NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY

Published: 06 October 2022

doi: 10.3389/frym.2022.753333

TO EXCEL IN SPORT, TAKE CARE OF YOUR 5CS!

Chris Harwood * and Karl Steptoe
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom

Youth sport offers an important opportunity for young people to

YOUNG REVIEWERS:
develop their technical and physical skills. However, these are not the
GRACE only important elements of performance. A young athlete’s mental
AGE: 15 and social skills are vital for coping with some of the challenges
that sport brings. In this article, we introduce you to the 5Cs—a new
JACOB
method used by coaches to help develop mental and social skills
AGE: 11
in their athletes. We describe the behaviors that we see in athletes
who show high levels of the 5Cs: commitment, communication,
concentration, control, and confidence. We discuss how recent
research with youth football coaches has helped them to apply
coaching strategies and techniques to aid the development of these
important qualities in young athletes and their teammates.

THE 5CS
When coaches work with young athletes, it is not only the athletes’
technical, physical, or tactical skills that the coaches are trying to
develop. Every sport has its own unique set of mental demands, and
these demands are different for team sports vs. individual sports.

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Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

In individual sports such as tennis, you go head-to-head with a

single opponent and you are entirely responsible for every decision
and tennis stroke that you make (about every 1.5 s!) You have to
make hundreds of decisions in a match, but there is no coaching
from the side lines, and no substitutes to help you out if you are
underperforming. There are no draws or ties, no time limits in a match,
and no personal best scores at the end. There is simply a winner and a
loser. In team sports such as football, you must be equally as focused
when you do not have possession of the ball as when you do—through
looking for teammates and anticipating movements. You have the
pressure of performing well and consistently to secure your place
on the team. You are challenged to recover quickly after mistakes,
and your support, encouragement, and leadership skills are tested,
particularly if your teammates are not playing well and frustrating the
team’s chances of success.

All types of sport impose various mental and emotional pressures on

young athletes because of the way each sport is structured and played.
This means that mental and social skills are very important for young
athletes to master. Sport psychologists have long been interested in
helping athletes to improve their performance [1, 2]. Mental skills
can help with the mental and emotional demands of a sport, and
sport psychologists have come up with some of the most important
mental skills and qualities that young athletes can develop and practice
[3, 4]. In this article, we present the 5Cs as an emerging approach
that coaches can take to help athletes develop the mental and social
skills required for their sport [5]. We will define each C, discuss recent
research, and give examples of the most important behaviors that
young people can practice to develop their 5Cs.

THE 5CS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR SPORT

Young athletes and players can demonstrate a great variety of
behaviors in sport—some of which are helpful to their performance
and some of which are harmful. Imagine the coach of football
team—let us call her Coach Jessica. She is watching a match and
looking at the way her team is performing. Take a look at Figure 1 to see
some of the words she uses to describe what sees in her players.

Coach Jessica sees many players demonstrating high levels of effort,

determination, and persistence, but a few players seem to be giving up
and not getting involved in the match. These players are also showing
frustration and arguing with their teammates for making mistakes. One
of the players encourages those uninvolved teammates to refocus and
gives out instructions to support them. The uninvolved players switch
back on and get their heads up. They start to get more involved and
help out their teammates. Coach Jessica sees players competing with
a higher energy and a more positive attitude, and the team starts to
perform better.

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 Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

Figure 1
Positive and negative
behaviors and
responses that Coach
Jessica sees in her
players during a
football match.

Figure 1

Many of Coach Jessica’s team members demonstrated several very

positive mental skills, and some players showed better mental skills
after being encouraged by one of their teammates. When we take a
closer look at the positive and negative words in Figure 1, we begin to
see that the players’ behaviors can be grouped together. Take a look
at the jigsaw puzzle in Figure 2.

Figure 2
The positive and
negative behaviors and
responses that players
show can be grouped
into the 5Cs:
commitment,
communication,
concentration, control,
and confidence.

Figure 2

When you look at the jigsaw pieces, you can see five words beginning
with C, in bold and underlined text. In capital letters, you can see the

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 Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

positive behaviors associated with that C and, in lowercase letters, you

can see the negative behaviors that represent the lack of that C.

Commitment
COMMITMENT
Commitment reflects the strength of your motivation to improve,
persevere, and learn new skills. Commitment drives you forward
The quality or strength
of your motivation to
and is demonstrated by athletes who show consistent effort from
improve and persevere start to finish, high-quality preparation, and a desire for taking on
in the learning and new challenges. Athletes with great commitment focus on making
performance of skills. improvements and learning from their mistakes. They take pride in
how their efforts lead to progress, regardless of whether they win
or lose.

Communication
Communication involves the social skills shown when building
COMMUNICATION
relationships with teammates, coaches, and parents. The quality of
How well you send and your communication skills are demonstrated in the ways that you send
receive information to
and from others and receive information. Asking questions; sharing your thoughts; and
through behaviours giving encouragement, praise, and positive instructions are all ways of
such as sending information to your teammates. Acknowledging a teammate
encouragement, praise
and acknowledging
or your coach with a thumbs up or a clap is a non-verbal way to
feedback. send a positive message. Listening respectfully to a coach, accepting
feedback, and taking advice or instructions from teammates are great
ways of receiving information that can help your performance. Good
communication is an essential social skill that acts like superglue
for teamwork!

Concentration
Concentration is an athlete’s ability to focus on the right thing at the
CONCENTRATION
right time. Athletes with great concentration stay focused on the key
Your ability to components of a task during many potential distractions that compete
consistently focus and
refocus effectively on for their attention. If they lose focus, they are good at recognizing it
what is required for the quickly and often say a positive phrase to themselves or pick a key
task in hand. object (like the ball or a teammate) on which to refocus.

Control
Sport inevitably brings feelings of nervousness because it is exciting
and physical, and no one knows how the competition or match will
end. With such uncertainty, a dose of nerves is completely normal,
CONTROL
but it is important to stay in control of your feelings. Keeping calm,
positive, and composed while also being alert and ready are some of
Your ability to
recognise, understand
the features of good emotional control. The ability to take care of your
and manage thoughts thoughts, feelings, and emotions is vital. Using slow, steady breathing
and feelings so that you techniques, listening to your favorite music, and showing positive,
create an emotional helpful reactions after making mistakes are some of the strategies that
state that helps your
performance.
can make you a master of control.

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 Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

Confidence
CONFIDENCE
Confidence is often what athletes experience and feel when their
other 4Cs are going well. Because of their high commitment,
The belief in your ability
to perform well
communication, concentration, and control skills, an athlete with high
through making confidence is likely to test out new skills, take calculated risks, show
positive decisions and strong body language, and be a leader who supports others. These
being fully present, athletes will consistently fight to the end, regardless of whether they
assertive and engaged
in your role.
are winning or losing.

WHAT DOES RESEARCH TELL US ABOUT THE VALUE OF THE

5CS?
Sport psychologists believe that it is important for young athletes to
practice their 5Cs just like they practice physical and technical skills
[1, 2, 6]. However, not all sport clubs employ sport psychologists, so
researchers have examined whether educating coaches about these
concepts can help young people to master the 5Cs. In one study,
researchers taught coaches about one C at a time and told them
how they could help players to improve on that C [1]. Coaches were
instructed to follow this procedure:

• The coach started the training session by asking players to talk

about what behaviors and qualities they felt were important in
terms of that C. The players provided examples of things they
could demonstrate on the field.
• The coach then challenged the players to show some of these
behaviors and work together on the field.
• When a player demonstrated an example of a C, such as positive
encouragement to a teammate (communication), the coach
praised the player and gave positive feedback.
• Players were encouraged to praise each other when they noticed
a teammate demonstrating a particular C. For example, Jack said
“that is such great determination, Chris, keep working hard” when
Chris persevered (commitment) after making a mistake.
• The coach praised all the players when he saw them encouraging
each other, which resulted in a positive and energized
training environment.
• At the end of the session, the coach asked the players to
share what they had learned, which C behaviors had been
demonstrated well, and how they could improve next time.

The coaches practiced each individual C for 3 weeks before being

taught the next C, until they had spent 15 weeks coaching all
of the 5Cs. The players improved their levels of commitment,
communication, concentration, control, and confidence in their
practice sessions as the 15 weeks progressed [3], and the coaches
reported greater confidence levels too, which made a difference in
their players’ mental and social skills.

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Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

In a second research study at a football academy, the parents of the

players were also involved in offering perceptions of their children’s
5Cs on the field, without knowing that, in secret, the coach was being
educated on the 5Cs one at a time [2]. In this case, the players not
only improved in their 5Cs over time, but parents also reported the
same views on the progress of their children. Parents also noticed
that their children were using some of the same skills at school.
For example, one parent noted how their child had improved his
English communication skills and was more confident at reading in
public [4].

In both studies, coaches encouraged the players to support their

teammates in showing 5Cs behaviors—both coaches and teammates
have the power to support and influence young athletes. Although
these initial results are promising, more research on the 5Cs is needed
to verify the results and make sure this method is reliable. Future
research should examine different sports and settings (for example,
music or schoolwork). Research is currently in progress to determine
how parents can reinforce the 5Cs in their young athletes, and several
football academies in the UK are now using the 5Cs programme to
create a positive and caring culture for players, coaches, parents, and
other support staff [7].

CONCLUSION
Sport can place lots of demands on young people, but with the
help of coaches, parents, and teammates, you can overcome these
demands by developing positive mental and social behaviors. The 5Cs
is an emerging approach that focuses attention on some of the most
important qualities young people can show in sport, to help them have
positive experiences [6]. Although results are promising, more research
across different sports is needed to determine the wider benefits and
effectiveness of the 5Cs approach.

REFERENCES
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11:279–93. doi: 10.1177/1747954116637499
2. MacNamara, A., Button, A., and Collins, D. 2010. The role of psychological
characteristics in facilitating the pathway to elite performance. Part 1: identifying
mental skills and behaviours. Sport Psychol. 24:52–73. doi: 10.1123/tsp.24.1.52
3. Harwood, C. G. 2008. Developmental consulting in a professional soccer
academy: the 5C’s coaching efficacy program. Sport Psychol.
22:109–33. doi: 10.1123/tsp.22.1.109
4. Harwood, C. G., Barker, J. B., and Anderson, R. 2015. Psychosocial development
in youth soccer players: assessing the effectiveness of the 5C’s intervention
program. Sport Psychol. 29:319–34. doi: 10.1123/tsp.2014-0161

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Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

5. Harwood, C. G., and Anderson, R. 2015. Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth

Football: Developing the 5Cs. Oakamoor: Bennion-Kearney Publishers.
6. Harwood, C. G., and Steptoe, K. 2017. Loughborough University. Available online
at: https://the5Cs.co.uk (accessed July 30, 2020).
7. Steptoe, K., King, T., and Harwood, C. G. 2018. “The consistent psycho-social
development of young footballers: implementing the 5C’s as a vehicle for
interdisciplinary cohesion,” in Football Psychology: From Theory to Practice, eds
E. Konter, J. Beckmann, and T. Loughead (London: Routledge).
doi: 10.4324/9781315268248-6

SUBMITTED: 04 August 2021; ACCEPTED: 30 August 2022;

PUBLISHED ONLINE: 06 October 2022.

EDITOR: Jay Hegdé, Augusta University, United States

SCIENCE MENTORS: David R. Mandel and Christina Driver

CITATION: Harwood C and Steptoe K (2022) To Excel in Sport, Take Care of Your
5Cs! Front. Young Minds 10:753333. doi: 10.3389/frym.2022.753333

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors declare that the research was conducted in
the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed
as a potential conflict of interest.

COPYRIGHT © 2022 Harwood and Steptoe. This is an open-access article

distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the
original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice.
No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these
terms.

YOUNG REVIEWERS
GRACE, AGE: 15
I was born in Brisbane but moved to the Sunshine Coast when I was 2 years old. I am
15 years old and in grade 10. I am passionate about psychology and mental health
and am looking to become a clinical psychologist when I am older. I love cats and
have 3 at home. I also have a younger sister called Lilly. My hobbies include reading
books, with my favorite genres being young adult and dystopian, as well as singing.
I also like French and will be studying it in years 11 and 12.

JACOB, AGE: 11
Hi! My name is Jacob, I have interests in math, coding in Python and Scratch,
Minecraft, Roblox, and science. I have a Youtube channel called Emerald Cheetah
Plays that is about Minecraft. I like playing chess, four in a row, backgammon,
Monopoly, and card games. I live in Toronto with my parents and little sister, Noya. I
also know how to brew Kombucha and regularly do so with my dad. I look forward
to gaining experience as a peer reviewer.

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Harwood and Steptoe Young Athletes and the 5Cs

AUTHORS
CHRIS HARWOOD
Chris Harwood, Ph.D., is a professor of sport psychology at Loughborough University
in the UK. His research interests and expertise lie in the psychosocial aspects of
youth sport and athlete development, with a particular focus on the influence
of parents and coaches. He has particularly focused his research in the fields
of achievement motivation, sport parenting, and the 5Cs approach to athlete
development (www.the5Cs.co.uk). As a registered sport psychologist and practicing
consultant, he has worked extensively with the Lawn Tennis Association, the Football
Association, the International Tennis Federation, and several professional youth
sporting clubs and academies. *[email protected]

KARL STEPTOE
Karl Steptoe, Ph.D., is a sport and performance psychology lead at Loughborough
University in the UK. Karl is sport and exercise psychologist and has held positions
as lead psychologist in Premier League Football and Professional County Cricket
Academies, as well as British Wheelchair Tennis. He also works with players on both
the men’s and ladies’ European Golf Tour.

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