Human motivation is an fascinating construct to study. With a high level of motivation, nearly anything is possible, and people with otherwise average skills often end up doing quite extraordinary things. Conversely, individuals with great potential but low motivation will almost always fail to live up to their talents, leaving observers to scratch their heads why such talent would be seemingly squandered away.
When parenting or coaching kids in sports, motivation (or lack thereof) is often the single biggest piece to sports success. Even kids without much natural talent quickly experience the benefits of motivation by showing up early to practicing and being the last one to leave — resulting in better skill acquisition and proficiency, as well as endearing them to their teammates for their hard work. When motivated kids begin to see the fruits of their labor, their confidence increases, and they often continue to set new goals and see their game take off even further. In some ways, they “play over their head” because they are motivated to succeed.
Can you help kids improve their motivation?
While it is true that there is a genetic component to motivation (borrowing from the long standing debate in psychology of ‘nature v nurture’), kids can also learn to improve their motivation as well. To the extent that we can create intrinsic motivation (or self-driven motivation) is subject to debate, but there are ways to improve upon extrinsic motivation (motivation based on tangible rewards) that will still lead to improved performance — and possibly even better intrinsic motivation. Some important tips that parents and coaches can use with kids involved in sports include:
- Getting to know your players (coaches): Taking time out to talk to your kids and learn their names, interests, and goals can pay big dividends when it comes to helping them increase their motivation to succeed. Like the old saying goes “Your players don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
- Use a ton of positive reinforcement. Try to “catch” kids doing things right and putting in healthy effort (even if the results aren’t always there), and reinforce with hearty, positive praise! When kids fail, use the experience as a teachable moment, and giving them every ability to right the situation.
- Break the season into sections. Sometimes kids get tired, overwhelmed, and burned out playing sports because it seems like the season never ends. As a parent or coach, make it your job to break the season down in sections and help guide kids through the process by lending support and creating time for breaks whenever possible.
- Talk! Try and talk with kids throughout the season and listen closely to what they say — if you discover they have lofty goals (a good thing!), work with them to set goals and teach them how to keep a journal trekking the results. This connection and help you provide will improve motivation, and make sports more fun for kids, too.
- Vary routines and experiment. Sport seasons can become long and monotonous but they don’t have to be if you vary routines (coaches) and experiment with kids playing different positions and doing different things on the field. In fact, great coaches sometimes even let the kids run a practice just in an attempt to mix things up and prevent staleness and burnout.
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