THE BEHAVIOR OF COACHES AMPUTEE SOCCER: STUDY BASED ON PERCEPTION OF ATHLETES

Abstract

Mário Simim Mário Simim, Renato Melo Ferreira, Eduardo Macedo Penna, Bruno Victor Correa da Silva

The aim of the study was to characterize the perception of soccer athletes for amputees in relation to the behaviour of their coaches. The study included 43 soccer athletes for amputees (mean age 33.0 ± 8.8 years and experience time of 7.5 ± 5.2 years) who answered to the ECT-A instrument. This instrument is divided into six dimensions: Physical Training (TP); Technical Training (TT); Mental preparation (PM); Establishment of objectives/ goals (ME); Positive Personal Reinforcement (RP); Negative Personal Reinforcement (RN). It was identified that the athletes presented higher perceptions for RP dimensions (5.19 ± 1.49) and TT (4.85 ± 1.49). In the comparison of the dimensions, it was verified that the RN dimension presented values inferior to the other dimensions (p <0.001). It was concluded that the behaviors of soccer coaches for amputees preferred by athletes are recognition and reward for good performance, conduction of demanding training and coaching involvement in helping athletes become more self-confident.