Making Motivation- pt 2 of 3

Introduction

Every strength coach has knowledge and creativity that enables an intelligent, multidisciplinary approach to the job. In that vein, this article is a follow-up to ‘Making Motivation' that draws on two theories to identify practices that support intrinsically motivated behaviors. Less-than-ideal approaches to inspiring drive will be identified and alternative strategies will be presented.

A Brief Review

Coaches assist athletes in developing motivation through facilitating the satisfaction of three psychological needs. When needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met, an athlete feels more intrinsically motivated and the salience of extrinsic reasons for sport participation lessen (Stenling, Lindwall, & Hassmén, 2015). Intrinsic motivation refers to when the drive to perform an activity comes from within and is done out of enjoyment, interest, and desire to improve or master skills - the reward for participation is the activity itself (Sparks, Dimmock, Whipp, & Lonsdale, 2015). We'll highlight coach behaviors that tend to diminish intrinsic forms of motivation and offer practical solutions.

Never to Point Fingers, Just to Make Aware

We will highlight coaching practices used to pressure athletes into thinking, feeling, and acting in ways that align with the coach's wants or values. These coach behaviors hamper the development of intrinsic motivation. Professional coaches reading this article likely won't employ these tactics, but it's useful to know what stymies the development of intrinsic motivation. This is especially true, if you're teaching students or interns about coaching – many of us have said, ‘it's not like what you see in the movies.' To that effect, feedback is a powerful motivational tool and necessary for athlete development – while this is true, some styles feedback diminish drive and better solutions exist.

‘Being hard on an athlete' with excessive criticism or insults to inspire motivation isn't a positive, long-term solution for building the desire to practice and work hard. Identifying the necessary amount of task-oriented feedback, encouraging effort, and praising increasing approximations of success is a more constructive solution. While not all feedback will be positive, attention to word choice and the goals emphasized during instruction will benefit the athlete more.

Asserting or exploiting a position of power to pressure desired behaviors can diminish motivation. Example behaviors include disciplinary exercise, threats, physical harm, physical or verbal intimidation, and directly or indirectly humiliating or belittling a player in front of others (Matosic & Cox, 2014). A practical approach to this issue mirrors the solution offered a moment ago. Task-oriented feedback is more effective at directing effort and attention to the processes that leads to desired outcomes than verbal or physical punishment. Rather than demean or belittle directly, some practitioners will make purposefully diminutive comparisons.

Comparing athletes against one another for motivational purposes tends to have non-optimal outcomes. It takes focus off skill building and puts it on an end result – getting better than a teammate. Focus on how-to's for improvement or competing against past performances and personal bests is a more constructive solution. This doesn't mean you shouldn't celebrate when a player does something exceptional – it means keep from using that player as a ‘you should be more like him/her' model when addressing a teammate's shortcomings. Additionally, comparisons against significant others made indelicately can hurt motivation. For example, “if you were half the player your dad/mom/brother/sister was, you'd work harder.” Having role models or someone to look up is positive, but comparing a player against that person in the wrong way can be counterproductive to inspiring motivation. Ensure athletes are getting enough attention to develop as well.

It's easy to pay attention to athletes when they're performing well and shift focus away from lower performing teammates. Frequently it's unintentional, but some coaches use it as a motivational tactic, recognizing players when they do well and withdrawing attention when that same athlete struggles. Self-awareness and an assistant coach or someone who's your own best advocate can help you ensure everybody gets coached. If you've got access to a sport psych, they might be willing to volunteer in tracking the number and type of interactions with players during workouts.

Conclusion

While it's likely readers don't employ the negative coaching practices described, it's hoped that some takeaways will prove valuable. Coaching style and coach behaviors are significant correlates of intrinsic motivation (Matosic & Cox, 2014; Wu, Lai, & Chan, 2014). Players who are more intrinsically motivated tend to have more stable motivation across a season and do better at maintaining motivation in response to failures or poor performances than more extrinsically motivated counterparts. It's ideal for an athlete to be motivated primarily intrinsically, however it's not realistic to suggest a player is driven only by intrinsic reasons. The strategies we've covered are usable in combination with tips from the last article that teach ways of supporting athletes meeting basic psychological needs. Ideally, what we've discussed will enable greater support for the development of intrinsic motivation in athletes.

Reference:

Sparks, C., Dimmock, J., Whipp, P., & Lonsdale, C. (2015). “Getting connected”: High school physical education teacher behaviors that facilitate students' relatedness support perceptions. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 4, 219-236.

Stenling, A., Lindwall, M., & Hassmén, P. (2015). Changes in perceived autonomy support, need satisfaction, motivation, and well-being in young elite athletes. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 4, 50-61.

Matosic, D. & Cox, A.E. (2014). Athletes' motivation regulations and need satisfaction across combinations of perceived coaching behaviors. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 301-317.

Wu, A.M.S., Lai, M.H., & Chan, I.T. (2014). Coaching behaviors, satisfaction of needs, and intrinsic motivation among Chinese university athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 334-348.