Examining the interaction between pedagogical competencies, communication skills and self-efficacy of coaches working in the provincial sports directorate

This study employed a relational survey design to examine the interplay among pedagogical competence, communication skills, and self-efficacy in 384 coaches working for the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Sports, as well as to determine the predictive power of these variables and the possible moderating effects of demographic factors. Data were collected online using the Coach Pedagogical Competence Scale, the Coach Communication Skills Scale, and the Coaching Self-Efficacy Scale; reliability checks were followed by Pearson correlations, simple- and multiple-linear regressions, independent-samples t-tests, and ANOVA. Findings revealed moderate positive correlations between pedagogical competence and communication skills and strong positive correlations between pedagogical competence and self-efficacy, while communication skills were also positively related to self-efficacy. Pedagogical competence explained 40.5 % of the variance in communication skills (β = .637; R² = .405) and 72.2 % of the variance in self-efficacy (β = .850; R² = .722). At the sub-factor level, Empathy–Attention and Goal-Oriented Coaching significantly enhanced communication skills, whereas Democratic Coaching Climate, Empathy–Attention, Social Support, and Goal-Oriented Coaching significantly increased self-efficacy; conversely, Inhibition of Support and Solidarity reduced self-efficacy. Pedagogical competence differed only by professional experience, with coaches in their first 0–5 years scoring significantly lower than those with 6–10 or 11–15 years of experience. These results indicate that in-service pedagogical training and mentorship—especially for coaches in their first five professional years—can improve communication quality and professional confidence, thereby indirectly fostering athlete development.