Sport communication is not any different from normal communication between people, groups or talking to yourself. The main objective, as the transmitter of the message, is to have the audience engaged.
The communication process consists of six steps:
1. The existence of the intention to make certain ideas, thoughts and opinions to somebody in general (for example, the coach has noticed that some of his athletes should improve the way in which a particular motion of shooting is performed).
2. In the second step, the coach (sender) converts his intention into a verbal or non-verbal message ("I'll tell him that the elbow is too low").
3. In the third step, messages are transmitted through a verbal or non-verbal channel ("Joe, at the next attempt keep the elbow higher").
4. The person / athlete receives (hears) the message if was paying attention.
5. The person / athlete interprets the meaning of the message. Interpretation depends on the understanding of the content and the intention of the message by the recipient / athlete ("It seems that I dropped my elbow again." The coach just told me).
6. Recipient / athlete internal response to the received message ("I will work on this until my elbow is higher").
Communication is the core of the group process. If a group wants to function successfully, its members must interact openly, honestly, easily and efficiently. We have already said that the cohesiveness of the team, the quality of the team atmosphere, the team's performance and the satisfaction of its members depends on the way communication is carried between athletes, athletes and coaches, coaches and other important persons in the close and wider sports environment.
When talking about communication in sports, we usually have in mind:
1. Communication between coach and team (coach-team)
2. Communication between coach and athletes (coach-athletes)
3. Communication between athletes (athletes-athletes)
