Purposeful Motivation
“He is a great player, but lacks motivation”
“If only she were motivated, she’d would be the best player on the field”
“We, as team, are just not motivated today”
Do any of the above phrases sound familiar to you? I hear about motivation in my consultations with players, coaches, and parents all of the time. In fact, it is almost always a primary or secondary concern with most of my clients.
Walk past any field and you will hear the shouts from coaches and parents alike, trying to ‘motivate’ the athletes on the field. From the ever popular, “get hungry” to the pleading “you’ve got to want it” on down to the frustrated “they’re beating you to every ball”, you will hear no shortage of attempts to increase effort and motivation in the athletes on the field.
Where does motivation come from?
Motivation comes from either internal or external sources. Many coaches rely on external motivation (threatening fitness for lack of effort, playing time, trophies, etc) to stimulate effort in their players. Eventually, players either become numb to external motivation, or they take shortcuts to get their desired outcome with no concern for how they get there. Sure, there is a time and a place for using external motivating factors. However, I believe we need to be purposeful with how we approach motivation with our younger athletes. We want to introduce ways for them to control their own motivation so they are willing to put in the work necessary to improve. With this in mind, I focus on two components to fuel passion in each athlete I work with: IGNITION and INTERNAL MOTIVATION
Ignition
or inspiration if you prefer, is the start of the motivation process. Imagine a matchstick. The ignition stage is when the flame is lit by striking the side of the matchbox. On the other hand, motivation is the continual burning of the flame. After the athlete is ignited with passion, motivation becomes the force that keeps them moving forward. An athlete who was never ignited is often confused with one who lacks motivation.
In youth sports today, we often forget about igniting the spirit of the athlete. From day one, we are more concerned with preparing them to win, to earn a college scholarship, to be the best on the team by age 7. The above mindset forgets to ignite the passion and fuel the love of the game. The number of committed hours, sacrifices made, and mental, physical, and emotional strain it takes to make it to the top level of one’s sport is grueling and often not understood. A player who has not been ignited and therefore lacks internal motivation will never make it beyond their natural talent level, which will eventually be surpassed by the motivated player who trains more often.
An athlete is not ignited if…
- Practice only occurs at team training sessions
- Measures success solely on wins and losses (on the outcome)
- Gives up easily when faced with adversity or setbacks
- Blames others for undesired results
- Waits to be told to do something
In contrast, an ignited athlete lights up the field as soon as he or she steps on it. This is the athlete who:
- Trains on their own
- Measures success on growth (on the process)
- Works on a skill for hours, days, weeks, and months for mastery
- Displays resilience – motivated by struggles and failure
- Is proactive – does it when they should, not when they have to
If you watched the US Women’s National Team in the 2019 World Cup, a perfect example of an ignited athlete is Rose Lavelle.
You can see the passion, the joy, and the gratitude she has for her sport in every moment on the field. She is ignited. She plays because she loves the game. I had the pleasure of meeting Rose when she spoke to our club team prior to the World Cup. She spoke to our players about her love of the game, how she would play for hours in her backyard perfecting her touch on the ball, moves, and her shot. No coach, no personal trainer, no parent demanding it. Just her and her passion. That is ignition!
Building Internal Motivation
The second component to developing motivated athletes is to train the internal motivator system rather than the external one. As discussed in the opening of this article, external motivation comes from outside the athlete. Examples of this are
- A yelling coach
- Trying to please a coach or parent through his or her performance
- Recognition from the coach, parent or the media
- External rewards like a trophy/medal or money
How does a young athlete develop an internal drive?
Optimism and resilience make-up the foundation for internal motivation. Specifically, there are three factors that lead to internal motivation:
- Confidence – belief in one’s ability, understanding setbacks are temporary, one’s actions matter
- Autonomy – being able to make decisions for oneself and ability to choose a course of action
- Support System – external individuals, family, teammates, coaches, etc. who believe in the individual and will validate their decisions and pursuit of their goals.
Do you set up your coaching, parenting, or teaching style around building internally motivated players, kids, and students? Are you helping them build confidence in themselves through experiences? Do you let them have a choice in their pathway or do you dictate to them what is expected? Are you letting them make a choice and see it through, even when you know that choice will lead to failure? Can they count on you to be there for them, even when they screw up, even when they seem like they do not care? Do they know you believe in their ability to succeed? How do you teach resilience to them, so when success is not immediate, they continue to try?
Do you ignite their flame or do you steal their ability to strike the side of the matchbox?
But does all of this breed results?
I often hear coaches counter the autonomy argument. Some believe players should not be the ones making any decisions, that is the role of the coach in their mind. These are the coaches who demand it is done his or her way, often forcing players to adapt to their style instead of vice-versa.
However, look across the landscape of high level sports and tell me which championship coaches are hardcore disciplinarians and dictators? Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr? No. Nick Nurse (1st year) coach of the Toronto Raptors? No. Dabo Sweeney of Clemson University? No.Jill Ellis of the US Soccer Women’s National Team? Not her either.
Coach Ellis took a ton of criticism saying she was not hard enough on the players and gave them too much space to make decisions. Her approach with internally motivated players must be effective, however, since she has won the last two Women’s World Cups!
Each of the above coaches are known for developing people over wins, yet they are each the definition of success in their sport. They inspire confidence, trust in the decisions of their players, and create a supportive environment.
Parting Thoughts
With the evidence that this approach works at our highest levels, with our most talented athletes, why do we do anything different in our youth sports and in our school systems. It is time to adapt as coaches, teachers, and parents. Step back from the result and focus more on igniting passions and allowing for autonomy in our youth players. Get them excited for the process of developing and you will see them enjoy the training, the hard work, and the setbacks!
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Ryan Defibaugh, LCPC, NCC, is the owner of MBS Performance Counseling, LLC in Frederick, MD. He works with adolescents and young adults to help them thrive in their athletic, academic, social, and personal lives. Ryan uses his experience as a Division I college coach along with his counseling background in order to empower our youth with skills such as optimism, resilience, grit, and problem-solving abilities.
