Interpersonal Dynamics of Sports: Examining the Coach-Athlete Relationship in Relation to Pre Competitive Anxiety and Fear of Failure.

This Study was an attempt to explore the interplay of psychological factors i.e. the quality of the coach -athlete relationship, competitive anxiety and fear of failure. It was conducted on a sample of 184 athletes, including 92 juniors (aged 17- 21) and 92 seniors (aged 22 -27 ) with equal gender representation, including cart-q, pfai, scat, were used to collect data for assessment. Independent sample t-test revealed that junior athlete reported significantly higher levels of closeness to their coaches (t=2.495, p=0.14) however, no significant differences were observed between junior and senior athletes regarding overall coach-athlete relationship quality (t= 2.098, p=.037 ). Correlational analysis indicated that across both age groups, competitive anxiety was positively associated with the fear of failure. Specifically, junior athletes showed significant correlations between competitive anxiety and their fear of experiencing disappointment and general failure, whereas senior athlete showed significant associations between fear of failure and feelings of embarrassment and self-devaluation. Furthermore, dimensions of coach-athlete relationship were found to be negatively associated with the fear of failure, suggested that a stronger relationship may help mitigate these fears.