According to a new Binghamton University study (which can be seen here), the best kind of coaches could be the ones that aren’t as needed by their players. 

Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Management Chou-Yu Tsai did a study with nearly 250 Division I college basketball players evaluating how they felt about their coaches over the course of a season. The focus was on the coach’s ability to enact transformational leadership or develop athletes to their full potential. 

“If you want to have athletes become leaders and transform your followers you need to help them become more independent individuals,” says Tsai.

Tsai found that the more a coach was able to get out of their athletes, the less their players relied on them going forward. He says the study shows that coaches should focus on the personal development of their athletes, giving them the tools to think independently. 

“Rather than telling each person what to do, they can create their own system,” says Tsai. “Then the whole thing can reflect and grow over time.”

Tsai says there was no difference between genders for the findings but there is a difference for athletes of different ages. He says athletes younger than college aged benefit from more guidance. 

“The coaching style should be more structured and more guidance during the younger stages for athletes,” says Tsai. “But once they enter the college levels the role of the coach is to cultivate independent thoughts.” 

So while coaches may think they did something wrong when their athletes aren’t as reliant on them, Tsai says this just means that they have demonstrated good leadership skills.