"2009 Coach Survey Summary Results: Evolution of the Athlete Conference"

Collated by Liz Hanson, Client Director of Athlete Assessments

In your role as a coach, how much formal leadership training / development have you participated in during the last 2 years:

• 21% of coaches reported less than 1 day
• 31% of coaches reported between 2 and 4 days
• 48% of coaches reported more than 5 days

Do you have a coaching mentor or your own 'coaching coach' you work with on a consistent and regular basis

• 52% of coaches said No (they don't have a coaching mentor or 'coaching coach')
• 38% of coaches said monthly or less
• 17% of coaches said fortnightly or more frequently

79% of coaches use the internet to research coaching advice or ways to improve their coaching, on average of 7 times per month.

When taking on a new athlete, the methods coaches rely on to get a strong understanding of the athlete, include:

• 96% Informal chats with the athlete, on average of 2-3 hours over the first few weeks
• 59% Meet with or phone their parents and/or family, on average 1-2 hours over the first few weeks
• 37% Formal Interviews with the athlete, on average of 1-2 hours over the first few weeks
• 37% Meet with or phone their previous coach, on average of 1 hours over the first few weeks
• 33% You watch previous video footage of their participation in their sport
• 30% Athlete completes some form of psychological, personality and behavioural testing
• 26% Athlete completes a detailed questionnaire devised by the coach
• 19% Meet with or phone other sports related people, on average 2 hours over the first few weeks
• 15% You have a meal with your new athlete outside of normal training time
• 4% You do a media search for news articles

To view the Coach Survey Results from the 2008 Evolution of the Athlete Conference covering what coaches' biggest challenges are and what are the characteristics of a phenomenal coach, click here