Closeness, co-orientation and complementarity in coach–athlete relationships: What male swimmers say about their male coaches

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to study the quality of the coach–athlete relationship. Utilising the three interpersonal constructs of closeness, co-orientation, and complementarity [Jowett, S. (2003). When the ‘honeymoon’ is over: a case study of a coach–athlete dyad in crisis. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 444–460; Jowett, S. & Meek, G. A. (2000). The coach–athlete relationship in married couples: an exploratory content analysis. The Sport Psychologist, 14, 157–175] as a framework to guide our exploration, athletes' perceptions of the relationship quality with their coaches were explored.MethodParticipants were five male swimmers from the Swiss national swimming team. All five athletes held international titles and were preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed to obtain qualitative data. The responses of the athletes were content analysed.ResultsThe results show that the coach–athlete relationship plays an important role for the swimmers investigated. The relationship comprised essential coach–athlete requirements and social relationship (closeness), communication and setting of objectives/goals (co-orientation), as well as acceptance and respect of roles (complementarity). It was revealed that swimmers placed great importance in maintaining good relations with their coach.ConclusionThe content analysis has highlighted the nature of the coach–athlete relationship in an individual sport (swimming) in the context of the three interpersonal constructs of closeness, co-orientation and complementarity. The type of relationship formed as reported from the male athletes was personal and caring, and played a central role in improving performance. Theoretical considerations and difficulties in classifying some 10% of the responses lead to the conclusion that, from a conceptual point of view, the constructs have to be re-examined.