Three ways to build motivation

As coaches, it can be hard to keep athletes motivated throughout a season. The beginning of the season might look great with everyone excited to get to the pool and get in. But by the middle and end of the season, it can be hard for team members to show up to practice at all let alone dive in. This can be true even if you are self-coached. You might start a training plan with excitement and gusto. But after a few weeks, swimming feels more like a chore than something to look forward to.

The impact of having low or no motivation can be disastrous. For one, it disrupts your consistency as a swimmer. More importantly, though, it messes with your love of swimming–which is a shame. Swimming and triathlon should be something to look forward to, not dread. 

If you are a coach or coach yourself, and find yourself experiencing chronic low motivation, assess these three areas:

1. Autonomy- Autonomy refers to how much control and power you have over your own swim schedule. So if you are a coach, are you involving your athletes in the coaching process? This might look like asking your athletes what they need to work on and spending some time each practice with that. This could be allowing them to choose a drill or spending some time each practice allowing them to swim 500 whichever way they like. Autonomy also relates to how much input they have on wanting to be there. If they feel overly pressured to perform or continue with swimming despite not wanting to be there (e.g., for example, they feel like they have to swim because their parents want them too).  
2. Competence- this refers to how much the athletes feel like they are improving at their skill. It can be very frustrating for an athlete to leave practice with the feeling of getting worse rather than better. To build a feeling of competence, focus and reinforce the process. Remind athletes (or yourself) of the small goals that will add up to the larger goals. Moreover, help them see the small gains in their times or stroke rather than focus on the negatives.
3. Connection/relatedness- While triathlon and swimming are individual sports, isolation can be crippling to motivation. If we feel that we are all alone especially in our struggles, then our motivation and enjoyment can fade quickly. Instead, be sure to build or find a team atmosphere as much as you can. Even if you swim by yourself, finding others (be it online or, even better, in person) to talk to and have a connection with can go a long way in making swimming more enjoyable. If you want to spend time with these other swimmers, you will want to swim more.

I did not come up with these three components; rather they are part of a larger theory: self-determination theory or SDT. Most of the research has been done on youth athletes. However, I find it applicable to adult athletes as well.

Meeting these three key aspects of training usually results in athletes who are more intrinsically motivated and have increased enjoyment.  If you and/or athletes are struggling with motivation, make some changes to enhance autonomy, competence, and connection.

Coach Chris, Tri Swim Coach

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