Question: which aspects of relationships support sportsmen/women in achieving excellence?

Sam Carr answered on 14 Jun 2017:

Well, there’s quite a lot of evidence that coaches, for example, have a massive influence on the motivation and self-confidence levels of athletes – and it’s all to do with the environment the coach creates. Coaches who make athletes feel incompetent (an non-supportive environment), who control athletes and give them no sense of input into what they’re doing (a controlling environment), and who make the athlete feel like a pawn in a game (i.e., not cared about or respected) tend to have created a relationship with the athlete that ultimately switches the athlete off – this tends to translate into dampened motivation and lack of self-confidence and enthusiasm.