Background: The rise in winter sports following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has led to a surge in snowboarding enthusiasts. However, domestic snowboard coach training remains at a rudimentary stage, resulting in substandard instructor competencies that create negative customer experiences and seriously impede the development of China's snowboarding industry. Purpose: To address these coaching quality challenges, this study developed a three-dimensional pedagogical model and examined how snowboard coaches' teaching competencies influence participants' loyalty, operationalized as intention to continue lessons. Methods: Using a mixed methods design, the study collected survey responses from 250 recreational snowboarders at two major ski resorts in China, supplemented by on-site coaching observations. Quantitative analyses, including correlation, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, and quantile regression, were employed to examine the relationship between the proposed three-dimensional coaching model and participants' loyalty. Results: Factor analysis refined the traditional interpersonal-technical-pedagogical framework into three dimensions: Teaching Interaction and Feedback (TIF), Motion Guidance and Optimization (MGO), and Effectiveness Assessment and Customization (EAC). Together with overall satisfaction, these competencies showed significant positive associations with loyalty (R2 = 0.754). Quantile regression revealed heterogeneous effects across loyalty levels: TIF and MGO exerted the strongest influence at lower loyalty levels, EAC became more salient toward median-upper quantiles, and overall satisfaction had notable effects only at the very lowest loyalty levels. Conclusion: Snowboard coaches' competencies function as an interdependent system that supports learners psychological needs in distinct ways across different engagement levels. Teaching interaction and motion guidance are most critical for establishing a supportive climate and skill clarity in the early stages, while effectiveness assessment becomes increasingly important as learners seek personalized progression. Overall satisfaction plays a disproportionately important role at the lowest loyalty levels, underscoring the need to reduce onboarding frictions and strengthen perceptions of safety. These findings refine Self-Determination Theory applications in outdoor sport education and highlight that adaptive, segment-aware coaching strategies are essential for promoting retention and sustainable participation in winter sports.
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