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Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q)3

Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) Test

Understand how you connect with your athletes in just 3 minutes. Get a fast read on trust and respect to strengthen communication and improve performance.

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Questions: 113 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

15,820 views

1,659 completions

1,432 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

25/28

Complementarity (C)

Measures how smoothly and congruently coach–athlete interactions are coordinated through clear, complementary roles and collaboration.

Low complementarity

Moderate complementarity

High complementarity

4 – 21: Low complementarity | 22: Moderate complementarity | 23 – 28: High complementarity

A score of 25 indicates high complementarity, suggesting a harmonious role distribution and effective day-to-day coordination between coach and athletes.

example score

16/28

Closeness (C)

Measures the degree of ease, trust, and emotional closeness between a coach and their athletes.

Low closeness

High closeness

4 – 21: Low closeness | 22 – 28: High closeness

A score of 16 falls in the Low closeness range, suggesting more emotional distance or less consistent trust and openness in coach–athlete interactions.

example score

12/21

Commitment (C)

Measures the coach’s commitment and confidence in the shared training process with athletes.

Low dedication

High dedication

3 – 13: Low dedication | 14 – 21: High dedication

A score of 12 indicates lower dedication, suggesting reduced confidence or engagement in the joint training process compared with higher-scoring coaches.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Team and club coaches

46%OF USERS

Coaches take it to check how respectful, trusting, and harmonious their relationships feel with athletes and to spot areas to improve communication.

Sport psychologists and staff

33%OF USERS

Support staff use it to evaluate coach-athlete dynamics during assessments and guide interventions that strengthen motivation and collaboration.

Athletic directors and managers

21%OF USERS

Program leaders use it to monitor team climate across squads, identify relationship risks early, and inform coach development plans.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Complementarity (C)

Average

10.4

Normal range

5.9 — 14.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Closeness (C)

Average

12.2

Normal range

8.8 — 15.5

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Dedication to the cause (Dttc)

Average

13.1

Normal range

9.8 — 16.5

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 11 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) Test - Symptoms and Signs

sport

trainer

This questionnaire is used to assess the quality of the coach-athlete working relationship. The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) provides a brief, structured self-report of perceived relational functioning in sport and training contexts.

It contains 11 items and typically requires about 3 minutes to complete. Items reflect core interpersonal dimensions commonly described in the coach-athlete literature, such as closeness, commitment, and complementarity, and can be used to inform clinical, consultative, or research interpretations. The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) is commonly attributed to David Lavallee.

Author: David Lavallee, Sophia Jowett

Literature: Jowett, S., & Cockerill, I. M. Incompatibility in the coach–athlete relationship. Incompatibility in the coach–athlete relationship. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2003.