How to motivate young athletes? 14 things to avoid

One of the main current concerns in the field of sport is related to the motivation of young athletes to allow them to realize their potential.

Many are the professionals (trainers, assistants, managers, doctors, educational psychologists, psychologists, etc.) who, from different perspectives, try to find the elementary guidelines that allow to guarantee sufficient motivation, with which to achieve the maximum possible gratification in the sport. The problem is that there is no consensus between them.

However, you can always think backwards, that is, consider what not to do if you want to stay motivated of an athlete.

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To motivate young athletes, avoid ...

Below are proposed 14 aspects that should be avoided in the world of sport, especially with young athletes. The recommendations are mainly for coaches.

1. Not tolerating ups and downs in performance

In the world of sports, as in other areas of life, athletes can have better days and worse days. The important is

that they feel support from their coaches and that they respect and understand the changes. For this, it is always important to pay attention to the athlete's habitual behavior and select the appropriate tools to deal with them.

2. Consider "result = be"

Many athletes feel that the environment values ​​them as a person according to their sporting results. In these cases, they think that if a good result has been obtained, it is “better” and if a bad result has been obtained, it is “worse”. The question is to show that oneself is independent of the results that he obtains since these can be influenced by multiple variables that are not only related to oneself. To do this, comments such as "You have lost, you are useless" should be avoided.

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3. Limit participation in decision making

The athlete should have the opportunity to decide about, for example, his goals or training conditions. The fact of feel that personal opinion is taken into account provides a positive feeling that can increase motivation and responsibility as you play. Try to consult, when appropriate, the athlete's point of view and try to reach a consensus with him.

4. Setting unrealistic outcome goals

It is important that the objectives are realistic. In fact, it is one of the bases to achieve a good goal. To maintain or increase motivation it is essential that the objectives are seen as achievable and that the athlete himself believes that he can achieve them. If you first consider too ambitious a goal and with which the athlete feels that he is not going to prosper, it is difficult that the motivation does not decline.

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5. Enhance negative feedback

It should be noted that the athlete highly values ​​positive and encouraging comments. For this reason, focusing on the negatives can only lower your mood. It is logical to think that you have to correct what has been done in a wrong way but it is important to recognize achievements and encourage in any situation.

6. Foster a pattern of chronic dissatisfaction

All the people who are part of the athlete's environment must take into account their situation to avoid continuing with a pattern of dissatisfaction, if it exists. This is why it is important help the athlete see the positive parts of their condition and, in no case, support the negative view.

7. Bypassing the Fair Play principle

The Fair Play principle is called “fair play”, that is, competition based on respect for others and in being aware that not everything goes in sport to achieve the goal.

In this sense, if an athlete feels that his coaches and other referents encourage him to avoid “fair play” to obtain a better result, the Motivation tends to go down, due to the fact that it is considered that it is being encouraged to behave against one of the fundamental principles of the sport.

8. Do routine workouts

Monotony causes wear and tear on athletes. The lack of new goals and the feeling of not progress makes the motivation to do the sport decline. It is important to promote improvements and reorient the athlete's career from time to time.

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9. Recognize only the results, "success = win"

In the evolution of the athlete, positive reinforcement must be carried out throughout the process. It is a mistake to identify success only with victory in a competition since an athlete can achieve success based on the achievement of other objectives and goals. That is why it is important to bear in mind that success is also obtained in small progress and to be aware that it does not always depend on oneself and their abilities.

10. Put competition before personal competition

In sport, the most important thing is the athlete and his progression. Therefore, attention should be focused on him and his personal development. You cannot fight only to achieve a concrete result in the short term, but you must seek the change of the athlete in the long term.

11. Promote false causal attributions

The athlete must be helped to be aware at all times of the causes of their sporting results. In this sense, we cannot make the athlete believe that his successes and / or failures always and exclusively depend on himself or, in the opposite case, on his environment.

The important thing is to find a balance and make him see that, in the achievement of a goal, his abilities are as important as the external factors that can influence them. But always be realistic and objective at all times.

12. Encourage that any challenge is surmountable

The athlete cannot be made to believe that all challenges are surmountable. You have to help him to be aware, at all times, of his capabilities but also of his limitations. Above all, it is the limitations that will determine the possible achievement of a goal. For this reason, it is important to be clear when we believe that, no matter how much effort is made, the objective will not be achieved.

13. Encourage differences within the team

Sports teams are groups of people who come together in a sport to achieve a common goal. That makes for a cohesion and a group identification. To maintain these characteristics that undoubtedly generate positive sensations, it is relevant try to enhance the similarities of the team members and not focus attention on the differences.

If we continually highlight what separates the team it is easier for group identification to decline and, consequently, individual and group motivation decrease.

14. Demand the exclusivity of sports practice

LAthletes are still people with a personal and academic life parallel to sports. For this reason, and especially in young athletes who have not yet chosen to dedicate themselves professionally to sport, it is It is important not to require full involvement as it can exert undue pressure and consequently generate a wear. All this ends up translating into a decrease in motivation for not finding satisfaction in sports practice.

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