Introduction
In most industrialized Western countries, and particularly in North America, coaches are trained as if there are no gender differences. There are gender differences in physiology, psychology, and socialization. As a result of societal gender role expectations and genetic influences, men and women often prefer different approaches to teaching and learning. These preferences can have an impact on the way in which athletes experience and ultimately perform in a competitive sports environment. Society has always invested in male sports and competition. This can be seen from the time of the Ancient Greeks up to now, with sports starting out as mainly or exclusively for men. Women are socialized in our society to be less competitive and less physically aggressive than men. Given the history of our society and the stereotypes that have evolved, it is not surprising that both females and males prefer male-oriented competition styles in team and individual sports. Although there are differences in individual sports versus team sports in terms of preferred coaching styles, as more and more data become available to researchers, there is increasing evidence that differences also exist within team sports. When coaching is less caring and less ethical in nature, male athletes' self-esteem increases, despite this coaching style having some slightly negative effects on these same males. It is often suggested that neglecting these gender differences in the team coaching process can have significant consequences at the team and individual levels. This manuscript takes a closer look at identifying these gender differences for those who coach team sports.
Requirements of Male Athletes
Coaching a male athlete in a team sport is a complex and demanding task. The physical and psychological requirements of being a successful player differ from those typically associated with females participating in sports. Physiologically, male players typically exhibit the advantages of greater strength and power, improved techniques and skills with the ball, and a higher potential for anaerobic endurance attributes such as explosive strength and speed. Despite these advantages, female athletes have above-average strength in comparison to non-athletes. Males are generally more susceptible to injury due to their larger body mass, while female athletes with larger body mass also possess endocrine, metabolic, and lower extremity biomechanical differences that may increase the likelihood of injury. Males are generally taller; therefore, landing forces may be proportionally greater, which can contribute to an increased injury rate. Similar to females, males still possess commonalities in physical requirements specific to sports, including agility, quickness, balance, coordination, and functional movement.
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Many coaching staff realize male athletes' competitiveness, self-motivation, and accomplishment, which are beneficial for training and maintaining results while being critical to the strength of overall team unity. Furthermore, a result-oriented behavior from male players is a natural motivator encouraging the team to achieve both minor and extended team goals in training, competition, and continual improvement. Aggression is intrinsically linked with competitions, and the education of appropriate displays delivered by these individuals directed as a benefit to the team is highly influential. Aggression is one of the more important psychological traits for success in team sports. At the elite male level, aggression is a crucial psychological factor determining team outcomes in high-level competition. Development and understanding in some of these areas and their impact on the training environment can improve both individual athlete output and team results. Heightened aggression in males compared to females may suggest aggression as an influential factor for overall team success through a climate of psychological factors, including increased competitiveness and goal orientation, and competitiveness within female athletes and their sub-groups in particular. There are many differences between aggressive and non-aggressive athletes, notably their personality and motivation. Coaches can use aggressive attitudes of players to instill competition among players, between individual competition within a team, and anticipation of the opponent. In a similarly competitive team sports environment with the exclusion of physical contact, state-level women are more task-oriented while still expressing significant former state and lower standard female competitiveness compared to men. Successful coaching practice needs to differentiate the needs of team sports individuals in their education of players in the characteristics of elite participation nationally as they lead into their teams. Injury rates, coaching outcomes, and motivational enhancement are all reflective of aggressive attitudes and above results of males in the competitive environment. Managing men's sporting clubs can be complex, and in this perspective, injury rates have regularly been shown to be higher in males associated with 'toughness' and masculine traits in Australian footballers. In summary, understanding these differences in your playing group and how to deal with them can be integral in dealing with them as a coach and leading them to reach their full potential.
Requirements of Female Athletes
While the physical and psychological requirements of women require both similar and distinct differences from their male counterparts, biological differences have important implications for women. Physiologically, female athletes are generally more flexible than their male counterparts. Also, women have more slow-twitch muscle fibers than men, and they can endure low to medium continuous intensity work for long periods. On the other hand, women have a higher body fat percentage than men, which affects their energy expenditure, thermoregulation, readiness, and recovery. More specifically, this makes it possible to prevent and treat ailments such as low estrogen levels in women, infertility, osteoporosis, and menstrual irregularities. Finally, female athletes typically have a faster relative heart rate and longer recovery pulse rates than their male counterparts.
Psychological differences must be analyzed with a focus on gender schemas and mentalizing processes because they mediate the relationship between biological sex and psychosocial factors. For example, through gender role teaching, women expect to be more relationship-oriented, having high social concerns, experiencing feelings of inferiority related to professional success or progressive professional positions, and being concerned with physical appearance and attractiveness. Girls' self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-image problems are mainly caused by these social techniques. Girls grow up in a world of splendor, especially the public condemnation of media culture, and are willing to accept these ornaments as a way to enhance their attractiveness and, ultimately, increase their social worth. Female athletes face very different psychological, physiological, and physical experiences in team sports, in healthy, non-threatening, and caring environments, because of important needs.
Effective Coaching Strategies
Conversely, an integrated set of strategies for both female and male sports environments has been compiled for coaches. Developing respect for individual ability is necessary to foster a team environment. Not all male and female athletes have the same gender-linked needs: customization for each will prove beneficial in both enabling their sports development and enhancing the performance of the overall sports team. Mental skills training, such as imagery, self-talk, concentration, and relaxation, can also be instructed in a manner that is adjusted to coincide with an athlete’s preferred strategy and not on their gender. Effective listening skills and appropriate relationship-building qualities are also worth communicating to those instructing female and male athletes, as athletes have reported the importance of such attributes when asked for qualities they seek in a sport coach. Recommendations from female athletes in this regard have centered on encouraging coach education in relation to the recognition and valuing of gender-inclusive training, excluding any form of marginalization or subordination, and refined approaches for gender equity.
Educating training coaches in specifically female and male gender-related sports topics will be extremely important in encouraging the use of such strength training principles. Encouraging ongoing education and the associated raising of awareness about such topics is worthwhile, as athletes have also reported enhanced value of coaches with strong communication skills across both domains. It is strongly advised that attempts for improvement in strength development training be considered in a manner that includes the establishment of coach motivation and confidence training programs through the education process, examination of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, and the collective development of gender-sensitive protocols combining appropriate training and assessment. It is proposed that such structural changes to theory and practice concepts in this regard will improve the effectiveness of such coach educational processes.
Conclusion and Future Directions
This review provides an overview of the available research on gender differences in coaching team sports. We consider three important areas of focus for coaches of male and female athletes: nutrition, exercise, and harassment. Although coaching literature in sport and exercise science is male-dominated, men and women have biological differences. It is therefore important for coaches to be aware of these differences as they may influence the coaching process. For example, women report working three times as hard as men to overcome training and coaching issues, and female athletes are more likely to suffer from overuse injuries than male athletes. Establishing trust, developing good relationships with both athlete and parent, and effective communication are key to reducing stress and promoting positive coaching experiences. Coaches can have a profound impact on the long-term, holistic development of their athletes.
Reviewing the coaching literature to identify gender differences is just the start of research in this area. A more comprehensive understanding can be developed by interviewing coaches of female teams and coaches of both genders to triangulate findings. In addition to the informative value of these interviews, the data would also assess if there are any gender differences specifically related to this topic. Future analyses can also consider the institutional level by interviewing, for example, lecturers in sports coaching degrees. Is there any preventative work being done in terms of differing gender coaching styles and cross-sex coaching experiences? Further, recent evidence has concluded female athletes and male athletes may have different neurological processes. Finally, as new research is being published all the time, it would be valuable to conduct an updated version of this review in five years or so to appraise and synthesize the latest evidence.
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