The importance of balanced motivation in learning

Not everything depends on talent: our motivation management also has a major influence on success.

Luis' parents took him to training every afternoon. He didn't particularly like soccer, but he didn't mind going either. He had a good time with his teammates, although sometimes the coach would call his attention to him because he said he was distracted and didn't know anything. On Saturdays there was a game. He usually played very little, but he didn't mind because he also had a good time on the bench talking with his friends. The truth is that he didn't understand why some people took the outcome of the games so seriously.

His teammate Pedro was a guy who put a lot of effort into training. He was always on time and very attentive to the coach's instructions. He liked to improve. Sometimes he even stayed longer practicing what he couldn't quite master. On match days he was not nervous, because he knew he would play only a few minutes. His coach sometimes told him that he had no Blood in his veins.

However, Hector was quite the opposite. In the games he "gave his all," as he put it. He liked to win above all else. Everyone told him he was very good, and the truth is that he had great qualities. But he didn't like training at all. He used to arrive late and sometimes he even missed with some excuse. During training he used to distract the others with his jokes and he didn't pay much attention to the coach's instructions. It was only when there was a small game that he really got his act together. The coach always put him in the starting lineup because, although he trained very 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 a lot of attention to his coach's instructions and tried to rehearse everything he learned in training to put it into practice on match day. On Saturdays he was unstoppable on the field. He wanted to win at all costsBut he also tried to do things better than in the previous game. He knew what he did well and took advantage of it, but he also knew what he could improve and tried to do so in every training session.

These four types of players, and especially the first three, tend to be in almost every grassroots soccer team. The way they behave 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

Motivational ego-orientation is that of those players who have their objectives set on improving in relation to others. They measure their own value in relation to others. They care about being a starter, playing more minutes, scoring more goals, being the best...

The motivational orientation towards the task is that of those players whose goal is personal self-improvement. They focus on improving their own technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills that can make them a better player than they were the previous season. They focus on aspects such as improving their ball control with the opposing foot, making better passes, learning how to swing, getting into position on the field, improving their endurance or their speed....

The motivation of the players moves in a continuum between these two orientations. Thus, Luis would have a low ego motivation and also a low task motivation. It is normal that, if we do nothing, a boy like Luis ends up leaving soccer to do another type of sport or activity that attracts him more.

In a wrong way, we usually try to inculcate in these kids a motivation towards the result, trying to make winning something very attractive to them, so that they get more involved and in this way they become 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 they will achieve greater self-confidence and, in the event that they finally give up soccer, they will have learned some important values for their life: the importance of effort, constant improvement, self-evaluation, personal work to contribute to the team, ... Their time in soccer will have been worthwhile.

Motivation management

Pedro already possesses this high motivational orientation towards the task, yet he maintains a low motivational orientation towards the ego. Possibly Pedro needs a little push to take that step toward translating that personal improvement into competition results. Positive reinforcement of his progress by the coach and his parents may help him to strengthen his self-confidence. can help him to strengthen his self-confidence and from there encourage him to achieve some performance goals. Start with goals that he sees as attainable and work his way up. As he plays more minutes, as he sees that his progress translates into important contributions for the team, he will feel more confident and his motivation towards ego will grow, without abandoning his motivation towards the task.

Juan is in the ideal situation. He is the type of player that any coach would want for his team. You have a fantastic balance between the two types of motivation, so when you encounter outcome difficulties, you will know how to deal with them. This type of motivational orientation will also help you to cope with current and future life situations outside of sport.and future situations in his life outside of sports.

However, Hector is in a risky situation. Boys like Hector are people with innate abilities that have made them stand out from a very young age. However, because they feel superior to others, they have not acquired the ability to work and learn, they have not acquired the ability to work and strive for self-improvement.. As Hector grows up, these skills will become equal to those of his teammates and, not having learned to be self-critical, he will always blame others for bad sports results (scoring fewer goals, playing less minutes, ...). Excuses like "the coach has a grudge against me", "in this team they are all a bunch of packs", "they don't give me good passes"... will start to appear.

If we don't remedy it, Hector will start by changing teams, thinking that this will improve his results. But as long as his motivational orientation is not minimally task-oriented, Hector will continue to be unable to cope with adverse situations. Finally, it is very likely that Hector will abandon soccer, possibly abandoning any kind of sport. And that he will give it up in a bad way, trying to look elsewhere for the recognition he used to get from others. Many kids like Hector end up getting into trouble looking for praise from gangs, misdirecting their lives, trying to stand out in some way to feed their ego.

Taking advantage of options to enhance personal growth.

Both coaches and parents must learn to recognize what kind of motivational orientation 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 focus on the result of the game? Where do we put the focus? It is up to us, to a large extent, whether our kids learn a lot from their time in soccer or whether it turns out to be the opposite.