Successful coaches' views on motivation and motivational ...



Successful coaches' views on motivation and motivational strategies.(Coaching).

Author(s):Brent Hansen, Wade Gilbert and Tim Hamel. 

Source:JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 74.8 (Oct 2003): p44(6). (3788 words) 

Document Type:Magazine/Journal

Bookmark:Bookmark this Document

Library Links:

•

Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2003 American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD)

A coach's primary role is to help athletes realize their potential. In order to reach their potential, athletes must sustain a high level of motivation over many years of practice and competition. However, motivation is very complex, and it has challenged coaches at all levels and in all sports.

Motivation is thought to encompass "personality factors, social variables, and/or cognitions that are assumed to come into play when a person undertakes a task at which he or she is evaluated, enters into competition with others, or attempts to attain some standard of excellence" (Roberts, 1993, p. 406). Furthermore, motivation is often separated into at least three main types: intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation (Vallerand & Losier, 1999). Intrinsic motivation is described as engaging in an activity purely for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from doing the activity (Deci, 1975). Extrinsic motivation leads to engagement in an activity as a means to an end or for some external reward (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Amotivation occurs when individuals experience feelings of incompetence and lack of control; they no longer have a reason to participate (Deci & Ryan). Although there is a tremendous amount of research on motivation in sport (Singer, Hausenblas, & Janelle, 2001, pp. 389-494) and on the coaching process (Gilbert, 2002), research on how successful coaches define and address motivation is limited. It is obvious that motivation is an essential aspect of athletic performance, but what does motivation mean to successful coaches, and what strategies do they use to motivate their athletes?

The following discussion on motivation is based on information collected from a sample of five highly successful Division I men's college basketball coaches. The coaches had a mean of 23.4 years of college basketball coaching experience (range = 7-38 years). Each coach had a career winning percentage of at least 68 percent, had coached in the 2001-2002 season, and has been recognized as successful by his peers. The coaches collectively represented 117 years of collegiate coaching experience and have won two National Championships, 10 Final Four Tournament appearances, 34 conference championships, and 22 conference coach-of-the-year titles. Awards won by the coaches include induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, John and Nellie Wooden Award, Naismith College Basketball Coach of the Year, John Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Award, and Clair Bee Coach of the Year award.

The data were collected through phenomenological interviews (Dale, 1996). Each interview lasted between 30 and 60 minutes and was conducted in the coach's office. All coaches provided informed consent to participate in the study, and pseudonyms are used in the presentation of the data. The data were analyzed using phenomenological procedures consistent with this type of research (Dale). A complete description of the methodology and the analysis is provided elsewhere (Hansen, 2003). During the interviews, the coaches described 25 different definitions or meanings of motivation and 31 different motivational strategies. This article will present a summary of the meanings and strategies most often mentioned (i.e., by three or more coaches).

Meanings of Motivation

Player effort and a coach's personality were the most often cited aspects of motivation. All five coaches indicated that a player giving maximum effort is the essence of motivation. Players demonstrate this effort by doing the little things it takes to be successful, such as hustling for loose balls or scurrying to take a charge. For example, Coach B stated:

I like the guy playing as hard as he

can for as long as he can. I feel like 1

can get a guy in there and do the

same thing, we'll be better off in the

long run. But if a kid fails to sprint

back on defense, if a guy fails to play

and get a loose ball, or lack of hustle,

you just say" hey, 'If you're not going

to play hard, lets get somebody else

in who is.'

By equating effort with motivation, it is clear that successful coaches believe that motivation comes from within and can be regulated by the athlete. Metzler (2002) explains that coaches should teach that effort influences performance and that effort is within their control. Coach B commented:

If a guy comes to you and says,

'Coach, hey, what's the deal? How

come I'm not playing?' It's because

you're not playing hard. Bill over

there is playing a lot harder than

you are, he's making teammates better;

he's doing these things. You're

capable but you're just not doing

them, so you're not going to do it,

I'm not going to play you.

In other words, giving maximum effort is a simple strategy athletes can use to demonstrate their level of motivation to their coaches. These coaches modify their coaching strategies largely based on the level of motivation (effort) shown by their athletes, particularly in practice situations. For example, Coach E stated, "If somebody isn't giving us the full effort, then I'm going to use whatever motivational methods are needed, whether that is getting on them verbally, or utilizing some sprints or push-up or whatever, that is going to be used."

Along with player effort, all five coaches referred to their own unique coaching personality when explaining their meaning of motivation. The ability to be an effective motivator depends fully on a coach's ability to find his or her own motivational style. The coaches strongly discouraged trying to emulate another coach's personality:

Motivating is inexact in that you have

to rely on your hunches; you have to

be yourself. One thing I learned

early in coaching was don't try to be

someone else, that isn't going to

work. I would say the same thing

about motivation. (Coach D)

Elite coaches and sport psychologists agree that a link exists between a coach's personality, and that coach's effectiveness as a motivator. For example, in his summary of the approaches of great coaches, Walton (1992) found that Woody Hayes, one of the great motivators in college coaching, stressed the importance of knowing your limits and being yourself.

Other themes that were discussed when explaining the meaning of motivation included collective/team motivation versus individual motivation, athlete potential, and coach expectations. Four coaches discussed the distinction between collective/team motivation and individual motivation. Coach C explained:

On the one hand you hope that

they are able to understand the

power of selflessness and the power

of working towards a goal just for

the good of the team and the good

of their teammates and that kind of

camaraderie. But also understand

what they will find out is that a lot

of the things they value on a personal

and individual level will also

be met. You can do both, you can

move your team toward a collective

goal and also kind of satisfy the ego,

the self, and the things you value

on an individual basis, and they may

be different.

The coaches agreed that each team is different and is motivated in different ways. What might work with one individual will not necessarily work for the team. The coaches noticed a distinct difference between the ways each athlete is motivated. Understanding each individual is key to comprehending what athletes value and what motivates them. Once the coach becomes familiar with each individual, pieces of the team motivation puzzle may be assembled.

You have to understand, on an individual

basis, what each player values,

what's important to them, what's

their own vision, what motivates

them--and if you have a better feel

for that, you are going to be more

effective at fitting all those different

pieces together. (Coach C)

Four of the coaches felt that another central aspect of motivation was to help their athletes reach their performance potential. They claimed that athletes often have self-imposed performance ceilings, and it is the coach's job to raise those ceilings.

It is our job to make sure that we

push you and motivate you as much

as is possible, to make you as good

as you can become, without you

putting limits on what you think.

(Coach E)

Helping athletes reach their potential did not pertain only to their athletic goals. The coaches expressed that they also wanted their athletes to be prepared for life after basketball.

Four of the coaches also mentioned coach expectations when describing the meaning of motivation. These coaches expected their players to enter the program with a very high degree of motivation already. In this context, the coaches believed that motivation must come primarily from within. Therefore, the coaches believed that athletes should be self-motivated to succeed at this level.

You [athletes] are the ones that have

to motivate yourselves. If you don't

want to succeed, then you won't.

There's nothing I can do to make

you succeed. You are going to have

to want to win, want to be good.

(Coach B)

The context in which these successful coaches work provides insight into why they expect athletes to enter the program highly self-motivated, and therefore do not view motivation as a primary role of the coach. John Wooden, who won 10 national championships in a span of 12 years as coach of the UCLA men's basketball team, was observed over a series of practices in the mid-1970s (Tharp & Gallimore, 1976). It was found that Wooden used very little praise as motivation during practices.

Wooden's negligible use of praise is

particularly instructive when you

consider the motivational level of

his students. There may be no more

highly motivated groups trying to

learn something than these young

athletes for whom success can mean

fame and fortune, plus more immediate

social benefits. Under such

conditions of maximum incentive,

praise becomes virtually unnecessary.

(p. 77)

Other meanings of motivation included leadership/modeling, balance, feel, and honesty. Leadership/modeling is essential to motivation. Coach C pointed out the clear relationship between leadership and motivation when he said, "It's really motivation and leadership that are closely tied in, and I think strong leaders are how you motivate." The importance of modeling leadership is central to Chelladurai's (1993) leadership model of coaching, in which he explains that a coach's personality--manifested in the coach's behaviors--affects athlete performance and satisfaction.

Balance was also important to the meaning of motivation. Coach E compared balance to peaks and valleys:

Basketball should not be a case of

peaks and valleys. I was a high school

coach and junior college coach on

the west coast when coach Wooden

had his great teams at UCLA. The

first time I ever heard this statement,

it was from him, and he said, 'If you

have peaks, you are going to have

valleys.' The peaks come about if

you really are putting so much emphasis

on one game, you can bet on

the fact that the next game is not

going to be a very positive situation,

so we try to keep a steady preparation

level.

Three coaches described motivation as a "feeling." For example, Coach A stated, "I just think that you do it by feel and the circumstances that you are dealt with." In other words, as each situation is different, the coach deals with it and the circumstances that are given, and the coach does it by feel and past experiences.

Honesty was another concept used to define the meaning of motivation. In order for communication and trust to be established within a team, all parties need to be honest:

So I try to be honest and straight

forward with them and sincere with

them, and I think in the long run, if

they think or feel you really care

about them, then that approach will

work. However, if they think that

you are being a phony or you are

not very sincere, then they won't

listen. (Coach A)

Motivational Strategies

Nine strategies were mentioned by at least four of the coaches as effective motivational strategies. The most often cited strategy was "challenging players." This strategy involved verbally questioning the players' intensity or certain aspects of their toughness.

I would say my style is probably less

negative and probably more challenging

them. There are times when I

want to challenge their pride, challenge

their ego, challenge their manhood

because I know that will create

a response, so if I were to say, 'you

guys are getting punked. You're letting

these guys walk all over you and

kick our [butt] in our own living

room, in our own house.' I also will

challenge them in a positive way and

say, 'there's nothing better than going

into someone else's house and

kicking their [butt] in front of their

own fans on national TV.' (Coach C)

It is important to note that when the coaches verbally challenged the actions of their players in an effort to motivate them they focused on the athletes' behaviors, not their character. The coaches highlighted the distinction between challenging one's effort and attacking one's identity or personality. The coaches referred to the latter as "fear motivation." Fear motivation was mentioned by four of the five coaches, but most of their comments reflected the fact that they did not believe in, nor use, this type of strategy.

Now you can try to intimidate if

that's your style, my style is not, but

if you want to try and intimidate

that's one way to go about it, some

people do, but I don't. And again

some people would use, would question

kids' character that would question

them verbally out loud a little

bit. Again that is not my style, but

some people use that a great deal,

with trying to scream at kids about

having courage, having whatever terminology

you want to use trying to

get kids then to get mad, and compete

as a result. (Coach B)

As well as verbally challenging the athletes, some coaches choose to physically challenge the athletes. These challenges were described as a form of physical punishment that usually involved some sort of physical activity such as running or sprints. Coach E stated, "If I tell him and we don't get responses, then the next thing we'll do is we'll have him run sprints, or maybe we'll put him on the exercycle." At other times this strategy takes the form of a competition between different groups within the team. If one team loses the drill, they might have to run, do push-ups, or some other form of physical punishment. The coaches wanted to emphasize, however, that they never physically abuse their players.

Error feedback, positive verbal statements, and negative verbal statements are related motivational strategies. The coaches used error feedback to alert their athletes to mistakes in performance. For example, Coach B stated, "What I always do is point out what's not being done versus what is being done." Some examples of positive verbal statements came from Coach C and Coach D. Coach C first said, "You could be saying, 'nice pass, great play, way to hustle.'" Coach D offered a slightly different view:

Sometimes it is just reassuring them

that, hey, we are going to make some

shots. We might be playing poorly

in one sense, and it is a halftime

reassurance, ... keep believing.

Critiques of performance without specific feedback were described as negative verbal statements. Coach C provides an example of negative verbal feedback:

If I'm upset, it could be anything

from, 'get your head out of your

[butt],' sometimes I'll say, 'get your

head out of your fanny,' you know it

just depends. It could be, 'we're getting

punked.'

Although negative verbal feedback was mentioned, the coaches cautioned against using this type of communication too often, because it might be detrimental to a player's confidence level.

Guys are going to learn a lot more

from positive motivation than from

negative, I think. If too many negatives

are used, before long you are

going to affect the confidence level,

and if the player is going to be a

good player, he has to believe in

himself. He has to have a good self-image.

(Coach E)

Direct positive reinforcement along with little punishment has been shown to increase confidence and performance (Howe, 1993; Yukelson, 2001).

Four coaches used nonverbal communication as a motivational strategy. Coach E gave a precise example of nonverbal communication when he said, "I think your body language is key. Motivating doesn't have to be verbal motivation. They can tell with a look that they are not doing something that needs to be done." This finding is consistent with the sport psychology and coaching literature. For example, in his book on coaching, Lynch (2001) refers to nonverbal communication as, "An appropriate pat on the back, or a hand on the arm ... that shows caring, sincerity, and concern" (p. 38).

Making tactical adjustments was the most frequently mentioned strategy for motivating players during games. Coach C described how he uses tactical adjustments during competition when he said:

Well, I think first you can full court

press, you might do something like

that to try and generate energy by

turning your team around, extending

your defense, maybe trapping a

little bit more to kind of create an

aggressive mind set of what we are

doing and hopefully, that in turn,

will get your guys into the game,

create a couple of steals, deflections,

get the other teams on their heals.

The role of assistants in the motivational process was also mentioned by some of the coaches. In general, each assistant coach was responsible for a specific aspect of performance. This finding is similar to Bloom's (1996) results from research with Olympic coaches, in which it was stressed that assistant coaches with a specialization make a critical contribution to the coaching process. However, the results of the present study also show that the role of assistant coaches in motivating athletes was not explicitly defined.

Well, first of all the technical side of

the game, they have specific responsibilities.

One guy is primarily concerned

with defense, the other offense,

another rebounding. They

have charts they keep. They have a

lot of things going on. It is not like

you can just say, 'You are in charge

of the emotional side of the game.'

It does not work that way. I can't

honestly tell you. I have a list of all

their responsibilities and there is

nothing on there about emotions.

There is nothing on there about

motivation. (Coach D)

Conclusion

Coaches and sport psychologists describe motivation in a variety of ways, and the strategies that coaches use to motivate players are numerous. The current discussion is based on interviews with some of the most successful college basketball coaches in the United States, but it is important to note that their actual behaviors were not observed. Therefore, the results are more a portrait of great coaches' reflections on motivation and motivational strategies. The findings warrant careful consideration because of the magnitude of these coaches' collective success. Although there are some common patterns, the results also highlight the individual or personal nature of motivating athletes. Ultimately, consideration of personality differences among individual athletes and the level of competition (i.e., college vs. high school vs. youth sport) should frame coaches' efforts to motivate their athletes towards realizing their full potential.

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (1995) provides guidelines for motivating athletes, such as: react positively to mistakes and give encouragement; know the social and emotional reasons why your players are competing; use goal-setting strategies and arousal techniques; and use a variety of positive instructional methods, such as encouragement and constructive criticism. Some of these guidelines parallel the results in the current study, but it is important that coaches develop their own context-specific meanings and strategies of motivation.

Coaches typically start reflecting on coaching and generating coaching strategies when they are athletes (Cushion, Armour, & Jones, 2003; Gilbert, Kulikov, Niino, Trudel, & Cote, 2002). Furthermore, coaches often generate coaching strategies by modeling or seeking advice from other coaches (Gilbert & Trudel, 2001). Therefore, the motivational views and strategies that coaches use today can have a long-term impact not only on their current athletes' motivation, but also on those athletes' approach to motivating others in the future.

References

Bloom, G. (1996). Competition. In J. Salmela (Ed.), Great job coach: Getting the edge from proven winners (pp. 139-178). Ottawa, Ontario: Potentium.

Chelladurai, P. (1993). Leadership. In J. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (pp. 647-671). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

Cushion, C.J., Armour, K. M., & Jones, R. L. (2003). Coach education and continuing professional development: Experience and learning to coach. Quest, 55, 205-230.

Dale, G. (1996). Existential phenomenology: Emphasizing the experience of he athlete in sport psychology research. The Sport Psychologist, 10, 307-321.

Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

Gilbert, W. D. (2002). An annotated bibliography and analysis of coaching science. Reston, VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Available http:// research/ template.cfm?template=grantees.html.

Gilbert, W. D., Kulikov, N., Niino, A., Trudel, P., & Cote, J. (2002). Tracing the development of expertise in coaching. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 73(S1), A-90.

Gilbert, W. D., & Trudel, P. (2001). Learning to coach through experience: Reflection in model youth sport coaches. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 21, 16-34.

Hansen, B. (2003). The meaning of motivation and motivational strategies in Division I Men's College Basketball Unpublished master's thesis, California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA.

Howe, B. (1993). Psychological skills and coaching. Sport Science Review, 2(2), 30-47.

Lynch, J. (2001). Creative coaching. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Metzler, J. (2002). Applying motivational principles to individual athletes. In J. Silva & D. Stevens (Eds.), Psychological foundations in sport (pp. 80-106). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (1995). National standards for athletic coaches. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Roberts, G. (1993). Motivation in sport: Understanding and enhancing the motivation and achievement of children. In R. Singer, M. Murphey, & L. Tennant (Eds.), Handbook of research on sport psychology (pp. 405-420). New York: Macmillan.

Singer, R. N., Hausenblas, H. A., & Janelle, C. M. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of sport psychology (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1976). What a coach can teach a teacher. Psychology Today, 9(8), 75-78.

Vallerand, R.J., & Losier, G. F. (1999). An integrative analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 11, 142-169.

Walton, G. M. (1992). Beyond winning: The timeless wisdom of great philosopher coaches. Champaign, IL: Leisure.

Yukelson, D. (2001). Communicating effectively. In J. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (4th ed.). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

Brent Hansen is a graduate student, Wade Gilbert (wgilbert@csufresno.edu) is an assistant professor, and Tim Hamel (thamel@ csufresno.edu) is a lecturer at California State University--Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download