Motivation fascinates athletes and coaches more than any other aspect of performance, and is perhaps viewed as the “oxygen” of success. A key weapon in any coach's motivational armoury is reward for their athletes, which can come in the form of praise, acknowledgment, and positive reinforcement. Rewards play a salient role in how daily habits are formed and maintained. We've all seen wildlife documentaries in which a squirrel or an octopus solves some taxing physical puzzle in order to receive a treat. There is a simple neurochemical explanation for such learned behaviour: the “dopamine” system. The release of this neurotransmitter is triggered by rewarding experiences and so finding effective reward schedules in sport is central to unlocking an athlete's potential.
Elite sport performance/Motivation/Motivational strategies
Motivational strategies
Staying motivated is a challenge that all athletes must overcome. We have considered how motivation for competition differs between individuals and that it can be regulated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. There are many strategies that athletes can use to nurture motivation.
In the audio clip below sport psychologist Dr Michael Lloyd explains that there is no magic wand for motivation and a number of factors must be taken into account. A full version of this interview can be listened to at the end of this module.
Assessing motivation
Sport psychologists often use standardised tests to provide objective data about athletes they are supporting. Interventions can be planned based on the results. Examples of standardised tests to assess motivation include:
- Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier et al., 1995) – assesses the reasons why athletes engage in sport.
- Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire – 2 (PMCSQ-2; Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2010) – assesses the motivational characteristics of a team.
Performance attributions affect motivation
Generally speaking, if athletes attribute their performance outcomes to things they can control, such as work rate, training and attitude, then motivation will be enhanced. It is important that athletes see success or failure as largely due to factors within their control. For example, a squash player may attribute winning a match to effort in training, a superior game plan, and excellent shot execution, whereas a defeat may be attributed to inadequate preparation, lack of effort, or incorrect tactics. Fostering a sense of personal control over the result can enhance motivation.
Goal setting
Goal setting is the process of setting clear objectives. These objectives describe an outcome to be achieved and, importantly, identify the stepping stones on the road to achievement. Goal setting is not an entirely intuitive process, and reaching a long term goal of winning a particular championship may be a long and arduous journey. Although the nature of individual goals will be vary considerably, the process of setting the goals will tend to follow a common process:
- Decide exactly what you wish to achieve.
- Identify the obstacles to progress.
- Decide on strategies to help overcome these obstacles.
- Establish specific goals to address each obstacle one by one.
- Goals should be clear and the obstacles well defined.
Getting started
To help with getting started on goal setting, an athlete can create a route planner that identifies the end destination and the barriers along the way.
Getting specific
Once an athlete has established the destination and identified barriers to reaching it, it's time to get specific about goals. It's tempting to set goals only in terms of winning contests, but it's advisable to establish goals around things that contribute to winning, such as completing a skill a given number of times in a training session, or increasing aspects of fitness, or following a dietary plan faithfully.
To be effective, goals should reflect challenging targets but ones that are within reach of the athlete. A detailed analysis of current performance acts as a baseline for assessing future progress. One way of doing this is to complete a detailed performance analysis. The analysis should be specific to the sport using an objective approach, so may require a coach to score the athlete. Using tennis as an example, items might include:
- Skills, such as first serve completion, ground shots to target areas of the court, volley, smash, etc.
- Tactics, including court positioning, shot selection, etc.
- Fitness, such as speed (tennis court shuttles), stamina (timed 1 mile run), strength (maximum bench press).
- Mental approach, including scores for confidence, aggression, concentration, etc.
Once a performance analysis has been completed, particular areas for improvement can be identified and specific goals set. As a rule of thumb goals should be referenced against a personal best performance that has been achieved previously. Using the tennis example, if average first serve completion rate is 50% but personal best is 65%, the goal might be to achieve 65% first serve completion consistently.
SCAMP goal setting
SCAMP is a useful acronym to consider when setting goals:
- Specific (S): Goals should be established in specific rather than vague terms.
- Challenging and Controllable (C): Goals should be challenging and within the personal control of the athlete.
- Attainable (A): Goals should be within the ability range of an athlete. If little or no progress is made towards attaining a goal that is too difficult, then the athlete is likely to become frustrated and demotivated
- Measurable and Multiple (M): Goals should be objectively measurable and several different goals can be addressed at the same time.
- Personal (P): All athletes are different and should have personal individualised goals to achieve as well as shared team goals.
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Costas Karageorghis, Sport Psychologist
Performance enhancement programs
Using the principles outlined above, a performance enhancement program can be created for an athlete. This is a detailed log of performance over time which includes specific goals to be achieved. It allows athletes to chart their improvement and continue to target weaker areas of performance. They will build on the scores recorded in the original performance analysis and make gradual progress to the destination that was set at the goal planning stage.
