Correlations assessed relationships between the total
APCS score along with its subscales and the total
scores from the Task and Ego Orientation
Questionnaire, Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28,
Athletic Coachability Scale, and Rosenberg’s SelfEsteem Scale. Details are shown in the Tables below.
ABSTRACT
This study details the construction and assessment of the
Athletic Performance Coachability Scale (APCS); an
instrument designed to measure athletes’ cognitive and
behavioral processing of coaching instruction, and the
degree that coaches and other contextual influences
affect this processing. The APCS also helps measure the
relationship between coachability and performance.
Measuring Athlete Coachability
Michael J. Miller & Regan A. R. Gurung
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Spearman’s rho Correlations Between
RESULTS
APCS components/ APCS total and ACS, TEOSQ, R-SE and ACSI-28 Totals
A principle component factor analysis resulted in seven
components accounting for 73% of the response variance of
participants. These components were labeled: trust/respect for
coach, social assimilation, discipline /intensity of effort, creative
adaptability, evaluation apprehension, equanimity, and openness
to learn. 46% of respondents ranked discipline and mood, 35%
ranked environment, and 32% ranked coach as either the first or
second most influential contextual factor that mediated their
coachability.
Athletic Performance Coachability Scale (APCS)
INTRODUCTION
Coachable is a term used consistently by coaches and
researchers alike to describe athletes that display an openness
to learn and develop quickly in their respective sports (Gould,
Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002). Despite the pioneering work
done by Peter Giacobbi (2000) in the creation of the Athletic
Coachability Scale (ACS), the definition and conception of
coachability has remained incomplete in the realm of sport
psychology due to statistical and conceptual shortcomings
within the ACS.
The study of coachability entails the examination of both
personality and motivational traits of athletes. I created the
athletic performance coachability scale (APCS) as a means to
uncover the differences between athletes’ cognitive and
behavioral responses to coaching instruction- in essence, to
measure their varying degrees of coachability. The APCS is a
23-item questionnaire combined with a rank ordering section
to measure the impact of contextual influences.
METHOD
The APCS was administered to NCAA student athletes and
college students with High School sport experience (N=74)
along with four other scales: the Athletic Coachability Scale
(ACS) (Giacobbi, 2000), Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)
(Gosling et. al., 2003), Task and Ego Orientation in Sport
Questionnaire (TEOSQ) (Duda & Nicholls, 1992), Rosenberg’s
Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989), and the Athletic Coping
Skills Inventory (ACSI-28) (Smith et. al., 1995).
Subscales
Contextual Influences
Trust & Respect for Coach
Social Assimilation
Discipline & Intensity of Effort
Creative Adaptability
Evaluation Apprehension
Openness to Learn
Discipline / Mood
Environment
Coach
Family
Teammates
Total APCS
Score
Trust & Respect
For Coach
Social
Assimilation
Discipline &
Effort
Creative
Adaptability
Evaluation
Apprehension
Emotional
Equanimity
Openness to
Learn
Athletic
Coachability
Scale
.58**
Athletic
Coping
Skills Inv.
Task
Orientation
Ego
Orientation
Rosenberg’s Self
Esteem Scale
.26*
-.02
.29*
.23
.08
.32*
.55**
.59**
.15
-.23
.24*
.34**
.42**
.22
.18
.21
.41**
.44**
.35**
-.01
-.01
.39**
.31**
-.12
-.18
.00
-.12
.13
.17
-.09
.25*
.41**
.48**
.04
.08
-.05
.34**
.02
.64**
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Several significant correlations were found between APCS components
and personality traits represented by the TIPI big five subcategories of
extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and
openness to experience.
Spearman’s rho Correlations Between APCS & TIPI Subscales
Extraversion
Trust & Respect
.16
For Coach
Social
.24*
Assimilation
Discipline &
.12
Effort
Creative
.26*
Adaptability
Evaluation
-.30*
Apprehension
Emotional
.12
Equanimity
Openness to
-.07
Learn
Agreeableness
.32**
Emotional
Conscientiousness Stability
.21
.36**
Openness to
Experience
.15
.25*
.35**
.05
.11
.10
.18
.15
.19
.05
.07
.06
.49**
.10
.13
-.01
-.13
.16
.03
.33**
.22
-.05
-.01
-.14
.07
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
DISCUSSION
The current test of the convergent and divergent validity of the APCS
suggest this new scale supplements and enhances current measurements of
coachability. Results support a seven component conceptualization
of coachability (APCS), characterized by athlete’s motivation and
personality characteristics, in particular their trust and respect for
their coach, ability to interact with social influences, discipline and
intensity of effort, ability to creatively adapt to situations, openness
to learn, mood regulation, and how much they are affected by their
perceptions of being evaluated- all within a coaching construct (i.e.
developing through some form of coaching instructions).
Presented at the 2005 American Psychological Society’s Annual
Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Email millmj04@uwgb.edu for more details.