The importance of a balanced motivation in learning
Luis' parents took him every afternoon to training. It's not that he especially liked soccer, but he did not care either. He had a good time with his teammates, although sometimes the coach called his attention because he said he was distracted and did not know anything. On Saturdays I played match. Normally he played little, but he did not care because he also had a good time on the bench talking to his friends. The truth is that I did not understand why some took the results of the matches so seriously.
His partner Pedro was a boy who tried hard in training. He always arrived punctually and was super attentive to the coach's instructions. He liked to improve . Sometimes he even stayed longer practicing what he could not fully master. On match days I was not nervous, because I knew I would play a few minutes. His coach sometimes told him that he had no blood in his veins.
However, Hector was the opposite. In the matches "the skin was left", as he said. He liked to win over everything. Everyone told him he was very good, and the truth is that he had great qualities. But he did not like to train at all. I used to be late and sometimes I even needed some excuse. During training he used to distract others with his jokes and did not pay much attention to the coach's instructions. Only the little game that was played was when he really put the batteries. The coach always put him in the starting line because, although he trained a little, he was very good.
For his part, Juan was a very committed player. He trained hard, always trying to do things a little better. He paid close attention to his coach's instructions and tried to rehearse everything learned in practice to put it into practice on match day. On Saturdays he was unstoppable in the field. I wanted to win at all costs , but also tried to do things better than in the previous game. He knew what he was doing well and he took advantage of it, but he also knew what he could do better and tried to do it in every workout.
These four types of players, and especially the first three, tend to be in almost every base football team. His way of behaving both in training and in matches has a lot to do with the type of motivation that predominates in them.
Why it is important to have a balanced motivation
The motivational orientation towards the ego is that of those players who have their goals set to improve with respect to others. Their own value is measured in relation to the others. They care to be starters, play more minutes, score more goals, be the best ...
Motivational orientation towards homework it is the one that those players have whose objective is the personal improvement with respect to themselves. They focus on improving their own technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills that can make them better players than they were the previous season. They focus on aspects such as improving the control of the ball with the opposite foot, giving better passes, learning to swing, taking the position in the field, improving its resistance or speed ...
The motivation of the players moves in a continuum between these two orientations. In this way, Luis would have a low motivation towards the ego and also a low motivation towards the task. The normal thing is that, if we do not do anything, a boy like Luis ends up leaving football to perform another type of sport or activity that attracts him more.
In the wrong way, usually these guys are trying to instill a motivation towards the result, trying to make winning something very attractive to them and in that way they are more involved in the activity. However, the first step would be to try to motivate them towards the task, towards their own personal improvement. In this way he will achieve greater self-confidence and, in the event that he finally abandons football, he will have learned some important values for his life: the importance of effort, constant improvement, self-evaluation, personal work to contribute to the team , ... His time in football will have been worth it.
The management of motivations
Pedro already possesses this high motivational orientation towards the task and, nevertheless, maintains a low motivational orientation towards the ego. Possibly Pedro needs a little push to take that step to translate that personal improvement into the results of the competition. The positive reinforcement of their advances by the coach and their parents It can help you strengthen your self-confidence and from there encourage you to achieve some results objectives. It should start with goals that he sees as affordable and move forward.As you play more minutes, you will see that your progress is translated into important contributions for the team, you will feel more confident and your motivation will grow towards the ego, without abandoning your motivation towards the task.
Juan is in the ideal situation. He is the type of player that any coach would like for his team. It has a fantastic balance between the two types of motivation, so that when you encounter difficulties in the outcome, you will know how to deal with them. This type of motivational orientation It will also help you to face the situations of your life , current and future, regardless of sport.
However, Hector is in a situation of risk. Boys like Hector are people with innate abilities that have made them stand out since they were very young. However, feeling superior to others, they have not acquired the capacity for work and effort for personal improvement . As Hector grows, these skills will be equal to those of their peers and, not having learned to do self-criticism, poor sports results (put fewer goals, play fewer minutes, ...) will always blame others. They will begin the excuses of the type "the coach has me mania", "in this team they are all some packages", "they do not give me good passes" ...
If we do not remedy it, Hector will start by changing the team, thinking that this will improve their results. But while his motivational orientation is not directed to the task minimally, Hector will still not know how to deal with adverse situations. Finally, it is very likely that Héctor abandons football, possibly abandoning all kinds of sports. And that he abandons it in a bad way, trying to look elsewhere for that recognition he once had for others. Many guys like Hector end up getting into trouble looking for the praise of the gangs, erroneously directing their lives, trying to stand out in some way to feed their ego.
Take advantage of the options to boost personal growth
Both coaches and parents must learn to recognize what kind of motivational guidance our children have when they set goals. And even more, to recognize what kind of motivational orientation we are reinforcing in them with our comments. Do we encourage them when they improve the execution of a task or do we only look at the result of the game? Where do we put the focus? It depends to a large extent on our children that they learn great things from their time in football or that it becomes the opposite.
