How do you Motivate?

Leading coaches offered their thoughts in a 1982 survey.

From Soccer Journal, March/April 1982

Compiled by Tim Schum

Coaching, as defined by most experts in the field, consists of four major areas of consideration: technical training, tactical training, fitness training and mental preparation.

Soccer Journal has published many articles in relation to the first three aspects of coaching. The fourth dimension, the mental-psychological aspect, is something that intrigues many soccer coaches. Each coach has a certain way of dealing with the psychological dimension of his or her team.

In the spring of 1982, I mailed out 200 questionnaires to selected NSCAA members to solicit their thoughts on several questions pertaining to the area labeled "Psychology of Coaching." The questions delved into the areas of motivation, team morale, cooperation vs. competition, discipline, the role of substitutes and dealing with defeat.

Many coaches replied, some in depth. Mel Lorback states in his overview on motivation that empirical studies on and concrete definitions of motivation are few and far between. What works for you may be the right answer for you, he wrote. Nevertheless, following are some thoughts sent along by some of our members that are interesting and worthwhile. The question directed to the group of coaches was "How do you motivate your players?"

"Motivation is having the players mentally in a state in which they perform best and they want to perform. Motivation is influenced by all the environment surrounding a player, including press, fans, wife, girlfriend, habits, basic personality, money, home crowd (and away), club atmosphere, excitement of opponent, anger, fear, ego, team attitude toward game, youth, professionalism, coach's personality and handling ability. I like to change (vary) practices to help motivate the players."

- Al Miller, Tampa Bay Rowdies

"The degree of motivation is very important. Never try to deceive a player in motivating him. Don't try to impress players with something that is not significant. Varying your motivational approach in each situation and knowing what approach to use in each situation is what can make a difference."

- Bob Guelker SIU-Edwardsville

"Motivation means inspiring players to play up to their potential. You must determine the psychological needs of the players. Generally, all players need recognition, approval and self-esteem. Meeting these needs is best accomplished through praise, constructive criticism and being sensitive to the individual athlete's needs. Motivation also implies setting attainable goals and convincing players to believe they can reach these goals. The personality of the coach dictates what kind of motivator he is. Fear can be turned into a constructive force by instilling in players what is expected of them, what the goals are and what they must do to reach the goals.

- Klaas deBoer, former Los Angeles Aztecs coach

"We look for players who are already motivated and try to create an environment in which they can fulfill their potential."

- Richard Broad, George Mason University

"Hopefully, the players motivate themselves and maintain a constant level of desire to play well each time out. This is preferable to peaks and valleys. Some matches need no priming or pushing from the coach; others "less important" have to be brought to their notice. Logic and consistency rather than hype have more lasting effects in motivation."

- Howard Goldman, Marist College

"Make each game special unless it is special and then the coach may need to downplay the game to ease tension."

- Ron Newman, San Diego Sockers

"I don't believe in pep talks. I try to save any inspirational talks for the few most critical games or parts of a game. To me motivation means one thing: you, the player and the team must have one thought constantly in mind during practice sessions: improvement. This requires concentration 100 percent of the time. It is very difficult to achieve, but there isn't any substitute for it."

-John Eden, North Babylon HS (N.Y)

"There are two primary aspects of motivation, individual and group. Motivation is the process of arousing an individual or group to achieve greater heights than they believe possible. This is done individually only by building an intimate relationship with the player. This is done collectively by fostering a sense of esprit de corps:

- Hank Steinbrecher, Boston University

"By motivation we mean to assure ourselves that our players' goal is to excel and when this is true, more often than not, they will be successful."

- Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, Clemson University

"Motivation is very much an individual inner drive that causes the player to perform well. The coach must understand and appreciate each player's motives. He must then identify the common denominator acceptable to all his players before he can provide the outer stimulus, or inducement, which encourages and inspires the team to perform as a unit."

- Billy Charlton, U.S. Army Coach

"Motivation is the incentive or desire that causes or influences an athlete to do something. Incentive or desire is related to expectancy - anticipation that a particular result is the outcome of a particular behavior. I attempt to get the athletes to realize that self-motivation is the most important part of motivation; things such as working when they don't want to, budgeting time for studies, sleep, etc., and setting priorities. Practices should be interesting and rewarding and variety is a help here. Positive reinforcement should be used, not harping on what went wrong. Players should understand what the practices are meant to accomplish and goals should be set for each practice."

-Jeff Vennell, Kenyon College

"Motivation, to me, is the ability to continually rise to the excitement and challenge of a new goal, regardless of how immediately attainable that goal may seem to be. We motivate by constantly challenging them with both short- and long-range goals. A shortrange goal may be as minimal as the successful completion of a drill with various restrictions imposed. Or it may be a long-range goal such as making the final four at season's end. The player's experience in attaining both short- and long-range goals, along with variety and creativity provided by the coach, is the true key to motivation."

- Mike Berticelli, UNC-Greensboro

"I am fortunate to have a winning tradition, more than enough talented players and several assistants, and there is pressure on the players due to strong community and peer group support for soccer. Motivating our players and creating the proper attitude is our biggest challenge. Motivation can be defined as assisting people to bring an increased percentage of their potential to bear on a mutually-shared goal. We have found that the forming of mutual seasonal and short-range (match) goals has enabled us to work toward success against a statistical model. If you start with realistic goals relative to the team's technical and tactical abilities, it is amazing what statistical records can be amassed. All too frequently, highly motivated teams are as much a product of the chemistry of the mix of personalities and identifying the long-term goal they all share - and that is a topic all its own."

- Gary Avedikian, Centerville (Ohio) HS

"Having compiled a record of 118-42 (four years) and having won our Berks Conference title in each of the last seven years, we have a built-in stimulus which motivates our current squad each year. They attempt to emulate older brothers, friends or classmates who have contributed to the program in previous years."

- Ray Buss, Fleetwood HS (Pa.).

"Stressing the importance of being physically and mentally fit will help enhance the motivation factor among your players. Motivation also is helped by reminding the players that what they do will reflect on something much larger than themselves - their institution."

- Bill Hughes, Roberts Wesleyan College

"Motivation refers to the level of desire of an individual to attain his/her full potential. The level of motivation dictates the degree of sacrifice and effort put towards a given goal. Motivation techniques are nearly as numerous as individuals. Some players are affected more by outside motivational forces (coach, parent, peers, honors), while others draw effort from deep within. I personally try to get my players to look within themselves regarding effort, training habits and general habits. By attempting to make them look at themselves and feel accountable for their actions, I believe they will establish longer-lasting and far more important values in relation to the game and life in general."

-John Cossaboon, North Texas State Youth Soccer Association

"We motivate our players from day one of their soccer careers by trying to get them to have a disciplined approach to things - doing things correctly all the time - on and off the field. Generally speaking, our players are motivated from within to do well and because our schedule is so competitive and the league so balanced, it is not too tough to get them up. We have a saying that helps everything -'Respect all, fear none."'

- Tom Griffith, Dartmouth College

"A soccer player is motivated when he is prepared physically and mentally for the match. He knows his training should carry him successfully through match play Genuine motivation does not occur in a speech given before a game. It is developed concomitantly in a systematic, progressive, rigorous training program. Win or lose, the potential to play your best depends on how prepared you are and feel for a specific task"

-Jim McGettigan, Penn State-Ongontz

"Each athlete is unique and must be treated individually. Some need individual attention and some find just being a member of the team is enough to motivate them. I try to gain their respect by assisting the players to build a strong character and a better self-image and I stress integrity and loyalty to the team. These are qualities they will carry with them throughout their lives."

- Eugene Chyzowych, Columbia HS (NJ.)

Then there is the humorous side of the problem, as expounded upon by Cliff McCrath of Seattle Pacific University:

"Motivation is taking a grain of mustard seed and parlaying it (with a few smooth stones) into the Mojave Desert. It's getting human beings with 11 different ideas to blend their life dreams into one all-encompassing thought/notion/goal. I do this by telling them that either they use their native intelligence to arrive at this predetermined station in life or they will soon join the Minnesota Kicks, Hartford Bicentennials, Los Angeles Aztecs, Colorado Caribou, Calgary Boomers, Dallas Tornado, Memphis Rogues, Philadelphia Fury/Fire/Atoms/Who Cares, California Surf, Oakland Stompers, Detroit HubCaps, San Antonio Thunderballs, Team Hawaii, Washington Bullrushes Hall of Fame Club. If this fails, I stick my nub in their eye!”

 

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