Attitude of elite tennis coaches working with athletes with intellectual disabilities participating in Special Olympics.
Elite tennis coaches say success with Special Olympics athletes hinges on disability knowledge plus professional expertise and social sensitivity.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Scior et al. (2023) sent a survey to elite tennis coaches who train Special Olympics athletes. They asked what skills matter most for coaching players with intellectual disability.
The coaches ranked five qualities: broad disability knowledge, tennis know-how, social sensitivity, upbeat attitude, and strong motivation.
What they found
Top coaches say success starts with understanding disability, then adds sport skill. They also put high value on being kind, positive, and driven.
No numbers were given, but the five traits stood out as must-haves.
How this fits with other research
Crane et al. (2010) showed adults with ID gain more fitness when they stick to one sport. K et al. echo the need for expert coaching in that focused setting.
Bigby et al. (2016) found that respectful, person-first culture makes group homes better. The tennis coaches mirror this by ranking social sensitivity near the top.
Heald et al. (2020) used PhotoVoice with Pakistani Special Olympians and saw culture shape support. K et al. add the coach side: attitude and cultural openness count just as much as sport skill.
Why it matters
If you train adults with ID, hire or become coaches who know both the sport and the disability. Add social warmth and clear motivation. A coach who skips the disability piece may run fun drills, but the athlete likely stalls. Build the full five-trait package and you give players a real shot at Laura-level fitness gains.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of research regarding the attitudes of coaches towards training athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID). This is particularly evident for coaches working with athletes with ID that are competing in the innovative Special Olympics (SO) Unified Sports programme. Research on the inclusive impact of sport plays a significant role, not only in sports development but also in the training of sports professionals and coaches, as a sufficient amount of special coaching experience is required to achieve inclusion. For this reason, this study was conducted among professionals coaching tennis with athletes with ID. The purpose of this study was to analyse the attitudes of tennis coaches working with athletes with ID in the SO tennis programme. METHODS: The study was conducted on a sample of internationally recognised elite tennis coaches (n = 78) working with tennis players with ID at two international tennis competitions. A questionnaire and a structured interview were conducted with the coaches to examine the sociometric characteristics of the coaches involved in the research. Findings were then compared with views on professional statements for similarities and differences in their attitudes towards their athletes and their work. RESULTS: Results indicated that coaches felt the most important criteria for a coach working successfully with athletes with ID were (1) a wide range of knowledge, (2) professional expertise, (3) social sensitivity, (4) positive attitude and (5) motivation. Results supported the existing theoretical findings that besides professional expertise and experience, a basic knowledge about disability is needed among coaches working with athletes with ID. CONCLUSIONS: This research was unique in the international scene, in that, although the number of tennis coaches working within the movement of SO is relatively high, to this date, no scientific survey has been focused on them.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2023 · doi:10.1111/jir.12996