Coach leadership is expected to shape both how athletes perform and how satisfied they feel, but the two outcomes are seldom weighed against each other within a single athlete population. This study compared the leadership–performance and leadership–satisfaction associations among university athletes of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Seremban 3. Two cohorts assessed with the same Leadership Scale for Sports were compared. Cohort A (n = 288) was measured on self-rated performance using the Athlete’s Subjective Performance Scale, and Cohort B (n = 101) on athlete satisfaction using the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire. A third study from the same campus, in which parental involvement was correlated with the same performance scale (n = 198), served as a benchmark. Welch tests compared the leadership dimensions and Fisher’s r-to-z test compared the correlations. Training and instruction ranked highest in both cohorts and social support was indistinguishable between them, while autocratic behaviour was markedly lower in Cohort B. Coach leadership explained 7.9 per cent of variance in self-rated performance but 73.8 per cent in satisfaction, z = 8.55, p < .001, Cohen’s q = 1.00. Parental involvement explained 37.1 per cent of the same performance measure, which rules out instrument insensitivity as the explanation.
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