Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

Rescinding effort is when an athlete’s effort decreases when the challenge increases. Ego orientation causes this because some athletes seek to protect the ego by intentionally not giving their best effort so they can use this as an excuse for losing. If an athlete with an ego goal orientation gave their best effort and still loss, the emotional blow would drive them to quitting. Therefore, they use the lack of effort to rationalize losing when the going gets tough.

Rescinding effort is a clear sign that an athlete is focusing too much on the outcome. The longer this mentality last the harder it is to change. I suggest coaches and parents follow three steps to help an athlete eliminate this behavior.

1) Help the Athlete Break Down their Goals into Process Steps

Help the athlete create multiple process goals for each outcome goal. For example, if the athlete has a goal to be a state champion, then ask them what daily and weekly routines they think they will need to achieve this goal. This may include things like:

• Waking up early for an extra practice session.
• Doing drills 4 days a week with a private coach.
• Studying film for 30 minutes each night before bed.

In addition to creating these process goals, celebrate these goals. Each time the athlete completes and extra practice session or studies film for example, make it a point to acknowledge it as an achievement.

Furthermore, each process goal doesn’t need to deal with preparation. Process goals could be in-competition goals that have nothing to do with winning or losing. I call these “micro-achievements”, and they are especially important when the athlete is facing a difficult challenge. What’s more, although these “micro-achievements” won’t always translate to winning, they still must be meaningful and represent progress.

2) Provide Constructive Feedback that Shows Them You Value Process over Outcomes

This method is 100% about the parent and coach. Too often feedback is on outcomes such as winning and losing. It would be a good idea to go completely cold turkey on outcome feedback.

Instead, direct all feedback towards the process. Help the athlete research what processes they need and document what they learn and how they will apply it. In addition, help them gauge if they are on or off track with their progress as they apply process changes.

3) Go Over and Beyond to Show them You Value ‘Who They Are’ NOT ‘What They Do’

Many parents and coaches inadvertently show more love when athletes have positive outcomes. The truth is parents and coaches don’t love their athletes less when they lose or love them more when they win. However, this is what it feels like when an athlete gets taken to a special dinner after a win and gets nothing special when they lose.

So, a big step you can take to show an athlete that you value them is to treat them the same no matter the outcome. In some cases, consider treating them even better than normal when a loss comes after providing their best effort both before and during a competition.