Developing Students’ Psychological Readiness to Make Decisions in Extreme Coaching Situations

Abstract

Most prospective coaches are not fully ready to manage sports teams under extreme conditions and cannot make quick decisions in difficult situations. The article aims to develop students’ psychological readiness to make decisions in extreme coaching situations. The formative experiment involved 50 students (25 respondents in the experimental group; 25 respondents in the control group). It became possible to develop operational readiness in prospective coaches by conducting special classes on the development of decision-making skills, self-reflection, self-regulation (theoretical classes and a set of exercises aimed at developing the necessary qualities). The final stage of the experiment shows that the number of EG students with a high level of anxiety has decreased by 16%. At the same time, the expert assessment shows that their capacity for self-regulation in extremely competitive situations has increased by 20%. The group of students’ leading motives includes the following: to achieve the set goals; to win; to enjoy the team’s victory; to prove oneself and test one’s abilities as a coach in extreme situations. In extreme professional situations, the leading motives behind coaches’ decisions involve achieving the set goals and enjoying the team’s victory. There were no significant differences in decision-making motivation among students (both males and females). However, almost every third student has a low level of motivation for competition.