The Coach-Athlete Relationship in Married Couples: An Exploratory Content Analysis

This study examined the interpersonal athletic relationship of four married coach-athlete dyads. In order to facilitate the examination of this unique relationship, the interpersonal constructs of closeness, co-orientation, and complementarity were integrated into a conceptual-based model. The main purpose of this study was to establish the utility of the constructs in understanding the coach-athlete relationship in married couples. Following in-depth interviews, the responses of the participants were content analyzed. Analysis revealed that the coaches and athletes’ close relationship facilitated the formulation of a cooriented view of relevant and important issues which subsequently affected the way in which cooperative interactions were expressed in training. The relationship-oriented aspects of this unique dyad are discussed in relation to a proposed conceptualization of the coach-athlete relationship, and future directions are presented.