Tough love is often discussed in sport but is not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to explore athletes` perceptions of tough love coaching, and whether, and when, tough love coaching can become inappropriate, or abusive. Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore 12 athletes` experiences with and conceptualizations of tough love in sport, and reflexive content analysis was used to identify relevant themes in the data. Analysis of participant responses revealed a multifaceted conceptualization of tough love coaching as being dual and temporal in nature. Tough love was perceived to be harmful or abusive if the tough love criticized the person instead of the behavior, the coach emphasized performance outcomes above athlete well-being, or the tough love negatively impacted athlete well-being long-term. Practical implications are provided for coaches, coach educators, and researchers in the field of coach education.
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