The attitudes of coaches towards pre-competition rapid weight loss: A phenomenological study

The aim of the study is to understand the attitudes of weight class sports coaches towards pre-competition rapid weight loss. In the study, qualitative method was preferred as it was aimed to clarify the attitudes of coaches towards the phenomenon of rapid weight loss, and phenomenology was utilized as the design. Ten coaches (4 taekwondo, 3 karate, 3 judo, 1 wrestling), who were selected according to maximum diversity sampling from purposeful sampling methods, coaching in different weight class branches and had experience of rapid weight loss in their sports life, voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview form. During the creation of the questions in the semi-structured interview form, experts were consulted. Interviews with the participants were conducted face-to-face and online. The interviews were recorded with the permission of the participants in order to prevent data loss. The data obtained in the study were analyzed by deductive content analysis. In this process, the interview records were transcribed into text, the meaningful parts of the text were coded with concepts following multiple readings of the text, and themes were created based on the codes after the coding process. The analysis results showed that there were negative coaches' perceptions that rapid weight loss physically causes strength/strength problems, muscle problems, low energy, negatively affects endurance, mentally causes loss of concentration and confusion, emotionally causes tension and stress, hinders development, causes health problems, causes distraction from the sport and goal, whereas there were positive coaches' perceptions that it creates advantages and increases quickness. In addition, the analyses showed that the emotions felt towards rapid weight loss were hatred and regret. The analysis also revealed that the coaches recommended rapid weight loss provided that the athlete's development was complete, the weight loss was low, and the weight loss was extended over a long period of time; otherwise, they did not recommend it. As a result, it was found that the coaches in the study had generally negative attitudes towards pre-competition rapid weight loss, whereas they also had positive attitudes.