What is motivation?
Motivation is an internal state that activates, directs and maintains a person's behavior towards specific goals or purposes; It is the impulse that moves the person to carry out certain actions and persist in them to complete them. Motivation is what gives energy and direction to behavior, it is the cause of behavior.
Several opposing theories have been proposed about the content of motivational states. They are known as content theories and aim to describe what goals normally motivate people. The hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow and the ERG theory, for example, postulate that human beings have certain needs, which are responsible for motivation. Some of these needs, such as food and water, are more basic than others, such as respect from others.
How to motivate your team?
A good team will achieve many victories, but a properly motivated team will achieve success. By this we mean that the success of our team not only depends on hard work but also on good motivation on the part of the coach.
Reviewing several of our books, we realized that there are many ways to motivate a team, some more effective than others, which is why we have made a small compilation of these, which we leave you below.
Forms of Motivation:
Everyday motivation
It is the satisfaction received by an athlete from the satisfaction of a workout itself. That is, you feel good and rewarded for your own routine physical activity regardless of other greater achievements.
It is associated more with your day-to-day performance and the fun that the activity brings you and the environment itself where this activity takes place (colleagues, time of day, etc.).
Tactical talk
Before giving a speech, we recommend reviewing all the strategies studied during the months of preparation in 20 minutes. A rational review of what has been learned will provide the team with firm ground to stand on before facing a rival. This will increase the security of the players knowing that they do not go out to the field empty, but that they are accompanied by a valuable backpack of effective tools.
Refreshing the learned strategies causes the players' minds to focus on specific objectives to achieve. Consequently, there will be no room for emotional ramblings that can only sabotage the effort each player has put into improving their performance on the field. With these goals in mind each individual will go out in search of opportunities to apply knowledge.
Motivational talk
This is the coaches' favorite part because they have a space to display inspiring messages to the team. However, it is a common mistake to generate an excess of information that ends up distracting the team, so the ideal is to give a short speech that does not exceed five minutes before the game.
You should avoid being repetitive in the ideas mentioned because this causes an overload in the brain that blocks rational actions. Its content must release negative tensions, stimulating exit to the game. Therefore, it is recommended that the instructor control his tone of voice so as not to exaggerate the players' emotions excessively. Prayers should sound forceful, but shouting should be avoided because they are counterproductive.
Audiovisual tools
A resource that is usually very helpful is to post a motivational video. The trainer can arrange a synthetic material with some important ideas that he wants to highlight. For example, the victories and medals won or the strengths of your players. But, if you prefer, you can also review strategies accompanied by whiteboards, cards, illustrations and/or photos.
Positive motivation
Negative motivation
Some tips we give you:
Know your team's sources of motivation
Knowing what motivates your players gives you an advantage. That will make our work much easier, making our talks and rewards much more accurate and we will have a good reason to encourage our players.
Set achievable objectives and goals
There are various theories on how to motivate a team, but it has been shown that what motivates the most is exceeding a goal. Once they know how far they have to go, athletes fight to achieve it. Most are motivated when they know the objectives (as long as they are reasonable).
Athletes like to measure themselves and know how far they can go. In the end, human beings are competitive by birth and especially with ourselves.
Communicate and maintain constant feedback
We all like to be heard at some point. A good coach must know how to listen to his players and bet on them, it is a way to connect with your team and make them see you as an essential figure to move forward.
Propose challenges to athletes
Challenges make everyday life not boring and monotonous. A very successful way is to delegate certain responsibilities among the players themselves. It is also a good idea to propose initiatives that allow them to develop their most creative side and become more involved with the rest of the team.
Reward your players
Like challenges, rewards are one of the most used ways to motivate teams. Getting a reward for doing something you love is even more satisfying. Rewards such as leaving 10 minutes early, a specific position on the court or any reward that we believe is fair in exchange for our team's effort.
¡Apply these techniques and see the change yourself!
We tell you more about this and many other topics in our Master in Professional Football which is endorsed by the Catholic University of Ávila, an institution recognized worldwide.