HOW TO KEEP YOUNG ATHLETE MOTIVATED:

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviours. Achieving a goal, whether short- or long-term, can be a tremendous motivator. Keeping a team motivated is hard.
Motivating your team to be the best they can be is one of the most difficult tasks you’re faced with. Setting a combination of individual and team goals can be particularly effective for motivating athletes.
There are a lot of strategies which can use to create an ideal atmosphere to motivate athletes:

Teach them how to destress and relax

Competing always leads to some stress. And that can be good — a little stress helps the body face a challenge. But too much stress can take the fun out of a sport and make it hard to perform. An athlete must keep in mind these things:
• Deep breathing: Take a deep breath and hold it in for about 5 seconds, then release it slowly. Repeat five times.
• Muscle relaxation: Contract (flex) a group of muscles tightly. Keep them flexed for about 5 seconds, then release. Repeat the exercise five times, then move to a different muscle group.
• Going to a happy place: Picture a peaceful place or event. Imagine stress flowing away from the body.
• Visualizing success: Imagine completing a pass, making a shot, or scoring a goal.
• Mindfulness: Focus on the present instead of worrying about the future or the past.
• Having a routine: Focus on the routine to keep stress in control.
• Thinking positively and developing positive self-talk: Say “I learn from my mistakes,” “I’m in control of my feelings,” “I can make this goal!” to help keep the negative thoughts away.

Create the right environment:

When a player arrives for one of your training sessions, they should feel a surge of impetus hit them from the off. You can rouse that emotion in your players by creating a positive environment in and around your training facilities. From our experience with athletes, we have established that the better understanding you have of your players and the more established your relationship with them the better the chances are of them responding positively to your setup. Happy players tend to be better aligned for delivering a higher performance. Coaches, managing staff as well as support staff must make an effort to get to know their players both personally and professionally.

Celebrate the failures:

The way you bounce back after making a mistake is a big indicator of your skills as a competitor. Great competitors know that failure is a part of competition, and have a plan for recovery. That’s where the mistake rituals come in.

“I’ve missed over 9000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game’s winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over & over & over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”

Michael Jordan-Basketball Player:

Jordan was scrapped from the High School Team and at 5’11″ was deemed too short to play at that level and was told to lack skills. But he never gave up. Living on the principle of “I can accept failure but I cannot accept not trying,” Jordan scripted one of the best failures to success stories as he went on to become the best player in the history of the sport.

Babe Ruth- A Baseball player

George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935.

Considered as one of America’s greatest sporting heroes, Babe Ruth is yet another phenomenal story of a turnaround. Having started well, his game went down and for a decade, he held the record for the highest strikeouts. But as they say, strong characters turn it around. Babe went on to change his fortunes and created the record of having the third highest home run tally.

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”

Let your young athlete make his or her own choices.

If it’s a poor choice, let them face natural consequences. This is probably one of the most powerful teachers of all. If you’re young athlete doesn’t get much playing time because he or she chooses to be lazy in practice, then so be it. But if your young athlete works hard and reaps the benefits, it motivates him or her to keep working hard.

Ask your young athlete the right questions.

What do you really want? What is your goal in this sport? What makes you want to work harder? When he or she talks, listen well. Respect the answers, even if you don’t like them. Allowing your young athlete to have his or her own goals and desires builds confidence, which is a big motivator to do one’s best.

Positive reinforcement

Coaches should always balance their positive and negative feedback. If an athlete is lacking motivation, it is important to slightly over balance the positive reinforcement. Make sure to praise your athlete for their hard work, training bests, a PR, or their work ethic. Sport includes both success and failure, and success usually does not come without failure. It is your job to normalize failure as something that is to be expected and productive in order to succeed.
When communicating positive and negative feedback with your athlete make sure to mention the positive before talking about ways to improve as it motivates the athlete to learn and prioritize a change from their failure more so than receiving
negative feedback firs

Use imagery

Focus on setting a mental state that will work best for your athlete. If the athlete is a novice, focusing on external stimuli will help motivate them while experienced athletes should focus more on internal factors such as how their body feels during the training. Images are everywhere in today’s society and have a greater influence on us than we would think. Have your athletes follow races online, watch professional clips of their sport, etc. Make sure to post or share image.