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PSYCHOLOGY & MOTIVATION
of
YOUTH ATHLETES
It is extremely important for parents and coaches to be supportive of youngsters in youth athletics, especially in "failure" games such as baseball and softball. We must constantly remind them that it’s okay to try, and fail as a natural part of the learning process. More than anything else, young people want to experience success and have fun. That is not something out in left field-players tell us that directly. The proof of what’s important to youngsters involved in sports is clearly illustrated in the Athletic Footwear Association’s "American Youth and Sports Participation - A Study of 10,000 Students and Their Feelings About Sports", highlights of which are below:
TOP TEN REASONS
CHILDREN PLAY SPORTS
1.To have FUN
2.To improve my skills
3.To stay in shape
4.To do something I’m good at
5.For the excitement of competition
6.To get exercise
7.To play as part of a team
8.For the challenge of competition
9.To learn new skills
10.To win
WHY CHILDREN STOP PLAYING SPORTS
1.I lost interest
2.I was not having fun
3.It took too much time
4.Coach was a poor teacher
I WOULD PLAY AGAIN IF:
1.Practices were more organized
2.I could play more
3.Coaches understood players better
4.There was no conflict with studies
5.Coaches were better teachers
THE PARENT
1.Know the goals of the league.
If you can’t live with them, go elsewhere. You might say, "Right! Where?" WORK FOR CHANGE quietly and orderly.
2.Support the league
Volunteer- as opposed to complaining. Example: concessions, practices, fund raising, team parent.
See yourself as a member of the team, pulling together with the coach. Agree with the coach in every way that you can. Support the coach’s decisions.
Determine your child’s responsibility to the team (scheduled practices, times, rules) and be consistent. Let the coach know as early as possible if there is a conflict.
Volunteer to help the coach rather than grumbling. This is a good opportunity to spend time with your child.
Please, please do not "rip" the coach in front of your child. He/she will lose respect for that adult (and perhaps other adults in authority). The situation will get worse and perhaps unbearable. Your child will pass on your feelings to others.
Call the coach and thank him/her for something good he/she is doing. Remember the coach is having an impact on your child.
3.Support your child.
Love your child apart from his/her performance. (Are you expecting more than you should?) Your child gets all the pressure to perform that he/she can handle from peers. You are a shelter.
Make games a family affair. Picnic or eat out after the game.
Discuss games in positive terms. Compliment effort, attitude, attention, incremental improvements.
Know what your child wants from participation (this varies from child to child)FUN, skill improvement, camaraderie, friendship, physical activity, self-image improvement, to impress you.
Learn what you can about the game so as to discuss it intelligently with your child. This could be the common ground to improve communication skills between parent and child.
Speak highly of your child’s teammates and coaches.
Participate in activities- fund raisers, barbecues, award dinners, work days, field development, etc.
See the game and practices as FUN for your child. Don’t be a parent of the percentage of youth who prefer their parents do not show up. You are a primary, consistent source of love and encouragement for your child. He/she gets enough pressure away from home.
DEVELOPING A COACHING PHILOSOPHY
Breaking down your own coaching approach into several key areas will be helpful in determining your coaching philosophy. If you have a "road map" to help get you where you are going, the journey will be much smoother and enjoyable. Use the following information to assist you in developing and strengthening your own philosophy.
First of all, view yourself as a TEACHER first, and a COACH second. The only time you really do any coaching is during those 3 or 4 hours a week when the game is actually in progress. The vast majority of your team time is spent teaching and that’s the way it should be.
A truly successful coach must have a strong philosophical base which serves as the motivation for everything he or she does in baseball/softball. It has been expressed that "Baseball is Life with the volume turned up." This is true. There is far more to be learned from participation in baseball/softball than how to hit, run and throw. Many of the most important values in life can be vividly experienced through team participation. Your philosophy should evolve from that realization.
A good coaching philosophy can best be described as a "total person" philosophy. While it places strong emphasis on teaching the fundamentals of the game, it also includes training in "lifetime" skills.
Outlined below is a philosophy which represents an integration of ten separate elements we believe are critical to program success.
1.TEACH SOUND FUNDAMENTALS - Provide every player with kinesthetically sound skills that will enable him to compete successfully. Break each skill into smaller components and teach it in short, repetitive sessions, constantly building upon each sub component until the entire skill is taught. Teach in short sessions over a number of training periods rather than teaching the full skill in one long session.
2.MIND POWER - A critical and frequently overlooked part of preparing athletes for competition is mental preparation. It has often been said that baseball is 90 percent mental. Yet, as a coach, we often devote 99 percent of the time to physical preparation. Let’s refocus practices to improve that ratio. We must spend more time working to develop visualization and focusing techniques and on helping the players develop mental images and mind sets prior to task performance. These efforts will help take our players to another level of performance.
3.FAMILY ATTITUDE - Make every player feel he is a part of something bigger than himself. Let him know that someone will always be there when needed. Involve the players in goal development and other critical team activities so they feel they "own a piece of the rock".
4.ESSENTIALITY OF ORGANIZATION - The key to bringing all these vital elements together in the limited time available is organization. There is no substitute for organization. Every practice must be painstakingly laid-out to ensure it is upbeat and focused on the specific, preplanned objectives for that session. Every practice should be designed to be more demanding than anything the player will experience in a game. An integrated practice plan is essential to ensure all of the basics are covered before your players participate in their first game. It is the coach’s responsibility to ensure no situations arise in a game that your players aren’t prepared for. An integrated training plan is the tool to make that happen.
5.POSITIVISM - It is important that players enter a game expecting to win rather than hoping not to lose. A key element in everything we do is positive reinforcement. Players need this every day. Every correction must end on a positive note. A coach should spend considerable time teaching players how to develop positive mental images prior to performing any skill and to focus on what they will do rather than what they hope will not happen.
6.DEVELOPMENT OF "LIFETIME" SKILLS - These skills include such things as an appreciation for the values, benefits and responsibilities of being a part of a team and the need for teamwork, a strong emphasis on good sportsmanship, the requirement for commitment (individual and team), the necessity and rewards of hard work, how to handle adversity and success, and mental training for maximum performance. These are skills that will benefit the athlete in any endeavor he/she chooses in life.
Jerry Kramer, a Hall of Fame football player who played for Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying that the above mentioned skills were perhaps the most important things he learned from his coach. These skills prepared him to be a very successful businessman after he retired because he knew he had the skills to do well at anything he tried. No player should leave a team without feeling the same way. These values must be incorporated into every practice and game session. Try to make them a "team tradition"-something players take pride in. It’s exciting to be a part of a team where players truly believe they can’t be out hustled or outworked. It gives birth to an air of confidence that puts tremendous pressure on opponents.
7.PRACTICE "PRESSURE" - Everything your players do in practice should be timed or evaluated to increase pressure on them beyond that which they will experience in a game. Time should be spent on "game situations" set up to be more demanding than in a real game. "Practice pressure" produces game confidence and pressure-free execution.
8.COMMUNICATION - This is the most essential element of a successful program. Philosophy, goals and requirements must be clearly articulated and stringently adhered to. This factor must include the entire team "family"—players, parents, supporters, the administration, and the press. Openness and a willingness to listen are the strongest tools to build support for your program.
9.MOTIVATION - Perhaps the most important consideration for a coach is motivation. Great coaches provide their players with incentives to grow. They should encourage players to go beyond themselves to experiment and take risks. This is the most demanding responsibility for a coach. Every player reacts to different stimuli and has different motivations for playing the game. The successful coach must know what motivates every player and provide that motivation in abundance. There is no "one" motivational technique that works every time with every player. It must be player-specific. The coach must be able to excite every player to want to work hard. Hard work will produce commitment and commitment will produce success. Success builds greater motivation and it soon becomes an ever-expanding process resulting in victory.
10.GOALS DEVELOPMENT - Goals are essential in any competitive event. They are the yardstick for measuring levels of success. Goals allow the players to focus their efforts. Without goals, hard work is usually wasted on non-productive ventures. Goals are like the targets for great marksmen. With them, the greatness of a marksman is easily determined. Without them, his abilities may never be fully realized. Every player should be actively involved in establishing individual and team goals. Once established, they must be internalized as the ever-present motivation for hard work.
COACH’S COMMANDMENTS
I.The game is for your players,not for your personal gratification or position.
II.Create a mental attitude that requires maximum effort at all times.
III. Be positive in your approach and eliminate the fear of failure.
IV.Control your temper and encourage rather than berate.
V.Never sacrifice the dignity of a player in the face of defeat.
VI. Sportsmanship must take precedence in victory or defeat.
VII.The team must have pride in itself and respect for their opportunity to participate and for their coaches and teammates.
VIII.Accept only mistakes made through maximum effort. Do not accept errors caused by lack of effort.
IX.Create an understanding that players achieve success through mental and physical preparation.
Make a concentrated effort to be a positive influence on a player in the game of baseball and in the game of life.
"Little League is not about Baseball. It is about teaching kids. Baseball is only the tool that we use."
Mike Wright, Umpire in Chief, Little League Western Region