Abstract
Introduction: Corporal punishment is a sensitive issue in sport. The Ministry of Education has announced a law that forbids using corporal punishment. However, the use of corporal punishment by physical educators has been identified by the press over time. One available approach to prevent corporal punishment is to educate student-athletes so they gain knowledge about corporal punishment and build the right attitude for teaching and training, and then, reduce its continuation when they retire as athletes and transition to coaching. Therefore, based on Bandura's (1986, 2001) social cognitive theory our authors sought to intervene with student-athletes during a semester, through a sport psychology lecture, and asked them to reflect on their experiences with coach authority. The intention was to examine and identify their change in Chinese leadership and motivational climate. Methods: This is a practitioner as researcher inquiry approach to research. Participants were 28 students in a university in North Taiwan. Both qualitative (in the form of an essay) and quantitative data were collected and analyzed. Results: The students' essays revealed that they were stimulated as they reflected on their experiences with their coaches' authority. The measure of Chinese leadership and motivational climate revealed that students changed their perception during the three times they were measured. In Chinese leadership, discipline, autocratic, benevolence, and moral leadership were increased. In motivational climate, both mastery and performance climates were increased. Conclusions: The results revealed that using the reflection in personal experience of coach authority and hierarchy increase both positive and negative coaching leadership. The results suggest refection in coaching authority is not sufficient to prevent coaches' corporal punishment. The guidance toward positivebehaviorisalsoneededtokeepcoaches' authority aligned withpositive athlete holistic development.