1. The Role of Social Reinforcement in Coaching
An Observation of SFSU Swimming Coach: Diane Davis
Kin 504: Sport and Excersise Psychology
DECEMBER 3, 2011

2. Introduction:
Swimming can be traced back almost as far as the oldest records of humans on this earth;
from prehistoric paintings immortalized in stone to timeless stories recorded in texts such as The
Iliad and the Bible. In the time that has passed from then to now, swimming has increased in
both significance and purpose. In society today, swimming has become far more than just a
means of transportation or bathing, as was the case in prehistoric times. It is now considered a
sport, an outlet for recreation and exercise, as well as a necessary skill required in many
occupations including lifeguarding to the toughest challenge the military can offer in the navy
seals. Along with its evolution as a skill, the concerns for safety for the participants have as well,
which is why the swim coach has come to play a crucial role in the growth and development of a
new generation of swimmers.
In order to better understand the crucial role of the swim coach, Diane Davis, the
swimming instructor for SFSU and former head coach of various swimming teams, will be
observed instructing her beginner and intermediate classes. Each of the classes being observed
had a mixture of men and women who ranged in age from early to mid 20’s. According to coach
Davis, 65% of the swimmers in her beginner class have had absolutely zero experience with
swimming before taking the course, which made it necessary for an assistant to be in the water
with the participants at all times to help with demonstrations,as well as for safety reasons. The
intermediate class was quite the opposite of the beginning class, in that allof the students in the
class have had experience in swimming either on a team or a club in the past. The most advanced
swimmers in the intermediate class used the middle lanes for practice while the others swam in
the outer lanes, making it easier for the coach to guide them and provide feedback. In contrast,
the entire beginning class operated at a pace that was controlled by the coach. There were three
observers conducting this study; two of them with swimming experience, having been a member
of their respective teams in high school. However, only the female out of the group has also
taken the intermediate class with Coach Davis at SFSU twice before. The last member has only
had experience with swimming in a recreation setting, and has never practiced in a classroom or
team setting. The observation was taken in the middle of the front row of the spectator stands,
which is a very close fans perspective of the class.
In the beginners class, coach Davis would often coach the class all at the same time,

3. having them do a swimming drill then stopping them to get unified attention, and then
demonstrating (outside of the water) some common mistakes and how to correct them. She gave
the slower swimmers a lot more attention and let her assistant aid the rest of the students in
instances when she was giving specific instruction. Another behavior she often reverted to was
randomly asking quiz questions to keep the class alert, and to see if they remembered proper
technique and procedures. The beginner’s class had a few more instances in which Coach Davis
had to regulate the control (stop any foolishness) in the water. The Coach's behavior changed
quite a bit with the intermediate class. There was no need to organization as much as the
beginning class because the students knew exactly what to do. The drills were very well
organized and written out on a big sign for the whole class to see before they got into the water.
Unlike the beginner’s class, she did not walk the class through a specific warm up routine. As a
result, this class was able to spend more time in the water. The observer who has had no
experience on the team recorded that Coach Davis seemed as if she was allowing for more
recreation in this class, while the other two participants (who have had swim team experience)
noted that the coach’sfocus was more specifically directed to the certain individuals that needed
improvement. Observations and experiences were compared by each group member, which led
to the belief that coaching behaviors have a direct correlation with a participant’s skill level and
not just the class in general.
Methods:
A group of three San Francisco State University students observed two swimming
classes;one dedicated to beginnerswimmers and the other to intermediate swimmers. The
beginning class included students with very little to no experience with swimming, while a
majority of the students in the intermediate class were currently, or had previously been on a
swim team in the past. On October 25, 2011 from 8:00 to 11:00a, the observers used a modified
version of the CBAS (Coaching Behavior Modification System) in order to study the SFSU
swimming instructor’s reinforcement behaviors in a group setting. The CBAS is divided into
eight behavior categories: specific positive reinforcement, general positive reinforcement,
specific negative reinforcement, general negative reinforcement, specific technical instruction,
general technical instruction, keeping control, and organization. The students were instructed to
make a tally under the appropriate category as each behavior occurred during the scheduled class

4. time, and draw conclusions from the results and percentage of occurrence after both sessions
were completed. Two separate observation sheets were used for the two separate classes for
comparison later, and each of the three students tallied and recorded their own findings. A
majority of the observed data came in the form of both general and specific technical instruction,
which was made evident by the results of the group’s tallies. After adding up the total of tallies
in each category, a percentage was calculated and displayed in the form of a bar graph to express
the results.
Results:
Beginners Class Robert Laura Jonathan
Behavior Categories
Specific Positive Reinforcement (SPR) 7 5 5
General Positive Reinforcement (GPR) 5 3 4
Specific Negative Reinforcement (SNR) 0 0 0
General Negative Reinforcement
(GNR) 0 0 0
Specific Technical Instruction (STI) 11 9 7
General Technical Instruction (GTI) 12 12 14
Keeping Control (KC) 3 2 1
Organization (O) 8 10 13
Figure 1: Results of the three group members after observing the beginners class
Intermediate Class Robert Laura Jonathan
Behavior Categories
Specific Positive Reinforcement (SPR) 3 6 4
General Positive Reinforcement (GPR) 5 4 5
Specific Negative Reinforcement (SNR) 0 0 0
General Negative Reinforcement (GNR) 0 0 1

5. Specific Technical Instruction (STI) 14 17 26
General Technical Instruction (GTI) 5 11 16
Keeping Control (KC) 1 1 1
Organization (O) 3 3 4
Figure 2: Results of the three group members after observing the intermediate class
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Robert
0
Laura
Jonathan
Figure 3: Observed reinforcement patterns for the Beginners Class. The positive to negative
reinforcement ratio is 29:0, and the specific to general reinforcement ratio is 3:4.22.

6. 30
25
20
15
10
Robert
5
Laura
0
Jonathan
Figure 4: Bar graph displaying the differences in observed reinforcement patterns for the
intermediate class. The positive to negative reinforcement ratio is 27:1, and the specific to
general reinforcement ratio is 7.125:4.

7. Discussion:
The behavioral category that received the most tallies in the beginner’s class was general
technical instruction with 38 counts, equating to 29% of total coaching behaviors. A noticeable
similarity occurred with the intermediate class in that there were more positive reinforcement
behaviors than any other category; however, it came in the form of specific technical instruction
with 57 tallies, totaling 44%. For the beginner’s class, Coach Davis would always show a proper
and detailed demonstration (outside of the water) before sending the students to do an activity. A
journal titled What a Teacher Can Learn From a Coach describes Stevens and Rosenshine’s
(1981) conclusion that “the most efficient process for teaching a clearly defined skill involves
three steps: 1) a demonstration of the skill or rule; 2) practice of each component of the skill with
the teacher providing guidance; 3) independent practice.” As the beginners pie chart clearly
shows, the second most observed behavior was organization.Coach Davis often organized the
class so she could clearly demonstrate the next exercise/drill, then she would monitor the
swimmers performing while providing specific feedback or technical instruction where needed.
This appeared to be an effective way to engage the students, especially because these students
were very inexperienced and had no idea how to go about practicing the skill otherwise.
Coach Davis’s avenue of approach was different with the intermediate class in that she
gave more specific instruction to her students. This instruction often occurred on the side lanes of
the pool where the slower swimmers (compared to the most advanced) were practicing. Her

8. advice often was directed towards the swimmers’ stroke technique and coordination during their
practice withbreast stroke. If she saw someone whose form could be improved she would follow
that swimmer as he/she made their way to the end of the lane, and provide them instruction when
they reached the wall. She would follow them again as they made their way to the other end of
the pool to make sure they were correcting their mistakes. According to the results of a study on
coaching strategies for swimmers, each swimmers’performance improvements were specific to
the stroke being trained (Koop & Martin 1983). Coach Davis used more specific reinforcement
for the intermediate class due to the fact thatall of the students were already experienced
swimmers. Her goal for these students was to make them more proficient at the skill. According
to Coach Davis, “You don’t want to give too much advice at first to beginners because they are
just trying to survive. As they get in better shape, I can start to give them a lot more instruction
because they’ll know what I’m talking about.” Her views on developing swimmers goes hand in
hand with the previously mentioned study because she too believes after a person becomes more
advanced as a swimmer, the coaching approach must focus on improving the individuals
technique for a certain stroke rather than focusing on basic aspects of swimming that the students
have already mastered.
From looking at the data, it is obvious what type of leadership style Coach Davis
practices seeing as she executed virtually no negative reinforcement behaviors (Jonathan’s one
tally being the only exception). The beginners’ charts seen above indicated a 29:0 ratio of
positive to negative reinforcement while the intermediate class observation results showed a 27:1
positive to negative ratio. These numbers represent Coach Davis as someone who values positive
reinforcement, along with good instruction. Positive reinforcement (both specific and general)
accounted for 22% of the behavioral patterns in the beginning class, and 21% of the behavior
observed in the intermediate class. Many of Coach Davis’ positive reinforcement behaviors were
presented in statements such as: “Good job,” “I like what I see,” “There we go,” and “Very
good! Just like that.” These statements, along with specific feedback given to certain individuals,
served to enhance confidence. This generally leads to more intrinsic motivation, which is the
ultimate goal of any activity. However, one thing that was observed and not displayed on the
charts above is that when Coach Davis was providing these positive reinforcement statements,
she often referred to the student by their name, which implies that she has spent the time to get to
know these students. “From a practical standpoint, it would be wise for coaches to make

9. conscious efforts to improve their interpersonal relationships with their players, as well as learn
how to identify signals of high cognitive anxiety in their athletes. Creating positive coach-athlete
relations and learning how to employ simple relaxation/confidence-building techniques should
be the first steps in creating more receptive and positive coach-athlete interactions” (Kenow,
Laura, Williams, Jean 1999). The reason that Coach Davis may have so much success with these
students is that she has taken the time to build their confidence as well as a coach-student
relationship with them. When she would talk or address the students it was apparent that the
students always gave her undivided attention. Before the observation of the class, an interview
was done with the coach where she addressed the fact that while over half of the beginning class
had no experience in the water, she wasproud to say that each of them was at the very least able
to swim across the pool. There is no doubt that Coach Davis is successful with the coaching style
she utilizes. The changes she’s made in her students is visible, and while those changes are often
habits that take practice to do so, she is always there on the side of the lane to keep them on
track.
Recommendations:
While there is not much to criticism to give Coach Davis, one improvement she could
make to her coaching style in the intermediate class is to create more of a challenge for the more
advanced swimmers in the middle lanes. It almost seemed like they were taking the class more
for recreation rather than taking it for instruction. This is due to the fact that Coach Davis spends
much of her class time giving STI to the less advanced intermediate swimmers. However, she
could perhaps make it more challenging for the advanced swimmers by having them time their
laps (using her TA to time them of course) so that it would create more of a task orientation and
motivation to be in the class. According to the Achievement Goal Theory, people participate and
adhere to a certain task because they like the challenge, and are able to use their talent to meet
that challenge with persistence. Therefore, it would help to keep those more advanced
participants interested by challenging themselves in every class, especially because these swim
classes only meets twice a week.
Also, because the class time is roughly 50 minutes, it would be ideal if the beginning
class could organize their own warm-ups, similarly to the intermediate class (which essentially

10. comes into class ready to get into the pool). 24% of the tallies in the beginner’s class were
dedicated to organizing the class for general instruction, and while this is necessary, it means less
time practicing in the water for the beginners. Coach Davis may benefit her students in some
ways by organizing less, and having them focus more time on practicing one or two specific
strokes in each class to maximize the learning in the student’s short time in the water. However,
these recommendations are a result of only one observation of the classes. It would take more
observationto solidify these statements.
Conclusions:
Based on the observations on Coach Davis during the two classes, the group has
concluded that the coach is very successful at what she does. Our hypothesis immediately after
the observation was that her coaching behaviors were a direct result of the individual’s skill
level, and in putting together the group’s collective data, that proved correct.It was very apparent
(especially by the vast amount of STI’s she gave to the intermediate class) that she was focusing
more on individuals who needed the help, which is ideal because of the time constraints she
works with. Also, along with using her time efficiently and effectively, Coach Davis seemed to
have very good control over what was going on in her class. When small incidents did occur
where she was forced to get control of the class back, the situation was handled in a very good
manner. She did not have to punish the students;just by simply saying their name,she restored
order to get them back to the task at hand (a phenomenon perhaps due to the fact that she has
built a rapport with these students). Also, when students were having difficulty with the
techniques she was teaching, she did not punish them or ever give them reason to want to give up
on trying. The common belief is that in certain sports, “tough love” is sometimes necessary for
the progression of the player, and that may be the case. However in this society, that is so
obsessed with winning and success, we often push athletes to a limit in which the activity is no
longer enjoyable for them.“As expected, coaches’ verbal aggression was negatively related to
player motivation and player affection for their coaches. While some people believe that verbally
aggressive messages are at times justified (Martin, Anderson, & Horvath, 1996), there is no
evidence that being verbally aggressive is effective in motivating others” (Martin 2009). This
type of behavior was never demonstrated by Coach Davis; her coaching style made students

11. want to participate, and want to succeed.There was a point in the beginning class in which a
student who was unable to participate because of an ankle injury, swam to the side of the pool
and practiced his arm technique instead of getting out and not partaking in the lesson at all.
When asked by the group members why he wasn’t just resting, his reply was that he didn’t want
to sit on the side and watch his classmates swim; he wanted to swim too. What was interesting
about this incident is that you could sense the motivation he had to learn the techniques being
taught. Even while injured he was using imagery to continue practicing in his own corner of the
pool, imitating the coach’sdemonstrated motions.
The biggest limitation the group had in this study was time. Each class was about 50
minutes long, which from a coaching standpoint, is very short. One cannot acquire or master a
skill as advanced as the ones being taught by Coach Davis in this short amount of time. This
made it somewhat of a challenge to assess how successful the coach was. The group had to pick
up on minor details such as the injured student, the lack of misbehavior by the students, and the
fact that the coach had built a relationship with the students to determine that she was successful.
By looking at Coach Davis’s use of reinforcement behaviors alone, it is easy to see that she relies
heavily on specific instruction in conjunction with positive reinforcement; two vital
reinforcement behaviors necessary for success.
Another factor that could have altered our opinions of Coach Davis is the fact that we did
not get to observe her in a competitive setting where tension and pressure grows sometimes to a
fever pitch. It is these types of circumstances that sometimes bring out the true colors of an
individual. Observing the coach in competition would shed light on factors such as how the
coach would respond to success/failure, any unforeseen circumstance, and having to adapt to a
certain athletes behavioral/situational responses. However, from what we were able to observe, it
must be concluded that Coach Davis’s extensive knowledge and passion for swimming translates
into her abilities as a leader. She demonstrated admirable traits and techniques that any coach
would benefit from adopting.

12. References:
Kenow, L., & Williams, J. M. (1999). Coach-Athlete Compatibility and Athlete's
Perception of Coaching Behaviors. Journal Of Sport Behavior, 22(2), 251.
Koop, S., Martin, G. (1983).Evaluation of a Coaching Strategy to Reduce Swimming Stroke
Errors With Begininng Age-Group Swimmers.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 16,
447-460
Martin, M. M., Rocca, K. A., Cayanus, J. L., & Weber, K. (2009). Relationship between
Coaches' use of Behavor Alteration Techniques and Verbal Aggression on
Athletes' Motivation and Affect.Journal Of Sport Behavior, 32(2), 227-241.
Palmer, Jesse, Smith, Ben. (1990). What a Teacher Can Learn From a Coach.Education
00131172, Summer90, Vol. 110. Issue 4