THE COACH AS AN EXTRINSIC MOTIVATOR

and a supporter of intrinsic development in athletes

What we will cover Extrinsic/Intrinsic motivation

1. What is it?2. How does it affect our athletes behavior?

Coach as an extrinsic motivator1. What tools does a coach have to extrinsically

motivate their athlete/s?2. How should they be used?

Using the tools1. Using extrinsic motivation in a way that will

inspire intrinsic motivation2. My changes to my own extrinsic feedback

But, first, Motivation!

Motivation is determined by things such as: the age and skill level of the team personnel and personalities of the team

involved Different coaching philosophies

Motivation is made up of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors.

Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is when people engage in the activity for the rewards or avoiding punishment. Any external influence is referred to as extrinsic motivation

This is broken down into 4 categories External regulation Introjected regulation Identified regulation Intergrated regulation

External regulationbehaviour related to receiving reward/avoiding punishment

E.g. “I will go to training today so I don’t sit on the bench this weekend”

Introjected regulationSimilar behaviour to external

regulation but the person has internalised the reasons for their actions

E.g “I will go to training today otherwise I will feel guilty”

Identified regulationThe athlete internalises their actions

so much that it becomes part of the athlete’s values. E.g “I will go to training today as it will

increase my performance!”

Intergrated regulationThe athlete starts to incorporate

extrinsic factors into their values system E.g. A player will go to bed instead of going

out with his friends so that he plays soccer well the next morning and doesn’t get into trouble.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to doing an activity for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from engaging in the activity. (Mageau, A, 2003)

It can be broken down into 3 categories Intrinsic motivation to learn

Satisfaction from knowledge/competency Intrinsic motivation towards accomplishments

Self-challenge Intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation

Satisfaction from being active etc.

I will use the same example of the person going to the gym. If the athlete is intrinsically motivated they will go to the gym with no reward other than the satisfaction they feel being there, knowing what to do and challenging themselves.

What behaviours result from Intrinsic motivation? Intrinsic motivation can invoke many positive behaviors

within an athlete because of their genuine interest in the activity, the fact that they are participating out of choice and because they get satisfaction and enjoyment from participating.

The association of applied sports psychology list the benefits as: Better task-relevant focus Fewer changes (ups and downs) in motivation Less distraction Less stress when mistakes are made Increased confidence and self-efficacy Greater satisfaction Achieve ‘Flow’ or ‘being in the zone’

Flow

Flow stems from intrinsic motivation. It is described as 'the a perfect match between the perceived demands of an activity and the perceived ability to meet the demands‘ (Karageorghis, C, 2012) or being ‘In the zone’

The simplest example of flow is with children. When they are on the field they are completely immersed in the activity and completely unaffected by extrinsic factors.

They do not yet know that the frame of mind they are in is actually the mind set for peak performance.

As suggested, ‘Intrinsic motivation usually comes when there are no extrinsic factors being placed upon the person.’ (Karageorghis, C, 2012)

What behaviour results from extrinsic motivation? Most behaviours that arise in athletes

when external influences have become the focus are negative. i.e When the athlete is only involved for the reward or to avoid guilt by not being involved.

The association for applied sports psychology lists these behaviors: Less interest, value, and effort towards

achievement Anxiety Difficulty coping with failure

If the emphasis is continually on rewards or avoiding punishment the athlete will feel what is referred to as ‘Amotivation’ or ‘the absence of motivation’.

The size of the rewards will need to increase constantly to maintain motivation.

Desire to complete the task on their own (intrinsic motivation) disappears.

The athlete starts to feel coerced into the activity, further diminishing the feelings of satisfaction and pride for completing task (the characteristics of intrinsic motivation).

However, extrinsic motivation is a part of all motivation and cannot be avoided. In fact, when extrinsic rewards are used correctly by the coach they can result in positive behaviors: Greater interest, enjoyment, and

effort towards achievement Desire to learn new skills or

strategies Positive coping styles

Making sense of it all

We know that our athletes, regardless of sport, will have both intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting them.

Extrinsic motivation, as the focus, becomes less effective and eventually destructive to intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsically motivated athletes perform much better than extrinsically motivated athletes

As coaches, we have to inspire our athletes to feel enjoyment, pride and satisfaction in their achievements to develop intrinsic motivation.

Coach as an extrinsic motivatorCoaches have two main weapons in their

arsenal when it comes to motivating our athletes and these are:

Feedback

AND…..

Rewards

First, a little bit on feedback!

Our main job as a coach is to deliver feedback both to motivate and to instruct. One use of Motivational feedback is the use of phrases such as “Keep going!” or “Keep up the pace” (Relevant to the situation) to enhance confidence, energy and effort.

The second use of motivational feedback is when feedback stimulates a positive or negative feeling to the athlete. For example, you (the coach) call out to your athlete and correct their technique on the court. This causes the athlete to feel a level of dissatisfaction with their performance (negative feeling) and, in turn, they work on it and improve.

How to give instructional feedback Instructional feedback should cover 3

areas1. The specific behaviors that need to be

performede.g. the stages of a squat, phases of throwing a ball

2. The levels of proficiency that should be achieved

e.g. appropriate use of force throughout lift, throw

3. The athletes current level of performance

e.g. How they performed all of the behaviours compared to baseline.

Turning feedback intrinsic! If you wish to turn your athletes intrinsic research suggests that

you must adopt a autonomy supportive style of coaching (Mallet,C). Put simply, this means you give your athletes a large degree of input and freedom over their training program. The points listed below will help you adapt your style.

As an autonomy supportive coach: Provide choice within reason Provide reason/s for tasks to be performed Demonstrate respect for other’s feelings and perspective Allow athletes to work independently and to have input into

solutions for solving problems Provide competent feedback that contributes to positive

behavior changes Avoid coaching behaviours that seek to control athletes — avoid

coercion and bullying. (adapted from Margeau and Vallerand 2003)

Goal setting…

is an effective way to improve intrinsic motivation within your athlete and an important part of building rapport. Make sure they are heavily involved in setting goals.

Setting challenging and realistic goals will inspire determination and drive and once the goal is achieved the feeling of satisfaction, confidence and enjoyment will develop them intrinsically.

Verbal feedback

When giving feedback to the athlete, make sure you present it in such a way that makes them reflect on their own performance. e.g. A client has just finished performing

a squat with less weight but with improved technique, I would say "How did that feel compared to the last time you performed the exercise? Did you feel more muscles being used? etc."

Verbal feedback

Also, in terms of providing verbal feedback, with the same example, I would make sure to point out that they improved their technique and relate it to the clients goals. e.g "You performed the exercise using

more muscles with this technique and, since you're here to lose weight, this means you are burning more energy in this exercise than last time".

Personalised Feedback

These are the changes I have made to my own style of providing feedback in a gym setting: Goal setting discussions where clients choose the goal and

we tailor it together, I provide feedback on progress rather than results, I always relate what they do back to their goals, I get my clients to self-evaluate, I incorporate ‘homework’ exercises or research to make

them reflect I make sure they are proud of all of their achievements.

Not all of my clients are intrinsically motivated, but they are all improving and requiring less external influence than before!

Rewards – Some useful rulesHuman beings as a whole respond well to extrinsic rewards. The use of

incentives or rewards is extremely useful for a coach in inspiring motivation.

The special olympics website has 7 rules to rewarding. Using these simple points you will make your rewarding much more effective and more likely to develop intrinsic values within your athletes.

Reward the performance, not the outcome. Reward athletes just as much for their effort as you do for the desired

outcome. Reward little accomplishments on the way to learning an entire skill. Reward the learning and performance of desired emotional and social

skills too. Reward frequently, especially when new skills are being learned. Reward as soon as possible when new skills are learned. Reward an athlete when they have earned it.

Rewards to intrinsic

Rewards can be a very powerful tool in cases where intrinsic motivation is not present at first.

I'll use the example of a person in the gym who has just started training, has no routine yet and feels like sessions are a chore.

Arrange with your client a goal and reward such as 'If you come to every session this week, no matter how you are feeling, you can have your favorite dinner even though its not in your diet plan'.

This will make the participant feel like they have control, satisfaction when they complete the goal and, even with an extrinsic reward being involved, subconsciously the internal rewards they feel will be the focus.

Rewards to intrinsic

To avoid the problem, mentioned earlier, of rewards needing to be larger as time goes on to maintain motivation, you should start to deemphasize rewards and start focusing on internal rewards that they start to feel.

E.g. “Well done, Brian! You made it through the whole session today with less breaks! How do you feel?”

Personal changes to RewardsAn example of the changes I have made with my

own clients would be with someone I will call ‘Bob’. Bob has been my client for a year now and he has

been a difficult person to motivate. Our sessions used to rely completely on rewards to get him to the gym and get him to work.

Thinking I had to plan ahead for this, I started scheduling Friday as the day I would reward him. However, this became a trap as every week I had to think of new constructive rewards and implement them. This started getting more difficult while motivating Bob less and less. He also was never involved in choosing the reward.

So it changed!

I was breaking a lot of the rules I presented earlier and it was turning out exactly as my research suggested it would. Poor extrinsic motivation! I cancelled Friday as rewards day and instead started

to think of my rewarding as more spontaneous. This made him start to work harder during the whole week as he was no longer thinking ‘Well, I’ll work hard on Thursday as it is closer to my rewards day!’

I no longer rewarded Bob just for showing up! This puts too much emphasis on the reward as the reason to train.

I started to reward him for showing signs of positive attitude towards the gym

Where is Bob now?

Bob is still highly extrinsically motivated but I have started to notice a shift in the following ways: Bob no longer asks about the rewards and

when he recieves them he reacts less to them,

He has a happier, more enthusiastic attitude to training,

He has started talking about his personal goals and achieving them in the way he used to talk about receiving external rewards.

Take this home with you!

Most people I meet in the gym are not intrinsically motivated. They come to me for guidance down that path. From the beginning you want to make them form a genuine interest in the activity, whatever it may be.

If you expect and embrace their initial desire for rewards, and use it as a way to build their intrinsic motivation, you then only have to encourage this growth with your feedback and rewards.

By taking a autonomy supportive style of coaching you provide them with choice, freedom, meaning and involvement in their activity on a level that will develop the 3 types of intrinsic motivation.

As they start to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic you can further reduce extrinsic influence until it does not impact their motivation at all.

Bibliography

H, Stephanie, 2007, Association of Applied Sports Psychology, Extrinsic Rewards and Motivation, accessed: 02/04/2012, http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/resource-center/coaches/articles/extrinsicrewards

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, Special Olympics, Coaching Guides - Positive Reinforcement and Rewards [Online], Accessed: 02/04/2012, http://sports.specialolympics.org/specialo.org/Special_/English/Coach/Coaching/Principl/Positive.htm

Karageorghis, C, et al., 2012, Human Kinetics, Balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for success [Online], accessed: 01/04/2012, http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/balance-intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivation-for-success

Mageau, G and Vallerand, R, 2003, The coach-athlete relationship: a motivational model, Journal of Sports Science, volume 21, p885-888, accessed: 01/04/2012, http://groups.jyu.fi/sporticus/lahteet/LAHDE_4.pdf

Mallet, C, 2005, Australian Sports Commission, Understanding motivation to enhance the quality of coaching [Online], accessed: 01/04/2012, http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/psychology2/understanding_motivation_to_enhance_the_quality_of_coaching

Martens, Rainer, 1987, Coaches Guide to Sports Psychology, Human Kinetics, Lower Mitcham, South Australia

Vallerand, R, 2004, 'Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Sport', Encyclopedia of Applied Technology, Volume 2, p428-430, accessed: 01/04/2012, http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r26710/LRCS/papers/128.pdf

Weinberg, Robert, 2007, Foundations of Sport and Exercise Physiology, Human Kinetics, Lower Mitcham, South Australia

THE END

Presented by Jeremy Phillip Stephens(U3025931)