Sport Commitment and Participation in Masters Swimmers: The Influence of Coach and Teammates

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Author
Santi, Giampaolo
Burton, Adam
Pietrantoni, Luca
Mellalieu, Stephen D.
Date
2014-05-15Acceptance date
2014
Type
Article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study investigated how coach and teammates influence masters athletes' sport commitment, and the effect of functional and obligatory commitments on participation in masters swimming. The sample consisted of 523 masters swimmers (330 males and 193 females) aged between 22 and 83 years (M = 39.00, SD = 10.42). A bi-dimensional commitment scale was used to measure commitment dimensions and perceived influence from social agents. Structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to evaluate the influence of social agents on functional and obligatory commitments, and the predictive capabilities of the two types of commitment towards sport participation. Support provided by coach and teammates increased functional commitment, constraints from these social agents determined higher obligatory commitment, and coach constraints negatively impacted functional commitment. In addition, both commitment types predicted training participation, with functional commitment increasing participation in team training sessions, and obligatory commitment increasing the hours of individual training. The findings suggest that in order to increase participation in masters swimming teams and reduce non-supervised training, coach and teammates should exhibit a supportive attitude and avoid over expectation.
Journal/conference proceeding
European Journal of Sport Science;
Citation
Santi, G., Burton, A., Pietrantoni, L. and Mellalieu, S. (2014) 'Sport commitment and participation in masters swimmers: The influence of coach and teammates', European Journal of Sports Science, 14(8), pp.852-860
Description
This article was published in European Journal of Sports Science on 15 May 2014 (online), available at https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2014.915990
Collections
- Sport Research Groups [1088]
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