Coaching & Mindset
Level 4 Strength And Conditioning Teaches Four Cs Of Coaching Relationships
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in the Level 4 Strength and Conditioning Diploma →
In short: Our Level 4 Strength and Conditioning Diploma teaches Jowett's 3+1Cs model for describing a coach-athlete relationship. Closeness is the emotional side (trust, respect, liking). Commitment is the thinking side (both intend to keep working together towards shared aims). Complementarity is the behavioural side (the coach leads, the athlete responds, both cooperate). Co-orientation is how far each person understands how the other sees the relationship. The course shows them in ordinary moments, such as whether an athlete follows the programme when the coach is not watching.
The short version
Most trainers can feel when a working relationship is going well and cannot say why. Our Level 4 Strength and Conditioning Diploma gives a coach four words for it. They come from Jowett's 3+1Cs model: closeness, commitment, complementarity and co-orientation. Each one names a different side of how a coach and an athlete connect, and the course ties each to ordinary moments in a training week. It is a small piece of vocabulary with a big effect on how a coach plans a conversation.
Key Takeaways
- The course describes the coach-athlete relationship as the set of feelings, thoughts and behaviours that link a coach and an athlete.
- Closeness is the emotional side: trust, respect and liking.
- Commitment is the thinking side, and complementarity is the behavioural side.
- Co-orientation is how far each person understands how the other sees the relationship.
Four words, three sides
The first three Cs map onto feelings, thoughts and behaviours.
Closeness is the emotional side: trust, respect and liking. Commitment is the thinking side. Both people intend to keep working together towards shared aims. Complementarity is the behavioural side. The coach leads, the athlete responds, and both are willing to cooperate.
The fourth sits on top of the other three. Co-orientation is how far each person understands how the other sees the relationship. Two people can both feel close and still picture the relationship differently, and this is the word for that gap.
Where each C shows up in a session
The course does not leave the model on a slide. It points at the ordinary moments where the four show up in strength and conditioning: whether the athlete believes the programme is right for them, whether they follow it when the coach is not watching, and whether they tell the coach when something hurts.
Belief in the programme leans on closeness and commitment. Doing the sessions nobody supervises is commitment and complementarity at work. Speaking up about discomfort needs trust, which sits in closeness, and an athlete who understands what the coach wants to hear, which is co-orientation.
What the research adds
The course text points to high-performance athletes describing what they wanted from their strength and conditioning coach in terms that fitted all four Cs (Foulds et al., 2019). It also notes that a systematic review of this field recommended autonomy support, high standards of expertise, and treating the athlete as a whole person.
The same Module's first lesson adds that technical knowledge is necessary but not enough. Elite athletes valued instruction and feedback, and also the coach's behaviours and values (Szedlak et al., 2015).
Why it helps a coach plan
Four words are easier to plan with than a feeling. A coach who senses a client slipping can ask which C has moved. Is the trust still there, are the aims still shared, is each person still doing their part, and do both still see the relationship the same way?
The model describes. It does not diagnose, and it does not label anyone. It gives a coach a calm way to say what is happening in a working relationship and then do something kind about it.
Where PT Manager fits
PT Manager keeps the notes and the programme card in one place, so the details that build closeness, like what a client said last week, are written down where the next session can find them. It opens the moment you sign up with FASTER, so you can set up in your own name straight away. Adding real clients unlocks once you pass a course. It is free with any FASTER course.
Frequently asked questions
What are the four Cs of the coach-athlete relationship?
Closeness, commitment, complementarity and co-orientation, from Jowett's 3+1Cs model.
What does closeness mean?
The emotional side of the relationship: trust, respect and liking.
What is co-orientation?
How far each person understands how the other sees the relationship.
Where does the Level 4 course teach this?
In Coaching Science and Psychological Support, which describes the components and considerations of the coach-athlete relationship.
What to do next
Read about the Level 4 Strength and Conditioning Diploma, which is £700, and see what the coaching module covers. Our learning is visual and interactive, with video, reading, written answers and dictated answers all available. FASTER Daily News sends you each day's blog links, the latest on new courses and live opportunities, and updates to PT Manager, free for students. Sign up at /newsletter.
Also worth a look: PT Manager, free with any FASTER course.
See what the course covers →What every FASTER student gets
Built around you, not around the course
- A real person marks every answerEvery answer is read and marked by a tutor, with written feedback.
- Marked as you goEach teaching point is marked as you answer it, not at the end of the module.
- Dictate instead of typeA microphone on every written answer: say your answer and it types it for you (Chrome, Edge and Safari).
- Listen to the lessonsVoice-overs on the lessons, and the audio to download.
- Built for the way your brain worksShort lessons, one point at a time, marked as you go, with the choice to listen, read, print or speak your answers.
- Streaks that never punish youYou set how many days a week you want to study. Miss a day and your streak pauses; it is never lost.
- Accessible to WCAG AA, with an AAA optionEvery page measured against the WCAG accessibility standard: no faults at level A or AA, with a skip link, screen-reader labels and pages that hold together zoomed to 400%. A high-contrast option takes it to AAA.
- Keep it plainOne switch turns off the extras, the streaks, the badges, the celebrations and the movement, so the site stays plain and calm. Switch them back on whenever you like.
- Bigger text and wider spacingTwo steps of bigger text, and more room between lines, words and letters, on every page.
- Calmer motionOne switch stops animations and videos that play on their own. It is on already if your phone or computer asks for reduced motion.
- A personal video lessonWhen an answer needs real explaining, your marker records a video that lands in your course.
- A note before you sendBefore you send, the page tells you if your answer copies the lesson word for word, so you can put it in your own words.
- The skeleton and muscle labsTap any bone on the skeleton, and see the muscles light up on the model.
- Print the notesPrint the lessons and go old school.
- Case studies on your phoneBuilt into the site, saved as you go, there on your laptop when you sit down.
- Pin it to your home screenNo App Store and no Google Play. It is just there.
- No resit feesWork sent back is a chance to add more, with no resit fee.
- Return access for lifeQualify once and come back to the content whenever you need it.
- PT Manager from day onePT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
- The FASTER Trainer RegisterA free listing on the Register once you qualify.
- Your certificates in one placeEvery course and its certificate on one page.
- Ask JohnThe Ask John button on every page, and his WhatsApp.
And PT Manager, free
56 tools to run your business, with no monthly fee and no cut of your money
PT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
See all 56 tools
Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Your business plan Budget, 12 month cash flow, SMART objectives, SWOT and your ideal customer. Prints as your plan.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
- Your website A free website on your own web address, filled from PT Manager. Or just the client sign-in door on your domain.
- Your public page Your verified Trainer Register listing, linking out to your own site and socials.
Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Old school programme design Type a programme like a document: sections and a table of sets, reps, weight, rest and notes.
- Range plans Plan how you create a client's range and how they keep it, with the gentle nudge points marked on the body.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Workout library Short workouts your members put together by how they feel and how long they have.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, kit and sound, in shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Content calendar Your hot topics, your series and every post planned by week and year, from idea to posted.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
What are the four Cs of the coach-athlete relationship?
Closeness, commitment, complementarity and co-orientation, from Jowett's 3+1Cs model.
What does closeness mean?
The emotional side of the relationship: trust, respect and liking.
What is co-orientation?
How far each person understands how the other sees the relationship.
Where does the Level 4 course teach this?
In Coaching Science and Psychological Support, which describes the components and considerations of the coach-athlete relationship.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
Find a FASTER trainer →
