Applying the 5Cs model for coach training: An example of evidence-based practice

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to develop and implement an evidence-based education programme aimed at enhancing roller-hockey coaches’ coaching effectiveness to optimize players’ psychosocial development. This professional experience describes how the GEPE (Research Group in Sport and Exercise Psychology) developed their consultancy work after receiving the demand from the roller-hockey club by following the five steps proposed in the GEPE Model of Evidence-Based Practice: (a) literature update about scientific and applied evidence regarding the coaches’ influence in their players, (b) assessing the needs of the club and the coaches, (c) development of an education program with the objective of teaching coaches how to promote the 5Cs (i.e., commitment, communication, concentration, control, and confidence) of the players’ psychosocial development, (d) assessment of the program, and (e) monitoring of the program’s effects through the time. The education program consisted of 5 sessions (i.e., one for each C) and the number of coaches attending to every workshop ranged from 6 to 12. Participants’ satisfaction, assessed after every workshop, showed that coaches’ expectations were fulfilled, and they considered that the program offered an appropriate setting to share experiences between them. However, coaches felt that more practical exercises were needed. This work can be used as a guide for sport psychology practitioners wanting to increase rigor by integrating scientific evidence into their applied practice, besides adding research evidence to the sport psychology field by publishing these experiences.