Optimal development of young male volleyball players through transformational coach leadership

Abstract

Leadership styles of coaches affect athletes’ sport and social skills. Recently, transformational leadership gained recognition as a beneficial, motivational and inspirational coaching style. Our study attempts to extend the understanding of transformational leadership in Polish youth sport through investigation of whether a transformational coach can lead a team effectively, while simultaneously contributing to athletes’ well-being and high performance. A male volleyball coach and twelve male volleyball players (15‒16 years old) participated in a study consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observations. The results showed that characteristics of a transformational coach had an influence on athletes’ intrinsic motivation and involvement in training, and they served as means of satisfying the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.