Exploring the Effects of Coaching Behavior on the Mental Conditioning Process of Taekwondo Poomsae Athletes: A Moderated Mediation Effect of Psychological Needs and Gender

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a gender-specific difference in the indirect effect of perceived coaching behaviors of Taekwondo Poomsae athletes on performance mediated by basic psychological needs. To this end, a survey was conducted to collect data from 474 Taekwondo Poomsae athletes (male = 285). Based on the collected data, analysis of basic descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis were performed, and PROCESS was used to test the proposed model of multi mediated moderation. For female athletes, there was an indirect effect of controlling coaching behaviors resulting in performance improvement mediated by autonomy, but this effect was not observed in male athletes. The findings of this study indicate that different mental conditioning strategies should be applied in consideration of athletes’ gender to improve coaches’ methods of instruction and ultimately improve performance in Taekwondo Poomsae.