Constructing control and confidence: Discursive strategies of coaches in high-stakes competitive sport

The practice of coaching communication in competitive sports has traditionally been examined as the flow of information and not as a discursive strategy that can influence the psychological conditions of athletes. This study uses critical discourse analysis and interactional sociolinguistics to analyze how coaches create a sense of control, assign responsibility, and manage emotions in high-stakes situations. Episodes occurring naturally, such as 42 team talks, 38 halftime speeches, and 67 timeout huddles of the top-level football, basketball, and handball in Germany, Norway, and Denmark (2023–2024) were sampled. Five strategies were identified during the analysis: military metaphors, pronoun changes, externalization discourse, moral framing, and temporal reframing. Coaches used inclusive we when there was success (78%), distancing you when there was failure (64%), and military metaphors were used more under high pressure (71% vs.34%). The agency of problem-solving was diminished through externalization, creating incoherent and conflicting athlete subject positions as free will subjects as well as submissive agents. This study shows that confidence, anxiety, and motivation are interaction ally constructed, which contributes to advances in methodological rigor in the sport communication literature.