Creating a Motivational Environment: The Power of Role Modelling
Most interviews with successful sportspeople contain the question, “Who has been a role model for you in your career?” and most sportspeople answer by naming other successful players in their sport. Occasionally, inspirational characters from other areas of life are noted and every now and again their coach gets a mention!
“People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves” – Tyron Edwards
To coach an athlete to international success is the stuff of dreams for many coaches but the majority of people who choose to coach do so simply for the love of their sport or to “give something back” to a sport that has given a great deal to them. At grass-roots level, the coach can be the biggest influence in a young person’s sporting life but that doesn’t mean they have to be a caped-crusading-all-knowing-super-hero. Sports psychology 2 techniques can help coaches at the entry level of sports find the most effective methods of motivating people to become involved in sport and, perhaps more importantly, stay involved.
Newcomers to sport, particularly children, will often learn most in the initial stages through a simple ‘monkey-see-monkey-do’ system. A coach’s enthusiasm will rub off on his players; a coach’s ability will become matched by his players; and a coach’s attitude and behaviour will also be mimicked. Being a good role model therefore carries with it a great responsibility and a major part of that responsibility is to identify where your strengths and weaknesses lie as a coach.
It’s important to remember that although newcomers to your sport may look upon you as some kind of hero, being an effective coach and a good role model doesn’t mean having to don that cape! Sports psychology 2 techniques allow coaches at every level to build on existing strengths and to shine a light on areas that could use further training or practice. The key is to continue developing your own coaching skills so that you are in a position to continue developing your players skills.
Being an effective motivator is just one element of being a good coach and through sports psychology 2, coaches can learn how to understand what motivates their players and themselves. Effective coaches don’t rely on gadgets or gimmicks to inspire their athletes, they rely on the fundamentals of good coaching.
The pillars of performance – technical, tactical, physical, psychological – form the basic structure on which all sports psychology 2 techniques are built and strong sports performances grow from strong supporting pillars. As coaches, an important step towards creating a motivational climate for your players is to look at your current skill set in relation to those pillars and ensuring a balance by developing equal strength in each pillar. Develop any weak areas you discover through being open to further learning, talking to experts or attending classes.
Hiding behind strengths can be tempting but this will only stifle progress in the long run. Weaknesses should be viewed as opportunities to grow. Sport psychology 2 gives you the opportunity as a coach and a role model to encourage your players to remain open to learning by leading through example. After all, each new player who comes to you has the potential to go on to international success so give yourself every opportunity to be one of those motivational role models they mention in their interviews!
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To learn more about sports psychology 2 techniques, check out the *NEW* updated Coaching Edge Mental Skills for sport course coming soon! To register interest e-mail support@zonedinperformance.com
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