MOTIVATIONThis can come from within. A desire to perform well and succeed. For this to work there must be:
Goals must be all of the following in order to be attainable:
Tangible rewards: Physical rewards such as medals and money. These should be used sparingly with young athletes to avoid a situation where winning a prize is more important than competing well Intangible rewards: Praise, recognition and achievements. These should be used on a regular basis to encourage the athlete to repeat the behaviour which earned the praise. |
Sarah - International AthleteAfter failing to perform well in a few races she started to predict that she would fail again. she would feel her energy levels dropping during close races causing her to perform below her personal best. This spread to her training sessions. she felt she was never performing well enough and often felt like giving up
Her programme concentrated on changing her entrenched negative thinking patterns and bias in her perception. Healthy habits and effective goals eventually turned things round for her and times improved. Her confidence increased and her desire to win returned. |