Coaching Athletes with a Fixed Mindset After Losing a Competition
The fixed mindset and the growth mindset are two contrasting mindsets that create a stark difference to how an athlete deals with losing.
Fixed Mindset
Athletes with a fixed mindset expect things to come easy. When things don’t come easy, these athletes don’t try as hard. Moreover, if an athlete has a fixed mindset, losing a competition is a demotivating setback. Athletes with this mindset view losing as an indication of lacking talent or having bad luck.
Growth Mindset
In contrast, an athlete with a growth mindset views losing as motivation to work harder. An athlete with the growth mindset believes that if they can find a way to work harder and smarter that next time they will win.
The reason for this is because athletes with a growth mindset believe that reaching their goals is 100% a product of their hard work. Not luck, not chance, not genes, not coaching, and not any other factor outside of their control. Athletes with this mindset see any deficiency in skill only as an opportunity to focus their effort to get better.
Moving from the Fixed to the Growth Mindset
As a mental skills coach, It would be easy for me to overstate how important any one mindset is to an athlete’s success. However, if an athlete has a fixed mindset and they can get help to change to a growth mindset, I’m confident that it’s not an overstatement to say that would be a game changer. While they may not go from good to great overnight, undoubtedly in both the short and long run they will be far better off.
Therefore, the analysis of how an athlete responds to a loss can be a game changer if you identify they have a fixed mindset. In addition, encouraging them to change to a growth mindset can go a long way in helping them bounce back.
This starts by helping them focus on the process instead of the outcome, praising their hard work instead of praising their talent, and rewarding their consistency instead of only providing rewards for winning.
Finally, I suggest you read Carol Dweck’s mindset book with all athletes who have even a slight tendency for having a fixed mindset. Then work with that athlete to incorporate the book’s suggestions into their training process.