Trust and distrust in coaching: Better understanding sporting relationships

目的和研究问题本研究的目的是探索运动教练中信任的性质。这一总体目标将通过五个相关的研究问题来解决；1.什么可以被定义为教练和运动员之间的信任？2.运动员和教练通过什么方式发展信任关系，这些关系在实践中是什么样子的？3.教练、运动员和环境之间的信任/不信任是如何表现出来的？4.个人如何证明自己值得信任？5.当信任被认为被打破时，如何进行修复工作？项目的重要性在过去的十年里，教练越来越多地被描述为情景构建的，包括无数社会参与者之间在环境中协商的互动(例如，Santos，Jones&Mesquita，2013)。然而，作为这种关系议程的一部分，还没有涉及到的一个方面是信任；也就是，存在于指导环境中的信任(或不信任)，它使活动能够或阻止活动发挥作用。鉴于信任被认为是发展建设性关系的重要功能，这似乎是一种无端的忽视(Purdy，Potrac&Nelson，2013)。同样，考虑到信任构成了所有牢固关系的基石(Reina&Reina，2006；Hardin，2002)，理解与信任和不信任相关的概念，如承诺、交换、不可预测性、能力、可信度和意愿，在教练实践中似乎具有相当大的价值。该项目的主要意义在于更好地把握教练、运动员和环境之间的时间关系相互作用，特别是与信任概念有关的关系(Rompf，2015)。在这方面，我们超越了‘什么是信任’的问题。关于“哪种信任，如何信任，何时信任？”在促进我们对教练实践中的信任的理解方面有相当大的价值。对于教练和教练教育工作者来说，这项研究的另一个价值在于破译从业者经常渴望和声称的“文化变化”的各个方面。尽管这样的概念很流行，但除了修辞之外，它缺乏关键的真实性。因此，对信任本身的探索有可能阐明如何在给定的时间框架内切实地着手、发展和维持这种文化变化或创造。方法论将使用案例研究框架内的定性方法来解决已确定的研究问题。案例研究将包括在整个赛季(大约9-10个月)期间对一个团队体育俱乐部进行调查，重点将是观察、解释和质疑训练和比赛期间的教练实践。案例研究俱乐部将包括至少3-4名教练，以及各种支持人员。参与者俱乐部将在符合预定义标准的基础上使用有目的的抽样技术进行选择，从而被视为信息丰富(Patton，2002)。更具体地说，行动过程分析(Theureau，1992)将被用作更好地处理所涉非线性现象的复杂性(即，教练关系中信任的性质和发展)的一种手段。这种方法可以做到这一点，因为它试图从代理人与局势特征的关系的角度来描述和分析代理人的行动。在这方面，行动过程分析是一种视角，它增加了分析的重点，不仅包括单个行为者(S)或环境，还包括随着时间的推移这些因素之间发生的相互作用。因此，它能够检查教练和他们的合作伙伴看似直观的、计划外的行为。反过来，一旦收集到数据，就会对其进行转录、组织和分析，从而允许进行持续的解释和理解过程。

Aim and research questions The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of trust within sports coaching. This overarching aim will be addressed through five related research questions; 1. What can be defined as trust between and among coaches and athletes?2. By what means do athletes and coaches develop trusting relationships, and what do these look like in practice?3. How does trust/distrust manifest itself between coaches, athletes and context?4. How do individuals prove themselves to be trustworthy?5. How is the work of repair undertaken when trust is perceived to be broken?Significance of projectDuring the past decade, coaching has been increasingly depicted as situationally constructed, comprising negotiated interactions between a myriad of social actors in context (e.g., Santos, Jones & Mesquita, 2013). An aspect not yet engaged with as a part of this relational agenda, however, has been that of trust; that is, the trust (or distrust) that exists within coaching contexts which enables or inhibits the activity from working. This would appear an unwarranted neglect seeing that trust is deemed a vital function in the development of constructive relations (Purdy, Potrac & Nelson, 2013). Similarly, considering that trust forms the bedrock of all strong relationships (Reina & Reina, 2006; Hardin, 2002), an understanding of how notions related to trust and distrust, such as commitment, exchange, unpredictability, competence, trustworthiness and willingness, apply in coaching practice would appear to hold sizeable worth.The principal significance of the project lies in better grasping the temporal relational interplay between coaches, athletes and context, particularly in relation to notions of trust (Rompf, 2015). In this respect, moving beyond questions of 'what is trust?' toward 'which trust, how and when?' holds considerable value in progressing our understanding of trust as related to coaches' practice. A further value of the study, for coaches and coach educators alike, lies in deciphering aspects of the 'culture change' often desired and claimed by practitioners. Despite its prevalence, such a notion lacks a critical authenticity beyond rhetoric. Consequently, an exploration of trust per se, holds the potential to shed light on how such culture change or creation can be realistically embarked upon, developed and maintained within a given time frame.MethodologyQualitative methods within a case-study framework will be used to address the identified research questions. The case-study will comprise a team sports club being investigated over the course of a full season (circa 9-10 months), where the focus will be upon observing, interpreting and questioning coaching practice during both training and competition. The case study club will comprise at least 3-4 coaches, in addition to various support staff. The participant club will be selected using purposive sampling techniques on the basis that it meets pre-defined criteria, thus being regarded as 'information-rich' (Patton, 2002). More specifically, course of action analysis (Theureau, 1992) will be used as a means to better engage with the complexity of the non-linear phenomenon in question (i.e., the nature and development of trust in coaching relationships). Such a method can do so, as it seeks to describe and analyse the actions of agents from their point of view in relation to the characteristics of the situation. In this respect, course of action analysis is a perspective that increases the focus of analysis to include more than just the individual actor(s) or the environment, to the interaction that occurs between these elements over time. Hence, it enables the examination of the seemingly intuitive, unplanned actions of coaches and those they work with. In turn, the collected data will be transcribed, organised and analysed as soon as they have been collected, thus allowing an on-going process of interpretation and sense making.