Coaching efficacy refers to the confidence coaches have in their abilities to successfully influence their athletes' learning and subsequent performance. This is a multidimensional construct, referring to four interrelated factors of confidence - teaching technique, strategy, motivating, and character building. Preliminary research suggests that coaching preparation and experience are primary
... [Show full abstract] sources of coaching efficacy. Coaching preparation and experience in coaching may provide coaches with the pedagogical and pedagogical-content knowledge needed to be effective, but the content knowledge - the knowledge of how the sport is played - is best learned by playing the sport. The current research was designed to assess the relative importance of previous playing experience as a predictor of coaching efficacy. A sample of curling coaches (N = 81) completed the Coaching Efficacy Survey (CES) (Feltz et al., 1999), which measures the above four factors of coaching confidence. Preliminary analyses supported the internal consistency of the four CES factors, as well as upheld the assumptions for multivariate data analysis. Four hierarchical regression models were run, with each CES factor as a dependent variable. By statistically controlling for the effect of coaching experience, these models ascertained the independent contribution of playing experience to coaching efficacy. For the prediction of strategy, playing experience was responsible for a significant improvement in the model over the prediction of coaching experience. Coaching experience was the sole significant predictor of all other CES factors. These results show that playing experience may be a significant independent source of coaching efficacy, particularly for those aspects of coaching that involve the application of practical game skills and knowledge.