Coaches who show compassion help athletes perform better

Elite sports – it’s all about endurance, resilience, and relentless competition, right? But what if coaches threw the concept of compassion into this challenging mix?

Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Struggle and hardship may not seem to blend with warmth and empathy, but that’s where a new study begs to differ.

Coaches’ take on compassion

The study argues against the perceived incongruity of compassion in top-level sports. The research probed into the perspectives of 12 coaches regarding the place and role of compassion in their work with elite athletes.

The interesting conclusion? There’s a broad agreement among these coaches, most of whom lead national teams, on the value of employing compassion.

Study lead author Emilia Backman is an expert in the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen.

“All of the high-performance coaches bought into the idea that using compassion has beneficial outcomes in their sporting environments. Many also feel it is something that they already practice in one way or another,” said Backman.

Compassion: A vital tool for coaches

Compassion in sports is more than just showing empathy. It plays a key psychological role by enabling coaches and others to understand the disappointment and adversities athletes experience and help alleviate their distress.

The study, titled “Compassion matters in elite sports environments: Insights from high-performance coaches,” was focused on interviews with 12 Danish coaches working at the highest level in ten sports.

“With this study, we have therefore moved the focus away from the individual athlete and zoomed out to look at the use of compassion in the entire sporting environment,” said Backman.

“The aim has been to explore how it can support athletes, especially in terms of lasting performance enhancement.”

Benefits of compassion: A coach’s perspective

During the study, coaches listed multiple benefits of incorporating compassion into their coaching strategies.

Compassion can prevent athletes from overly associating with unfavorable sporting outcomes. It can stimulate a deeper connection and understanding between the coach and athlete.

Compassion promotes unity and collaboration in otherwise competitive sports settings. It also helps coaches gain the trust they need to push athletes towards improved performances

Practicing compassion in sports

Despite acknowledging the merits, many coaches grapple with understanding what compassion implies in practice.

“While all the coaches believed compassion was beneficial for performance, they also expressed uncertainty on how and when to utilize compassion, indicating a need to find balance between support and challenge,” noted the researchers.

Backman emphasizes the importance of using compassion as an adaptable tool for different sporting contexts and situations.

“Sometimes the compassionate thing to do is to be able to push your athletes. The difficult aspect of that, like some of the coaches also mentioned, is finding this balance of doing one or the other.”

The stereotype: Compassion as softness

Backman also challenges the associated perception of compassion as a form of “softness” that could potentially breed complacent athletes.

“To act compassionately really requires wisdom, strength and commitment – and these are not soft values in my opinion,” said Backman.

“So even though compassion focuses on the more emotional aspects, I don’t think it is easy or ‘soft’ to incorporate. And it is not incompatible with sporting performance.”

Emphasizing the well-being of athletes

Some coaches worry about situations where compassion may seem misplaced. Backman emphasized that it’s possible to maintain a compassionate approach even during difficult conversations, respecting athletes and considering their perspectives.

“It’s definitely a contradiction in the sense that compassion typically focuses more on improving well-being and not so much on performance. But as said, the two things don’t have to be opposites,” noted Backman.

Her hope lies in embedding compassion knowledge into more training programs.

“I sense that sports organizations, at least in Denmark, are moving in a direction where they put even more emphasis on the well-being of their athletes,” said Backman. 

Future research directions

The study authors noted that future research should investigate the outcomes and consequences of compassion by using methods to investigate the impact of compassionate coaching over time.

“Furthermore, research in more naturalistic settings, such as training and competitions, could elucidate the role of compassion on an interpersonal and environmental level within the elite sport context.”

Who said sports couldn’t be compassionate? The playing field is gradually changing, and we may yet see a kinder, more empathetic world in elite sports.

The study is published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

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