Coaches

In sport, coaches and athletes work closely together and often form long-term, mutually dependent relationships. The manner in which coaches and athletes interact can have a profound impact upon the effectiveness of their training sessions. Their relationship may directly of indirectly influence such factors as personal satisfaction, enjoyment, motivation, and performance. the aim of this chapter is to provide a critical overview of this area with explicit focus on the 3+1 Cs conceptual model. This chapter will define the coach-athlete relationship and provide an overview of how this relationship has been conceptualised. Moreover, aspects that may potentially contribute to developing the quality and effectiveness of coach-athlete relationships will be discussed. Finally, practical methods for developing and maintaining a harmonious relationship will be examined

When Does Learning in Games Generate Convergence to Nash Equilibria? The Role of Supermodularity in an Experimental Setting

This study clarifies the conditions under which learning in games produces convergence to Nash equilibria in practice. Previous work has identified theoretical conditions under which various stylized learning processes achieve convergence. One technical condition is supermodularity, which is closely related to the more familiar concept of strategic complementarities. We experimentally investigate the role of supermodularity in achieving convergence through learning. Using a game from the literature on solutions to externalities, we systematically vary a free parameter below, close to, at and beyond the threshold of supermodularity to assess its effects on convergence. We find that supermodular and ¡°near-supermodular¡± games converge significantly better than those far below the threshold. From a little below the threshold to the threshold, the improvement is statistically insignificant. Within the class of supermodular games, increasing the parameter far beyond the threshold does not significantly improve convergence. Simulation shows that while most experimental results persist in the long run, some become more pronounced.learning, supermodular games

Initial evidence for the criterion-related and structural validity of the long versions of the direct and meta-perspectives of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 Taylor & Francis.The aim of the present study was to develop and initially validate a longer version of the direct (Jowett & Ntoumanis, 2004) and meta-perspectives (Jowett, 2009a, 2009b) of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q). In Study 1, instruments (e.g. questionnaires, scales, and inventories) that have been used to assess relationship quality in the broader psychological literature were examined and items potentially relevant to the coach-athlete relationship were identified. The content validity of the identified items was then assessed using expert panels. A final questionnaire was subsequently prepared and administered to 693 participants (310 coaches and 383 athletes). Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the multidimensional nature of the questionnaire based on the 3Cs (i.e. closeness, commitment, and complementarity) model of the coach-athlete relationship. The findings indicated that the direct and meta-perspective items of the long versions of the CART-Q approached an adequate data fit. Moreover, evidence for the internal consistency and criterion validity of the new instruments was also obtained. In Study 2, the newly developed measure was administered to an independent sample of 251 individuals (145 athletes and 106 coaches). Further statistical support was gained for the factorial validity and reliability of the longer version of the CART-Q

Emergence of Hierarchy on a Network of Complementary Agents

Complementarity is one of the main features underlying the interactions in biological and biochemical systems. Inspired by those systems we propose a model for the dynamical evolution of a system composed by agents that interact due to their complementary attributes rather than their similarities. Each agent is represented by a bit-string and has an activity associated to it; the coupling among complementary peers depends on their activity. The connectivity of the system changes in time respecting the constraint of complementarity. We observe the formation of a network of active agents whose stability depends on the rate at which activity diffuses in the system. The model exhibits a non-equilibrium phase transition between the ordered phase, where a stable network is generated, and a disordered phase characterized by the absence of correlation among the agents. The ordered phase exhibits multi-modal distributions of connectivity and activity, indicating a hierarchy of interaction among different populations characterized by different degrees of activity. This model may be used to study the hierarchy observed in social organizations as well as in business and other networks.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, submitte

A Preference-Theoretic Methodology for Nonmarket Goods

A methodology for nonmarket goods is presented based on preference algebra and set theory that allows us to specify exactly when preference assumptions such as weak complementarity can be tested against revealed preference information. Revealed preference is insufficient for welfare analysis involving state preference variables such as nonmarket goods. The preference and set-theoretic structure presented here is specifically designed to characterize the minimal additional preference information necessary for exact welfare analysis, and also provides a common basis for specifying the many context-specific methods that have been proposed for closing the information gap (whether or not they provide this minimal information). The paper closes with examples demonstrating how this structure can be used as a methodology for working with assumptions about preference structure, focusing on when such assumptions can be tested against revealed preference. This includes an extended examination of weak complementarity and related issues, followed by five shorter examples including two types of repackaging for price indices and the new and disappearing goods problem.