Perception of conflict between athletes and coaches: A systematic review

Abstract

Conflict is an integral part of sport, and it implies a normal occurrence in communication and relationship between athletes and coaches. The main aim of this paper was to present a conflict analysis of the coach-athletes relationship, but also its impact on the achievement of sports results. The review article analyzed nine works that directly studied interpersonal relationships between coaches and athletes. Research results suggest that conflict is evident and inevitable, as well as expected since coaches spend a lot of time with athletes, and pass through the training process, but also the competition period when athletes are exposed to greater pressure because of the competition itself. Timely response and adequate response to conflict can greatly contribute to improving relations and even better sports results.