Human Performance: PsychologyHuman Performance: Psychology

UKCCUKCC

Certificate in Coaching Rugby LeagueCertificate in Coaching Rugby League

Level 2Level 2

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Section A

Motivation

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Motivation – What is it?

• Motivation can be defined most simply as relating to the direction and intensity of effort.

• Direction refers to whether an individual seeks out, approaches or is attracted to certain situations

• Intensity refers to how much effort a person puts in.

• Individuals are motivated in different ways and from different sources. Two of the most common types of motivation are intrinsic and extrinsic.

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Different Motives for Participation

• Intrinsic motivation refers to individuals who enjoy competition, focus on having fun and want to learn skills to the best of their ability. Their motivation comes from within themselves.

• Extrinsic motivation refers to individuals who train and compete because they feel they ought to or because they might gain some reward or recognition for doing so, e.g., trophies, money, awards. Their motivation comes from other people.

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Why is it important for coaches to know this?

• Leaders influence motivation. Therefore coaches should not underestimate their impact upon the climate that they both create and work within.

• Successful coaches need to be able to understand their players and adapt the learning environment accordingly.

• Spending time getting to know individual personalities and motivational needs within a team will allow you to individualise sessions and get the best from all your players.

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Achievement Goal Theory• This theory states that 3 things interact to determine a person’s motivation;

achievement goals, perceived ability (how good an individual thinks they are) and achievement behaviour.

• Achievement goals consist of two types, outcome goal orientation and task goal orientation

• People who are outcome orientated are motivated to demonstrate high ability and beat others. Their motivation is therefore termed other referenced

• People who are task orientated are motivated to improve upon their last performance. Their motivation is therefore termed self-referenced

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Achievement Goal Theory

• These goal orientations (or biases) are important because they interact with individuals’ perceptions of competence and ability.

• Most people are a mixture of these two motivational orientations. However; research indicates that people tend to be higher in either one or the other.

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Behaviours Associated with Task and Ego Orientations

Task orientated individuals tend to• Have a strong work ethic• Persist in the face of failure and/or lack of form• Try hard to master new skills• Be happy to train individually• Select challenging tasks for themselvesOutcome orientated individuals tend to• Be more overtly competitive• Use deviant behaviour to gain the desired outcome• Make excuses for poor performance• Reduce their efforts if they are losing• Select tasks where they are guaranteed success

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Determining Individual Player Motivation

The best coaches throughout history have been those that have claimed to know how to handle their players. By this they mean:

Getting to Know themMotivating themEnsuring ongoing achievement

N.B. What might work for one player might not for another. Knowing what coaching style to use when and who with will help you maintain the motivation of your players.

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Section B

Psychology of Maturation & Development

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Psychology of Maturation & Development

• Children’s participation in sport is said to peak between the ages of 10 and 13 and then steadily decline until the age of 18.

• The superficial responses often given for dropout (see diagram 1 in workbook) don’t give much insight into the deeper, underlying motives that some sport psychology research has unearthed.

• For example many children who drop out often have low perceived competence, tend to be outcome orientated and experience feelings of anxiety associated with their sport.

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How are Participation and Motivation Linked?

• Many changes in motivation and therefore participation arise due to changes in perceptions of ability.

• Research suggests that up until about the age of 10 children will play for the sake of playing and are very task orientated and self-referenced. However from the age of 10 children begin to notice and care about how they compare to others.

• They begin to notice that other children have either higher or lower levels of ability than themselves. They become other-referenced and recognise that 100% effort can be outdone by superior ability.

• This transitional stage is an important for coaches to be aware of

as it has implications for motivation, dropout and Long Term

Athlete Development.

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How can the Coaching Environment Influence Dropout?

Coaches should try to avoid the following negative approaches to motivation

• Intimidation• Criticism• Training • Guilt

Coaches should also be aware of the importance of friends and peers when working with young athletes. Allowing powerful cliques to form whose members create an outcome oriented environment can be dangerous. Disbanding these cliques and promoting a more task environment will be more positive for the motivation of the group as a whole.

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Implications for CoachesMany of the things that coaches need to do in order to foster a positive environment revolves around the principle of positive reinforcement. This reinforcement consists of:

• Choosing Effective Rewards • Reward Appropriate Behaviours • Reward Skill Improvement • Reward Performance, Not Only Outcome • Reward Effort • Reward Emotional and Social Skills.• Provide Performance Feedback.

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Parental Influences

• Aside from the coach and the peer group the most important influence upon a child’s motivation and involvement in sport are their parents. This influence can either be a positive or a negative one.

• One strategy to maintain this influence as a positive one is to educate parents. Organising a meeting with the parents at the start of the season to discuss the coaches’ qualifications and philosophy is recommended. In addition talking about the role played by the parents should help to outline the coaches’ expectations.

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Section C

Creating a Motivating Learning Environment

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Factors to Take into Consideration - A Recap

The main things said to impact upon athlete’s motivation are:

• Motivational Orientations – Outcome and ego orientation• Maturation and Development – as children grow older their motives

for participation change• The Coaching Environment - coaches need to be fully aware of their

influential position

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Influencing the Learning Environment

The acronym TARGET was developed to represent some guidelines that would help foster the correct learning environment.

• Tasks. Focus on learning and task involvement. • Authority. Allowing players to participate in decision-making• Reward. Reward for improvement, not social comparison • Grouping. Create co-operative learning climates within groups. • Evaluation. Have evaluations based on personal improvement. • Timing. Proper timing is critical for all the above. Give feedback as soon as is

possible after the player performs.

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Goal Setting as a Motivational Tool

• Research has consistently demonstrated that athletes who set goals properly are more motivated and attain much higher standards than those athletes of a similar ability who don’t set them.

• Goal setting can be used on both an individual and team basis but must be reviewed regularly if it’s to be successful.

• It’s just as important for a coach to have goals as it is for players.

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Principles of Good Goal Setting

The acronym SMARTS highlights the key criteria that goals should have:

• Specific – Goals should indicate precisely s to be done. • Measurable – is it quantifiable? • Action oriented – Goals should indicate something that needs to be done.• Realistic – Make sure your goals are achievable with hard work. • Timely - Make sure you identify a point in time when your goals will be

realised.• Self-determined - Goals should be set by, or have input from the

participant.

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Principles of Good Goal SettingGoals can also be outcome, process or performance based:

• Outcome goals typically focus upon the outcome of an event, such as winning a match. The problem with these goals is that they are not entirely controllable.

• Process Goals focus upon the actions an individual must undertake in order to perform well.

• Performance Goals focus on achieving standards or performance objectives independently of other competitors, usually by comparing performance with previous performance.

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Practical Ways to Introduce Goal Setting

• Players should always have long, medium and short term goals to work towards.

• One of the most common ways to do this involves the use of goal setting log-books or diaries.

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Summary

• Understanding goal orientations is important

• Understanding the issues associated with psychological maturation need to be considered

• Understanding individual differences is critical

• Being aware of the above should help to avoid dropout and increase motivation

• Use goal setting with your players and yourself to set challenging, yet attainable targets.

• Any remaining questions?