Motivation, momentum, acceleration

Key topic

This lesson will guide students through the specifics of motivation, underlining the importance and use of motivation both in sports and in life.  Students will learn different techniques to motivate themselves, as well as learn how they can utilize these techniques to motivate others as well.

Learning objectives

• Understand the concept of motivation
• Understand motivation in the context of sports
• Appreciate the importance of motivation in goal setting
• Discover how to motivate yourself and others around you
• Recognize the importance of motivation and momentum in sports and in life

Explaining motivation

By definition, motivation consists of internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy, to be continually interested, focused and committed to a task with the overall intent to achieve a specific goal. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors, such as the intensity of the desire or need (how much you want to achieve this goal), the size or the effect of the incentive or reward arising from the goal, and also the expectations you have in relation to the goal and the reward. These factors are the reasons you behave in a certain way, or your attitude towards something improves, or changes for the better.  The desire to partake in an activity comes from the belief that it provides some type of reward whether that is intrinsic, such as joy and fulfilment, or extrinsic, such as wealth or external acknowledgment. Motivation essentially refers to your ability to persist at a task.

You are in a math class (feel free to replace math with any subject of your choice), which is your favorite subject in school. You have actually considered how to utilize your skills and interest in math, as a career later on in life, starting with a college major in a field that includes a math concentration. Your math teacher announces that the top three performers in class will become eligible to participate in a national math competition for students your age. What do you think that your response will be to this announcement? Try to think of at least five things you would do in terms of academic performance in this class. Would your effort and performance be different than the effort and performance in any other class?

Why do you think? Do you think your answers will be similar to the above activity?

One of the most important roles that your parents have, is to stimulate you and ignite your  willingness to do well in school, in learning how to turn into a responsible adult, in instilling values and beliefs in you and raising you as best as possible, so that you go on to become a good person and achieve your personal goals. In the case of your coaches, the mindset is very similar and in essence they are interested in you learning and mastering athletic skills, performing at the best of your abilities, but also gaining certain skills which are not only sport specific but will also prove valuable in your life outside the pitch (such as teamwork, work ethic, responsibility, good sportsmanship etc.).

However, you also have the same responsibility to motivate yourself in order to become successful in your life. This is called self-motivation. Additionally, people with leadership skills will feel the need, regardless of age, to be motivators for their peers as well; in essence, you could act as a motivator to your friends, classmates, teammates and so on. If you belong in a group of people with common goals and objectives and cooperate in performing tasks that lead to those goals, then not only you could and should motivate yourself to behave and perform better, but also influence and encourage others to do the same.

Arousing interest, causing positive change in behavior and performance, is ultimately the real meaning of motivation. It starts by identifying a need or a desire, having a reward to accompany the fulfilment of your tasks, which all ultimately lead to achieving the set goal.

Motivational factors can vary from tangible assets or rewards such as a prize, money, a trip or a new goodie that will help make your life easier (for example a car of your own). Often times, however, motivation can arise from intangible rewards, such as the enjoyment of doing something, or a feeling of accomplishment, or a feeling of belongingness. If someone asked you five years ago, about the motivation factors in your sport experience, you would probably mention having fun, being around friends, playing a game you enjoy and so on. At your age right now, you could probably say that motivation arises from the opportunity to compete and win, or the chance to play college sports, or the possibility of a professional career in sports.

By now, you should have realized that athletes who are self-motivated, participate in sports out of pure enjoyment and not for the need of rewards stemming from participation.

Success in sports comes when you love to play or perform and not because you want to make others happy, or because you have tangible rewards to gain from your participation. Sports psychology research suggests that rewards coming from the outside (of extrinsic value) don’t help kids develop self-motivation. If kids compete purely to earn trophies and medals or other such rewards, their motivation will decease when those rewards aren’t available or feasible. Put simply, it’s a bad idea to play purely for the medals, trophies and other prizes.

There are several forms of motivation.

• There is external (extrinsic) motivation, which comes from external sources, such as your parents and coaches.
• There is internal (intrinsic) motivation which comes from within you.
• Also, there is accomplishment motivation which derives from the desire for significant accomplishment, control and the mastering of skills, or having high standards for yourself.
• Do keep in mind that negative motivation – which sounds like an oxymoron – also exists. Addiction is a form of negative motivation, often linked with sources which are unhealthy and toxic. Negative motivation can be also the result of a consequence being presented to you as a possibility, if you do not behave in a certain way. For instance, if a coach tells you that you need to show up in practice on time, or else you will spend the entire practice running laps, that is a simple form of negative motivation. Negative motivation is usually associated with motivation by threatening or scaring.

The importance of motivation comes from the fact that without motivation in life, it’s hard to strive for success and achieve your goals, which in turn will give you internal happiness and a feeling of fulfillment. Motivation is important because it improves your attitude, improves your performance, helps raise your energy levels, makes you more focused and committed, helps you manage time better, helps you develop as an individual through the experience gained with performing tasks and developing skills along the way. It also helps improve your self-confidence, it is infectious to those around you which means that you tend to make them better too and at the end, it makes you overall a happier individual, as you gain a sense of purpose.

Motivation is an important life skill. The reason it’s important is because every person on this earth is unique and has a purpose. To serve your purpose well, you have to be motivated to work towards your goals, which helps your dreams become a reality. Not just for your sake, but for the sake of others as well. Motivation is important in life, because it pushes you to work towards your goals.

Action steps – Exercise 1 (10 minutes)

It’s the start of the new season and your coach announces that a summer trip to another city has been scheduled for just a few of your team members, who will be attending a training camp for a week with all expenses paid by the team. The coaching staff will be evaluating all team members, to make a final choice by the end of the season, based on three factors:

1. work ethic
2. team spirit
3. performance.

• What do you think that your response will be to this announcement?
• Try writing down at least five things you would do in practice and games to make sure you are selected to attend the training camp and discuss them with the class.

Motivation for young athletes

Going back to the example used above, about the team sending some players to a training camp, we asked you to write down some things you would do in practice and in games, if you were to have a shot at being selected. Most probably you would have mentioned that you would work on improving your effort in practice and in games, thus improving your performance; also, that you would pay closer attention to the coaches’ instructions and teaching to better your performance. Additionally, that you would emphasize hard work by doing extra work at the end of practice, but also would influence other teammates to do the same; you would exhibit supportive behavior cheering on teammates, would try to solve problems within the team and would make an effort to praise hard work and boost confidence within your team. Right?

If an athlete or a person in general is motivated then that athlete will love to practice and compete, will like to work on weaknesses, and improve, will get excited about competition, will want to win, will have high expectations for their performance, will be dedicated and committed and will pursue the collective and individual goals with intensity and vigor.

Motivation is a process and not an action. Even though both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be effective in the short-term, research shows that intrinsic motivation provides the longest lasting impact on achievement and participation. We have control over intrinsic rewards and can tap in them at any time. Therefore, for athletes, self-motivation is ideal.

Highly self-motivated athletes know that they have to do everything they can, in order to become the best version of themselves and not be dependent on others for rewards. This determination must be funnelled towards training, conditioning, technical improvement, mental preparedness, and general lifestyle choices such as diet, sleep, school and social relationships.

The key to being self-motivated is focusing on what excites you when competing and performing. You might be drawn to sports because of friendships, being part of a group, for the competition, or to gain social support; it might be that you want a college scholarship, or a chance at a professional career in sports. One way to help you become more self- motivated is by creating a structure for yourself by setting goals and staying committed to reaching those goals. This can be achieved by drafting a commitment contract for yourself.

A contract of commitment is a written statement that you commit to follow. Include your parents in it to help you monitor your progress and make it a habit to check and evaluate it daily.  Remember that we already discussed how setting goals is critical to your success as an athlete and a student. It is equally important that you remain committed to evaluating and adjusting your goals when necessary. You may find that you’ve reached a goal, and you are now read to set a higher one. On the other hand, you may find that the goal you set wasn’t feasible, and you need to aim for something more realistic. We will discuss this in detail, shortly.

In order to increase self-motivation, you can follow these steps:

• Utilize teammates to push one another and use this work to motivate one another. It’s best to have similar ability, similar goals and training programs. This will help you work harder, especially if you know others are counting on you.
• Identify good competitors, role models and star athletes and use them as examples of your work ethic and the result you wish to achieve with your work. These can be people on your team, opponents, professional athletes etc.
• Use motivational keys, such as keywords that you repeat to yourself and for yourself. The more you are reminded to stay motivated, the more it will sink in.
• Ask questions on a daily basis, about how to improve, how to help yourself and your team. Also keep evaluating yourself; for example, evaluate whether you did everything you could during a game or practice.
• Keep a training diary to track your performance and clearly see the progress. Maintaining a detailed training log enables you to record important aspects of your preparation and performance. Plotting improvement provides clear and tangible evidence to reinforce your efforts, thus increasing motivation.
• Seek regular feedback from peers and coaches and use it as a tool to keep working and improving. Remember to reward yourself for the accomplishments, but also for the effort you put in and the hard work you have done so far.
• Make an effort to have your voice heard and opinion expressed within your team, without overstepping boundaries and while respecting team hierarchy. Being connected with peers and coaches will improve your motivation, especially when you are heard and respected.
• Have fun in the process. If sport is not something you enjoy doing, then most probably you will not be committed to it and will not work as hard at it as you should; if the enjoyment factor is present, then it’s more likely you will be motivated to continue to do it.
• Learn to accept failure as a teaching point and stepping stone to success and control the outcome of your efforts in a way that leads to even more effort to achieve your goals.
• Utilize the coaching, whether it’s from coaches, teammates, parents or friends. Having people support you and show you the way, always makes you feel protected and more empowered to go out and try harder.

Let’s watch a motivational 4-minute video on how believing in yourself is the greatest motivation you could possibly have.

Believe in yourself

Goal setting as part of the acceleration process

If you wish to accelerate your athletic achievements and personal sports development and actually become successful, (something which of course you can mimic in your life to become successful at whatever you choose to do later on), you need to understand the importance of goal setting.

In order to be able to set good goals, you first have to answer two fundamental questions:

• What do you really want? What is the exact objective you desire? Is it to become the best student in the class? Is it to become the best shooter of the basketball team or the first scorer of the soccer team? In order to set goals, which you will later achieve, you need to have a clear outcome in mind. You will find that when your generalized desires become more specific and defined, the more precise your goal-setting tends to be, and the more goals you will get to achieve.
• Why do you want to achieve this goal? What will it bring you? Will being the top scorer of your team get you a college scholarship? Will being the top student in the class allow you to pursue a better college education? In order to reach your goals, you need to ask the right questions.

In essence, in order to set goals, you first need to know what you want and why you want it. Then you must understand that not all goals are the same. Typically, there are three different kinds of goals: short-term, long-term (or life) and medium-term goals.

Short-term goals are the ones that can realize within a small amount of time, perhaps a month, or a series of games, or even one whole season. Remember that your short-term goals have to be reasonably aligned with the answers to the above two questions. So, if you want to be the top scorer on your soccer team for the upcoming season, a short-term goal would be to score 5 goals in the next 10 games of the season. If you want to be the top student in the class in the upcoming semester, then a suitable short-term goal would be to get straight A’s in every test for the next month.

Medium-term goals are the ones that exactly take longer to achieve. For example, being the top goal-scorer of the league in each of the following 3 seasons, or being an honor-roll student throughout high school.

Long-term (or Life) goals are those that are the hardest to achieve and are usually the more general ones like becoming one of the best soccer players in the MLS or being recruited by Real Madrid.

Remember how we already discussed that in any aspect of life, whether that would be sports, academics, business or otherwise, there is a very interesting way to use in order to set your goals. It’s derived from the everyday advice you get from parents and teachers: “Set SMART Goals”. But in this case, smart doesn’t mean intelligent, but it is an acronym that means Specific / Measurable / Actionable / Relevant / Time-Bound (S.M.A.R.T.)

Once those goals are set, you need to have a plan on how to achieve them and you need to constantly monitor and evaluate that plan, making sure that it’s properly aligned with you reaching the desired destination. It will undoubtedly be a trial-and-error process, where often times you will need to rethink and change some goals, while sticking to the greater plan of where you are headed and what you wish to achieve. Having goals in place is a great motivating factor by itself, as you have already established what you wish to accomplish, thus you are being driven by the desire and need to see your goals through.

Action Steps – Exercise 2 (10 minutes)

• Write down one personal and one sports-related goal
• Explain how these goals motivate you to keep pushing yourself to achieve them

Gaining momentum in sports and in life

So, you have taken action to increase your ability to motivate yourself, having made it your priority to set goals and go after them. This is something that is a motivation factor on its own; your ability to be successful in this area will help you gain momentum.

Momentum is considered a pillar of physics and is defined as the ability of an object to continue moving because of its velocity and mass. In sport, momentum is defined as a force affecting both the probability of winning and the probability of losing, as a function of the outcome of the preceding event. Psychological momentum has also been defined in relation to perceptions of moving towards a goal. It should be noted that psychological momentum can be either a positive or negative force; where everything seems to be going right or everything going wrong.

The concept of momentum appears to be deeply ingrained in the culture of sport and research shows that athletes’ perceptions of momentum exist, and shift in response to winning or losing. Momentum can be very brief, shifting from one match to the next; even shifting within a match. There is also evidence suggesting that interpretations of momentum are correlated to changes in athletes’ feelings and throughs, which influence performance.

Gaining momentum means you are doing something right and that you are probably headed in the right direction. You should utilize this momentum as a confidence building occurrence, and also as a tool to increase your motivation for the next steps. Remember that in sports the competition will always move forward and the challenges will be repetitive, hence you cannot misuse this momentum as a sign of accomplishment and closure.

In order to maintain momentum, you need to stay focused on what you are doing and stop worrying about the past or what might happen in the future. Stay positive in your attitude, your body language and your mindset. Continue to work as hard, if not harder, than before reaching this positive momentum and maintain a high level of motivation through intrinsic factors.

Lesson wrap-up

Today we focused on motivation. We started by defining motivation, what it is made of and its importance. We then applied it in the context of sports and went over some simple steps you can take to get there. Moreover, we discussed goal-setting, how you can categorize your different goals based on longevity and how motivation factors in. Finally, we discussed momentum and acceleration and how they relate to motivation.

At this point we will wrap up today’s lesson. First, we will go over the learning objectives of this lesson and we want your feedback as to whether they have been achieved and then we will address any questions you may have. Please feel free to ask anything you’d like in relation to today’s lesson and we would love to hear how the concepts we discussed today relate to you and your life!