Some features of leadership functions manifestation in team sports

The purpose of the study is to identify the features and the degree of implementation of leadership functions through verbal communication in successful and unsuccessful game episodes. Research methods and organization. The study was based on observations of the competitive activity of national student volleyball teams from four universities in the Samara and Volgograd regions, during official matches of six tournaments involving eight teams. A modified observation method (according to V. I. Rumyantseva) was used to record leaders' verbal cues – stimulating, informing, and evaluative-expressive – in successful and unsuccessful game episodes; mathematical and statistical methods were also applied. Research results and conclusions. During the study, a dynamic model of the implementation of leadership functions in student volleyball teams was identified, which has been insufficiently addressed in sports psychology. It was established that the structure of the leader's verbal communication flexibly changes depending on the outcome of a game episode, i.e., success enhances organizational and informational functions, while failure activates the socializing function. The obtained data highlight the need to develop training programs for leaders that take into account situational adaptation of communication, which opens up new opportunities for improving the effectiveness of team interaction in team sports.