This study aims to develop a psychological difficulty scale for Japanese high school baseball coaches, thereby clarifying the difficulties they face in coaching “Kokoyakyu” activities. Further, it seeks to clarify what difference in “difficulties” for them according to the competition level of the baseball team they are coaching and their coaching career regarding “Kokoyakyu.”
We administered a questionnaire survey to 415 high school baseball coaches in Japan. We found that their psychological difficulties could be assessed based on six factors comprising a total of 20 items. These factors were “building relationships with patrons,” “baseball coaching skills,” “career education for club members,” “legacy of Kokoyakyu,” “securing the environment for activities,” and “work-life balance.” Moreover, the higher the competition level of the team they are coaching, the higher their difficulty scores for “building relationships with patrons,” “career education for club members;” and “legacy of Kokoyakyu.” Conversely, the coaches of teams with lower competition levels had significantly higher scores for “baseball coaching skills,” “securing the environment for activities,” and “worklife balance.” Furthermore, regarding the coaching career of “Kokoyakyu,” we found that mid-career coaches obtained higher difficulty scores for “career education for club members” than veteran coaches.
The results of this study clarified the structure of the unique coaching environment of “Kokoyakyu.” From the difficulties faced by high school baseball coaches, some of the difficulties in various sports coaching in Japan can be seen. Additionally, the scale developed in this study may be useful for the mental support of high school baseball coaches.
