Coach–Athlete Scale Test

With 24 yes-or-no questions taking about 5 minutes, the Coach-Athlete Scale Test explores how athletes perceive their coach’s behavior, support, professional competence, and overall relationship quality. Results can highlight strengths and areas for reflection, helping athletes understand the dynamics of their coaching relationship.

Questions: 245 minutes

Coach–Athlete Scale Test: sample question card

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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2,378 completions

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Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

BehavioralB

Measures how athletes perceive the coach’s observable behavior and communication style in day-to-day interactions.

example score6/8

6/8Strongexample score

0 – 2Needs improvement

3 – 5Adequate

6 – 8Strong

A score of 6 falls in the Strong range, suggesting athletes generally view the coach’s behavior and communication as effective and supportive.

EmotionalE

Measures how well the coach provides warmth, informal connection, attention, and emotional support to the athlete.

example score7/8

7/8High supportexample score

0 – 2Low support

3 – 5Moderate support

6 – 8High support

A score of 7 indicates the athlete generally experiences the coach as emotionally supportive, attentive, and warm in informal interactions.

CognitiveC

Measures athletes’ perception of the coach’s professional competence and specialist expertise.

example score5/8

5/8Moderateexample score

0 – 2Low

3 – 5Moderate

6 – 8High

A score of 5 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting athletes generally view the coach as competent, with some room to strengthen perceived expertise.

Overall ScoreOS

Measures how favorable the coach–athlete relationship is from the athlete’s perspective across trust, support, motivation, and practical collaboration.

example score13/24

13/24Moderate favorabilityexample score

0 – 11Low favorability

12 – 14Moderate favorability

15 – 24High favorability

A score of 13 indicates a moderately favorable coach–athlete interaction, suggesting generally positive but not consistently strong perceptions across key areas.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Team coaches and trainers

41%OF USERS

They use it to quickly see how athletes perceive their leadership, support, and day-to-day coaching style.

Sport psychologists and consultants

34%OF USERS

They administer it to pinpoint trust and communication gaps and plan targeted work with the coach and athletes.

Athletes and team captains

25%OF USERS

They take it to express how the coach affects motivation, confidence, and team climate in a structured way.

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.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

BehavioralB

You?

Average3.7

Typical rangeTypical2.3 – 5.1

Possible0 – 8

EmotionalE

You?

Average2.8

Typical rangeTypical1.7 – 3.9

Possible0 – 8

GnosticG

You?

Average4.7

Typical rangeTypical3.5 – 5.9

Possible0 – 8

Final scoreFs

You?

Average9.7

Typical rangeTypical6.3 – 13.2

Possible0 – 24

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please read each of the following statements carefully. If you consider a statement to be true and consistent with your relationship with the coach, respond “Yes.” If it is not true, respond “No.”

- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No

These are 3 of the 24 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Coach–Athlete Scale Test - Description and methodology of the test

sport

trainer

For athletes deciding whether a conversation with a coach would be useful, the Coach-Athlete Scale Test offers a structured way to organize personal impressions. It is intended for people reflecting on whether their current partnership supports clear expectations, honest feedback, and productive cooperation in training. A coach-athlete relationship assessment can help identify topics to discuss without reducing the partnership to a single impression.

What This Assessment Explores

The questionnaire focuses on how athletes perceive a coach’s interpersonal conduct, specialist competence, and professional mastery. Statements address fairness, tact, listening, and coach-athlete communication, along with individual attention, preparation, advice, trust, discipline, and willingness to identify with the coach.

Together, these themes form a profile across three dimensions, with a separate overall score. The result shows what the athlete reports in each dimension and indicates overall relationship favorability.

The displayed dimensions are:

Behavioral (0-8) assesses observable coaching behavior and communication; Needs improvement 0-2, Adequate 3-5, Strong 6-8.
Emotional (0-8) assesses warmth, attention, informal connection, and support; Low support 0-2, Moderate support 3-5, High support 6-8.
Cognitive (0-8) assesses specialist competence and professional mastery; Low 0-2, Moderate 3-5, High 6-8.
Overall Score (0-24) indicates relationship favorability from the athlete’s perspective; Low favorability 0-11, Moderate favorability 12-14, High favorability 15-24.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Each item states something about coaching behavior, the athlete’s experience, or the relationship and offers a yes-or-no response. Statements cover support, competence, criticism, distance, attention, and rigid methods. Answer from personal experience.

The three-domain structure is conceptually consistent with Ogorodova’s sport-psychology framework and the relationship dimensions discussed by Ivanova and Dimitrov (2020). The online version has no documented standardization or normative reference.

For interpretation, the yes-or-no responses are combined into the three displayed dimensions and the overall result. Read the dimensions separately to see where the reported experience is stronger or less supportive, then use the overall score as a summary of relationship favorability from the athlete’s perspective. Because weighting and reverse scoring are not documented, a point-by-answer rule should not be inferred.

Interpretation also depends on current mood, recent conflict, trust, self-awareness, and the wish to portray a coach favorably; an athlete-coach relationship profile describes perceived relationship quality rather than measuring coaching effectiveness in full.

Author: Albert V. Carron, Sophia Jowett

Literature:

Hanin, Y. L. (1980). Psychology of Communication in Sport. Moscow: Physical Culture and Sport Publishers, 209 pp.
Ogorodova, T. V. (2013). Psychology of Sport: A Tutorial. Yaroslavl: P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University, 120 pp.
Ivanova, V., & Dimitrov, V. (2020). Relationships between Coaches and Athletes in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Proceedings of CBU in Social Sciences, 1, 98-103. 10.12955/pss.v1.54

Updated: 2025-10-02