Strategies which could be implemented to control motivation

A strategy which every coach should look at implementing should be goal setting, as this will motivate an athlete providing a coach follows simple steps when setting goals. The SMART principle is a great tool to use when creating goals for an athlete; the mnemonic stands for specific, measurable, achievable, recordable and time. Specificity of the goal must be carefully considered, will it directly or indirectly increase performance or is it result based. Measurable is obvious the goal must be quantifiable in order to state exactly when it has been attained, Achievability of the goal is vital as a coach setting goals which are beyond the athletes ability will only demotivate the athlete linked back to(Maslow,1954). Recordable is simply the best available measure which will best suit the goal set i.e. an athlete is set a time goal which is achieved in a competition the official results provide the proof of achievement. Time is important all goals should have a specific period by which they must be achieved. When using these measures it’s important that the athletes training programmes are consulted correctly to see any emerging patterns, a good coach will consult the athlete before a draft of a set out plan is set in action, a great coach will consult the athlete after as well to make sure the athlete agrees to the goals achievability. During the process of achieving a goal small intermediate goals should be set in order to gage progress towards the greater goal and aid motivation levels along the way. These short term goals can be more informal that the end goal as regards to record taking. Some coaches create a progress file along with actual data of each session such as heart rate which can be used for a whole range of physiological such as an indicator towards Vo2 Max, blood pressure, arousal etc.

Another strategy which could be employed is finding a suitable role model, i.e. an aspiring male pro boxer whose role model is Kell brook purely because there from a similar geographical area and are the same weight and would be in the same class if the athlete turned pro. It’s essential that the role model exhibits socially acceptable traits and doesn’t display a negative image of success, the sport and professionalism. Another factor to consider is how long the role model has been in the sport for and if possible an analysis of how they got to where they are today. Kell Brook would have been an unsuitable role model if he was for example a heavyweight like Richard Towers, two fantastic boxers but two totally different routes to success from the same gym this emphasises that each athlete is an individual and that becoming elite is a path which is achievable through hard work and dedication with guidance of how to maintain excellence, motivation whilst generating an image or an identity for yourself in sport and the world.

Boxing is just one example which has been discussed but this source is transferable to other sports.

A simplistic approach could just to make session fun; no matter what you have to do you should be able to make it fun. After all if we enjoy what we are doing it is a whole lot easier to keep doing it. For an athlete it’s important that at times blood sweat and tears is what progresses an athlete to that next level and its weather or not there willing to try new innovative techniques in order to dominate in sport. The fun element is particularly important when working with children as the fun element encapsulates there mind and the focus of exercise and training isn’t the focus but fun, interaction, amenity and more popular today body image.