Perceived Leadership Behavior and Motivational Climate as Antecedents of Adolescent Athletes’ Skill Development

In two studies, the relationship between adolescent athletes’ skill development and perceived coach behavior as well as motivation climate was investigated. In Study 1, 119 (61 male, 58 female) competitive swimmers from various clubs with a mean age of 12.5 years responded twice with a one year interval to the Leadership Scale for Sports and the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire. Skill level was estimated from performance criteria like level of competition, and years of practice. In Study 2, 212 junior athletes (136 male, 76 female) of individual and team sports with a mean age of 15 years completed the same questionnaires twice within 4 months. Skill level was estimated by the coaches on several rating scales. Contrary to expectations and research, coach behavior in Study 1 was perceived similarly across varying skill levels. Longitudinal data showed a positive relationship between perceived coach behavior (instruction and positive feedback) and swimmers’ skill development. In Study 2, opposite patterns of relationships for individual and team sports were found. Skill development of team sport athletes was predicted by higher perceived social support and less instruction, whereby individual sport athletes’ skill development was predicted by less perceived social support, more