This experimental investigation examined whether the motivational climate created by coaches during a sport clinic impacts Division I athletes' (N = 39; Mage = 20.40 years) motivation and state self-esteem while developing an unmastered skill (i.e., free-throw shooting). Affect was assessed pre- and postclinic. Effort, enjoyment, and social and performance self-esteem were assessed postclinic only. Individual items gauged whether athletes felt that the climate they were immersed in helps optimize their performance and athlete potential. The group in the caring, task-involving climate reported more advantageous responses during the free-throw clinic compared with those in the ego-involving climate. They also reported that they felt that the coaching environment was a more optimal coaching climate. This research addresses a gap in the literature by utilizing an experimental design to assess Division I athlete responses to the coaching climate; however, readers should consider that basketball was not the participants' primary sport.
Hogue et al. (Thu,) studied this question.