Becoming a world champion takes more than just talent. For most athletes, it also requires an elite sports environment that lifts them to a level at which they can compete with the best in the world. A new study reveals how Danish coaches succeed in creating precisely these environments – and the difference it makes.
When some of Denmark’s top athletes reflect on their path to the pinnacle of their sport, they naturally mention long hours of training but also highlight the unique environments that supported them every step of the way.
Such environments do not emerge by chance – they are purposefully crafted by coaches. A new qualitative study from the University of Southern Denmark, published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, explores how four elite Danish coaches design these high-performance environments. Through interviews with coaches, athletes and federation managers, the study uncovers both the principles and practical decisions that shape sustainable elite sports cultures.
It also reveals the boundaries that coaches will not cross – and the subtle balancing acts they perform to bring out the best in their athletes.
“The key is understanding how coaches consistently manage to develop world-class athletes – and the kind of environment they build around them,” explains co-author Kristoffer Henriksen, Professor and Head of Research in Sports Psychology at the Department of Sports Science and Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
The coach’s role goes far beyond the training itself
Once upon a time, a coach’s main task was to draw up training plans and guide athletes on things such as how to swing a racket, adjust their running cadence or launch themselves into a high jump.
Today, athletes can learn all of that on YouTube – from Roger Federer himself, for instance.
Coaches still lead training, and they organise travel, logistics and all the other behind-the-scenes tasks that free athletes to focus on performance. The core role of a great coach today, however, entails even more important tasks.
“One of the most important functions of a coach is to create an environment in which athletes can truly develop – an environment in which they learn from each other, exchange knowledge and push boundaries together. Danish coaches are undoubtedly very good at this. But exactly how they do this has remained largely unexplored. That was the purpose of this study: to explore what exactly elite Danish coaches do to build environments capable of producing world-class athletes,” says Kristoffer Henriksen.
What four top Danish coaches do differently
The researchers interviewed four Danish national coaches from various Olympic and Paralympic sports: golf, badminton, rowing and para dressage. Together with selected athletes and managers from their respective sports federations, they provided insight into how these coaches deliberately mould high-performance, sustainable elite sports environments.
The study is based on in-depth interviews with 16 people across four specific case studies. The goal was to pinpoint shared traits and patterns in how these particularly effective coaches operate.
“This is not about broad generalisations,” notes Kristoffer Henriksen. “It is about deep insights.”
The interviews explored how the various stakeholders see the coach’s role as the architect of elite sports environments. What do they think that role entails? How do coaches work with it in practice? What makes it difficult – and which challenges tend to arise?
The interviews yielded many findings, but the researchers identified two overarching themes.
One was a set of four non-negotiable principles that shape how they build elite environments.
The other involved four areas in which the coaches have to strike a delicate balance. These are not either-or decisions but dynamic tensions in which coaches keep athletes poised on the edge that offers the best opportunity for growth.
The core values that are never negotiable
Looking first at the areas in which coaches refuse to compromise, one thing stands out: values-based leadership.
According to Kristoffer Henriksen, these coaches are deeply committed to building environments rooted in a clear set of core values.
In other words, success is not measured by results alone. Their environments are grounded in values that matter more than medals.
“This also means that coaches sometimes have to turn down very promising athletes if they do not fit within the values that define the environment,” says Henriksen. “This is one area in which they never waver. They focus on building a culture that can consistently produce not just one star but new stars – year after year.”
The athlete as a person first and athlete second
Another core principle on which the coaches never compromise is viewing athletes as whole people. Many up-and-coming athletes are also university students with examination periods to navigate. Others become parents or experience personal loss.
Kristoffer Henriksen explains that the coaches’ responses clearly reflect a shared mindset: they see the athlete as a person first and an athlete second.
“You will not deliver results if the rest of your life is not in order – and coaches are very aware of this. That is one of the things that distinguishes Danish coaches. In many other countries, the focus is on performance first and people second. That might mean losing some great talents, but some foreign coaches are willing to take that risk. For Danish coaches, this approach is essential,” he explains.
The study also shows that Danish coaches act as leaders of an entire support system – bringing together sports psychologists, dietitians, doctors, physiotherapists and others to work towards the same goal.
“So coaches do not just lead athletes – they lead the entire ecosystem around them,” says Kristoffer Henriksen.
Creating intensity without burning athletes out
The second category of findings covers areas in which coaches, athletes and sports managers say that coaches must strike a careful balance to create the optimal environment for development.
One key example is the balance between training intensity, competition and long-term progress. If athletes are pushed to perform at the competition level every single day, they clearly risk burning out.
Nevertheless, if they are never pushed to reach their full potential, they will not develop to the point at which they can compete with the world’s best.
“It is about staying right on the edge – creating intensity through community and competition in training while never losing sight of the long-term perspective,” explains Kristoffer Henriksen.
“Striking that balance is no easy feat. Athletes often get caught up in the moment and want to give everything they have. Sometimes they need to be reined in and other times pushed beyond their limits. The ability to fine-tune that balance is essential – and these coaches have clearly mastered it.”
Independent athletes – but within a clear framework
These coaches aim to create a structure in which athletes help to shape their own training decisions. When athletes take ownership, training tends to be more effective for their development. But that autonomy still needs clear structure.
“On the one hand, a rigid and authoritarian set-up does not work. On the other, handing over too much responsibility can compromise quality,” says Kristoffer Henriksen. “This is another example of the balancing act: encouraging independence while upholding essential standards.”
World class is created – it does not happen by itself
Kristoffer Henriksen thinks that the study offers key insights into how to develop world-class coaches – and the kind of environments that help athletes reach the highest level.
This knowledge can help to guide the education of the next generation of skilled coaches, improving their understanding of how to build training environments that consistently foster elite performance across a wide range of sports.
“Currently, this kind of insight is rarely part of coaching education – but it ought to be,” explains Henriksen.
“In Denmark, we have become good at producing world-class athletes because coaches build sustainable environments – settings in which many different athletes can develop over time. This way, a programme does not collapse just because it relied on one athlete who later drops out or gets injured. That is why training more coaches in how to build such environments is vital – and this study offers a clear roadmap.”
