The relationship between hardiness, stress and burnout has been established in occupational settings (Kelley, 1994; Talarico, 1989; Topf, 1989). This relationship has not been established with athletic populations, however. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between personality hardiness, perceived stress and burnout in a selected sample of collegiate athletes. Participants were 181 male (n=129) and female (n_=52) Division I athletes from three Midwestern universities representing four sports (baseball, softball, tennis and track). Each subject was asked to complete a survey - consisting of the Third Generation Hardiness Test, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - during the regular season and at least 24 hours prior to an athletic contest. It was hypothesized that hardier athletes would report lower levels of perceived stress and burnout, and that higher levels of stress would be related to higher levels of burnout. Pearson product-moment correlations supported the hypothesized relationships. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice of redshirting studentathletes by football and men's swimming coaches in the Southeastern and Mid-American Conferences. Questionnaires were sent out to each of the coaches regarding their practices of redshirting. The data was tabulated in SPSS format and the Pearson ChiSquare was used to find out if there were any statistical significance. The results of the Chi-Square analysis revealed no statistical significance between the two conferences redshirting practices, however there were some differences between the two sports. One difference between the sports was in both the freshman and sophomore years of eligibility in the use of redshirting as a coaching strategy. Another difference between sports existed in the junior year of eligibility in the use of redshirting for medical reasons. Coaching strategy was the number one reason why football coaches used and believed that redshirting is used. The men's swimming coaches used, and believe, that medical reasons was the main reason for redshirting athletes. / School of Physical Education

The current study aimed to assess the relationship between perceived occupational stress and social support among collegiate coaches, and if years of coaching experience and competition level (NCAA Division I, II, III) add to the explanation of occupational stress above and beyond social support. The study utilized the Administrative Stress Index (Koch, Gmelch, Tung, & Swent, 1982) in order to measure perceived occupational stress and the Personal Resource Questionnaire: Part 2 (Brandt & Weinert, 1981) to measure perceived social support. Results suggested that task-based stress is significantly related to perceived social support, but years of experience and competition level do not add to the occupational stress explanation. This study provides the field of sport and exercise psychology and the coaching profession with more information about work-related stress in coaches; it also supports previous literature on the stress-support relationship. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

The purpose of this paper was to gather information from college athletic directors from Division I-A and Division III institutions concerning the factors that they deem the most and least important in evaluating their institution's head football coach for job retention. The study identified 10 factors that are instrumental in evaluating head football coaches. Athletic directors prioritized these 10 factors in order of importance when evaluating their head football coach.Surveys were sent to 106 Division I-A athletic directors and 106 Division III athletic directors. Of the 151 surveys returned, 47 from Division I-A athletic directors and 67 from Division III athletic directors were deemed usable.The surveys revealed that Division I-A athletic directors primarily evaluate their head football coaches by win/loss percentage and compliance with NCAA rules. Of the ten factors selected for this study, public relations and organizational skills were considered the least important factors in their evaluation process. For Division III athletic directors, the primary factors of evaluation for their head football coaches were knowledge of the sport, loyalty to the institution, and serving as a role model for student-athletes. The least important factors were win/loss percentage and public relations.These findings suggest that the philosophy of athletics for each of these two levels is quite different. Head football coaches at the Division I-A level are expected to win games to maintain their jobs while Division III coaches do not experience the same pressure to win. Differences in the evaluation factors are illustrated for each level of collegiate athletics and understanding these differences may better guide aspiring young coaches who are pursuing a career in college football coaching. / School of Physical Education

There are many choices of specialists to be utilized in a sport medicine support staff. The effectiveness of any athletic training program depends on the organization and utilization of these specialists. The purpose of this investigation was to review current practices of accessibility, utilization, and compensation of sports medicine support staff at NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions. A random sample of 225 NCAA institutions equally stratified by level (Division I, II, 111) was obtained from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) directory. A questionnaire was sent to 75 head athletic trainers in each of three NCAA divisions levels. Of the 225 questionnaires mailed, 178 were returned representing a 79% response rate.The accessibility and utilization of support staff was equally distributed with respect to gender and sports at all division levels. When examining the support staff, Division I had consistently higher accessibility and utilization rates than Division II and Ill. This study may assist athletic trainers to evaluate or update their program by reviewing current practices of accessibility utilization, and compensation of support staff. / School of Physical Education

Two investigations were conducted with collegiate golfers for separate, but related purposes. 1) To investigate the effects of a physical conditioning program (strength, power and flexibility training) on clubhead speed, consistency, and putting distance control. 2) To investigate the effects of 36 continuous holes of competitive golf on testosterone and cortisol response and their relation to performance.Study #1: Subjects were ten men and six women NCAA Division I golfers. Supervised strength, power, and flexibility training was performed 3 times per week for 11 weeks. Golf ball launch conditions, putting distance control, strength, power, and flexibility tests were conducted before and after training. Significant (p < 0.05) increases were noted for all strength, power, and flexibility tests. Clubhead speed increased significantly (1.6%) from pre to post training, equating to a 4.9-meter increase in driving distance. No significant differences were observed for clubface-angle or launch-angle deviation. Putting distance performance significantly improved for the men-only group (29.6%). Significant (p < .05) correlations resulted between clubhead speed and rotational power (r = 0.86) for the men-only group. Qualitative video analysis did not show any consistent trends in swing mechanics alterations. Eleven weeks of physical conditioning increased clubhead speed without a negative effect on consistency or putting distance control in intercollegiate men and women golfers. Study #2: Subjects were eight NCAA Division I men golfers. Saliva samples were taken 45 minutes prior to the round and after each hole during a 36-hole competition. Time matched baseline samples were collected. Six and 36-hole area under the curve (AUC) values were calculated for endocrine measures. Salivary cortisol increased by 111% (p < 0.05) during competition compared to baseline. Testosterone-to-cortisol ratio was significantly lower (45%) throughout the competition compared to baseline. Significant (p < 0.05) correlations resulted between: 36-hole AUC testosterone-to-cortisol ratio difference and 36-hole score (r = 0.82), CSAI-2 somatic anxiety and pre-round cortisol (r = 0. 81), testosterone (r = -0.80), and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (r = -0.72). These results indicate a significant hormonal strain during 10 hours of competitive golf, low TIC ratio relation with low golf scores, and CSAI-2 relation with endocrine measures. / School of Physical Education

This study examined gender differences in the leadership styles of Division I athletic directors. Perceptions of coaches and the athletic directors, themselves, regarding these styles were assessed. Ten Division I athletic directors (five male, five female) and six coaches (three male, three female) from each of the 10 schools completed a demographic questionnaire and a revised form of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - Form XII.Six separate independent groups t-test indicated no significant differences between the self-perceptions of male and female athletic directors on any of the six factors of leadership. A 2 x'2 x 3 (AD Gender x Coach Gender x Coach) ANOVA with repeated measures on the final two factors showed no significant difference in the perceptions of all coaches of male athletic directors versus all coaches of female athletic directors. The results did demonstrated that the perceptions of male coaches were significantly different from female coaches on the leadership factors of structure, production emphasis, and integration, regardless of the gender of the athletic director. / School of Physical Education

This study has examined the aspect of psychological care for the injured athlete at the Division 1A collegiate level. The specific areas examined were those of the mental impact of injury, services available, potential barriers, funding, and referrals. An additional aspect of this study that was examined was differences between conferences in the psychological care practices of the injured athlete. It was found that the largest barrier to successful psychological rehabilitation of the injured athlete was athlete compliance, despite support from others and available services. No significant differences were found to exist between conferences and the psychological care of the injured athlete. / School of Physical Education

This study explores students' motivations for participating in competitive sports and in an academically challenging program. It explores how sports participation benefits academic undertakings and vice versa. More specifically, it was hypothesized that participation in sports helps to foster abilities that influence students during their academic careers. / Subjects were in their second year of the International Baccalaureate program at a Montreal College, which consists of two intensive preparatory years prior to University. Motivation and self-perception were assessed using translated versions of Harter's (1980, 1988) instruments. An interview inspired by Taylor and Schneider (1992) was used to collect students' perceptions of sports and academic topics. Students who were training in competitive sports were asked to participate in follow-up interviews. / Although no significant results were found, the interviews provide many insights regarding engagement in an activity, Harter's scales.