Why Parents and Coaches Must Work Together to Identify an Athlete’s Personality Type
I believe parents and coaches must work together to identify the personality traits in young athletes. Then they should both tailor their methods to better motivate the athlete. As I was researching strategies to help coaches and parents do this, I found two important details that must not be overlooked.
First off, a person could have multiple personality traits. It’s likely one trait is more dominant than others, but not always. Secondly, and most importantly, it’s important not to confuse a personality trait with a personality state.
Personality Traits vs. States
Personality traits are those more permanent aspects of our personality that endure over time and are very difficult to change. On the other hand, a personality state is a reaction to a situation that causes a temporary behavior.
For example, if a person loses a match or game and becomes temporarily sad in that moment, this doesn’t mean he or she is a sad person. They are just in a sad state. However, if this sadness last for hours or days, then that emotional reaction may be more of a trait.
With this in mind, coaches only observing practice and competitions have limits when assessing an athlete’s personality traits. Due to the nature of sports, coaches are more likely to observe various emotional states than enduring traits. Furthermore, coaches have a difficult time discerning between the two without getting help from someone who knows the athlete outside of sports.
To conclude, I believe that observing both personality traits and states is important for tailoring methods to better motivate athletes. This is why the combination of parent and coach working with the athlete as a team is a must.