This week, I’d like to talk about motivation. As a coach or mentor, the young adults that you interact with will look up to you in more ways than just sport. Even though it seems evident this will happen, so many coaches forget and get lost in the job of just coaching. So what happens off the court? Where do those athletes get that extra push that they otherwise will not get? Being motivating is more than just an applause when things are good and a speech when they are not. Being motivating is who you are when your athlete is having an emotional breakdown because home life is not ideal, or when they do not believe they will get through that semester in school, let alone graduate.
I am not saying that motivation is just the emotional side of athletics, but it is a part of the whole picture. A coach that motivates both athletically and emotionally will get the best performance out of an athlete. “Motivation is thought to be a combination of the drive within us to achieve our aims and the outside factors which affect it”.1 Your athletes may have the drive to perform but those outside factors, the ones that they cannot control, will drastically affect that. So it is up to you to be that boundary that blocks off the negativity and gives that extra push.
Lastly, “Motivation will directly impact the level of success that you ultimately achieve”.2 That being said, help set your athletes or mentees up for lifelong success. Show them how to fight through obstacles with higher ways of thinking and understanding. More importantly, teach them to be self motivating, to be able to push themselves when there is no one else. That is the ultimate reward of being a motivating role model in their lives. Remember, you may be the only source of motivation that they will have in that period of their life. You must not abuse that privilege, but embrace it and use it to develop a better person.
References:
TeachPE. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.teachpe.com/sports_psychology/motivation.php
Ph.D., J. T. (2009). Sports: What Motivates athletes. The Power of Prime.
Motivation is key when it comes to coaching athletes! Not only do the athletes have to be motivated but the coaches do too. Good job. I enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteExcellent choice using a Michael Jordan picture! It speaks volumes as well. All student athletes need to understand that nothing just happens, we have to make it happen. I also agree that drive is a huge asset to motivation.
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