particularly within a female youth gymnastics context. The purpose of this study was to investigate gymnast and coach perceptions about the development of resilience through gymnastics participation. Underpinned by a qualitative framework, 22 female gymnasts and seven gymnastics coaches participated in semi-structured interviews. Data analysis revealed that aspects of the gymnastics environment created stress and exposed gymnasts to many challenges in training and competition. Features of the sport environment, such as interpersonal relationships and positive coach behaviours, supported gymnasts through these challenges and encouraged them to overcome failure. Gymnastics participation was perceived to develop resilience, as well as life skills, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. The findings support the notion that youth sport may be an appropriate avenue for the development of resilience and have implications for future coaching practice.

La resiliencia en entrenadores de Pádel Adaptado

“…These results agree with studies on the effect on the self-efficacy of the feedback offered by coaches, where it is found that moderate negative feedback can have a negative modulating effect on the perception of the athlete's effectiveness and on their capacity for coping (De la Vega, Ruiz-Barquín, Fuentealba & Ortín, 2012b, De la Vega, Ruiz-Barquín, Batista, Ortín & Giesenow, 2012c. In addition to the study by White and Bennie (2015), a study by Howard and Johnson (2004), should also be highlighted which focuses on the characteristics that teachers have in dealing with stressful situations, instead of focusing on those who have suffered acute episodes of burnout, finding, among other relevant results, that high scores in resilience, measure the link between work stress and potential burnout, this being of interest in current research in sports psychology (De Francisco, Garcés de los Fayos & Arce, 2014, Harris & Watson, 2014, Mandigan, Stoebery Passfield, 2015, Vitali, Bortili, Bertinato, Robazza, & Schena, 2015.…”

“…This data highlights important gaps in knowledge about this matter, particularly relevant being the development of specific studies, since it is coaches who spend more time and have more interaction with the athletes and who are ultimately responsible for maximizing the possibilities of expression and development of resilience in these athletes. The qualitative study by White and Bennie (2015) stands out, with 7 coaches of 22 female gymnasts, finding that environment characteristics, interpersonal relations and the trainer's positive behavior all help in the optimal coping of adverse situations. These results agree with studies on the effect on the self-efficacy of the feedback offered by coaches, where it is found that moderate negative feedback can have a negative modulating effect on the perception of the athlete's effectiveness and on their capacity for coping (De la Vega, Ruiz-Barquín, Fuentealba & Ortín, 2012b, De la Vega, Ruiz-Barquín, Batista, Ortín & Giesenow, 2012c.…”

Effect of Physical Conditioning on Student Basic Skills Gymnastics

“…Gymnastics is one of the sports activities that is taught to sports students (Coppola, Vastola, Scatigna, & Fabiani, 2015). Gymnastics is a game that consists of quite a few disciplines: creative gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, cardio gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics and tramp lining (White & Bennie, 2015). In addition to an extremely right vary of youthful gymnasts taking part in gymnastics; the variety of male athletes competing at the amusement and collegiate tiers is reportedly on the rise.…”

Long-term impact of the coach-athlete relationship on development, health, and wellbeing: stories from a figure skater

“…Some research shows that early specialisation sports can create positive development (Fraser-Thomas & Côté, 2009;Fraser-Thomas, Cote, & Deakin, 2005;Holt & Neely, 2011;Stirling, Cruz, & Kerr, 2012), including in artistic sports (White & Bennie, 2015). However, the majority of empirical literature, and in recent years frequent media reports and personal disclosures, tell of the negative impact artistic sports have on athletes.…”