Building Athlete Motivation

BY ARIEN E. FAUCETT

Imagine arriving to the rink for a practice session with a skater who only a year ago gave you more headaches than you can count. However, within the past year, a shift occurred. It is twenty minutes before the start of the session and the skater is in the warm-up area properly dressed, rested, and hydrated. You see them going through their warm up routine, and it is obvious they are totally focused. Their personal notebook is open nearby with critique notes and previous session jump counts. As you walk in, the skater cheerfully greets you and proceeds with the warm-up. As you are moving to your own preparation area, you hear the athlete supporting other skaters as they talk about the workout ahead. The transformation from problem-skater to focused-skater is not a miracle, but rather the result of intentional effort on your part.

Coaches do more than teach skaters technical skills and strategies for improvement. They also help skaters understand the grace necessary, both on the ice and off, to be truly successful in the sport. Yet the coach’s influence does not stop there. Coaches of all sports shape the way athletes approach competition. These lessons frequently extend beyond the sport itself and shape how athletes react to challenges in their daily lives long after competitive experiences have ended. We all hope that once athletes leave our influence, they take with them the spirit of dedication, respect, and hope that we helped them to embrace in our time together.

While many coaches recognize their influence beyond sport, one goal is still to help athletes reach their full potential. Sport scientists have helped coaches and athletes alike understand there are many areas where specific attention can be directed to help an athlete improve upon and sustain performance. Getting the right amount of sleep, making sound nutritional choices, and incorporating adequate breaks are a few of the ways athletes can take active steps beyond practice reps to improve performance. Coaches can obviously encourage athletes to take these steps, however, what happens outside of practice is up to the skater (e.g., eat right, sleep well, and integrate active recovery on off days). Still, coaches can also affect effort and motivation during practice times.

With intentional effort, coaches can create an environment where athletes are self-motivated to achieve. Instead of figuring out ways to pull greatness out of an athlete, these environments result in athletes approaching training sessions, practices, and competitions with maximal effort and energy. While this may sound like a dream scenario, sport scientists have consistently shown that specific coaching behaviors can encourage intrinsic motivation through the climate they create [1]. When coaches establish a healthy motivational climate, athletes put forth more effort [2], enjoy their sport more [3], have higher self-esteem and confidence [4] all while having less performance anxiety [1], fewer injuries [6], and lower rates of burnout and dropout [7]. Put plainly, coaches who know how to encourage athletes to motivate themselves have better performing, happier athletes. But how can this be done?

Consider this: generally, two types of motivational climates exist. Performance-oriented climates reflect those in which athletes are praised for their success against the performances of others. In other words, wins and losses and high scores are key markers of success. Mastery climates on the other hand, reflect those in which athletes are praised for their improvement on or mastery of a skill. While performing at the highest level is part of elite competition (of course we want athletes to win!) performance-oriented climates can result in problems. What if the skater is alone on the ice and there is no one there to compete with? Ultimately, they don’t practice as hard or put forth as much effort. This is because the feedback they need to measure their success is unavailable. It makes sense then that they won’t enjoy practice and will frequently need encouragement from their coaches to put forth effort.

However, in mastery-oriented climates, athletes measure their success in sport by their ability to master skills or do better than they did the day, week, or competition before. Because they are focused on getting better, these athletes are more likely to push themselves as hard as they can regardless of whether they are alone in the rink or in front of a crowd. Again, this isn’t to suggest that these athletes aren’t competitive and don’t care about winning, they just adopt a more process oriented approach. Coaches who understand this and know how to cultivate this climate possess a secret weapon for helping athletes be driven, eager to learn, and successful.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Information at a Glance

1-7 Adapted from sources within Handbook of Sport Psychology, Third Edition

TASK-ORIENTED ATHLETES

Experience higher sport satisfaction

Have less performance anxiety

Exert more effort

Participate for the joy of mastering new skills

Success = Learning

PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED ATHLETES

Enjoy sport less

Performance anxiety is more likely

Don’t try as hard

Participate for social status and popularity

Success = Being Superior

- - - - - - - - - - -

How can coaches create a mastery-oriented environment in skating? The first step is examining the way coaches talk to skaters. Take the following example, a skater is struggling to land a particular jump they absolutely need to land in the next competition. In a practice a few weeks before the event, Coach A tells the skater “We need to work on this. You have to land this jump in the event.” Coach B on the other hand asks the skater, “What are the two critical things we need to focus on for you to perform this jump?” Both coaches are talking to the skater about landing the jump. The difference though is the approach. Coach A is framing the conversation around the outcome—the athlete needs to land the jump in the upcoming event. Conversely, Coach B is adopting a process approach by asking the athlete to focus on the technical elements and process of developing the skill. In this scenario, Coach B has given the athlete the autonomy to identify the key elements of the skill that need work thus increasing his/her motivation to work on the skill.

Given the obvious benefits of creating a mastery-oriented climate, what can coaches do to check their own behaviors? Above is a checklist of questions coaches need to ask themselves to determine if they are encouraging a masteryoriented climate or performance-oriented climate.

Coach’s Checklist:

• When athletes don’t perform well, what type of feedback are you giving? Do you point out what contributed to the low score (e.g., “You didn’t stick the landing. You can’t win if you fall.”); or, are you gauging whether the skater understands what contributed to the fall in the first place (e.g., “What happened in that jump? Why do you think you fell?”). Focus on the technical skills needed to successfully master the jump and point out that upcoming practice sessions are an opportunity to develop the skill.

• When skaters aren’t motivated in practice, what do you say to help them focus or give more effort? Instead of saying, “You have a month until your next competition, you have to work now”, have a conversation with the skater to identify one skill or area that can be improved upon in the current practice session. In setting small, daily goals, skaters will develop a respect for the opportunity to get better each day.

• When you talk about success or failures with the skater, what is the focus of the conversation? Instead of focusing on a competition or event (“You placed fourth in your last competition…”), point out the growth or progress a skater has made in specific areas of their craft. “You have come so far with your axel. Your hard work is clearly paying off.”

Ways to Check Your Behavior:

• Mic up! Current technology provides an easy way to record ourselves speaking. Record yourself during practice sessions so you can go back and listen to yourself give feedback or encouragement. If you are focusing on skill mastery, great job! If you are too focused on competitions or winning, this is an opportunity for self-improvement.

• Invite a trusted colleague to practice—we all have colleagues who will give us honest feedback if we would only ask for it. Invite a trusted colleague to watch you coach. Have a conversation about the tone you want to set for the skater and your goals for the session. When the session is over, discuss what the colleague saw from you in your session. We all have blind spots; outside eyes may help us see where we need to devote intentional effort in the future. Ask the athlete for specific feedback. A simple conversation about what they believe your goals are for them could shine light on whether you are too focused on the outcome instead of the process. All coaches can grow their practice and develop new ways to getter better at their craft. Asking an athlete for their perceptions could help you understand how you are presenting your messages.

References 1. Roberts, G. C., Treasure, D. C, & Conroy, D. (2007). Understand the dynamics of motivation in sport: An achievement goal orientation. In Handbook of Sport Psychology: Third Edition (pp. 3-30). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. 2. Sarrazin, P., Roberts, G. C., Cury, F., Biddle, S. J. H., & Famose, J. P. (2002). Exerted effort and performance in climbing among boys: The influence of achievement goals, perceived ability, and task difficulty. Research Quarterly for Exercise Science and Sport, 73, 425-436. 3. Biddle, S., Akande, A., Vlachopoulos, S., & Fox, K. (1996). Towards an understanding of children’s motivation for physical activity: Achievement goal orientations, beliefs about sport success, and sport emotion in Zimbabwean children. Psychology and Health, 12, 49-55. 4. Ntoumanis, N., & Biddle, S. J. H. (1999). Affect and achievement goals in physical activity: A meta analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 16, 183-197. 5. Roberts, G. C. (1986). The perception of stress: A potential source and its development. In M. R. Weiss & D. Gould (Eds.), Sport for children and youths (pp. 119-126). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 6. Williams, J. M., & Anderson, M. B. (2007). Psychosocial antecedents of sport injury and interventions for risk reduction. In Handbook of Sport Psychology: Third Edition (pp. 379-403). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. 7. Ecklund, R. C., & Cresswell, S. L. (2007). Athlete burnout. In Handbook of Sport Psychology: Third Edition (pp. 621-641). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Arien E. Faucett is a doctoral student at the University of Southern Mississippi in the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition in Hattiesburg, MS. Her current research is on decision-making processes of coaches within the sport environment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ADVERTISEMENT